Selecting A Suitable Search Engine Optimization Campaign

Many businesses will have a website, whether it was made by a family friend or a professional company, an online presence is essential in the current economy.

Online retail is expected to handle over £37bn worth of sales by the year 2014 and many retailers have seen the potential of their web presence. This online growth combined with many business schemes has seen a massive increase in small businesses getting their website online and ready for retail.

An increasingly popular and widespread method of promoting a website online is through the use of Search Engine Optimization.

Simply put Search Engine Optimization is the technique of marketing your website through popular search engines such as Google. For example if you ran a website that specialized in selling ‘Bristol Glass’ you would want your website to appear as close to the top as possible, and SEO is what will achieve that goal. There are many different SEO agencies and professionals who can assist in your website marketing, so we have compiled some tips to make sure you pick the most suitable.

Searching Locally

Search Engine Optimization does not necessarily need to be carried out in-house, or even in the country, which is why many overseas companies have been set up to offer a similar service. Typically these will be Indian or Philippine companies who will carry out the work proposed, commonly it is of a very low quality and often using automated solutions which will get flagged as spam. These outsourced services are commonly of lower quality as much of SEO includes copywriting, which when outsourced is obviously of a lesser quality than a native English speaker. We always recommend looking in your local area for a reputable company or SEO consultant who will be able to manage the optimization for you.

Top 10 Guarantee!

Guaranteed results should always make you a little cautious as SEO is a very dynamic sector which is constantly changing. Knowledgeable SEO Consultants will know that promising results should not be done with the amount of search engine changes that occur on a daily basis. This is not a case of lacking confidence but rather a better understanding of search engine technologies. Search Engine algorithms are always changing and adapting and this can cause a website to jump up and down the rankings. Due to the dynamics of search engines, guaranteeing organic results is problematic, but there is more than one way to get to the front page. Some companies that do offer a first page listing will employ measures to ensure this is deliverable, such as the option to achieve this through a temporary paid listing which has very little benefit for the website owner. This is very unethical but will still allow them to deliver on their guarantee. We recommend staying away from those who guarantee results as it is a sign that they do not fully understand search engines and their development.

Website Optimisation Analysis?

Many SEO companies will waive the fee for their initial website report, or they may raise interest with a free website SEO report. Using this method the company gains vital information on you or the website which can be used later when pitching a set of SEO solutions. Commonly this freebie will be either an on-site report of typical website elements, or a ranking report for where you rank in search engines. Producing a report like this would suggest someone has reviewed your website, whereas often these reports are automatically generated using commonly available software. The reports are often created for you by a piece of automated software which pulls generic details from your website, and cannot be used in any serious campaign. The validity of these reports should therefore be taken with a pinch on salt, and never base a campaign on a report alone unless the information has been manually verified.

Exclusive To You?

As you can see, finding a good SEO consultant is not an easy task, therefore you do not want them offering similar services to your competitors. This is often requested by many clients to ensure that there is no conflict of interest and to keep objectivity when optimizing the website. One customer actually came to us saying that they had recently been pitched by a nearby SEO consultant. The conversation started out well, and upon asking a few questions the client found out that they were actually carrying out an SEO service for their main competitor. This obviously seems like a conflict of interest as they achieved the desired results for their client, and then it seems they are trying to beat themselves by selling the same service to a competitor. This is obviously very unethical, it seems that they paid the company to get a better ranking and once it was achieved they tried beating them by selling the service to a competitor. We always recommend asking if your SEO consultant is currently working with similar industries or similar keywords. If you are that worried then they should have no problem signing an exclusivity deal for your industry.

 

 

Source