How many times have you heard a client ask why they are being charged a monthly fee for your services. Unless you are actively participating in a reciprocal linking campaign, this may not seem all that apparent. Typically, it is also common for an SEO to request 15-30% annual fees upfront, and then the remaining amount spread over 11 or 12 monthly payments.
As an SEO, you understand just what is involved (and there are many aspects!) in constantly tweaking and changing a web site to achieve the ultimate SERP. Sounds like a sales pitch? Its actually true.
When a site gets code for search engine optimization (SEO), there are many elements that are looked at and modified. Most changes are behind the scenes, and will make changes to Meta Tags, page titles, file naming structure and file configuration to name a few.
What most people are not aware of is that when a site is initially coded, it has had research conducted on it, and decisions are made based on that research. However, as times change, and keyword phrases change, the coding must be updated as well.
It's in these moments that a good SEO service will make the update with no disruption to the current site, yet it will yield the benefits of the constant monitoring. If the site is already established, these changes can be seen within a few days. If the site is newer, it may take some time and patience to see anything tangible.
It's similar to web hosting. You pay a certain fee each month to make sure your site is up. But within those costs, you are paying for the latest security, Anti-virus software, equipment and software updates that protect your site. And don't forget the salary and overhead of the company or consultant.
Another reason a monthly fee is applied is that you are also paying for the expertise of the SEO service. Would you rather have a doctor operate on you that's only had 2 procedures? Or the doctor that has performed thousands of operations?
A bonus of the monthly fee is that when you add content to your site, it should pass by the SEO service so that they can ensure the friendliness of the new page for the search engines. Remember, each page is judged on it's own in the search engines, so every page is critical to the success of your site.
Just some things to keep in mind when you engage a company to perform SEO services for your site. Those people are really earning their money.
Friday, 29 August 2008
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
15 points for an SEO client to remember
Being an SEO can be really stressful at times, especially when your client doesn't understand SEO or things they know more than they do.
Below are a list of things that you should consider before working with an SEO.
1. Trust your SEO person or company
2. SEO isn't a magic overnight fix and it takes time.
3. Have reasonable expectations on what SEO can do
4. Look at SEO as a partner to bring success to your online business
5. SEO is more than ranking and traffic. It's about conversions and monitoring channels of success.
6. SEO isn't everything. Don't rely on SEO to bring in all your traffic or you could miss out on other opportunities.
8. Prepare to pay for quality work. You get what you pay for
9. Remember that adding more work to the already agreed project will cost money.
10. Learn the basics of SEO to save your SEOs time by not asking basic questions
11. Prepare to create content (or hire a copywriter, or have SEO create the content as another project)
12. Do not change what a SEO has done to your website.
13. If you want to redesign, consult an expert to keep your website SEO friendly
14. SEO isn't a one-time effort. Remember that stopping or putting your project on hold can damage all the good work done previously.
15. Ask and answer questions
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Below are a list of things that you should consider before working with an SEO.
1. Trust your SEO person or company
2. SEO isn't a magic overnight fix and it takes time.
3. Have reasonable expectations on what SEO can do
4. Look at SEO as a partner to bring success to your online business
5. SEO is more than ranking and traffic. It's about conversions and monitoring channels of success.
6. SEO isn't everything. Don't rely on SEO to bring in all your traffic or you could miss out on other opportunities.
8. Prepare to pay for quality work. You get what you pay for
9. Remember that adding more work to the already agreed project will cost money.
10. Learn the basics of SEO to save your SEOs time by not asking basic questions
11. Prepare to create content (or hire a copywriter, or have SEO create the content as another project)
12. Do not change what a SEO has done to your website.
13. If you want to redesign, consult an expert to keep your website SEO friendly
14. SEO isn't a one-time effort. Remember that stopping or putting your project on hold can damage all the good work done previously.
15. Ask and answer questions
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Sunday, 3 August 2008
New Fanatical SEO Web Site online now
To help promote awareness of SEO, and the services that we offer we have built a new website around our Fanatical SEO service.
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Database Driven Sites and SEO - Part 2
The next five points in our database driven sites and SEO series are as follows:
6. Too many query strings - this is a common bugbear of the professional SEO, where complicated database selections create deep levels of pages, but with seven or eight &id= type strings. Additionally, some bad development methodology can leave pages with null query strings that appear in every URL but don't do anything. The answer to this is generally URL rewrites, creating much more search engine friendly and user-friendly URLs!
7. Putting query strings in different orders when accessed through different places - this can create duplicate content issues, which can cause major penalties.
8. Not using user language to generate automated pages - if you are going to create a database driven website that uses words in the query strings (or better in rewritten URLs) make sure that you use words that will help you with SEO - if you sell widgets, make sure you are using the word widgets somewhere in the URL instead of just product= or id= - keyword research can assist with this.
9. Not allowing the meta data and title to be edited easily after the site build. It is possible to hardcode the generation of meta information into a database that doesn't allow it to be edited later. Creating a mechanism for modifying this information initially helps everyone at a later stage when the information needs changing without shoehorning it into an already developed structure.
10. Creating keyword stuffed pages by using auto-generation. Once upon a time, search engines quite liked pages with high densities of your keywords, but now these are likely to get you marked down rather than up. So be aware when creating pages that long pages with lots of your products on can create too high a density. For instance listing blue widgets, light blue widgets, navy blue widgets, sky blue widgets is going to create a page with a very dense page for the phrase "blue widgets".
These are just 10 of the most common potential optimisation pitfalls when creating dynamic websites. There are many more facets to producing a great database driven site, including user friendliness, speed, performance and security, but they all add together to make the best solution to your needs.
6. Too many query strings - this is a common bugbear of the professional SEO, where complicated database selections create deep levels of pages, but with seven or eight &id= type strings. Additionally, some bad development methodology can leave pages with null query strings that appear in every URL but don't do anything. The answer to this is generally URL rewrites, creating much more search engine friendly and user-friendly URLs!
7. Putting query strings in different orders when accessed through different places - this can create duplicate content issues, which can cause major penalties.
8. Not using user language to generate automated pages - if you are going to create a database driven website that uses words in the query strings (or better in rewritten URLs) make sure that you use words that will help you with SEO - if you sell widgets, make sure you are using the word widgets somewhere in the URL instead of just product= or id= - keyword research can assist with this.
9. Not allowing the meta data and title to be edited easily after the site build. It is possible to hardcode the generation of meta information into a database that doesn't allow it to be edited later. Creating a mechanism for modifying this information initially helps everyone at a later stage when the information needs changing without shoehorning it into an already developed structure.
10. Creating keyword stuffed pages by using auto-generation. Once upon a time, search engines quite liked pages with high densities of your keywords, but now these are likely to get you marked down rather than up. So be aware when creating pages that long pages with lots of your products on can create too high a density. For instance listing blue widgets, light blue widgets, navy blue widgets, sky blue widgets is going to create a page with a very dense page for the phrase "blue widgets".
These are just 10 of the most common potential optimisation pitfalls when creating dynamic websites. There are many more facets to producing a great database driven site, including user friendliness, speed, performance and security, but they all add together to make the best solution to your needs.
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