SEO Consulting

SEO Cost

2008-03-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

How much should you pay for search engine optimization services? This is the question that has baffled most business owners who are new to SEO. There are companies or freelancers who offer $49/month. Some web design firms, including yours perhaps, claim they can provide SEO as an add-on service for $400 a month. Then, there are SEO firms or SEO consultants who charge $5000 a month or $1000 per hour. Which one should you choose? Which one will deliver the results? How much business you need to attract to break even with the SEO expense? How do you justify the cost

First of all, forget the $49 per month deal! It is nothing but a scam. Can you get a prime time TV commercial for $100 per minute? Most of these low-priced SEO packages are nothing but some software-automated spams which can end up hurting your SEO campaign and your site's rankings. Services like this don't include any consultation with a real expert. They treat all websites the same. Remember, no two SEO campaigns are the same.

A good SEO starts with an in-depth analysis of your business, your competition, your web design, and most importantly, your keywords. Then, a considerable amount of work is done both on your website and off your website. There isn't any software that can substitute the experience and intelligence of a highly trained SEO consultant.

Second, SEO should never be an "add-on" service offered by your web design firm or web master. Most of web designers have no training or experience in SEO. SEO and web design require very different skill sets and thought process. Would you think a dentist can do an open heart surgery? Do you see a dental clinic advertising open heart surgery as their "add-on" service?

If you see a company that is known mostly for their web design or development services, chances are they have no clues about search engine optimization. These companies often charges anywhere from $100 per month to $1000 per month for pretty much nothing. We have seen web design companies that use old spam techniques like doorway pages and keyword stuffing, which can draw penalties by search engines.

Third, is the $500 per hour or $1000 per hour SEO consulting fee by SEO firms fair? Yes, if they can deliver the results. Top SEO firms are hard to find and their services are in high demand. How do you tell if an SEO firm is worth the cost? Google them. Use search engine optimization relevant searches and see how their own website ranks. Remember, if an SEO firm or expert can't get their own website ranked at the top, it is a sign that they can't deliver results for you. Another way to assure you are hiring a good service is to check out references. Satisfied SEO clients LOVE tell you their successful stories.

How can you afford paying $5000 a month for SEO on top of all your marketing? Many business owners simply reject SEO, reasoning that they can't afford it. However, upon a closer look of their marketing budget, we often find that these companies are flushing money down the drain by spending tens of thousands of dollars every month on Yellow Pages, print ads, billboards, and TV commercials. Every business owner should ask themselves this question: when was the last time you hired a service out of a Yellow Pages ad, newspaper ad, magazine ad, billboard ad, or TV commercial?

Compared to the cost of traditional advertising, search engine optimization is still the most cost-effective marketing. Your business doesn't have to spend extra money on marketing - all you need is to re-allocate your marketing dollars from the old advertising venues and invest them in SEO.

How Long Does SEO Take?

2008-03-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

How long does it take to see the results of search engine optimization (SEO)? It is a fair and frequent question. The answer depends on many factors, including the website's age, size, complexity and keywords, as well as competition and market focus. The answer also depends on the goals of the SEO campaign.

If the goal is to get top rankings for target keywords, some of our clients have seen their rankings reached the page 1 at Google within a week since we started our SEO service. For very competitive keywords, it can take 1-3 months or longer to see dramatic results. If the goal is to get more sales and leads from your web site, it can happen quickly if your web message connects with visitors.

The search engine optimization process is like that of training an athlete. How long does it take to train a marathon runner? It depends on the current conditions of the runner - how good of a shape the runner is, how fast he can run, and how much training time he can commit to. It depends on previous training the runner had. It depends on the competition. If the runner is competing for a local city competition, it may not take too long. If the runner is competing for the state championship, it can take quite long. If the runner is competing for the national or world title, it can take much longer, if even possible given what the runner's conditions are.

Search engine optimization is more like a long-distance race, rather than a 100-meter dash. Search engine optimization should be regarded as a critical, if not the most important, part of your overall marketing. As long as your business still needs to reach out to potential customers, you will need search engine optimization to stay competitive. Assuming that search engine optimization is a one-week or one-month quick fix can hinder the long-term success of any SEO effort.

