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Answer Upon - Shopping for an SEO Consultant: 5 Key Questions to Ask
If you're the boss, you have to give directions. It's part of the job.Do the job well and you only have to do it once. Do the job poorly and you have to do it again. You might even have to fix things that have been done wrong. Here are three rules and twelve tips for giving good instructions.First, here's a quick list of the three rules.Rule 1: Give instructions in the ways that work best for your subordinate Rule 2: Give your directions in more than one way Rule 3: Check for understandingNow let's review the rules in detail.Rule 1: Give instructions in the ways that work best for your subordinate. Different people process information in different ways. To be most effective,
4. Do you have a writer on staff?
Many aspects of search engine optimization are technical in nature. But you must remember the audience you ultimately want to win over consists of people, not search engines. This is where writers come into the picture.
All too often, I see Internet marketing managers and website owners develop SEO tunnel vision. These people become so concerned with "pleasing search engines" that it clouds their judgment. "Search engines will love this copy," the argument goes, despite the fact that the copy sounds like a four-year-old wrote it. (No offense
Hindi is the mother tongue of every Indian and also the binding language of India. Despite the presence of various regional languages Hindi is the only language which is spoken all over India whether it southern India or northern India. Majority of the Indian population is highly comfortable in speaking and even reading Hindi language. That’s why Indian Hindi newspapers are very popular.Indian Hindi newspapers got a new lease of life when various English dailies launched their Hindi versions. This launch saw the emergence of various Indian Hindi newspapers which took the Indian population with a stride. Among all these Indian Hindi newspapers Dainik Bhaskar steals the show. Dainik Bhaskar is one of the India’s most
Unfortunately, SEO professionals do not have to pass a competency test or obtain certification. All kinds of folks refer to themselves as SEO consultants, regardless of their actual qualifications.
So how do you tell good from bad when shopping for an SEO consultant? By asking the right questions, that's how. Here are five key questions to start with:
1. How do you go about choosing the right phrases?
Search engine optimization centers around two things -- key search phrases and visibility for those phrases. But it all starts with the phrases themselves. If an SEO company or consultant has trouble answering this question, or if they say, "Our clients usually handle that" ... then keep shopping.
A good SEO company will get to know your company, your products or services, and your audience. And they will (or should) help connect these things by incorporating the right language into your website.
2. What kind of "black hat" techniques do you use?
In the SEO industry, black hat techniques are those techniques that violate Google's guidelines for webmasters. They include such tactics as cloaking, domain masking, hidden text, and other attempts to trick search engines into thinking a site is larger or more relevant than it really is.
Such techniques can get your website banned from Google. Yes, your website could actually be purged from Google's database. It happens every day. It happened to a European division of BMW, a major online printing company, and hundreds of others who thought they could outsmart the system. Just enter the phrase "banned from Google" into any major search engine and see what I mean.
I know what you're thinking. "How can somebody who gets paid to improve search engine rankings afford to get clients banned from a search engine?" Easily. They do it until their reputation goes down the toilet. Then they close up shop and re-launch under a new name. Of course by then, you're out thousands of dollars and your website is banned from Google. Ouch!
Ask yourself this. Is manipulating your way to the top of the search engines worthwhile if you later lose your rankings entirely? Could you handle scrapping everything you've worked for and starting over again from scratch? Probably not. So if an SEO company gives you a list of the black hat techniques they use, tell them goodbye.
3. What SEO techniques do you use in general?
If an SEO company tries to keep secrets from you, there's probably a reason. A search engine optimization company should be proud to talk about their SEO techniques. Unless, of course, their techniques have caused more harm than good (see question #2 above). "Sorry, but we don't disclose our techniques" can usually be translated as "We're ashamed to disclose our techniques."
4. Do you have a writer on staff?
Many aspects of search engine optimization are technical in nature. But you must remember the audience you ultimately want to win over consists of people, not search engines. This is where writers come into the picture.
