5 Reasons For Using Ongoing Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Services

Many people think that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a one-off task that you do when your site is built, or maybe a year later when you fail to see substantial traffic. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. The first steps you might take for SEO, like having valid code when you build your site and adding keywords and titles, are a fantastic foundation, but they need to be built upon to gain real benefits.

SEO activities are increasingly linked to social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Ongoing, skilled assistance with SEO is an important part of any online marketing strategy and while it may seem to some like an unnecessary cost, the experience and skill of a good SEO consultant will inevitably lead to increased traffic to your site.

Large businesses can, and increasingly do, employ teams devoted to SEO and increasing online presence. Smaller companies and individuals are less fortunate and often need a helping hand. In this article we examine some of the most pressing reasons why ongoing SEO consultation should be a part of every online marketing strategy.

1. The search engine industry is constantly changing

Search engine companies are constantly changing the way they crawl the internet to find your site, and new search engines are emerging all the time. For example, it is only a relatively recent development that has enabled Google to list Flash based websites effectively.

It is difficult for everyone to keep up with the changes in the industry, and with social media becoming more and more relevant to SEO, changes are happening every day. Expert advice from a consultant that is up to date with the most recent advances in SEO and social media, will allow any company to gain an advantage.

2. Many companies don't follow up on site traffic reports

Many companies get traffic and "analytics reports" for their websites, but fail to use the information to make improvements, either because they are unable to identify where the pitfalls are, or because there simply isn't anyone to do it. An expert consultant would be able to review analytics and make recommendations on how to achieve goals and increase traffic.

3. SEO recommendations often go unimplemented

Unfortunately, many companies receive recommendations from SEO consultants when their site is built, or perhaps later down the line, but then fail to implement those recommendations. When you include ongoing SEO consultation in your online marketing strategy, it allows you to have constant guidance on the best way to make improvements that are right for your site. There are often organisational reasons why a change cannot be implemented, and a good consultant will help you to work around these reasons and still gain good results.

4. SEO is more effective when done over time

In most cases, search engine rankings don't come over night. They take time to develop. The factors that affect your rankings are infinite, but broadly speaking, the time it takes to see any results at all can be dependent on your industry, competitors, the length of time your site has been active, the frequency of updates to your site and the quality of the website code itself.

By constantly reviewing your results and making changes, even really small content or keyword changes, you can improve your ranking over time. If you have to choose between one big SEO effort, and an ongoing project it is almost certainly more effective to make small, consistent efforts.

5. In-house SEO might need a helping hand

SEO activities are increasingly being brought in-house, whether it's a small part of an individual's job description or a team specifically employed to build SEO. In many cases this works really well, but all too often the business fails to see any real results. That's where using an SEO consultant on a regular basis to offer advice and guidance can be helpful. Sometimes the job of the SEO consultant is to physically make changes to the site or relevant media, but more often than not, they can simply offer advice and guide a business through making the changes themselves.

Summary

Companies often spend money on SEO and then fail to follow through on that investment. In order to reap the benefits you need to monitor the results of your efforts, keep up to date with search engine technology and make changes accordingly over a period of time. Investing in SEO and other online marketing activities can put you miles ahead of the competition. Getting expert guidance tailored to your business will increase your presence on the web and ultimately leave you more time to devote to your core business.

This article was written by Zoe Hoskins, founder of Skills on Toast, a web design and online marketing business based in Bristol.

Bristol Web Design - Butter Side Up

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Does Your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Company Deliver a Quality Service?

Knowing if the search engine optimisation company you choose is doing a good job isn't always as easy as it seems.

Many poor performing companies use "smoke and mirrors" techniques to try and baffle their customers to make it appear they are doing a lot, when in reality, they are doing very little. On the other hand, many great search engine optimisation companies perform fantastically, but their honesty, openness and their knowledge of what is actually achievable makes their clients think that they aren't as good as others. After all, would you prefer just "promises of results" or would you prefer "actual provided results"?

So, how can you identify what sort of company the search engine placement company you have selected is? Well, you can look at Google's recommendation on 'What's an SEO?' to help you tell the "promisers" from the "providers":

Did your SEO company send you an unsolicited email?

Most SEO companies will not send you spam, but be careful not to confuse this with the genuine marketing that genuine companies send out. View all unsolicited emails with scepticism, and check out the company thoroughly before you buy. Just because they claim to be able to do something doesn't always mean they can!

Did your SEO company guarantee you a number 1 position on Google?

