“With so many e-mails stating for a fee I can have top ten rankings and get on the top page of Google, why do I have to do all things you claim?”

Back in the day, sites created with a target market in mind by considering keyword terms and phrases in code and copy produced relevant rankings. See I was waaaaay ahead of my time and determined targeted phrases before I typed a bit or byte of code. I came from corporate sales/marketing background so to consider how you wanted to be ranked, to me, was a no brainer.

Fast forward to present day and the whole process has been mucked up with misinformation and hype catering to those who don’t want to deal with the reality of what attaining relevant rankings entail and one can understand why most small businesses are frustrated. But what many don’t like to hear is…

Getting good rankings is an ongoing process that has to be monitored, tweaked and worked at — that’s simply part and parcel of having a Web site.

The healthy portion of site owners are not open or willing to embrace the reality of what attaining top of page; above the fold rankings require. Regardless of how often I explain the facts as to what is involved or send them to SEO links on my site so that they can read at their convenience and benefit from a solid understanding and realistic expectations — they just won’t have any of it. “There just has to be an easier way!”

“I should be #1 if that site is! Why is that site #1 when I am not?”

I feel your pain — but all you can do is your due diligence and keep working your program.

“Do what you do for your sites — they all rank very well — I don’t have any time to deal with this and make it happen!”

I do not do SEO for hire — I help site owners understand what they need to do and consider. And what I do on my sites is what I preach on this site — I work at it constantly, always and never quit. In addition, I strongly believe it behooves site owners to understand all the variables, be involved in their site, and have a long term consistent plan to improve their rankings over time.

“I have to add new information all the time?”

Yep! Brochureware sites just don’t cut it! Only those sites that offer value and unique content will be ranked highly in the eyes of the search engine gods. Just this week Google added a freshness factor to their algorithm. Have outdated old stuff — you cannot expect to compete for rankings.

“I don’t want to Blog — can you Blog for me?”

Really? Only you know your business, product and market well enough to know what type of information your current and potential customers would benefit from and appreciate. There are all kinds of things most folks don’t “want” to do when it comes to their business but we do it anyway. That’s part of running a successful business on or off-line. Like accounting and legal issues for example. You need to plan on blogging at least once each week — not just for search engines — but more importantly for your customers!

I get an e-mail almost every day that claims they can get me top ten rankings or on the front page of Google. So clearly that must be easy, so tell me how!

That’s called spam. Ethical and credible SEOers do not spam to get customers — period. And to make things worse, being on the top page of Google isn’t all it is cracked up to be. You need to work towards being “above the fold” on that top page if you really want to benefit from great rankings. I explain to folks how to work their rankings by virtue of the 95 SEO/SEM articles here on this site. Read and Learn.

I know — SEO sucks. It isn’t easy. It isn’t as cut and dried as many would prefer and unless you have deep pockets to throw four figures at true SEO professionals so they may assist you to attain good rankings over time, there is no way around the hard work.

But for those who understand how search engines work and take that into consideration when creating a site that caters to their site visitors, they will rule the day.

I look forward to seeing you on the top!

At your service,

Your WordPress Consultant

Guaranteed Top Ten Search Engine Rankings! is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

One of most important factors when it comes to free search engine rankings is relevancy. Google for example uses over 200 different and constantly changing criteria to determine relevancy. To pull on that coveted top page your site has to be one of the most relevant sites pertaining to the search at hand.

When a search is performed, those sites that are deemed the most relevant, at that point in time, will be listed in order of the level of relevancy as determined by a search engine’s algorithm of the day. Be about a ton of things – you are on page 100; but using the “less is more” methodology you may just be able to get on that coveted top page.

One of the most common search engine misnomers I get approached with on almost a daily basis is the assumption that one’s site should pull on the top page for any term they desire simply because they want it to. Stuff some keywords and whallah — wrong!

First and foremost you have to be realistic and think about why your site deserves to rank higher than those already listed. “Wanting” has nothing to do with rankings unless it is backed up with a long-term consistent proactive strategy to acquire the desired results.

Don’t fall for the hype or misinformation that is so prevalent on this topic. The noise can be overwhelming and confusing when actually the solution is quite simple. When it comes to your search engine rankings, if you remember anything — remember that less is more. The more you are about or try to cram on one page, the less you are relevant for any one thing and the more difficult it will be for you to hope to get on the top page.

Search Engine Rankings = Less is More

Being searchers are looking for one targeted issue, topic, service, or product – you want to determine what those most searched for terms are for your product or service and make sure your site is optimized for those terms. In addition, by simply concentrating on targeted phrases you will benefit from a more targeted site visitor too!

To try to pull for one word terms is a futile effort at best; the numbers are against you. And to guess what you “think” folks may use to find what you have to offer is not your most productive approach either. What if the phrases you “think” searchers are using is not what searchers are actually using to find a site like yours?

