Search Engine Optimization

[AZ REALTY]

I'd like to improve the search engine optimization of my current website. Does anyone know of a company that provides this service or does anyone on beyond know how to do this?

[A790]

SEO is still a very much mysterious industry, and due to that fact you will almost certainly get robbed. So many people call themselves "SEO Specialists" and do little more than submit your site to some link directories. SEO is MUCH more than that.

There are a few people on beyond that I know of that can do it, myself included. Before you hire a SEO company and say "go", ask yourself and the company a few questions:

1) What are your goals? What market do you want your site to have a presence in and under what circumstances? Are you an informative site, or a site dedicated to the sale of a product? How are you willing to work with your website to achieve these goals and, more importantly, how is the SEO company willing to do the same?

2) What kind of visitor experience is your website offering? I can tell you right now that the more visitor oriented you make your site the higher that the big three (Google, Yahoo!, and MSN) will rank it.

3) What is your price point? This one is EXTREMELY important as the pricing for SEO is all over the map. Some will charge $100/mo and others with charge $10,000/week. What's it worth to you?

4) What kind of timeline are you under? SEO does not happen over night. It takes weeks or even months before significant results are seen.

Good luck with your search. Make sure that you choose someone reputable and tangible so that you are always able to stay in constant communication with them.

[AZ REALTY]

Can a current website be modified to incorporate SEO, or do you need to create a new website?

[A790]

Originally posted by AZ REALTY
Can a current website be modified to incorporate SEO, or do you need to create a new website?

Loaded question.

Just about any website can be optimized with your SEO goals in mind, but if the website is just so far beyond help, a new website may be a good idea.

[AZ REALTY]

What's the difference between having your website SEO friendly and using google's pay per click? Also, can you not just pay a one time fee to incorporate SEO into your website, instead of paying a month fee? I thought once SEO was incorporated into a website it was done.

[ga16i]

Any site can be "optimized", but that doesn't mean you'll be page 1 on google for every single search term you hoped for. Start small with more specific search terms as goals. Without significant time and budget there's no hope of ranking well for generic terms (e.g., specific term: geriatic tentacle space porn compared to generic term: porn). If really tight on budget, try playing outside of the big 3 (google, yahoo, msn) and concentrate on alternative search engines.

Send me a pm if you want me to take a quick look and blast off some best practices.

[A790]

Originally posted by AZ REALTY
What's the difference between having your website SEO friendly and using google's pay per click? Also, can you not just pay a one time fee to incorporate SEO into your website, instead of paying a month fee? I thought once SEO was incorporated into a website it was done.

Googles PPC service (AdWords) is completely independent of SEO. With PPC you basically choose a list of keywords and display an ad there whenever someone searches for that term, or if you have the account set up in such a way, whenever someone is browsing a website about that particular topic.

For example: your website is about turbo kits for JDM imports. With PPC, you would choose keywords relevant to your site (such as: 1991 nissan silvia CA18DET turbo kit, nissan skyline turbo kits canada, etc.) and whenever someone searchs for "1991 nissan silvia Ca18DET turbo kit" in google your ad would appear beside the search results. Every time someone clicks your ad to go to your site you are charged.

With SEO, your website would appear in the top 10 rankings for "1991 Nissan Silvia CA18DET turbo kit", and you won't get charged for any traffic that the keyword generates to your site.

Now, the thing with SEO is it's always an ongoing process. The search engines are constantly adding websites to their directory, changing their ranking algorithms around (how they determine which site goes where), etc., so no, you can't pay one time and expect your site to stay there forever.

It's competitive, and there are other websites trying to out-SEO your website and take your rankings. Getting on top is harder, staying there is even harder. However, you have to determine if the reward is worth it. If being number 1 on Google for "JDM turbo kits canada" generates 500 unique visitors a day, what's that worth to you?

Originally posted by ga16i
Any site can be "optimized", but that doesn't mean you'll be page 1 on google for every single search term you hoped for. Start small with more specific search terms as goals. Without significant time and budget there's no hope of ranking well for generic terms (e.g., specific term: geriatic tentacle space porn compared to generic term: porn). If really tight on budget, try playing outside of the big 3 (google, yahoo, msn) and concentrate on alternative search engines.