Or on any other search engine for that matter. The search engines are the only ones who can decide which site to put in the coveted top spot for any given search, so SEO companies simply cannot guarantee this. However this must not be confused with SEO's who give more general guarantees i.e. Guaranteed listings, or a guaranteed top 10 position, for 1 of a number of terms. Also remember that these sort of guarantees can be made for pay per click listings, and paid inclusion directories. Some companies also offer money back guarantees, and a show of good faith. Again you must decide if you feel these guarantees are reasonable and sound, or if they seem too good to be true.

Did your SEO company explain clearly what they were going to do.

Few companies will explain everything to their clients, partly because they don't want to confuse people and, especially with SEO, because most companies have had people milk them for information only to set up a rival company elsewhere, and just as you wouldn't expect your hairdresser to teach you how to cut your own hair, you shouldn't expect your SEO company to teach you how to optimise your own site, however, any company should be able to give you examples of the work they are carrying out, and give you broad descriptions of what they are doing. If your SEO company refuses to give you any information, be wary.

Did you have to have a link from your site to your SEO company?

Many reputable companies will add a link from your site to theirs, however this shouldn't be a condition of service, unless this condition has been made clear to you prior to any work being carried out. and they should be willing to remove any such links if you ask. This does not apply to areas such as free hosting, or web design where often this is a condition of service.

Be sure to understand where the money goes.

Firstly be sure to make sure you understand weather you are paying a company for natural listings, or weather they offering you a pay per click campaign. In most cases the money paid to an SEO provider is paying for the time factor involved in optimising a website, however all SEO companies should be willing to explain where you money is going, and how much time they are putting in for that sum. You must bare in mind that there are genuine costs associated with natural optimisation.

Can your SEO company provide verifiable testimonials and case studies?

And can you contact the people who wrote them. Anyone can make up a testimonial, so do your seo company have email or web addresses on their testimonials & case studies? If not, can they give you the email address of a customer who will be willing to talk to you. Be wary of any company who does not have this transparency.

Most importantly

Are you happy with the way that your SEO company have performed. At the end of the day, if you think that they are doing a good job, and you would recommend them to other companies, friends, or family, then chances are that your company are doing well. If you are not happy with the way they have performed, before you decide that they are no good, approach them first, and get an explanation, if they can provide you with a satisfactory answer, then they are probably still an OK company, if they can't then you may have to go elsewhere. Have a look at our top rating SEO companies, to find the right one for you.

What are the most common abuses a website owner is likely to encounter?

One common scam is the creation of "shadow" domains that funnel users to a site by using deceptive redirects. These shadow domains often will be owned by the SEO who claims to be working on a client's behalf. However, if the relationship sours, the SEO may point the domain to a different site, or even to a competitor's domain. If that happens, the client has paid to develop a competing site owned entirely by the SEO.

Another illicit practice is to place "doorway" pages loaded with keywords on the client's site somewhere. The SEO promises this will make the page more relevant for more queries. This is inherently false since individual pages are rarely relevant for a wide range of keywords. More insidious, however, is that these doorway pages often contain hidden links to the SEO's other clients as well. Such doorway pages drain away the link popularity of a site and route it to the SEO and its other clients, which may include sites with unsavoury or illegal content.

What are some other things to look out for?

There are a few warning signs that you may be dealing with a rogue SEO. It's far from a comprehensive list, so if you have any doubts, you should trust your instincts. By all means, feel free to walk away if the SEO:

- owns shadow domains

- puts links to their other clients on doorway pages

- offers to sell keyword searches in the address bar

- doesn't distinguish between actual search results and ads that appear in search results (natural and paid listings)

- guarantees ranking, but only on obscure, long keyword phrases you would get anyway - don't confuse this with companies who try to manage your expectations, in line with budget or market constraints.

- operates with multiple aliases or falsified WHOIS info

- gets traffic from "fake" search engines, spy ware, or scum ware

- has had domains removed from Google's index or is not itself listed in Google

Mark Esho
http://www.seoinsider.co.uk
For more information and for a review of SEO Companies visit SEO Insider.

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SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a subset of Internet Marketing and is one of the most cost effective means of driving targeted traffic to a website. The SEO practitioner will usually work with a business to develop an ongoing strategy to rank alongside and above competitor's in the major search engines for profitable search terms. These search terms are usually referred to as Keywords and if there are multiple Keywords in a phrase then the term keyphrase is generally used.

It is worth noting that, as with most types of industry, SEO practitioners can be of varying levels of skills and experience. There is no particular level of attainment or degree of qualification that a SEO can achieve. This can make it difficult to choose a suitable individual or company to help improve a website's search engine rankings. Many companies choose to take a taster from a SEO company before they employ them to tackle a complete project. For example, if the website requires fifteen or so keyphrases.