Like any marketing campaign, search engine optimization may generate immediate results. However, if it does not, you can work with your SEO consultants to find out why. It may be due to the strong competition of your target keywords, or the lack of fresh content of your website, or some bad SEO work done in the past. Depending on how competitive your market and search phrases are, it can take weeks, months or even years to rank at the top. It is even more challenging for a brand-new web site to climb to the top rankings. Search engines tend to have more trust in web sites that have been around longer.

Based on our experience, no matter what the circumstances are, you should expect some noticeable progress within 3 months. If not, you may consider getting a second opinion on if your SEO work is on the right track. We offer site audit through our SEO Consulting services.

by Minneapolis SEO & Web Design Services

Choose SEO Firm Wisely

2007-11-29T05:35:00.000-08:00

Did you hire a search engine optimization (SEO) firm that failed to produce any noticeable results for your website rankings, traffic, conversion and sales? If so, you are not alone. There are many self-claimed SEO "experts" out there who can't get their own websites any decent rankings. Have you noticed that some SEO firms use Google AdWords for SEO related keyword searches? Does the fact that these SEO consulting companies have to resort to paid ads say a lot about the quality of their service?

In today's ultra-competitive world of online marketing, SEO is the lifeline of a company's bottomline. SEO improves the visibility of a website at search engines, such as Google or Yahoo!, thus attracts more visitors and sales. Studies show that over 75 percent of web users find products, services and relevant information through search engines. If a search engine can't find your web site, neither can your potential customers.

How can business owners know if they are getting their money's worth for true SEO? Here are a must-do list while interviewing the SEO firm.

Ask the SEO company if the service includes a real human consultant. It may sound very obvious that every SEO company should designate a true SEO expert to your project. Unfortunately, the reality is that many so-called "search engine optimization packages" are nothing but some automated search engine submissions and ranking reports. These packages can do more harm than good.
Ask for real client ranking samples. Please be aware that top Yahoo and MSN rankings are not worth as much as top Google rankings. High Google rankings are much more difficult to achieve, plus top Google rankings can bring as much as 10x the traffic over top Yahoo or top MSN rankings. See our top rankings at Minneapolis SEO
Google the SEO firm's rankings yourself. If an SEO company can't get their own website ranked at the top, do you believe they can optimize your website? When you Google your local SEO companies, stay away from those that use paid ads like Google AdWords, unless they have top natural rankings.
Ask for references. Search engine optimization isn't just about increasing rankings or traffic. The ultimate goal is to generate leads and sales. The number of leads and sales isn't included in the web traffic analysis. Only the client company can testify the effectiveness of the search engine marketing. If a client is very satisfied with their SEO firm, they would love to provide references.

SEO service fees vary dramatically and stay away from those "fixed fee packages". Any reputable search engine company would quote a reasonable fee based on factors like the size of the website, the competitiveness of the keywords and the aggressiveness of the SEO campaign. A 100-page website takes a lot more time for keyword research and optimization tune-up. Some industries, like real estate, are much more competitive than others, therefore, more aggressive SEO effort is needed. The competitiveness of keywords also depends on if the keywords are location specific. Getting top rankings for "real estate agent" is much more difficult than getting top rankings for "real estate agent Chicago".

Don't choose the lowest bidder! Working with the wrong search engine optimization company can be worse than throwing money down the drain. We have met several business owners who had made such a mistake. Their websites were poorly handled by SEO "experts" who either had no clue about what their doing or had used questionable or even unethical tactics. Your web rankings can be much worse off if the optimization is not done correctly.

A good SEO firm is hard to come by. Sometimes it may seem like their fee is quite high. However, based on our experience, SEO pays for itself in the long term. All of our clients get their investment back within 3-6 months.

Good Web Design

2007-06-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

What is the biggest problem that Web sites have these days?

In the early days, the biggest problems sites had was with value. They just weren't delivering value. Now that's improved, but over the last few years, the bigger problem has become navigation. As sites get bigger and more complex, they have much more value, but it's harder to have people get to what they want.

