If you are in the market to hire a search engine optimization (SEO) firm, selecting the right vendor can be a daunting task. In recent years, SEO has gained immense popularity and acceptance as a formidable marketing technique, so it should come as no surprise that SEO firms are popping up in various shapes and sizes: one-person SEO consultancies, SEO-only firms, combined SEO/Development firms, traditional ad agencies offering SEO, and even offshore SEO enterprises.

But which of these options will deliver the best results for your business? Which can you trust to suggest – and possibly implement – changes to your site? The fact is that true Web marketing success requires knowing the web business inside-out, including programming, design, usability, and SEO. Here are four reasons to hire a firm that offers both SEO and Web development:

1. Get a truly search friendly site.

SEO-only firms tend to be focused on top rankings. While rankings are important, they won’t mean much if your site’s design and functionality aren’t appealing to your visitors. Even if a site gets heavy traffic, what’s the point if visitors quickly leave and don’t convert?

When selecting a SEO firm, ask yourself these questions:

• Can this vendor optimize a site’s code, images and programming?
• Can they uncover design and programming issues?
• Do they understand Web usability and its effect on conversions?

SEO is about more than just getting – or manipulating the search engines to get – high rankings. It’s about implementing strategies that create an outstanding user experience, resulting in increased traffic, leads, and, most importantly, sales. After all, why go to the trouble and expense of obtaining high rankings if it doesn’t increase your bottom line?

2. Get an SEO team who understands how sites are built.

Sometimes the search engines need a little help “seeing” your site, especially if you have a dynamic or e-commerce site. Search-friendly sites have properly written URLs which avoid characters like a question mark, ampersand or equals sign in the URL since these can create roadblocks for search engine spiders. SEO-friendly URLs are built to eliminate these roadblocks, and as a bonus, a creative programmer can actually incorporate keywords within the URL. If you have URLs on your site like in this example, the search engines may have trouble navigating and indexing your site: [http://www.company.com/products/display_product.jsp?]
prodline=BrandA+MT2FR&brandID=01_COMPANY&mrktarea=Blue+Vehicle&size=Z481%3G66Q27
&style=MNR&style=1847&length=25&shipping=31 [http://www.company.com/products/display_product.jsp?prodline=BrandA+MT2FR&brandID=01_COMPANY&mrktarea=Blue+Vehicle&size=Z481%3G66Q27&style=MNR&style=1847&length=25&shipping=31]

In short, good programming results in pages that are easier to update, easier for the search engines to navigate, load faster, and some would argue, rank higher in the search engines.

3. Get expanded expertise all under one roof.

Want to hire and manage different firms for your SEO, PPC, and design/development? Probably not. One firm means one production timeline and one team handling all your needs, which should result in a more consistent final product. By hiring a company that has development and marketing under one roof, you can simplify the SEO process and save money, too.

While some advertising agencies offer a suite of marketing and public relations services under one roof, oftentimes just a tiny sliver of their business (perhaps one or two people) is dedicated to Web marketing. Simply put, most ad agencies that offer SEO lack the SEO resources to do your job right. It is important to ask who makes up the SEO team: is it one person trying to do everything, or a team of individuals each offering different skills and areas of expertise?

SEO consultants and SEO-only firms, on the other hand, usually have a firm grasp on SEO but either outsource development or provide recommendations to pass on to your development team. If you have ever tried to pass along suggestions from a consultant, you know this can be a challenge. Without fail, unforeseen issues crop up and certain items get misinterpreted between the consultant and the development team. This can mean production delays and unexpected expenses for you. By hiring a firm that does both Web development and SEO, you will find that the development and SEO teams interact with one another to ensure your site’s design, programming, and optimization work together on every level.

4. Get an SEO team that understands – and implements – development changes.

Understanding the development side of a site is especially important if you have a dynamic or e-commerce site, but still important if you have a static site. SEO-only shops, consultants, and ad agencies without a firm grasp on development may not understand the full impact of the site changes they request or, in some cases, even know how to make the right kinds of requests. A team that understands development can ask for – and implement – the right things, the right way. Otherwise, you might end up with a dispute between your development and SEO shops, not getting the development services your site really needs, paying too much for the services, or all of the above.