So what sets one particular SEO company apart from another? Well, many would argue that most, if not all, SEO practitioners are capable of delivering some kind of base Search Marketing product. Whether this is 50 backlinks per month or even if this is something that is more bespoke, this appears to be the norm for most SEO projects. But do these deliverables merely fit the client's perception of what a SEO project should entail and, most importantly, do these ventures actually deliver adequate results. When I say adequate I mean dramatically improved search engine results pertaining to worthwhile and profitable search terms as opposed to token number one positions for key phrases that no-one actually searches for!

So how does SEO work? Well, the best SEO companies are skilled and experienced at finding niche and untapped areas that no-one has found and "milked" yet. If no niche areas exist then the best keyphrases that are available are focused upon using both a set methodology and a creative edge. For example, if your business provides accountancy services which focuses upon a friendly, local service then your website must focus upon search phrases that relate to keyphrases such as "accountants in Barnsley". I am by no means suggesting that all websites should focus upon geographical based search phrases because many company's target markets are, in fact, national or even international. So the context within which a particular website can be classified under certainly does determine the order that the keyword research is performed using.

Context is a huge concern in SEO. The next part of the article attempts to determine the order in which a typical SEO practitioner might formulate a SEO strategy. A SEO strategy is a plan that a company, practitioner or SEO company must follow to achieve a perceived result. A SEO strategy is an initial phase of and forms the basis of a SEO plan which becomes part of a company's overall marketing plan. Remember the common business cliche, if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. A SEO plan usually consists of a schedule of work that is based upon a prescribed amount of keyword research, competition research and SEO experience and expert guidance. Past trends can help the SEO practitioner to speculate upon a likely outcome but future web page positions in the popular search engines cannot always be accurately predicted based of the variables that are involved. These variables are often known as ranking factors.

During the planning stages of a SEO strategy for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) it must be recognised that larger organisations may have teams of internet marketers who are working on promoting the website nine while five, Monday to Friday. How can smaller companies compete with larger companies? This is an age old problem. The larger organisations have huge marketing budgets and can test different ideas whereas smaller companies must be more frugal with their spending. This is why small internet marketing companies who specialise in search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising are being called upon more and more frequently by smaller businesses.

Generally speaking the most successful SEO companies are those who follow a reusable and scalable process model but also go above and beyond the competition in terms of creativity. We should learn something from the big advertising agencies who spend days and even weeks conjuring up fantastic, enticing and engaging ideas to promote their client's products.

We know that Search Engine Optimisation is a subset of Internet Marketing just as banner advertising is a part of Traditional Marketing. So what makes these two areas significantly different? Well, whereas Traditional Marketing is a form of push marketing, Internet Marketing is a type of pull marketing.

Push Marketing

This is any type of marketing which is placed is front of people. The degree of targeting can vary widely. For example, advertisements for up and coming live music in pubs is fairly targeted whereas general banner advertisements in town centres would be rated low in terms of targeting. The main disadvantages of Push Marketing are that people see so many banner advertisements, posters, etc each and every day that their brains switch off to them and don't register them after a while.

Pull Marketing

SEO is a form of Pull Marketing which is much more targeted because searchers (the terms "searchers" refers to internet users who are performing keyword or keyphrases searches in search engines) are actually looking for and are, therefore, already interested in what you are selling. The downside to search engine optimisation is that it is becoming increasingly more difficult, time consuming and costly to become ranked for popular and profitable search phrases. We as Internet Marketers tackle this issue by looking for increasingly more creative avenues to go down. For example, Social Media Marketing is now a very popular choice for Internet Marketers to aid their SEO efforts. The very best SEO practitioners are capable of successfully integrating SEO strategies into the wider marketing plan. This helps to ensure that no stone is left unturned and that the bigger picture can always be seen whilst a SEO campaign progresses.

This type of holistic approach to SEO the key to a successful SEO campaign for a great number of satisfied clients.

Developer of http://www.computercoders.com

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A SEO Agency's Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Tip For a New Website - Part 1

In this guide, we'll be explaining some of the key concepts behind Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for people who are developing a brand new website. There's a huge amount of SEO information available online these days and if you end up following all the advice you'll find you are quickly contradicting yourself, normally because good advice in the SEO world gets old quickly.

Hopefully this guide will be of some help. We're not going to go to in depth - this is in no way a complete guide for every single strategy and method used in the SEO world. Instead, we want to focus on some of the most simple and far reaching changes and knowledge you need to understand the basics of ethical SEO. As anyone in the SEO industry could tell you, any of the topics covered here could have multiple articles written just focusing on them alone and often there is more than one 'right' answer.

