Last post Part 1 of Interviewing Your Potential SEO Company covered the issues of experience of the prospective team and the process used by the SEO company to attain stated objectives. This weeks Part 2 covers the area of partnership between the prospective SEO company and your business. These questions are designed to help determine whether the company is going to take an active interest in the success of your business or just punch the clock and charge the monthly search engine optimization fees.

On the partnership:

• How often will we communicate” The specific schedule for briefings isnt as important as determining that communications between parties is both open and encouraged. Reporting should be done monthly to monitor progress while other communications can take place as events warrant. The biggest warning sign here would be a Dont call us, well call you type of response. If you get that, head for the door.
• What is our timeline and how will we define success” An SEO company with experience and integrity will be able to provide estimates on your timeline but will never guarantee a result. Should the company youre interviewing respond with a front page guarantee within a certain time, they are simply telling you what you want hear in order to make the sale. Success can be defined in a number of ways including a ranking on the front page of the search engines for defined keywords. While this may be the most popular measure, there are other metrics for calculating success which may be more important such as a positive return on the investment for search engine optimization, regardless of page ranking.
• Can you help build my business beyond your SEO efforts” This is big one. Working with a company that can bring new ideas to the table for your business can make a huge difference in your bottom line. This ability and willingness of a company to provide advice and guidance is probably the biggest difference between a relationship with a vendor and one with a partner.

Search engine optimization is a process conducted in a competitive environment with an ever-changing landscape. The best SEO companies wont be afraid to tell you that. Ask the questions listed above and last week and listen to the answers. The separation between the companies that can deliver and those that cant will become very clear.

Once the decision has been made to hire an SEO company, the next and most important step is to ensure that youre hiring the right one. Once the search for an SEO company begins, it becomes quickly apparent that the general message from each company is very similar on three points:

1. Getting to page one on the search engines
2. How fast its going to happen
3. The cost of making it happen

To ensure that you are going to be working with an SEO company that can deliver the goods, its important to dive deeper into each companys level of experience, how their process works, and whether their process has been successful for other clients. The following questions, divided into Part 1 and next weeks Part 2, should provide some answers to help you clarify which company will be the best to suit your needs, drive targeted traffic to your site, and improve the conversion rates from your sites visitors.On experience and the process:

• How long have you been in business” Hiring a new company always carries its share of risks ranging from how well funded they are to their in-house skill sets. Dont let a discounted price distract you from these key issues. Insist on multiple years in business with a broad client list.
• Tell me about your SEO process If the process doesnt start with extensive research on keywords and the competitive environment, run away. A process that doesnt define its starting point through thorough research is not going to reach its objectives. A company that bases its SEO work on initial research will be able to define the fastest and most cost effective path to success.
• Can you show me some of your successes” Front page success with targeted traffic and conversions is what youre looking for and if the company has done it with others youre on the right track. Take it one step further and see if you can talk to the companies which have had successful campaigns run for them.
• How many employees do you have” Avoid one or two man shops whenever possible. Regardless of the talent level, the risk here is that, should they get more work than they can handle or a larger client, your project will end up being outsourced or put on the back burner.
• Have you done search engine optimization for anyone else in my industry” Industry specific experience may not be critical as most SEO work follows similar paths. If they are working with other businesses in the same industry, determine whether there will be any conflict issues, especially if both businesses are competing in the same local area.

There are two old clichs which apply directly to SEO; You get what you pay for, and Actions speak louder than words. To be sure youre working with an SEO that will deliver, dont be fooled by discounted prices and make sure that each companys actions have yielded success.

Once the decision is made to outsource your search engine optimization, the next move is to decide on which SEO company will deliver results, visitors, and conversions in the most cost effective manner. The issue which traps many website owners is that the most tangible aspect of this decision making process is the cost of the project. Under this perception, essential issues such as keyword research, analysis of the existing competition, and the development of a marketing strategy can take a back seat to the priority of writing the smallest check possible. Whether a website owner is shopping on price only or an SEO company is selling their services on the cheap, the end result is usually the same; money spent with nothing to show for it. Here are few SEO scenarios based on price first, results second:

1. The kid – While their intentions are probably entirely honorable, your friends suggestion that their son who is home for summer is the right man for the job at the right price isnt likely to work out well. Even if things do go well what happens when school starts in the fall”
2. The moonlighter He may work in the business or may just be great with computers but trusting an SEO campaign to someone whos going to do it as a side job is doomed to failure for one simple reason. Its highly unlikely that a moonlighter will have the necessary time to execute a successful SEO campaign even if he has the skill set for it.
3. Page one promises, low cost, no traffic There are page one listings on the search engines which generate tons of targeted traffic as a result of keyword research and the execution of the resulting marketing strategy. Then there are those which generate none. The difference is that the page one listings which generate nothing are typically based on long tail (7 to 9 word) key phrases which may have some relevance to the site but generate no searches. In this scenario, the SEO company puts up a front page listing, collects the money from the site owner, and delivers nothing.