Do yourself, your Web site, and your business a huge favor: avoid headaches by hiring an SEO shop that knows their way around sites and servers and can make things happen.

Author: Collyn Floyd
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff

There’s been a story brewing for quite some time about the attempt by Jason Gambert to trademark the term “SEO”.

Gambert claims that the words “search engine optimization” have no real linguistic English value beyond being a process;. So, he’s trying to trademark “SEO” as a service, basically claiming that “SEO” itself is Net lingo and has no “Official English linguistic value.”

In his blog, Gambert claims that “I am helping the search engine marketing community establish an approved SEO process, which can be sold as an ‘SEO service.’” He goes on to explain that other industries have standards and guidelines and, as these industries are recognised as services, it means that there is a way for consumers to identify practitioners with credible offerings.

Now, although we can jump on the “fry Gambert” bandwagon and I think that his idea is nothing more than a revenue/copyright ploy, I’m going to leave that to the rest of cyberspace. Instead, Gambert’s comments do raise an age old question that I would like to discuss: Do we need SEO standards?

It’s true that other areas of web development have standards: HTML has validation; w3c produces reams of standards on CSS and XHTML; there are standards for ECMAScript (most commonly JavaScript); but do these really create security amongst web designers and developers?

The SEO industry really does have its share of cheats and con artists. We’ve all heard stories of small business owners getting hoodwinked by SEO scams. Shouldn’t we, as responsible professionals, do something to remove the black-hatters from our field?

Perhaps we should, but is a body of standards the best way to go about it? I’m not convinced that standards will separate the expert from the swindler. Indeed, SEO was effectively started by scam artists – how else would you describe someone distributing spam to a forum in order to increase their own SERP?

Whom would the community trust as members of a body that certifies a person or company is following SEO standards? Never mind that, who would we trust to create those standards in the first place?

Yes, there are respected SEO professionals, but as a whole the industry is young enough to still be a little rough around the edges. Some might argue that this is exactly why we need standards – but consider what would happen if someone tried to create them and enforce them. You’d more than likely get a mess that’s even worse than what Gambert is trying to pull.

Would a body of standards prevent people who don’t do due diligence from getting scammed? No. Will it prevent those who carry the SEO trademark from scamming others? No. Gambert’s trademark claim should be invalidated as the cheap swindle it is and the industry should promote the ideals of SEO experts and educate consumers on what to look for in them; something that I will cover now.

What to Look for in an SEO Expert

Here’s the paradox: Bad SEO works, and works quickly, but will ultimately get you banned from the search engines. So, from a consumer’s point of view, poor (or black hat) SEO appears to give them results that they need. They pay. Then the expert is gone, just in time for the customer’s rankings to start falling like a blind roofer.

Like all things in life, nothing worth having ever comes easy; and quality SEO is no different. When looking for an SEO expert, this is rule number one:

Always ensure that the expert is prepared to offer a medium-to-long term relationship.

SEO is not a one-stop shop. It is not an overnight fix. It requires time to follow your keywords; to establish links and drive traffic from forums, blogs and article sites; to manage on-the-page metatags, titles and internal links; and manage off-the-page anchor text optimisation.
All of this requires the expert to be on hand to compete and monitor the optimisation process. If they are unwilling to offer this, they may be a fly-by-night “expert”.

Does the expert know what they are doing?

This may seem like a very vague and expansive question, especially as consumers may not know what they are expecting of their expert. However, it is a pertinent question nonetheless. You and your SEO expert should look for three things before even attempting to optimise your site:

Are your customers searching for your products and/or services online?

This should be very easy for your expert to determine by putting the appropriate keywords in Wordtracker. It’s not just about whether people are searching for your kind of offerings online, though; it’s also about how many people are searching. If too few people are looking for you online, SEO on this area would be a waste of money – and your expert should advise you of this.

Are your competitors showing up for the terms that you want to target?

This could indicate that your competitors have found it worth their while to spend money on SEO. That doesn’t automatically mean that you will as well, however. Your expert should be able to advise you of the benefits that his/her services will offer.

