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Internet Marketing and SEO
What is SEO?
What does SEO involve?
Why do you call it an optimisation and marketing package?
Why do you only accept 5 clients on the optimisation and marketing package?
Do you promise a top 10 listing?
I read that an SEO should make guarantees. How come you say the opposite?
Do you make any promises on your marketing package at all?
Why is the optimisation package a 6 month contract?
Which search engines do you optimise for?
Do you submit to hundreds of search engines and resubmit every month?
Do I have to host with Web Inn for you to market me?
You spoke of a paid listing related to search engines and directories. What is a paid listing?
Why have a paid listing if I can get free listings?
Do you use pay per click advertising?
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What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation. It is the term used for making sure that a website is “search engine friendly”. Some websites will never be seen because they do not come up high enough in search engine results. The purpose of SEO is to increase a site’s position in relevant search results. Proper internet marketing however goes beyond pure SEO and finds all available solutions to help your site succeed on the internet.
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What does SEO involve?
Proper search engine optimisation involves a number of variables and the subject is complex enough for hundreds of books and forums to have been created in its honour. In a nutshell, it involves making sure that your site does the things that search engines respond well to. This means having the right site design, layout and content, META tags, title tags and linking. There are numerous other issues that come into it and various techniques that can be used, some of which are potentially harmful to a site in the longer term. At Web Inn we aim for the best sustainable results, without taking risks that could get you banned from the search engines.
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Why do you call it an optimisation and marketing package?
Because there are two aspects to the process. We do not believe that optimisation on its own is enough for properly marketing a website. Anyone who knows anything about search engines will tell you that links and listings are just as important as what is done within your site. Secondly, that, because of the nature of the internet, search engines are naturally fickle. This means that achieving a sustainable result needs more than just search engine optimisation.
The point of having a website is ultimately to get business off it. This means that your site must be seen and found in the right places to reach your target market. We are primarily concerned with websites that yield direct or indirect returns and the optimisation is, as far as we are concerned, merely one aspect of the marketing strategy employed to achieve that in the shortest possible time.
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Why do you only accept 5 clients on the optimisation and marketing package?
Please read the answer to the next three questions.
I saw an advert of an optimisation company and they promise they will get any website in the top 10 in all search results. Do you promise the same?
Absolutely not. That is a deceptive promise and we do not make promises that we cannot keep to the letter. Search engines are dynamic and every time a new website goes up, it influences the structure of the search engine results. Every time someone optimises a site, the same thing happens. By the very nature of the internet and search engines, that kind of promise must come with conditions attached.
We have seen those same adverts and it is amazing that anyone finds them believable. Why? - Well, imagine if they have 20 clients who all have furniture stores in the same neighbourhood, selling the same basic product. How can all of them be in the top 10? Now imagine that there are 20 SEO’s, each with 10 furniture companies as clients and each as skilled as the next. That makes 200 websites that are all being promised a top 10 listing.
SEO’s that make that kind of promise may be able to deliver on their promise for a week or a month, often by using strategies that are harmful in the longer term, but the results - if they are ever achieved - are not sustainable.
The other thing to watch for in the adverts is the key phrase "for your search term" and these same SEO companies will often prove to you how their search term comes up tops in the search engines. The critical issue is ... what is the search term? I can easily get to number one on Google for the search term “purple mangled turnips”, or “5-inch diametric socket wrench” (whatever that may be). Unless you achieve a good position for a relevant search term that people are actually using, the optimisation is a farce.
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I read that it is not true that SEO cannot make guarantees. How come you say the opposite?
We've read the same articles and in a sense they are correct. An SEO organisation can in fact make certain guarantees, but the best sounding guarantees are not straight forward. Look for the "if" because that is the key. Also look for what is NOT said.
For example: I can guarantee a top listing for a highly unlikely search term because not many sites will be competing for it.
I can guarantee a top listing for almost any search term, as long as you don't mind how long you wait, how much you pay or how long you're in that top position.
I can guarantee a top listing on a search engine if you give me an ideal budget to buy your site into position.
I can guarantee a top listing if your search term is not a highly competitive one.
I can guarantee a top listing on a hundred search engines - but they may not be the ones that people actually use.
I can guarantee a top listing for any site with any search term if I am prepared to use tactics that can get your site banned from the most important search engines.
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So do you make no promises at all?
Yes we do. We make promises we can deliver on. First of all we limit the number of clients that we accept in any specific business category and geographical area. Our limit is 5. This ensures that we can stay focussed and deliver. We guarantee that your site will be crawled by every major search engine and directory within one month, although we normally achieve this much quicker. - If you simply leave your site to be found, it can take 6 months or more to be listed.
Our second guarantee is normally that you will come up in the first 10 - 20 results for a relevant search term, in relevant search engines, within the 6 month contract. - The exact timing of this is largely dependent on the search engines and when they make their adjustments. This is particularly true of Google and other search engines that utilise Google.
