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Frequently Asked Questions
SEO FAQ - Indianapolis, Indiana: Search
Engine Marketing, Web Site Optimization, Pay-Per-Click
DRIVE's founder and
president, Ken Zweigel, has been a contributor to the Ask the Expert
section of the "BtoB Hands-On" e-newsletter distributed by
BtoB
Magazine. Here, he answers some questions you may have about the
process and benefits of search engine optimization and alternative
search engine and web marketing opportunities.
Questions
Answers
Q. What exactly is
search engine optimization or web site optimization?
A. Search engine optimization, or web site optimization, is a process
designed to obtain high rankings on search engines. The process combines
three basic elements:
- Conducting keyword research to discover the most important phrases related to your products and services.
- Properly coding web pages to include keywords in the proper
proportion and in the correct places.
- Developing significant amounts of the right types of content in a
structure that will generate top rankings on the search engines, as well
as the desired response from your web site visitors.
Q. What other types
of search engine marketing exist?
A. The two other types of search engine marketing that can have an impact
on your site traffic are keyword sponsorship and pay-per-click
advertising.
Targeted keyword sponsorship allows a business to buy an important
keyword or keyword phrase. Every time someone searches for that
word or phrase, the sponsor’s listing appears as a highlighted
text link at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This type of
marketing is very expensive – thousands of dollars a month for the
most popular phrases – because you pay to be listed whether or not
your listing is clicked.
Pay-per-click advertising is a less-expensive means of selectively
targeting an audience, but it requires bidding in an open auction
to secure the top listings, which appear as highlight textboxes on
the right side of a search results page. Pay-per-click advertising
is cost-effective because you only pay when someone clicks
on your ad to view your website and you can set monthly
expenditure maximums to fit your budget during a test period. You
can also easily calculate your ROI with this program.
However, to maintain the top positions for your pay-per-click
keyword or phrase, you need to monitor the current
auction prices and adjust your bid as necessary. Also, with the
rapidly rising popularity of this program, the bidding price for popular
keywords and phrases can go as high as several dollars per click, whether
or not that click turns into a qualified lead or sale.
Sponsorship and pay-per-click programs are, in many cases, a very effective means of generating targeted website traffic and sales.
However, statistical and anecdotal evidence indicates that traffic
generated by sponsored listings and pay-per-click text ads is a
small percentage of the traffic produced by being well-ranked in
the organic, free search listings - usually as a result of website
optimization.
Q. What are the
benefits of optimization?
A. The benefits of website
optimization are both immediate and long-term, and not entirely related
to rankings. An optimized web site will be a much better reflection of your company and what
it does. With the input of your sales team, the site will serve as a
valuable selling tool.
The obvious benefit of optimization is that your site will achieve
high rankings on the major search engines, for your designated keywords,
which will increase your site traffic and your responses from site visitors.
This should lead to increased qualified leads, requests for quotes and
proposals, and eventually sales.
Q. Why should I hire an SEO specialist to optimize my web site?
A. An SEO specialist offers the experience that can
only be acquired through many web site optimization projects. Optimization is an
art and science that takes much trial and error to master. A specialist
will also stay current on the latest developments within the very fluid
search engine industry and will be fluent in the algorithm nuances that
affect rankings.
An SEO specialist will also properly analyze the tracking data
generated by your site on a regular basis and make recommendations,
based on previous experience, about how
to best translate that data into a more productive web site.
In short, the potential rewards of optimization
warrant it be handled by someone who can properly manage your investment
for the best possible return, just like any other professional service.
Q. After I optimize my web
site, am I locked into a maintenance agreement?
A. It makes no sense
to invest to acquire high rankings and then let them disappear in time
through competition and lack of relevancy. Through the years we have
determined that it is unfair to our clients to begin an SEO project
unless they know the commitment required to receive long-term results
and ROI.
Therefore, we do believe it is in everyone's best interest to view
search engine marketing as a long-term project and commit to at least a
one year program. This also helps to distribute the investment
throughout the first year rather than requiring the entire project cost
be paid within 30 to 90 days of completion.
In fact, any effective marketing strategy should be groomed and
nurtured over time to obtain maximum experience and results.
Q. Is there a difference between a search engine and a search site?
A. Yes, a subtle difference exists between a search engine and a search site.
A
search engine robotically collects and stores information in its
databases about the contents of millions of web sites on the Internet and
then ranks those sites based on relevancy, according to the phrases that
are submitted by Internet users. A search site displays the results of
a query fed to a third-party search engine.
Q. Which search engines and search sites are
most important?
A. The only current important
search engines are
Google,
MSN and
Yahoo!
Those three entities account for over 95% of the
searches conducted on the Internet, so you only need to be seriously
concerned with any other search engines or sites if they are focused
toward your industry or niche target markets.
Q. Which directories are most
important?
A. The most important directory is
DMOZ, a not-for-profit project
which feeds its volunteer-organized listings to many other directory sites.
For manufacturers,
Thomas Register and
Industrial Quick Search
are good sources of qualified traffic. In addition, every
industry has its own online directories and search sites, which can also be a
good source of qualified web site traffic, especially through
highly visible sponsored listings.
Q. What are back links and PageRank, and are they required to get top rankings on Google?
A. A back link is a link from another web site back to your site. You do
not need many back links to your site to get high search engine
rankings. However, it doesn't hurt and they can make a difference when
competing for rankings against equally relevant web sites on Google, which
invented the PageRank method of determining a site's popularity.
Based on
the number and quality of back links to a web site, PageRank is nowhere near as
important as it was a few years ago. Its accuracy has been thrown
off by recent linking developments on the Internet, such as the
proliferation of chat rooms and blogs.
Q. How long does it take for an optimized web site to obtain high search
engine rankings?
A. The most recent major revision to
Google's rankings-update schedule has
shortened the waiting time to as little as 24 to 48 hours. Yahoo! and MSN
are not far behind regarding the time it takes to re-rank updated sites
Rankings for new sites
will take longer, because the search engine robots have to find the site
and then add it to its global databases. New sites may be found in a
matter of days and ranked immediately for the company name, but a new
site's complete rankings for all of its important keyword phrases may
take six to eight
weeks.
Q. Do you offer guaranteed
#1 rankings on Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other search sites?
A. Do not trust anyone who offers guaranteed #1 rankings on any search
engine, because rankings change frequently and a computer ultimately
determines all rankings, including #1, not some person or SEO
company. Sponsorship or Pay-Per-Click programs are the way to ensure front
page listings on a search engine.
We can verify our current successes obtaining hundreds of Top 30, Top 10
and #1 search engine rankings that have actually resulted in a visit
to a client's web site.
We can only guarantee that we will use every bit
of our knowledge, experience and determination to obtain similar results
for your web site.
To DRIVE more business, call 877-993-4435, or
send us an email, or submit the short form below:
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Indianapolis, Indiana
