Link Building and the Art of Zen!

On and off site link building is make no mstake of it, a long road. Depending on the competitiveness of your industry, the more work need to be done to acheive success in online marketing! To be cont....

What to look for when shopping for a SEO specialist.

When, shopping for a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company/specialist you need to be aware of a few things.

If someone offers you fast results they may be pulling your leg. If you aren’t listed on search engines the average time to be index takes around 4 weeks. Someone offering submissions in less then that is coning you. Websites that are already listed and are just being updated will have a faster result.

A guarantee isn’t always reinsurance. Just because a site states they can get you in the 1 spot doesn’t mean they can deliver. Or, they may have you listed under an obscure keyword or phrase. Most legitimate SEO’s will tell you no one can guarantee a top spot on all keywords and phrases. Search Engine optimization is not an exact science. Trail and error along with constant tweaking will help bring your site closer to your goal.

Most SEO’s should give you some information on where your site stands currently. You links, keywords, where you rank on major search engines etc.. Or, do one yourself. My article “Google’s Helping hand” show you free tools that can help you evaluate where you are on search engines. Don’t go into any SEO work blindly. Know where you stand before and after.

Price is never an indication of how good a service is. More isn’t always better.

Shop around try to get the most for your money, but be realistic. If it seems too good to be true then it may just be. Be prepared to shell out some cash. SEO is not cheap. You should think of SEO as advertising. It should be contestant as should all of your advertising efforts.

Ask questions! Do not be afraid to ask what will be done to increase your ranking. Most SEO’s will have no problem telling you what they will do. They may not want to reveal their whole SEO operation. But, they will give you some insight to what they will do. Talk to more then one SEO company. Compare what each has to say. Do some research on your own. Find out if these companies have been reported to the Better Business Bureau. If the company or persons have had any articles or reviews written about them. Ask around. Try to have some idea of the company or persons creditability.

A few additional things to keep in mind are:

Is SEO there main business or is it a sideline to other businesses. SEO is a full time job. Especially, keeping up with the constant changes. Do they have a specialist? Do they outsource? How much do they really know?

What are there view points on link farms and doorway pages? Will they do anything to get you links and traffic? Even though search engines frown on those practices.

Can they explain to you clearly how their plan of action? Are they looking to take small steps with you? Or, are they trying to sell you the biggest SEO package possible?

Follow this outline when you are searching for someone to optimize your site. In the end it will be worth it.

Work With The Search Engines - Never try to Outsmart the Search Engines

Contrary to the claims of high-priced SEO firms, optimizing your web site for search engines is not brain surgery. But you must first accept the fact that "spiders" - the search engine programs that read web pages - run away from non-HTML code. This is why the first thing any SEO expert does - before
researching keywords or rewriting your copy - is look at your web site code.

If your web pages are full of Javascript, graphical navigation buttons, Flash animation, and other glitzy stuff, your odds of ranking high in the search engines sink like a stone. The spiders may never even find your site, let alone start adding your pages to their search results.

You say you just can't give up those cool Javascript menus or that glitzy Flash intro? Then be prepared to get shunned by the search engines. Spiders are good at only two things: reading basic HTML and finding text. If your sites throw obstacles in their path, resign yourself to obscurity - and poverty!

The most important SEO secret you will ever grasp is incredibly simple. Your web site must be built so spiders can read your text. The text is where the gold is. This means no Flash animations. Your HTML must be plain and clean. Your graphics must be kept to a minimum. And links should always be text - not Javascript buttons or drop-down menus.

Millions of dollars are wasted trying to outfox the search engines. People everywhere scramble from gimmick to gimmick to be #1 for a general search term like "weight loss." Sometimes they even manage to do it - for about 10 minutes. Then one little tweak by Google ... and they're back to #8,734.

The lesson? Neither you, nor any analytical tool, nor any automatic site submission service, nor any SEO guru,
can manipulate Google for long! Google employs too many brilliant engineers. Their minds collectively focus on one task - to make Google results as relevant as possible. These people invent Google's algorithm - a mathematical formula that decides your rank.

The algorithm is impartial. The algorithm is complex. The algorithm - not a human being - decides your page rank. Given the millions of web sites on "weight loss," your odds of outsmarting the algorithm to get a #1 spot
are ludicrously small. So instead of spending money on SEO gimmicks, invest in educating yourself so you can work harmoniously WITH the search engines.

Instead of trying to manipulate the search engines, build a site that doesn't FIGHT them. Avoid questionable gimmicks, but embrace search engine friendly techniques to get yourself ranked
high for almost any keyword you wish. Focus on strategies that help you save time, add real value
to your site, and are designed to work hand in hand with
the search engines.

Don't try to outsmart the search engines. Work WITH them, not against them.