Looking to buy search engine marketing services? You might want to learn some of the options available and what each really means.
I regularly keep an eye on my local and national SEO or Internet Marketing competitors. I want to see what services they sell or changes to their offerings.
Lately, I am noticing a number of larger marketing sites popping up claiming that for a small monthly fee, they will seemingly rank your website at the top of Google and Yahoo search.
This intrigued me, because I know that no one marketing plan will fit every business, even if those businesses are in the same industry or niche.
Have these big guys figured out some ground breaking SEO strategy that magically works for everyone?
Businesses who are looking to rank their websites locally at the top of the Google search results need to focus on 3 things when researching affordable and reputable marketing packages or services.
- Does the marketing company guarantee results? Results that matter like your website being positioned at the top of Google search for a keyword that actually has a fare amount of search volume each month? A lot of larger SEO companies will promise to get your website into all the major search engines, what the fail to mention is that you will only rank for your company name and nothing more.
- Is the company actually selling you Search Engine Optimization and on going SEO services or are they buying a few PPC pay per click ads each month and charging you a great deal of money to do so? SEO is all about ranking your website naturally in the “free clicks” section of Google. PPC is very helpful, but can be a huge waste of money if not done with a specific goal in mind.
- Ask to see reviews from a real small business that you can call and chat with. There are lots of SEO company websites that look like they are located in the US, but are actually a front for businesses in other countries. You always want to work with someone local if you can find a qualified SEO expert. You want someone that has credibility and is around when you need them. Working with a company in another country is just asking for trouble.
Each website has its own score card with Google. There are over 200 ranking factors that Google assesses to determine if your website will outrank the competitor down the road.
Some of the SEO terms to know about are:
Time on site – how long do your website visitors stay on your website with each visit? The longer the better for your SEO.
Bounce rate – How many people that click onto your website from a Google search immediately hit the big bad BACK button the second they land on your website? The lower this number, the better.
CTR or Click Thru Rate – The higher this percentage, the better. Your CTR is calculated by how many impressions or times your website address came up in a Google search, then was clicked on.
Google has reported that they update their search engine algorithm at least 600 times a year. I think they do it to play with our heads, but that is another story. Us SEO experts have to stay up to date with these changes in order to protect our client’s rankings as well as our own.
With so many changes, I find it very hard to believe that any one SEO company can offer a one size fits all marketing package that will work for everyone.
My guess is that they blindly offer these marketing packages to hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting businesses around the world, hoping to get lucky with those businesses who have no clue that they are paying for a SEO service that is not even working for them.
Curious if your SEO is really earning you new clients? Let me do a quick audit on your true SEO rankings for free. Call or text me any time of the day @ 775-870-0488. If I can help right away I will. If not, I will get in touch within 24 hours or less. You can count on it.