Say you are an insurance company that wants to provide information to users looking for coverage. In the same place where users are asked what kind of coverage they want, there should be information about what the right coverage ought to be. But often, you'll find the information isn't available on that page. You might be able to find it somewhere else, if you look through several layers, but it's not available where it's most appropriate.
... ...
How do well-designed sites happen?
The really good sites are designed by groups that ask and answer three questions: Who are your target users? What are their goals? And how are you going to help them achieve those goals?
How about bad sites?
Some companies have a very internal or self-centered view of design. Lacking a focus on customers, they'll be trying to make design decisions in a committee, and a VP of marketing will come into the room and say, 'I like that one,' or 'That one works for me.' When I am sitting in on these meetings, I always say, 'I don't care what any of you like. This isn't about satisfying your needs. It's about satisfying your customers' needs.'
Quoted from The Wall Street Journal, "Good Site, Bad Site: Evolving Web Design", 06/12/2007

Some business owners tend to think that what they like is exactly what their customers or potential customers like. So, they decide what to put on to the web site solely based on their personal preferences. The purpose of a web site is to provide valuable information to its visitors and give them what they are looking for. Here are a few things that a business owner could do to facilitate the design of a visitor-friendly website:

Study competing websites and list what you like and what you don't like about these sites.
Having a brainstorm session with the web design team often yields good results.
Survey your customers about what they want to see on your website.
Monitor visitors' behavior at the site, such as how long they stay, how many pages they view, which pages are viewed more often, etc.
Collect feedback from customers about how to make improvement. Sometimes it helps by providing some incentives, like a discount or prize drawing, to encourage customers to give honest feedback.

It is very important to keep in mind that your website ISN'T about what you like. It is about what your customers like!

Yellow Pages vs Search Engines

2007-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Trends that will impact how companies advertise:

Let's face it; people will do what is easy. Access to the internet has made getting online easy. According to Jupiter Media, over 64% of people looking for information online, use search engines. If I can type what I want into a search engine and find what I need, I don't need to go through the 100 pages of ads in the Yellow Pages. Search Engines are getting more precise down to an industry specialty and geographic focus, while also continuing to be easier to use.

I'm not sure about you, but as a business owner, the last thing I would do is give my prospects a list of my competitors. The Yellow Pages does just that. Using search engines, you can differentiate yourself from everyone else. Given that your site is optimized, when the ideal client is looking for what you do, they find you, not your competitors.

And did you know that as far back as February 2004, The Kelsey Group and Bizrate. Com found that 64% of Internet users who make purchases online prefer search engines to conventional Yellow Pages. Go figure.

The Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association commissioned a study finding that the printed Yellow Pages have seen usage decline from 2.0 average weekly lookups per person in the mid 1990s to 1.4 average weekly lookups in 2003. However, the economics of publishing printed Yellow Pages remains incredibly strong, so even with decreasing usage; the books continue to appeal to advertisers at maximized ad rates. With more research validating Search Engine Optimization and benefits, listen for the ripping of those Yellow Pages rate cards.

And finally in the series of trends: The cost model of Yellow Pages vs. Search Engine. Let's look at the traits and cost basis of each media.

	Yellow Pages	Search Engine
a. Printing Costs	Yes	No
b. Mailing Distribution Costs	Yes	No
c. Sales Rep Cost Model	Yes	No
d. Per Click or Action Model	No	Yes
e. Commitment level	1 Year	None
f. Flexibility of Ad	Once a year	Anytime

Clearly the Yellow Pages model is more expensive and less flexible than online search engines.

Bottom line: Realize that yellow page books and yellow page online directories do not differentiate you from everyone else. Make sure your site tells what you do, where you are located and invites the client to take action with your firm. Welcome to search, the killer application that is leapfrogging the current directory model. Search is the future: the question is - are you are going to be a player or a spectator? Good Selling!

SEO & Web Design

2007-05-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

More and more business owners have realized that search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful online strategy. When compared to traditional print ads or TV commercials, search engine optimization is much more cost-effective in bringing in more quality leads and sales. If done right, SEO can make it easy for millions of internet users find your products or services through popular search engines like Google and Yahoo.

