Hiring Search Engine Optimizers

If you've been on the Internet much, you probably know the importance of the search engines. In fact, that's probably how you found out about this newsletter! This week, we're going to take a look at hiring the pros - Search Engine Optimizers (SEOs).

As with any profession, there are good SEOs, bad SEOs, and downright deceitful SEOs. The following are tips to help you find the good ones. Disclaimer: we do provide SEO services; however, these are standards you should apply to all SEOs - even us!

• Demand to see proof that an SEO knows what he/she is doing!
  This may sound obvious, but it's the most important step: verify that the SEO is competent. Ask for a list of sites they have worked on, contact the owners, and - most importantly - check that they show up well in the engines. Believe it or not, some SEOs will claim, "We got suchandsuch.com a #1 ranking on 50 keywords in every major engine," when that site is not even listed in the top 20 slots for any keywords on any major engine! Check it out.
   
• Beware of spam emails
  If you get an email claiming that your site is "not listed in most major search engines and directories," treat it like any other unsolicited email, and realize that these emails refer to "link farms," which are (a) treated as spam by the major engines and (b) useless, anyway. Even Google's webmasters get these! (Scam tip-off: there are NOT 500,000, or even 100, "major" search engines! There are actually fewer than ten truly major ones, whose results are used in many of the other "engines.")
   
• Don't trust #1 ranking guarantees
  Nobody can legally offer a guaranteed ranking on any legitimate search engine; the only people who could are the engine's employee's, for whom it would be illegal. Also, in reference to Google, there is no "priority submit!" If somebody claims an "inside track" or "special access," he/she is lying.
   
• Always ask for clear explanations
  Be sure your SEO will explain clearly what he or she intends to do. Don't accept, "Don't worry about it - just be happy with the results." Some practices can get your site banned from an engine for life.
   
• You should never have to link to an SEO
  First of all, an SEO worth hiring shouldn't depend on client links. In fact, depending on your goals, links to an SEO's page could seriously hurt your own rankings, as well. They certainly won't help, unless the links are reciprocal. (This goes for linking to the SEO's other clients, too.)
   
• Some SEO's may try to "sell" you a "keyword"
  What this really means is a ranking for a keyword in a custom software add-on. Most users do not use these add-ons, and many of those that do use them are connected to the software producer (in other words, these are often "false hits"). Stick with the real engines, which are used by everyone.
   
• Do your homework
  Be sure you know something about the industry; don't just hire the first person who sounds knowledgeable. If you think poor rankings are expensive, imagine being permanently removed from all the major engines, due to a bad SEO's practices!
   
• Be sure you know where the money goes
  Are you paying for clicks? Creation of pages? Ad campaigns? Express listings? Targeted "mini-sites?" Who owns these pages/sites, after the work is done? Don't expect an SEO to reveal all the tricks of the trade, but find out where the money goes, so you know whether or not you're getting your money's worth.
   
• Don't get 200 (or 280, or 1,000) pages made
  If an SEO firm offers you 200+ "hand-built," "fine-tuned" pages, for less than $10,000, do you think they really spend any time on those pages, or even know what they're doing? Myth: hundreds of pages on your site mean instant popularity, even if they're all similar. Fact: the (real) engines won't even bother with those 200 (or 1 million) pages, because they don't say anything unique. "Content is king."
   
• Get recommendations
  Ask around and talk to both real clients and other web professionals about a potential SEO contract.
   
• Get a contract
  Be sure you can get out of your agreement if things go wrong and that you can get your money back if the SEO fails to deliver. There should be a minimum level of service, spelled out in a contract, which the SEO has to perform. That said, you may be asked to put up a deposit for the initial work performed, but there should always be an exit clause.

Hiring an SEO is just like hiring an accountant - some use very smart, ethical means to help you save money, and others are, well, a little less worried about things like the law (or search engine rules). Be sure to find someone you can trust. At Topsail Consulting, we guarantee our work to be effective and within the search engine rules - no funny business that gets you in trouble, just solid rankings.

Contact us now to learn more, get a FREE quote, and learn the latest trick some SEOs are pushing that you must avoid, at all costs!

Death by Meta Tags

Once upon a time, there was a "silver bullet" for the search engines... the meta tags [cue dramatic music]. These magical little words could get your travel agency site a top ranking for the word "banana," if you wanted it, or "boat," or "plane," or "Gilligan's Island." Just stuff the word - any word - a few hundred times into the meta tags, and you'd be there in no time.

Now, folks, that had to come to an end. If, every time you searched for information on bananas, you only got information on cruise boats, the search engines would all go out of business. These days, the major engines all but ignore the <meta> tags; many will even pick up on tags containing too many words or characters and penalize those pages.

If an SEO mentions meta tags as a major part of his or her work, run (don't walk) to the nearest exit. This person doesn't know a modern search engine from a diesel engine, and doesn't value your money, either - as long as you pay up. The meta tags should still be on pages, yes, but only as a fine touch, not as a major focus, and only within the acceptable limits for the major engines.

A Parting Thought

Near the Tennessee - Alabama state line, there is a fireworks store. A huge fireworks store. This store, in appropriately huge letters, had a giant, red slogan on the side of the building:

"Don't get ripped off anywhere else!"

Somebody must have finally pointed out what this implied ("Come get ripped off, here."), because, after years of this sign, it was suddenly gone, one day. As much as that sign made me laugh, it also imparted a valuable lesson: be careful where you spend your money. Just because you've found the biggest, flashiest (and first) fireworks depot on a given Interstate, doesn't mean you're getting the best deal. Just because somebody charges a small fortune and has a billion clients, doesn't mean that person offers services worth a dime.

So, do your homework. Shop around. Then, contact us for your Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing needs. 10% discount for mentioning code TT0807 (expires 8/14)!

See you next time.

Sincerely,

Ed Cottrell, Editor and President