All too often, I see Internet marketing managers and website owners develop SEO tunnel vision. These people become so concerned with "pleasing search engines" that it clouds their judgment. "Search engines will love this copy," the argument goes, despite the fact that the copy sounds like a four-year-old wrote it. (No offense t
Since the introduction of the internet, many people have realized the advantage of using it as a tool for research and information gathering. And through the years, Google has become one of the most prominent search engines due to its simplicity of usage. Internet users find it very convenient to use Google’s search capability to find new information about various topics.Google uses a very sophisticated system that employs the use of algorithm, the PageRank algorithm. This is a search method that enables the web portal to effectively search for web pages based on a particular search request.The early development of web pages used a system that is generally different from the concept of page ranking. Even toda
Search engine optimization centers around two things -- key search phrases and visibility for those phrases. But it all starts with the phrases themselves. If an SEO company or consultant has trouble answering this question, or if they say, "Our clients usually handle that" ... then keep shopping.
A good SEO company will get to know your company, your products or services, and your audience. And they will (or should) help connect these things by incorporating the right language into your website.
2. What kind of "black hat" techniques do you use?
In the SEO industry, black hat techniques are those techniques that violate Google's guidelines for webmasters. They include such tactics as cloaking, domain masking, hidden text, and other attempts to trick search engines into thinking a site is larger or more relevant than it really is.
Such techniques can get your website banned from Google. Yes, your website could actually be purged from Google's database. It happens every day. It happened to a European division of BMW, a major online printing company, and hundreds of others who thought they could outsmart the system. Just enter the phrase "banned from Google" into any major search engine and see what I mean.
I know what you're thinking. "How can somebody who gets paid to improve search engine rankings afford to get clients banned from a search engine?" Easily. They do it until their reputation goes down the toilet. Then they close up shop and re-launch under a new name. Of course by then, you're out thousands of dollars and your website is banned from Google. Ouch!
Ask yourself this. Is manipulating your way to the top of the search engines worthwhile if you later lose your rankings entirely? Could you handle scrapping everything you've worked for and starting over again from scratch? Probably not. So if an SEO company gives you a list of the black hat techniques they use, tell them goodbye.
3. What SEO techniques do you use in general?
If an SEO company tries to keep secrets from you, there's probably a reason. A search engine optimization company should be proud to talk about their SEO techniques. Unless, of course, their techniques have caused more harm than good (see question #2 above). "Sorry, but we don't disclose our techniques" can usually be translated as "We're ashamed to disclose our techniques."
4. Do you have a writer on staff?
Many aspects of search engine optimization are technical in nature. But you must remember the audience you ultimately want to win over consists of people, not search engines. This is where writers come into the picture.
All too often, I see Internet marketing managers and website owners develop SEO tunnel vision. These people become so concerned with "pleasing search engines" that it clouds their judgment. "Search engines will love this copy," the argument goes, despite the fact that the copy sounds like a four-year-old wrote it. (No offense
For many meeting planners, technology is all about helping us perform our jobs more efficiently – from online registration systems, printing name badges, tracking attendees and managing budgets. Sometimes it may be easy to forget that technology plays a very important role in an attendee’s experience. Below are some ways technology can improve that experience.Wow - That Was a Great Presentation! In today’s world of instant information, near constant Internet access and ever-changing technology, attendees are beginning to expect more than just a single speaker reading off of PowerPoint slides. Technology makes it easy to really jazz up your presentations and begin to truly engage your audience. PowerPoint
Such techniques can get your website banned from Google. Yes, your website could actually be purged from Google's database. It happens every day. It happened to a European division of BMW, a major online printing company, and hundreds of others who thought they could outsmart the system. Just enter the phrase "banned from Google" into any major search engine and see what I mean.
I know what you're thinking. "How can somebody who gets paid to improve search engine rankings afford to get clients banned from a search engine?" Easily. They do it until their reputation goes down the toilet. Then they close up shop and re-launch under a new name. Of course by then, you're out thousands of dollars and your website is banned from Google. Ouch!
Ask yourself this. Is manipulating your way to the top of the search engines worthwhile if you later lose your rankings entirely? Could you handle scrapping everything you've worked for and starting over again from scratch? Probably not. So if an SEO company gives you a list of the black hat techniques they use, tell them goodbye.
3. What SEO techniques do you use in general?
If an SEO company tries to keep secrets from you, there's probably a reason. A search engine optimization company should be proud to talk about their SEO techniques. Unless, of course, their techniques have caused more harm than good (see question #2 above). "Sorry, but we don't disclose our techniques" can usually be translated as "We're ashamed to disclose our techniques."
4. Do you have a writer on staff?
Many aspects of search engine optimization are technical in nature. But you must remember the audience you ultimately want to win over consists of people, not search engines. This is where writers come into the picture.