However, not many business owners have realized that SEO should not be considered an after-thought of web design. SEO can only reach its maximal effect when it is built into web design. If you want to build an energy-efficient house, would you start by building the house the traditional way without considering energy efficiency? Of course not! If you did, you would likely have to do some serious remodeling work after the house is built. That can be very costly. Same goes for SEO and web design. If you start building a website without taking SEO into consideration, you may have to make major changes in the website structure, navigation, coding, layout, etc. Such changes can be very costly. Some websites can't be optimized unless they are completely rebuilt.

The close relationship between SEO and web design makes it absolutely necessary for business owners to hire a web design team that is knowledgeable in SEO. This can be a challenge because the majority of web designers do not specialize in SEO. Many web designers or design companies can build a professional-looking website, but these websites can't be understood by search engines because search engines don't read websites the way we read websites. Very often what looks very pleasing to our eyes can be very confusing to search engines.

How do you avoid hiring a web design company that is clueless about search engine optimization? One way to avoid such a costly mistake is to ask the web design company's SEO experience. Also ask search engine ranking examples of the sites they build. If you can find your web design company through search engines using some generic keyword phrase, such as "Twin Cities Web Design", you won't go terribly wrong. However, if you can't find the web design company through keyword searches, chances are that the company does not specialize in SEO. Just because a web design company market itself as an SEO expert doesn't make it so.

Google's Index

2007-05-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

In order to have any search engine rankings, search engine must know about your site first. What do all the search engines know about your site? Here is a quick way to find out. To to Google and type in the search box:

site:www.YourDomainName.com

If Google hasn't indexed your site, it will return a message, "Your search - site:www.YourDomainName.com - did not match any documents." If you have a brand-new site, it is likely you will see this message. However, if your website has been around for months or years, seeing this message may mean there is something wrong with your site.

If Google has indexed your site, it will list all the pages it has in its database. If you don't see all the pages of your site listed by Google, don't panic. If you have many new pages on the site, Google may not have enough time to find these pages or have not updated its database to include these pages. Another reason why pages are not included in Google's index is that Google's spider has a difficult time finding these pages while crawling your site. Some websites do not have a well-designed navigation structure that guides search engine spiders to various parts of the site (not having a well-designed navigation structure is like a highway without exit signs). In that case, you can either re-design your site navigation or create a good sitemap that enables spiders to find all pages.

One thing to pay close attention to is how many of your web pages are labeled with "Supplemental Result" by Google. Pages that carry this label are very unlikely to be ranked. If most of your web pages have this label, it is a sign that Google doesn't have enough confidence in your site - it is time to either work on search engine optimization on your own or bring on a pro to make some changes. However, if the majority of your pages are not "Supplemental", there is nothing to worry about.

We have developed some unique techniques to have such "Supplemental Result" label removed quickly. Contact us at: Minneapolis Search Engine Optimization

Clean Web Design

2007-04-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Does your website have a clock, a local weather conidition, news headlines, stock market updates, a visitor counter, a guest book, or background music? If it does, get rid of these meaningless additions that can only do harm to your website.

First, these additional features slow down the page download. Visitors hate slow pages more than anything. They often leave before the page download is complete.
Second, these "cool" features serve only as distractions. Do you want visitors to focus on your informative content or do you want them to look up the weather forecast? A visitor spends about 20 seconds at a website. If they spend 10 out of the 20 seconds looking at the weather or news, will they have the time to read about your content?

Third, these additional features may confuse search engines on what your site is truly about, thus negatively impact your natural search engine rankings. Why would national news headlines or stock market info have anything to do with your products and services?

Fourth, none of these "cool" gadgets adds any value to your website. If you add a local weather condition on your site, do you believe visitors will come back to your site to check out the weather?

Some of these useless features are provided by your web hosting company for free. Just because they are free, it doesn't mean they are good for your website. As a website owner, by all means to avoid these website add-ons that can only give your visitors a bad experience and lower your search engine rankings.

Search for SEO Experts

2007-04-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

There are many search engine optimization (SEO) firms out there. They all claim that they can increase your website's rankings at Google, Yahoo and MSN. However, 70% to 90% of those firms have absolutely no clue on how design search engine-friendly websites and how to increase the natural search rankings of a website. Even worse, many of such companies employ old spam techniques that can lead to severe penalty including delisting of a website from a search engine's database.

