What to look out for
Although understanding the intricate
details of what makes search engine optimization work would require two Advil and a
clear schedule, knowing the basics and what
questions to ask will minimize the use of your
mental reserves. There’s no accreditation
program for SEO firms, but getting a brief
education of the process will allow you to
know your opportunities instead of becoming one.
First, there are different forms of SEO,
none of which comes with a guarantee.
There are two main types of search:
local and global — and you’ll also hear
the term “universal search,” which
encompasses both, plus video. A business like a restaurant would probably be
interested in a local search only, so
would focus on keywords and phrases
that include the city name.
One of the easiest ways to measure what
keywords might help you rank high is
Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics). It’s a free service provided by
Google that allows you to test the current
value of your Web site and gives you
detailed reports on what keywords are
being used to find your site.
But keywords are not the only measure
of success.
“A big barrier to success is implementation,” Flaiz says. “It’s good to know if a company will be working for you at a greater
capacity than just finding keywords.”
Web site design also plays an intricate
role in the process. Your site may have
an impressive appearance, but spiders —
software robots that “crawl” the Web
indexing data — must be able to understand information on the page, or it will
not be efficiently indexed, dropping your
Web site’s ranking.
Mobile search is the newest type of
optimization and sometimes it’s referred
to as “third screen.” In the U.S., mobile
marketing is largely used for local
search, but foreign markets rely on
mobile Web access heavily for all facets
of search.
Getting the most return from your site
requires a balance of compelling information, easy access and optimization
that gets it to the top of the search engine
rankings. Most professional firms will be
able to handle all of these needs, but
again, ask questions before signing anything.
Ask the SEO firm if it performs link
building, which places a link to your site
from other reputable sites. Also ask what
techniques it uses to create incoming
links to ensure they follow search engine
guidelines.
Also, ask the company how it tests,
measures and reports results. Think
about what you want to know, such as
how many people visited a page and if
they made a purchase, and make sure the
firm can provide that data. The SEO firm
must provide updates that mean something to you. Also ask to see samples of
its work and see where those clients rank.
Once you find a company you are comfortable with, think long term.
“If you are thinking of hiring an outside
company, you should definitely engage in
it for a year,” says David Roth, director of
search marketing, Yahoo. “SEO is a long,
iterative process with delayed results;
you’ll want to keep the agency around so
they can maximize the benefit to your
company and hold them accountable for
their actions.”
Like anything else, SEO gets you what
you pay for and that means hours of
work and a decent chunk of your marketing budget. Since a feasible figure
depends on your budget, factor at least a
quarter of your marketing budget for
SEO.
“The good news is, once SEO is put into
place, the cost of attracting a new user is
practically zero,” Roth says.