That is why it behooves you to investigate the available data at sites like Google to see what your potential customers are in fact using before and during the development of your site, and then moving forward as you grow your site. Check out my list of Free Keyword Research Tools!

Begin by rewriting your site page by page to reflect no more than one or two of the top phrases your target market is actually using. About 300-500 words of readable, customer catering verbiage will do. Remember, the more you blather on, the more you will dilute your efforts — and folks don’t read online — they scan. WordPress offers great SEO Tools and plugins that allow you to optimizes on a page by page basis. Unique titles and descriptions focusing on your one topic for the day — easy!

Checkout the WordPress SEO Plugin which actually guides and coaches you through he SEO process on each and every page or post!

Then for every additional keyword phrase you would like to eventually have hopes to be found by, write an article around that topic and give focus to that individual keyword phrase on its very own page. Turn your wealth of information, knowledge and experience into an article archive or Blog! Now that’s how you get rankings!

Moving forward, as topics arise write a white paper, resource page or article on each topic/phrase you feel is of importance to your site visitors. This approach automatically translates to you improving the chances of your site getting found. Don’t try and fool the search engines with random babbling and incoherent text – you want to have valuable information. Information that serves three critical purposes!

1. First, having targeted pages makes your site visitors happy because they have found the helpful, useful information they were seeking and will be more likely to contact you.
2. Secondly, valuable information and articles also better your chances of acquiring those cherished inbound one-way links that contribute to your search engine popularity factor (another factor in achieving healthy rankings).
3. And, thirdly, more content combined with the above will naturally help your rankings to improve over time.

So go take a look at your site now and integrate the “less is more” methodology and watch your rankings turn from less to more too!

At your service,
Judith
Your WordPress Consultant

Get More Search Engine Rankings with Less is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

More importantly, those who really get SEO, do a reality check to make sure clients understand the process, what is involved and they work towards creating realistic expectations.

An SEO Schmoe is either…

1. An individual or entity that sells SEO services but in reality doesn’t fully understand SEO to do right by their clients. Their main tactic is to take advantage of what clients don’t know to get into their pocketbooks..
2. A potential client who hasn’t made the effort to know just enough about SEO to avoid being taken advantage of by the Schmoes mentioned above.

The onus however, is on the client to have enough information to not be taken advantage of or to fall for the pie-in-the-sky hype some of these individuals/companies promise.

Here are 5 issues you need to get definitive answers on, and information you need to investigate, before you start throwing your hard earned dollars when it comes to finding SEO help:

1. Search for the the terms that describe the services the individual or company is offering. Do they rank highly for their own site? If not, why not? If they cannot get their own site found for the terms you would use, why should you believe they can then do so for your site?
2. If the SEO individual or company is offering high ranking guarantees – how is that possible when no one can control or influence search engines? Google’s own published guidelines state: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEO’s that claim to guarantee rankings…” Google also offers some useful questions to ask an SEO, some of which include:
   • Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
   • Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?
   • What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?
   • What’s your experience in my industry?
   • What’s your experience in my country/city?
   • What are your most important SEO techniques?
   • How long have you been in business?
   • How can I expect to communicate with you? Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?
3. Get referrals before you make any commitments. Do they have long-term satisfied clients? Make sure they prove it with client testimonials and references (not just one guy who happens to be a friend). And testimonials on their site don’t count — anyone can embellish those. Get names and phone numbers of satisfied customers for you to call. Then before you call, ask for info on those client’s Web sites that they have optimized and which keywords they optimized for. They should be able to show you where in the search engines that client is appearing. If they can’t give examples, they probably don’t have any.
4. SEO best practices call for building links to your Web site. Ask what link building strategies they plan to use. Getting “links” from hundreds of sites is a big red flag. Slow consistent link building from authority sites is what works best. How do they plan on attaining quality one-way inbound links to your site?
5. Goals and Outcomes: What goals will they set for your site and targeted keyword phrases. You know the saying “if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is”? Guaranteeing improved rankings is one thing but if an SEO individual/company guarantees actual placement results, be suspicious. Real search engine optimizers will tell you, there is no exact way to know in advance where your Web site will be ranked in the search engines after their initial optimization is complete. It is an ongoing process. Not something you set, forget and that remains in place.

While SEO techniques are pretty universal, SEO in of itself is not a one-size-fits-all. Site owners need to understand what is involved and, more importantly, what is possible in order to fully be able to determine what SEO approach is best for their project.

I have a bunch of articles on SEO so that you can empower yourself with the knowledge and understanding to make educated decisions moving forward.

So don’t be an SEO Schmoe!

At your service,
Judith

What’s an SEO Schmoe? is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...