As a business owner, how do you find the true SEO expert?

Start by Googling for SEO experts in your location. For example, Google the term Twin Cities SEO. If a SEO firm can't get its own website ranked at the top, do you think they can give your site No. 1 ranking?

Ask for Google ranking samples of their client websites. If they have never worked with any clients on search engine optimization, chances are they are new to this. SEO is an art and science. You truly want to work with someone who has the skill and experience.

Check for references! If a SEO firm has a happy client, the client would LOVE to tell you how much they appreciate the service. When done right, SEO can make a huge difference in bringing in more leads and sales.

Google Search Dominance

2007-04-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

The latest search market share numbers are in from Hitwise: in the four weeks ended March 31st, Google racked up fully 64.13% of all US searches. That’s up more than 10% since March 2006, and, if trends hold, Google’s share will pass the two thirds mark by August. In the same period, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask all lost share. As the old Wall Street hands like to say: “Liquidity begets liquidity.” More from: Google Corners Nearly Two-Thirds of US Search Marketing

From monitoring our own web sites and our client web sites, we have seen the same trend. If you get No. 1 ranking for a certain keyword phrase both at Google and Yahoo, you will see that Google brings 5 to 10 times more visitors than Yahoo.

Another trend we have noticed is that visitors referred by Google tend to stay at the site longer, which may indicate they are more serious about either looking for info or looking into making the "Buy" decision.

Domain Name Registration

2007-04-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

If you buy a house, do you want your house under your realtor's name? If you have your domain name or web address registered by your webmaster, it is no different from having the deed of your house under someone else's name.

The ultimate control of a web site is in the hand of the person who has direct access to domain name control. If you have your webmaster register your domain name, here are some of the potential risks.

If you decide to fire your webmaster, your webmaster could hold your domain name and website hostage;
If your webmaster is not reachable anymore, you may lose your domain name or website;
If your webmaster forgets to renew your domain name, your website will be off-line.

Many web designers register domain names for their clients without explaining these risks to their clients. Some dishonest web designers do so to ensure their job security.

If you already have your domain name registered by your webmaster, it is time to have the domain name transferred to you. This can be easily done, but it does need the coopration of your webmaster.

It is also important to know that you should NEVER register a new domain name with a web hosting company. If in the future you decide to switch to a different web host, the web host which you register you domain with can hold your site hostage. This has been a very common problem for business owners who are new to website building.

Bottom line: when it comes to your domain name registration, do it yourself with a reputable domain name registar, such as Godaddy.

SEO Marketing

2007-03-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

According to a research by Piper, Jaffray, search engine optimization is the most cost-effective way for businesses to generate new leads.

$0.45 per lead - search engines like Google & Yahoo
$0.55 per lead - email marketing
$1.18 per lead - yellow pages
$2.00 per lead - banner ads
$9.94 per lead - direct mail

If your web site ranks No. 1 at Google for a commonly search keyword phrase, your web site traffic can increase by at least 5 folds. More traffic, more leads, more sales!

Search Engine Rankings

2007-03-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Follow these steps to see whether your business website can be found at Google:

Google your business name.
Google keywords related to your products or services with the names of the cities or states near you, if your business is local.
Google keywords without cities or states, if your business is national.

Can you find your website? If not, the chances of people finding your website are slim to none. Can you find your competitors' websites? If you can, so can those who are looking for your services and products! The reality is that if your potential customers can't find you, they will find your competitors!

When was the last time you found what you were looking for from the Yellow Pages? Everyday, tens of millions of searches are conducted at search engines like Google. The internet has become the biggest marketing media that no business can afford to ignore. Having top rankings at Google, Yahoo and MSN can give your business a tremendous advantage in attracting new leads, sales, or customers.

However, your website can't just "magically" appear at the top of search engine listings. For each keyword search, a search engine has to compare tens of thousands or millions of relevant web pages in deciding the ranking of each website. As a website or business owner, it is important to realize the potential of marketing through your website and take actions. These actions include building or rebuilding a website that is up to current technology standards, optimizing your website for search engine rankings and actively reaching out to your customers using available internet resources.