What effect would an increase in targeted traffic to your web site have on my business?

This is really the most important question. If your web site effectively converts traffic into sales already, then you can expect SEO that increases your traffic to also increase your sales. If it doesn’t, more traffic is not going to translate into more sales.

If, between you and your expert, you can answer these questions positively, then it should be worth continuing with SEO.

What kind of SEO services do you want?

Do you want someone who specialises in on-the-page? Who specialises in content writing? Article submission? Do you want someone that knows all areas of SEO, or maybe someone who’s new to the field (and therefore cheaper)? Do you want to spend money on an AdWords or a PayPerClick campaign?

Fleshing out your requirements and their potential return on investment is the next step with your expert. There’s no hard and fast list of questions that you need to ask next, but there are a few that you should always check with your new hire, to paraphrase Jon Rognerud, writing for Entrepreneur.com:

What ranking guarantees do you provide? No honest, reputable SEO will make any kind of ranking guarantee. If you see anything like “#1 position for your keywords in six weeks!” run the other way.

Are you going to change my web site? The answer to this had better be “yes;” SEO is based on site content and structure.

How do you handle linking? Honest SEOs will explain their approach in great detail and let you see what they do. If they get evasive or claim that they use proprietary software or techniques, they might be engaging in black hat and/or spammy practices.

What are your other services and what is your pricing model? This should be clearly explained, not “sold.” Sure, SEO may be the company’s main service, but it may also do web analytics, pay-per-click, e-mail marketing, social media optimization, and more.

Who are some of your competitors? An honest firm will tell you who their competitors are and provide details.

What are your qualifications? Though no certifications are required for SEO, some things can help, like the Google Advertising Professional program. You may also want to consider time in business, though that’s no guarantee of expertise. Does the firm specialize in certain market segments? This would also be a good time to ask for customer references, just as you would for any contractor.

What kind of traffic results can I expect to see, how soon, and how much will they cost? Don’t judge them on price alone. Some scammy SEO companies will set up a pay-per-click campaign without their clients’ knowledge; the client pays fees every month, and the minute they stop paying, their traffic disappears.

Ideally, you and your SEO form a partnership. They should keep you apprised of what they’re doing and the effects, with weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports. With patience, planning, cooperation, and a lot of research, getting an SEO for your site could be an excellent decision. Good luck!

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Author: Danny Wareham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cellphone news

When you are first deciding on online marketing in order to promote your business online, the main online marketing methods that you will encounter are Organic search engine optimisation and Pay per click advertising such as Google Adwords.

Organic search engine optimisation and Pay pr click advertising are the two main methods of online marketing.  Both these forms of online marketing are aimed at getting highly targeted visitors to your website by making your website rank on search engine results for the keywords that you are targeting.

Ideally a business needs to utilise both, organic Search engine optimisation as well as Pay per click advertising on order to get the maximum exposure for their business online. However cost and budget considerations often result in a business having to make a choice between using organic search engine optimisation or Pay per click advertising for their business.

Before discussing which form of online marketing is better for your business, it is important to understand the difference between organic search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising. Organic search engine optimisation refers to the search results that appear in the main centre section of the search results. Ranking within organic search engine results cannot be bought and ranking is a result of organic non-biased steps taken over a period of time.  It is dependent on the overall popularity of your website on the internet in general among other on site factors. Organic listings are the results that appear in the main section of a search engine such as Google when we search for something. Pay per click advertising on the other hand refers to the paid listing or sponsored results that appear on the right of the search results page and not in main middle section of the page.

Pay per click result is paid for and results are almost immediate to achieve. However there are many drawbacks to pay per click advertising as compared with Organic search engine optimisation. The recent years have seen an exponential rise in competition and a steep rise in pay per click costs. Click fraud is another rising concern in pay per click advertising where an advertiser may be charged for clicks that are not by genuine customers.

1)      Many surveys and search engine marketing studies have pointed than users are more likely to click on organic search results that appear on the main section of the page rather than the paid listings that appear as ads on the right.