All too often, I see Internet marketing managers and website owners develop SEO tunnel vision. These people become so concerned with "pleasing search engines" that it clouds their judgment. "Search engines will love this copy," the argument goes, despite the fact that the copy sounds like a four-year-old wrote it. (No offense
Simply put, public relations helps organization X reach its target audience Y. The means to reach the target audience vary — advertising, brochures, direct mail, newsletters, special events and media relations — to name a few.Often, public relations is the ability to make something ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary.Media relations is an area that gets a significant amount of attention. For many, it remains a mystery as to how a story gets into a publication.Media relations is the art of building relationships of trust and mutual interest with reporters. It’s a step up from publicity for your product, service or event, or asking reporters and editors to do your marketing for you. Remembe
Ask yourself this. Is manipulating your way to the top of the search engines worthwhile if you later lose your rankings entirely? Could you handle scrapping everything you've worked for and starting over again from scratch? Probably not. So if an SEO company gives you a list of the black hat techniques they use, tell them goodbye.
3. What SEO techniques do you use in general?
If an SEO company tries to keep secrets from you, there's probably a reason. A search engine optimization company should be proud to talk about their SEO techniques. Unless, of course, their techniques have caused more harm than good (see question #2 above). "Sorry, but we don't disclose our techniques" can usually be translated as "We're ashamed to disclose our techniques."
4. Do you have a writer on staff?
Many aspects of search engine optimization are technical in nature. But you must remember the audience you ultimately want to win over consists of people, not search engines. This is where writers come into the picture.
All too often, I see Internet marketing managers and website owners develop SEO tunnel vision. These people become so concerned with "pleasing search engines" that it clouds their judgment. "Search engines will love this copy," the argument goes, despite the fact that the copy sounds like a four-year-old wrote it. (No offense
At last after all the hype The Guru Slayer, by Andrew Fox, has been released.Is it a moneymaking magnet?Does it deliver successful affiliate marketing tips?Will it end your search for home business products?Having just read this ebook I would have to say that it does have a lot of useful tips in it BUT it fell short in some departments.The book focuses largely on setting up your own product to sell and how to go about marketing the product. This starts as early as chapter 2. This, in my view, does not help any newbie who wants to try their hand at internet marketing. I don’t know about you but I didn’t have a product to sell when I first started out. So from the start we have established
4. Do you have a writer on staff?
Many aspects of search engine optimization are technical in nature. But you must remember the audience you ultimately want to win over consists of people, not search engines. This is where writers come into the picture.
All too often, I see Internet marketing managers and website owners develop SEO tunnel vision. These people become so concerned with "pleasing search engines" that it clouds their judgment. "Search engines will love this copy," the argument goes, despite the fact that the copy sounds like a four-year-old wrote it. (No offense to any literary prodigies out there.)
Search engines are not your ultimate goal. They are only a path to your ultimate goal. For these reasons and many more, it's critical for an SEO company to have in-house writing talent. If an SEO company tells you they don't think copywriting is a big part of SEO ... then beware. Your web pages will likely be written for search engines only, with little thought given to the art of persuasive, well-written copy.
5. Have you ever operated under a different name?
Don't think you're being invasive by asking this question. You're being smart, and you're looking out for your company's best interests. Remember, you'll probably end up paying thousands of dollars for comprehensive SEO services, so you deserve full disclosure.
Why ask this question? Let me illustrate with a personal story.
A couple of years ago, I had a pool put in my backyard. We conducted a lot of online research to find a pool builder. One company we screened was practically off the radar. I couldn't find anything about them on the Internet, despite the fact they claimed to be a local pool builder for over a decade.
So then I asked if they'd ever operated under a different name. They said yes, and I diligently began searching for their previous name online. Yikes! What I got was a series of unresolved complaints, disputes and other red flags. The company had "earned" such a bad reputation that they had to close down shop and reopen under a new name.
This happens in every industry, and search engine optimization is no different. So ask the question, even if you feel uncomfortable doing so.
Conclusion
Obviously, these are not the only questions you should ask an SEO company. These are just the questions people often overlook. Add them to your own list of pre-screening questions, and you'll have a much better chance of finding the SEO consultant that's right for you.
* Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett. You may republish this article online if you retain the active hyperlinks below.
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