Please note that I said "our second guarantee is normally". This is because we do not have a blanket guarantee. It depends on what your site is about and where you are. Whatever we guarantee will be realistic for your site. We also do not guarantee that the results will be achieved on all search engines for all search terms. Nobody can make that claim using legitimate means. This is specifically true related to Google, which strongly favours older and larger sites with strong inbound links and lots of high quality content.
Our third guarantee is that your site will be well placed to reach your target market - not just on search engines.
We also back these guarantees up fully. - If we have not delivered within the 6 month contract, you get an extended contract, at no extra cost, until we do.
We also guarantee that, overall, your site will continue to improve over time, because the methods we use and the way that we employ them are specifically geared for this. What we do not guarantee is that a specific placement achieved on a specific search term will be indefinite. No SEO can guarantee that because there are other SEO companies doing the same for their clients and also because search engines from time to time change the way that they do listings.
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Why is the optimisation package a 6 month contract?
The process is a long one and, with some search engines and directories, extremely slow. It involves research and a lot of hours just to do the manual listings, as well as ongoing tweaking, refining and additions. In some cases you will see almost immediate results, but in others it can take months. Google is a good case in point, where changes can take up to 6 months to register. It has even been known to take longer in some cases.
This is particularly true on new websites.
The 6 month contract is in fact the shortest feasible contract to ensure that you get the results and that we have a chance to do the job properly.
The other side to this is that there are certain aspects to internet marketing that are ongoing. The 6 month contract gives you a solid boost in terms of those elements, for example, the acquisition of quality links.
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Which search engines do you optimise for?
It depends on where you are based and what your website is promoting. Generally our first call is Google and, no matter what, we take Google into account and apply the Google guidelines, but there is no absolute formula. In the end we try to optimise for all search engines, but slanted towards those which stand to bring you the most business. Contrary to popular belief, this is not always the top three (Google, MSN, Yahoo). There are instances where it may be better to settle for a lower Google ranking in order to focus on a smaller search engine or directory that is more geared to your target market and more accommodating of your site. We try to take a broader approach and do what will make a real difference for you in the longer term.
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Do you submit to hundreds of search engines and resubmit every month?
There are many myths about search engines and directories, created and spread by individuals and companies who are preying on those who don't know better. This question relates to one such myth.
There are only a handful of search engines and directories - 10 max - that have any value at all. Most legitimate small directories draw off these and do not need to be submitted to. Many smaller search engines and directories are no more than link farms - something that can hurt you with the serious search engines. Many others are simply small one-man bands that are barely used by anyone.
As for resubmitting, there is no need. Once a search engine has found you, it has found you and will keep coming back. More important, resubmission can annoy the important search engines and directories and get your site removed altogether.
We submit to very few search engines and directories and, with the remainder of the important ones, use different methods to get your site indexed.
Finally, just in case someone is wondering, we also do not do any automated submissions. Once again these target fairly useless engines and upset the important ones.
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Do I have to host with Web Inn for you to market me?
No you don’t, but if we have to choose between potential clients who do and potential clients who don't, we would opt for those who do. The reason for this is because we know exactly what we can do with our hosting and we have extensive statistical software on our servers. This allows us to properly monitor our results to ensure we meet the agreed objectives for your site. If you would rather remain with your current hosting company, we respect your loyalty towards them, but would not be able to accept you as a marketing client unless we at least had full access to your site, your current host provides good stats that are updated daily and which we can access at will and nobody else works on the site for the duration of the contract.
There is also another scenario. At times we are approached by clients who in fact have no idea how the site is currently performing. In a situation like that we would recommend hosting with us for 3 months before embarking on any marketing programme. By monitoring and assessing the site for the client in this period we may find that the expense of a marketing programme is in fact not needed or at least not the best first option. Sometimes it can be something quite unexpected and relatively easy to resolve that has been causing a site not to perform up to scratch.
Why spend money if you don't have to?
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You spoke of a paid listing related to search engines and directories. What is a paid listing?
Some search engines and directories charge a fee to add you to their database or site, while others are free. Some offer both a free and paid option.
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Why have a paid listing if I can get free listings?
Most listings are free and we use every relevant free opportunity that we find. Some of the paying ones are however worth paying for because of the visibility and exposure they will give you. With others, the paid listing is much quicker and guarantees a listing while their free listing is pot-luck. This does not however mean that all paid listings are good. Some are just on the band wagon and, while they may appear to be worthwhile, aren’t. Others are way over-priced and the cost is not justified. In each case it is an individual, strategic decision whether or not to go for a paid option and we will advise accordingly.
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Do you use pay per click advertising?
Very seldom, if ever. We always work from the premise of "why pay if you don't have to?" and this applies very much to ppc, which is not only expensive (don't believe the claims to the contrary) but most times really not necessary.
If your site is properly optimised and marketed you should be able to draw good generic (natural) traffic.
If you are in a highly competitive market and your site is too small or too new to do well as quickly as you would like it to and you are happy to accept the cons, then by all means we will assist you in identifying the best ppc programmes and managing them. If you are looking at ppc, please chat to us first and let us help you to assess if this is the best option for you before you spend your hard-earned cash..
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