Marketing Hints
Well done search engine optimisation, often called SEO for short, is designed to allow websites to show up in search results when people search for goods and services rather than simply company names. The idea is that people trying to find things online are able to search out a business website without the prior familiarity with the business or its name. There are actually all manner of tricks and techniques which fall under SEO, but the good sustainable methods (also sometimes called "white hat SEO") are based around the perception of making your web page easier for search engine to read and understand, meaning they rank you higher in searches for appropriately relevant terms.
It really is not uncommon to decide to outsource SEO to external marketing agencies as well as other companies, but you will find far too many dodgy types around who like to take companies seeking SEO - especially local and small businesses - for an extremely expensive ride. How then does one actually go about finding a great, honest and legitimate search engine marketer?
It's actually incredibly easy to find a decent seo agency (mouse click on Nhna Edu) online. Go to a search engine like Google or Bing and type in "SEO agency." Ignoring the paid ads at the top, whichever firm has landed at the very best of the search results are what you want - they has to be pretty good at SEO or their own website wouldn't be so high within the natural listings!
To narrow things down a bit, you can try extending your search. Say you live in Essex and want a local agency - just type in "SEO agency Essex." Or maybe if your site is specialised and you want particular help with it you can add your industry or site type - "SEO tourism" or "SEO eCommerce" for example. This can be a great way to seek out niche SEO agencies who have specialist knowledge in your field.
Sometimes SEO agencies (or at least people claiming to be SEO agencies) try to solicit companies by sending them emails or submitting contact forms with various enticements and offers. However if you see something like this come in then it really is best to ignore it - if a company which supposedly specialises in search engine optimisation is reduced to spamming inboxes to get business rather than, say, doing SEO so their own website ranks highly and people can find them anyway, chances are they are not very good. The exact same is true of SEO services advertised on paid ads at the top of search engines or on banner ads on other web pages. If their search marketing is any good, what makes them having to pay for their placements?
Another thing to bear in mind is to steer well clear of any SEO agency that promises you "top position for x keywords" or something similar. Nearly all modern search engines used personalised searching, meaning that everybody sees web sites in slightly different ranking positions depending on their personal search history. Absolute rankings are a thing of the past, any anyone claiming to deliver this kind of service is lying through their teeth. Modern SEO shall utilize sustainable "white hat" techniques as a way to bring useful traffic to your website, not use exploits and dodgy tricks, which will constantly get them slapped by search engine updates like Google's infamous Panda and Penguin algorithm changes.
Once you have found an SEO company that looks mostly all right you are going to need to ask them some questions before you leap into their services. And also the normal checks like existing client list and testimonials, it really is a good idea to talk to someone directly on the phone or even in person. Here are several good questions to ask them.
Who does their search marketing work? Is it handled by in-house staff? Do they do any outsourcing, especially to foreign companies? A lot of agencies outsource to cheap link builders in Asia who have a tendency to produce very low quality work that may have a negative influence on sites in the medium to long term.
How often do they report, and what format do these reports take? Any professional SEO agency should be providing regular updates to all its clients, together with written reports detailing actions taken and progress made.
What kind of skills and qualifications do they have? Take a look-at their existing client lists for almost any recognisable big names, and see should they have anyone who is Analytics qualified. Some companies even use quality standards like ISO 9001 which is definitely an excellent sign.
What else do they do? A lot of these companies are primarily website designers who are resellers for outsourced SEO services to boost their profits. It is better to look for an online marketing specialist to make sure that you get the best quality service.
Should you not possess the money to employ a professional SEO agency there are additional options available. Some companies will let you pay for a one off website review to make recommendations on the way to improve your site from a search marketing perspective, or you can research current techniques and ideas to do SEO for yourself.
