Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most important, expensive and overlooked aspects of web development. Without traffic, your website is all for nothing. The great thing about SEO for a business is that you can target the correct audience by strategically targeted popular “keywords” that people search in Google, Bing, Yahoo and all the rest.
SEO is growing to be one of the most common marketing practices among large and small businesses alike, with some pouring in millions of dollars annually. While the initial investment may seem large, the payoff can be huge once you reach top 10, 5 and top 3 of search engine results. In fact, being top 20 means very little compared to top 5. The majority of clicks goes to the website in the #1 slot, so it is easy to see why this is an important marketing avenue.
An SEO company should be able to do the following:
- Remodel your website so that it’s more search engine friendly
- Determine which keywords and keyterms should be optimized within your site
- Review your site’s HTML code and make any necessary changes
- Edit and create content on your site that will increase traffic and search engine rankings
- Stay current with changes to search engine algorithms that may affect how your site ranks
- Create a blog if applicable with consistent updates
There are some things to look for with SEO companies. First understand, this is an industry where everyone feels as if they are an expert. A well rounded search engine marketer should have deep knowledge in the content, structure and link building practices needed to grow. If they don’t have many proven results to show for their abundance of knowledge, dig deeper and find out what companies they maybe worked for in the past. SEO can be done cheaply if someone devotes a great number of hours over the course of time but typically there needs to be plenty of manpower to network.
When meeting with an SEO company ask them the following:
- What are some past results?
- Are you familiar with my specific industry (and the keyterms that go with it).
- Who writes the content?
- How do you gauge pricing?
There are many ways to drive rankings. There are also great ways to track what the company is doing to achieve this goal. You want to make sure that your website is not being associated with “blackhat” techniques that may work short-term but lose all rankings long-term. It is also important that links to your website are not placed next to porn websites or other unrelated ventures that you would never associate your business with. Cross promoting is common by SEO firms taking short-cuts to be sure they don’t participate in this.
Finally, ask the how they plan on maintaining rankings. The majority of money will be spent to get the website in the top 10 to begin with but after that continual efforts will be needed or the rankings will be lost. Find out what there plan is in that regard and what the fees will be long term.