Send me a pm if you want me to take a quick look and blast off some best practices.

This comes down to what your goals are. Do you want to start off by targeting people that are more qualified buyers, or do you want to focus on brand recognition? Both goals have different keyword sets that are applicable to each.

Also, in my experience, the big 3 are the only search engines worth focusing on. Being number three in Google for one of my sites generates 1,900 uniques/day from one keyword. Being number one on Looksmart generates 2-3 maybe.

[ga16i]

Originally posted by AZ REALTY
What's the difference between having your website SEO friendly and using google's pay per click? Also, can you not just pay a one time fee to incorporate SEO into your website, instead of paying a month fee? I thought once SEO was incorporated into a website it was done.

no no no, SEO is continuous and never ending. You can "optimize" your current existing pages to follow best practices (your competition can and will do this as well). Once your pages are "optimized" you still need to somehow make your page seem more relevant and rank higher than your competition. And if you don't update your site, your ranking will most likely suffer.

[AZ REALTY]

When I incorporate SEO into my website I want to do it right and make it worth while. I am interested in google, msn, yahoo, etc.. not alternative search engines. I am trying to set a budget for my company for my website and SEO, so how can I determine the cost associated with incorporating SEO into my website? My website is for the real estate industry and selling a service not a product.

[A790]

Originally posted by AZ REALTY
When I incorporate SEO into my website I want to do it right and make it worth while. I am interested in google, msn, yahoo, etc.. not alternative search engines. I am trying to set a budget for my company for my website and SEO, so how can I determine the cost associated with incorporating SEO into my website? My website is for the real estate industry and selling a service not a product.

I think you need to sit down with an SEO specialist and talk in more detail about your site, goals, etc.

[AZ REALTY]

Originally posted by A790

I think you need to sit down with an SEO specialist and talk in more detail about your site, goals, etc.

Any that you would recommend? It would have to be over the phone as I am in Phoenix.

[A790]

Originally posted by AZ REALTY
Any that you would recommend? It would have to be over the phone as I am in Phoenix.

Well, I do SEO work, as does ga16i I believe. Also, http://www.searchengineoptimizationcompany.ca/ is number 1 for a few SEO related keywords so I suspect they know what they're doing as well.

[ga16i]

A few quick things to get started:
- Find out where you currently stand. Are you already on page 1 for your search terms? Do you have any visitors at all yet?
- If just launching new site, CPC is a great way to get traffic until your get more established.
- Is the site already optimized to the max? Are the basic things like titles, META tags, etc etc there.
- Plan to measure everything, analytics is very important. If you haven't already, google analytics is a good way to start.
- Define goals. What is the website supposed to do? Is it just to get you a lead? Then submitting a contact us form could be a goal for your site.

I'd say $1500~$2000 to start (keyword planning, initial site assessment, implementation from recommendations). Budget like 2~3 months to see changes for the organic traffic.

That dollar figure is based on ~30hrs worth of work for a $50/hr contractor guy.

[AZ REALTY]

Is there a way to find out which key words are searched the most in google? Is there a website you could go to and type in a word to find out how many times someone has typed in that word in a search?

[ga16i]

Originally posted by A790

Well, I do SEO work, as does ga16i I believe. Also, http://www.searchengineoptimizationcompany.ca/ is number 1 for a few SEO related keywords so I suspect they know what they're doing as well.

Ah, seeing that their BasicStart-Up Package is $1999, my number out of thin air isn't too far off.

If you have time and is willing to learn, SEO doesn't have to cost a lot, but if you want to just have someone take care of it, then it'll cost you a pretty penny upfront and to maintain it afterward. Which is ok if the results generate tons of business for you.

[ga16i]

Originally posted by AZ REALTY
Is there a way to find out which key words are searched the most in google? Is there a website you could go to and type in a word to find out how many times someone has typed in that word in a search?

Google keywords tool is a great place to start
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

[A790]

Originally posted by ga16i


Google keywords tool is a great place to start
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

I prefer to use WordTracker or Wordze. The AdWords tool is pretty generic.