Choosing an SEO provider

Many companies nowadays spend heavily on search engine optimization services to scramble for the top spot in Google, Yahoo! or Bing. Many of them go as far as investing on contextual advertising (adwords), sponsorships in social networks and other paid ads just to promote their site. The goal here is to invite traffic, generate leads and ultimately of course, make a sale.

From the point of experience, to embark on an SEO campaign is no joke – it offers no promise to get your site on the first or second page of search engines nor guarantees any traffic at all. You can only be assured that your SEO bills come to you faster than your morning post.   

An SEO campaign can be an investment or your worst nightmare. Choosing the right provider can help. But be wary of any guarantees. An SEO service provider that guarantees results overnight is only there to cash you – that’s a guarantee! But how do you choose a provider? Or at least how do you know they are going to give you results?

To begin with, the single-most important thing to ask your company is: Do you really need SEO services? Many companies find it very discomforting seeing their competitors comfortably at the top ten while finding themselves buried in the search results like ancient history. It is best to assess or establish your market position before engaging with the services of an SEO firm. Hence, leverage on your existing arsenal or invest on improving your strength first. Remember, your position in the search engine is not your position in the market. But if you think that a SEO campaign is a necessary campaign or a strategy, you need to be aware that it is a lengthy campaign and takes months to see the results – it can be very expensive over the long haul and comes with recurring expenses once you have established your foothold in the search rankings. Be sure that you can afford to assign a fixed budget to maintain and sustain your lead.

Choosing the right provider is a tough one. There are those who claim to launch a SEO promotion on the basis of their programming skills or website development. While both skills are useful, but they are not at all the most critical.

Quite strangely, writers turn out to be even better SEO promoters than tech savvies. When you choose an SEO provider be sure to ask about the background and portfolio of their writing team. Bear in mind that search engine algorithms are generally programmed to search for useful contents. Google reasons that people are not looking for a fancy website but information. In a way, search engines rank websites on the basis of the content a site has to offer its visitors. Also, search engines like to position websites by the number of people who talk about it whether in blogs, in other websites, forums, news sites or other venues. Therefore, when looking for an SEO firm, make sure that they have enough writers not only to update your site’s information but are knowledgeable where to promote your website in the information neighborhood.

Be sure to also know how your SEO firm updates your website on a regular basis. Search engines do not like old information. You let it slide down into obsolescence and the competition will easily put one over you in no time. “Website content is not a ‘set and forget’ project. Rather, web content should be treated as a living organism which needs ongoing care and nourishment. A ‘set and forget’ mentality when it comes to web content will only keep you successful for so long. Eventually, competitors catch onto to the benefits of SEO as well and if they are creating new content they are likely to trump you for target keyword phrases.” according to toprankblog.com.

Likewise, an SEO provider has to be well-rounded. It is a mistake that an SEO campaign is a separate mission independent from the traditional virals a company ordinarily undertakes. I believe an SEO program is not always autonomous or complementary to existing campaigns. It is cooperative. Web and traditional campaigns should support and serve each other’s purposes.

It’s nice to know that Cebu has quite gained the admiration of overseas clients for having very well versed SEO analysts and campaigners. If you’re in Cebu or any place in the country and in need of such services, you may email me so I can refer you a list of providers.  

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