All successful SEO campaigns start with extensive keyword and keyphrase research. This research then determines where opportunities exist to drive targeted traffic in the most expeditious and cost effective manner possible. What follows are time consuming (often 100+ hours per month) and labor-intensive activities such as link-building, article submissions, blog posting and a host of others. Over time, these activities play out resulting in larger numbers of targeted traffic which finds its way to your site through the search engines. While it may be tempting to shop on price assuming the end result will be a positive, there are no short cuts to this formula.

The promise of instant first page results on Google by some SEO companies may work for nine word, long-tail keyphrases but the reality for long term success in search engine optimization is something quite different. What works with SEO is when it becomes a habit, an ongoing process which starts with exhaustive research and then requires constant testing, man-hours, and analysis in order to provide the best results possible.

The countless moving parts of SEO also require monitoring on an ongoing basis. These changes may include algorithm changes at the search engines, changes in the competitive landscape, the introduction of a new product from your own company, or the addition of a new search engine such as Microsoft’s “Bing”. Whatever the circumstances may be, turning the following activities into habits will improve your SEO results and increase the numbers of targeted traffic to your site, which in turn can lead to higher conversion numbers:

• Research - Any SEO effort, in order to be successful, must begin with a deep dive into keyword and keyphrase research. This advance research can determine the keywords and phrases which are highly competitive versus those which may drive targeted traffic but are being ignored or utilized minimally by competitors. This allows for resources to be directed at winnable searches versus highly competitive ones, which typically proves to be more cost effective and result in a much higher return on investment. High rankings on search engine results pages, as a benefit of going after less competitive keywords, will also occur much faster.
• Analysis - Analyzing what is happening on your site must become a habit as well, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Google provides a ton of free data and tools which provide information on several areas including what keywords you are ranking for, which keywords are driving traffic to your site and which ones aren’t, which pages have been indexed, where inbound links are coming from, and where the problems are on your site. The information allows for constant insight into what is working and what isn’t both on the site and for off-site efforts.
• Upgrading your site - Habitual site analysis will lead the ability to fix and improve the weak points on the website. For example, if a large percentage of visitors is leaving after visiting a specific page, it’s likely that there is some sort of issue there whether it’s a broken link, bad content, confusing navigation, or something else. Constantly looking for weaknesses, making adjustments, and making sure your site is maintained can make a huge difference in keeping visitors on your site, which in turn improves the chances for conversion.
• Testing and retesting - Test everything you do in your search engine optimization efforts. If changes are made, test those too. Keyword trends can change, content can get stale, and that new shopping cart may be confusing potential purchasers but you won’t know it unless you’re constantly testing and measuring the performance of your site.

Search engine optimization requires constant attention on multiple fronts to provide consistently superior results. Only by making SEO a habitual practice can a website owner maximize efforts, resources, and outcomes to keep traffic and conversions growing quarter to quarter. In many cases, the work required for habitual SEO can be too prohibitive to be done properly in-house. GMR Web Team specializes in all the areas of habitual search engine optimization, generating superior results on a consistent basis. For more information on running a successful SEO campaign visit www.gmrwebteam.com or call (714) 731 9000.

Google does a googly and keeps changing its search parameters; SEO is no longer as predictable as before.

But, an online business is a survival business and to survive the fundamentals must be strong.

I was analyzing a few sites yesterday for the keyword “custom frames”. From the onset it was clear that the good old sites were at the top. But Surprise! Deeper analysis showed that the traffic to the ones at the lowly #5 and #7 were more than those at #2 and #3. How could this be possible? I did some research, could they be on #1 for dome other keywords?

No they were not.

So the logical deduction was that they were getting better referral traffic- either through some other site, WOM publicity or social media sites. What made others refer those sites?

The on-site analysis showed that the sites were well constructed and one could navigate them instinctively. This means that they were friendly. The first step in Great Customer Service! Their feedback section was easy. And it seemed that they were really incorporating those feedbacks.

There were no broken links, no ads popping up. No unnecessary pages and the checkout was easy.

To me it was a back to basics lesson. Search engine optimization has moved focus from customer experience to search engine experience. The only thing that this website did was to maintain their website very well. The rest followed.

Online markets revolve around search engines. Your competitor is optimizing their online business too. It seems like there is no longer a niche. The competition is intense and nerve racking.  So getting a target audience is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.