When we think of making our site optimized for search engines, it's important to establish a balance. SEO is a crucial part of making your website stand out online and find targeted traffic, but it's not the only thing you need to consider when creating a website. Simply applying every single SEO tactic to every site you own won't be very effective and will be widely unnecessary. Looking too obviously 'optimized' will impact on your users, as well.

This is why the term ethical SEO is an important one. Ethical SEO is an SEO method that relies on trying to help Google find your page because it is relevant to searches, not just because you want the traffic. It means not trying to trick Google (or any search engine) into giving you higher rankings. Using this method will keep you safe from being punished by Google's strict rules on SEO, and will also mean that what traffic you do get from your SEO work is actually useful and could lead to real sales.

Thinking about your Domain Name

How much does a domain name actually affect your SEO? It's a question that's open for debate in the SEO world. Some companies believe that using your domain name to display keywords is the best route, while others believe that keeping your domain name interesting and memorable works better.

In most cases, the latter tends to be true. A short and memorable domain name normally works best. It's also often more practical from a brand awareness viewpoint to have a catchy name and logo rather than calling yourself something like 'bestcheapholidaydealsandoffers' which is both generic and difficult for users to type and remember.

Top Level Domains (TLDs) are also important. These are the.com or.co.uk ends of your overall address. TLDs are incredibly cheap so there's no reason at all not to go for quality. Avoid TLDs such as.info as these appear cheap to many users and give the impression you're not that bothered about your site.

Local TLDs such as.co.uk can be useful if you are looking to target one market, as they give the impression of a service more in touch with consumers from that country. It can turn off users from other countries however, so try to avoid them if you're looking for international business and stick with a.com when possible.

Planning Your Content

Planning your pages in advance rather than jumping straight into creating content is a very good idea. You'll have a much better idea of the site as whole if you step back and look at exactly what pages your site will need to function. There's a fine balance between a site with not enough information or too much. You'd be surprised how many times we've seen sites for restaurants that have every dish described in painstaking detail only to neglect to put opening times on the site.

Try to keep your pages relevant but split up your content as much as possible. For each of your services plan out a separate page that can explain them in greater detail. Individual pages with a healthy amount of content are much better for SEO than one incredibly long services page with a 1,000 word wall of text describing your entire business.

Be sure to plan for the usual 'standard' pages as well as those relevant to your business, such as a contact page and privacy statement page.

Decide and Plan Keywords

Keywords are by the far the most important element of SEO, because these are what underpin your whole effort. Keywords are what people search for in Google, so you want to start thinking about your own content and business and what you would search for if you were looking for your site. You should also think about which terms are likely to bring the most relevant traffic.

It's important to remember that despite the use of the word 'keywords', these are often used as multiple words. For example, if you run a holiday site you'll want to focus on terms like 'cheap holidays in Spain' rather than a single word like 'holiday' or 'vacation'.

You can also check what keywords your competitors are using by checking out their HTML source code and looking for their 'meta' tag, which should give a big list of what they think are good keywords. Using meta tags used to be a prime method of SEO but in recent years they have become far less important, though many sites (and some search engines) still use them.

It's likely that you'll also find some of their more important keywords in the actual title of the page which can be found at the very top of your browser, above the URL. Of course, if your competition isn't using good SEO you might not find what you're looking for, but if you spend some time doing research into your market you should eventually find some sites that have already decided on relevant keywords.

Once you've gathered a list of keywords that you might want to use from your own thoughts and from your competitors, head over to the Google AdWords Keyword tool. This is an amazingly useful tool for finding out which keywords are the most relevant and is a vital part of finding good keywords of your site. Write your keywords into the tool, making sure to keep to one keyword per line.

Make sure to set the 'match type' to 'exact' before searching so the results aren't skewed by 'similar' terms. What you should end up with is the average search 'volume' of each term so you can see which terms are likely to bring the most users. This tool is free and may not be as accurate as some other tools such as Wordtracker, but using its results generally will give you a rough idea of search volume, at least for Google.

As a general idea, a new site should focus on keyterms that have less than one million standard results. From this list you should be able to find the right keywords for your site, but remember no matter the search volume remaining relevant is absolutely essential at this stage. Remember to save the keyword data as you may well need it in the future.

Look out for part 2 of this guide, where we will discuss working with keywords in more detail.

Kingpin-seo are an ethical SEO agency that is based in the United Kingdom. They use a wide range of techniques from traditional to cutting edge to achieve their clients' SEO requirements.

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