You’ve created a business website and it looks great. It has the perfect text, images, content and maybe video or flash. It’s a beautiful example of website design. But, why isn’t anyone visiting it?
Most likely because, lovely as it is, no one knows it’s there. When surfers go to a search engine like Google and type in keywords such as “kitchen remodeler,” your website isn’t anywhere on the page, or the next page, or even the next page. You discover there are hundreds or even thousands of Kitchen Remodeling websites listed before yours.
That’s a problem.
There are methods people use to try and move their sites up in rank, such as adding meta-tags with keywords, joining link exchanges, passing the news on by word of mouth, sending out brochures, or even doing a bit of cold calling. Some of these methods can hit the pocket pretty hard when you’re trying to make money and they aren’t even effective most of the time.
Search Engine Optimizers: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Reality
But there is hope in the form of experts who specialize in improving web ranking on search engines. The title they go by is “Search Engine Optimizers” or “SEO” for short. It is one of the few titles that shares its abbreviation with what it is they do, which is “Search Engine Optimization.”
Hiring a person or an SEO agency to improve your ranking is a big decision, one that can have excellent results, or one that can ruin your online reputation forever if they use less than stellar methods to promote your website.
There are many reputable SEO agencies and consultants that do provide services that could be very useful to you. For example they can improve your website content, give you technical advice to make your site more user friendly or cost-effective, research keywords and demographics, or even manage the whole kit and kaboodle for you.
But those are the reputable SEOs. There are sharks in those Internet waters. If you are considering hiring a SEO, then you need to do your homework and become an educated consumer before you find yourself in over your head. Use the web and find out exactly how search engines work. How they crawl, how they index, and how they dump websites that are obviously attempting to move to the head of the pack by nefarious means.
Keep in mind that the best time to hire an SEO agency is when you are:
a) Launching a new website
b) Redesigning your old website.
This way you will make the best use of your SEO and make sure that your site is search engine-friendly from the start. However, your SEO agency can help improve your existing site although redesign will probably be a part of it.
Choosing a SEO agency
Ask questions. Lots of questions. You’re going to be spending good money so no reputable SEO consultant or firm will mind answering them. If they do try to brush you off or say “just let us handle it,” pay attention to that red flag. It’s waving.
Ask for examples of successful work, if they follow guidelines of the various search engines, how long before you can expect to see results, what is considered “success” to him, her or the company, how long they’ve been in business, how often will you be able to communicate with them, and if you will be apprised of the changes made to your site and given the reasons for them.
There are probably a million more questions to ask, but these are the basic ones to start with. Be thorough and write them down as they come to you so you don’t forget to ask them when you communicate with a potential SEO.
Beware of Dream Sellers
Don’t use SEO firms or consultants that send you unsolicited emails. Look at those sort of communiqués like that out-of-the-blue letter that informs you some distant relative in some faraway land has died and left you ten million dollars, and all they need is your bank account information to transfer it to you. It’s more likely you’ll get the ten mil than a good site ranking from those characters.
Everyone wants to be at the top of Google’s search engine, but Google doesn’t “place” websites at the top no matter who asks. You can’t pay to get there (unless your run ads) and “knowing someone in the company” isn’t going to make a bit of difference.
The only way to submit a site to Google is to either go to their “Add URL” page or submit a site map. You don’t have to pay anyone to do that. You can do that yourself.
Beware of any SEO that guarantees high ranking or priority placement on the Number 1 Search engine on the web. It’s a lie.
Research the Dark Side of SEO Abuse
Do a little research online about SEO horror stories. After reading a few of the horrible experiences other business owners have had with disreputable SEOs, your eyes will be wide open when you seek one out.
Warning Signs
Here are two warning signs that your SEO consultant isn’t on the up and up.
Uses Doorway Pages
A page chock full of keywords is placed somewhere on your site with the promise that it will draw more inquires. But a single page is hardly relevant for a varied range of keywords. These “doorway” pages usually contain invisible links to other sites and clients the SEO manages. Some of these sites can contain illegal or unsuitable content. Your site will be permanently connected with them if that is the case and you might as well take it down..
Owns/Uses Shadow Domains
These sites deceptively redirect people to places they don’t wish to go. Most of the time they are owned by the SEO, so you are shelling out more money to a firm or individual who is supposed to be working on your behalf. Not good. What is worse, if for some reason your association with the SEO goes south, they might send visitors to a different site such as a competitor’s site or heaven forbid, a porn site. That would kill your reputation on the web.
Other Danger Signs
Look out for SEOs that use a lot of aliases, aren’t listed on Google or top search engines themselves, have had domains removed from search engines, and ask for access to your ftp server’s root directory.
Above all, pay attention to that little voice in your head that says, “Something’s not right here.” If it sounds a warning, there’s probably a very good reason for it.
If You’ve Been Burned . . .
If you feel you’ve been burned by a SEO consultant or firm, contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint online.
There are many reputable SEO companies and firms online, but you have to be smart and shrewd if you want to be successful. Do your homework and make an informed decision when choosing who you’ll trust with your website. It can make all the difference.