The only way out of this competitive market is a killer campaign that will enhance your position in search engines. SEO services are not that important these days rather what holds importance is effective SEO techniques. Gone are the days when hiring a professional who could make your website search engine optimized, was enough. Today’s world calls for exclusive and successful SEO techniques.

Persuasive SEO content has been of prime importance in improving search engine results of a website. Search engines are fond of original and fresh content. By putting new content you ensure that search engines come to your website. If you add relevant and targeted keywords, you can get better search engine rankings. You would need a professional for assistance because these keywords should not be stuffed and should look irrelevant in the website. Apart from using apt keywords, other optimization techniques like text optimization, image optimization and flash optimization can be used. It is generally known as on site optimization techniques.

New trends in SEO include geographic optimization. It includes web pages that are apt for search engine rankings for users that look for services in a specific geographic region. Include your address in your website footer. Signup here at the mother of all search enginesà www.Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter

Social bookmaking is another trend that has been there for a while now. There are endless social media websites that can be helpful in improving link popularity. You will be able to get quality and focused traffic by doing so. Use of social bookmarking sites ensures that you are being read. So get your team into bookmarking your content!

Tweeting is a good SEO technique. You can capture your target market well by using twitter. Twitter provides valuable search engine tools that can help you find potential clients easily. Make use of keywords that represent your business and get a list of prospective consumers as your followers. You can start following them and there would be a lot following you too. Start posting information about your services and products once people start following you. This is a great way to create awareness about your brand while improving your search engine rankings. So get a Tweeter account today.
 
Here is a Case Study of how Twitter helped a small business owner:
http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/02/twitter-drives-traffic-sales-a.html

Here is something very interesting happened with the help of Twitter:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/traveltips/08/06/travel.social.media/index.html

Videos get organic traffic to one’s site too. Now, marketers look forward to universal traffic. Websites these days need to contain more than just text- more content and even videos. Podcasts let the marketers beat competition with flying colors. These podcasts are part of audios and videos and are present all over web. A website is required to fill up the niche and provide high quality and useful content in order to taste success. Using podcasting can be useful as means of delivering content while assisting webmaster to meet both these goals.

You can easily increase your authority by podcasting. You will be able to be the market leader. Podcasting lets you connect with the new audience. You will have a great opportunity to connect to a new type of audience. A lot of people are not interested in blogs and information on your website. By podcasting, you can connect with this set of people.

Wait no more, if you want to rule the search engines, do not just use SEO techniques rather make use of revised SEO techniques.

SEO is a process in which websites are optimized for improving natural rankings on the search engines. Need of SEO came to fore after boom in online business. Increasing popularity of ecommerce and marketing along with more companies jumping in the ecommerce bandwagon, SEO has become need of the hour. If you want your website to skyrocket in the leading search engines without burning a hole in your pocket, use the following tips.

You can initiate by researching for an efficient niche. It is important to develop yourself as an expert in your field. You will get more traffic on your website if you are the leader of your niche.One should have complete information about the competitors to make improvements in the website. You should plan the website in accordance with SEO guidelines in order to make it search engine friendly. It should be convenient to crawl; addition of the sitemap can be helpful in easing up things.

Conduct a capable keyword research for your website. Rather than going for the keywords that are most searched, look for long tail keywords. For the development of any website, keyword research is a crucial step. If you are looking for good results in search engines, carry out the keyword research properly. With inculcation of appropriate keyword in your web pages, your website can jump to better rankings in leading search engines without any hassles.

Fresh and unique content is also of prime importance in making your website reach high on the search engines. Visitors are not interested in stale content; they want something that is refreshing and informational to grip their attention. To survive the high competition in online business, it is important for the business owners to update their websites with refreshing content every now and then. You can have more traffic on your website with the regularly updated content. Submit your website to directories to gain link popularity. There are many online directories where you can submit your site for free. You do not need to pay a penny for enhancing your company’s visibility now.

Try forum posting which helps in link popularity too. You can actively participate in different forum discussions and get traffic to your website. Choose the forums that go with the subject of your website. By being an active participant in a related forum, you can attract other members to your products and services. Just by dropping the link of your website as signature in the end of your posts, you can get traffic on your website, you can get traffic on your website. Forum posting is one of important link building techniques that can be used by business owners. You can also become a member of many forums at the same time.

The popularity of social networking sites has provided the business owners with an effective way to increase their website’s traffic. You can participate in the sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for interacting with people and increasing the awareness about your brand.

In a press event held on 12/07/09, an announcement of Google adding real time results to its Internet search engine was made, channeling feeds from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other fresh content into responses to queries. Users will get results on results page as they are being produced out there. This is the first time ever that a search engine has integrated the real time Web into the results page. Twitter feeds were in Google real-time results on Monday, but Facebook and MySpace updates will not be integrated until possibly as late as February of next year.