You've seen the
search engine optimization (SEO) companies out there that charge
a hefty monthly fee to ensure that your Web pages will rank high
for long periods of time. We've all heard the line that ranking
formulas and algorithms are constantly changing and only the SEO
"experts" know how to keep up with them.
As one of those
"experts," I'm here to tell you that this is simply not true.
Yes, it's true
that the search engines are constantly tweaking their formulas —
predominantly to combat
spam, I'm sure. But for the average well-optimized
Web site, these tweaks will not make a heck of a lot of
difference to overall long-term rankings.
To be sure,
rankings are certainly variable and do change from week to week
and month to month. Any Web site's rankings are subject to
change from one to 20 positions (up or down) on any given day,
and there's not much anyone can do about it.
But, there's
absolutely no benefit in worrying about those kinds of
short-term variations.
Who
should worry about changing algorithms? Those who use
gateway or doorway type pages based on the optimization
technique du jour.
Gateway pages are
created for the purpose of getting high rankings in search
engines for particular keywords, which in turn directs traffic
to a given Web site. Some gateway companies create hundreds of
gateway pages for a single Web site.
By their very
nature, these pages cause clutter in the search engines and are
the reason that search engines are constantly changing their
ranking formulas. I'm sure the engines hope that this
cat-and-mouse game will finally cause these gateway specialists
to throw up their hands in exasperation and simply give up.
But the gateway
companies live on, because Web site owners are willing to pay
exorbitant monthly fees to ensure that their sites stay in the
top 10.
Beware
those who try to spam or trick the engines into ranking
their sites high.
Tricks and spam
are the things that the search engines are always on the lookout
for. If you try to trick the search engines through whatever
means, you may have high rankings one day and not the next.
It's as simple as
that and should go without saying: don't do it.
Who does
not need to worry? Those who have Web sites full of
informative, well-written, keyword-rich content that describes
their services and products in detail on each page and are
optimized accordingly.
Guess what,
folks? If you already have a Web site that fits the above
criteria and gets high rankings, there's a strong likelihood
that these rankings will remain high for years.
Yes indeed, I kid
you not. I have many, many sites out there that have ranked high
for years with no additional work done to them after the
original optimization. I know that plenty of other reputable SEO
specialists have similar stories to tell.
This is the truth
that some SEO companies don't want you to know.
What
should any site owner worry about? Whether or not the
pages of your site are in any given search engine's database is
one thing you do need to worry about.
It is not unusual
for URLs to be in an engine one day and suddenly missing the
next. This happens fairly often for unexplained reasons in many
of the engines, most notably HotBot and Excite.
This does not
mean that your site needs to be re-optimized. It does not mean
that there's anything wrong with your site. And it does not mean
that your site has suddenly been banned from the search engines.
It simply means
that the missing pages of your site need to be resubmitted.
That's it. Nothing mysterious there, and resubmission is not a
very time-consuming process, either.
The only mystery
is why the engines drop pages. There are lots of explanations
for why this happens, but the point is really that it doesn't
matter why.
It only matters
that you note which of your pages are missing and resubmit them
as soon as possible to avoid as much loss of traffic as
possible.
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Continued...
Why do
SEO companies charge big monthly fees? Because they
can! They use scare tactics to make you think that your rankings
could be gone at any moment unless they are constantly tweaking
your pages.
If they're using
gateway pages, perhaps this is true. But even with gateways, it
is doubtful that they need constant tweaking.
Some questions to
ask when choosing a search engine optimization company for your
site:
Are the pages the
company is optimizing kept on your server or theirs? If the
company keeps the optimized pages on their server, then they're
probably going to charge you a high monthly fee (in the
thousands of dollars range) to keep your rankings.
As soon as you
decide you don't want to pay this fee any more, they simply take
your pages off of their server and with them go your rankings.
Not a nice situation to be in, as you'd be back at square one.
Many companies
that charge you "only for actual results" work this way. It
sounds great to only have to pay for actual results, but be
aware that you will have to pay for those results forever and
ever if you want to keep them.
Do you own the
optimized pages? Even if the pages are put on your server, do
you own the rights to them? If the optimization company owns the
text copy and META tags, legally they would be able to remove
them from your server at will.
So now we're back
to the original question. Should you pay for long-term rankings?
For many Web site
owners, it is definitely worth some sort of monthly fee to have
peace of mind. Most site owners have plenty of things to worry
about already, and they would welcome the opportunity to have
someone they trust taking care of their rankings for them for a
reasonable fee.
It's a big help
to have someone who will make sure your pages are in the engines
and will resubmit them as soon as they disappear. A long-term
relationship with an optimization company would ensure that this
is done for you.
Other long-term
benefits would include receiving ranking reports showing which
engines you're ranking high with and under which keywords. You
might also get traffic reports which show how people found your
site, and what keywords they used to find it. Generally, these
things do not take a lot of time and expertise, but they are
still very helpful.
It's important to
keep these things in mind when deciding how much it's worth for
you to have peace of mind.
The bottom line
is this: When a site is optimized by changing the text on the
pages of the site, without trying to trick the
engines, chances are that high rankings will come and last for
years with only a minimal amount of additional work.
Do not let all
the confusing and often misleading hype out there ever make you
think otherwise.
The views of our authors don' t necessarily
reflect the views and policies of this company or its
advertisers.
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