search engine optimization consultants..

phpbigot

has anyone looked into these 'search engine optimization consultants'...is it all a bunch of BS?

...well not all but is there real 'knowledge' about it that justifies paying someone else for it?

gerardg

It's not BS, but there are plenty of BS'ers. I've learned how to SEO myself (it's not that hard) and have just gotten tons more traffic from the latest Yahoo/Google (the most important dir/se, but they're are others to think about) update. SEO'ing your pages with popular keywords is a great way to get free traffic.

For more info head on over to:

http://searchengineforums.com/bin/Ultimate.cgi
http://www.searchenginewatch.com

legendax

all depence which company you are going for. ones that promise everything for 199 0r more are BS. I been working with search engines for over 3 years and my advice to you is. sit down first and see what keyword you want and where do you want to be. I have done a deal with a company for some serious money but i am in top 10 in every keyword i asked for. so prepare yourself for long and expensive run but at the end is worth it.
hope this will help you clear some problems

phpbigot

..but is it really worth paying someone else to do it? I have read things from those sites too, and I really don't think I need to pay a consultant to do the same things that I can read about.

Is there really specialized knowledge about it, that is worth paying for?

..and if there is, wouldn't that person have incentive not to share it..but then again, if it is 'secret' knowledge, then there's not proof that it really works.

legendax

it all comes to what you want to do with the website adn how much money you want to put in.
as every other marketing field in order to get money you have to spend. it si same with search engines too. at least that is the way i think

phpbigot

I have a few questions:

..what exactly did this person do for you?

Did you try to submit to search engines yourself before working with the consultant?

Are the rules that complicated per search engine?

phpbigot

one technique i read about all the time is to choose the 'right' keywords...and it stands to reason that maybe "books" would be a better keyword than "literature".

But a lot of these kind of decisions seem like common sense to me...

legendax

think of it this way and you will understand why i am saying that

i hired them because it was for company i am working ofr. i wouln't hire them for my own stuff because it is way too much money. they promised me that i will be in top 5 and i am. it might sound too much 30.000 per website but if you business is online based then it's worth it. they promised me that i will be there and i am. i get over 5000 people per month on 1 site just from yahoo

gerardg

Well, it all depends on how much you already know and how much time it will take you to learn what you don't.

SEO'ing isn't that hard, but there is a fair amount to know - all the se's/dirs and which matter most, determining keywords, knowing how to create seo'd pages.

SEO'ing is not secret (though most of the se algorithms are!) - right now most people don't do anything/much to seo their pages. But there are highly competitive keywords and getting good results there is much trickier.

Also, on picking keywords - choose as many as can apply. The more specific the better. "Books" would be very difficult to get good rankings on.

phpbigot

Regarding the Yahoo listing, they currently charge $199 for 'priority service' or something like that.

$30k is easy to spend if it's your companies money ..and the 5k of traffic you got sounds good, ...but one big quesiton is:

did you guys already try to submit the website to Yahoo before hiring an 'expert'?

I suppose a good analogy with what I'm geting at would be this:

you don't need to be a dentist to know that the tooth aches...and simularly you don't need to be the search engine programmer to figure how how well 'keywords' affect your ranking.

..I mean unless there is this secret society of search engine hackers out there -- this 'industry' will always seem illigit to me.

legendax

seo

i agree with you. it comes to the point of how any websites you have and how many search engines you want to be on and how good nerves you have.
my company example has over 20 fuctional websites and 100 domains to go. we will never get ALL in good placement but i bought each url for each keyword. so i am hopping i will get in easier. for example if you have jim bookstore land store and buy jimbookstore.com is good but go and get jimbook.com and jimbooks.com and so on. so chances are you will get in faster and better or at least that is how i think 🙂 i hope i am close to right 🙂

phpbigot

It stands to reason that the ranking algorithms of each search engine may change over time, thus making necessary the need to make sure you are still high in the rankings.
..this is one of the things to consider when you decide to either outsoure or do "SEO" in-house according to this:

http://www.clickz.com/article/cz.3339.html

Of course, that article was written by the CEO of Web-Ignite Corporation, a search engine optimization (SEO) and positioning company. Hmmmm..well to me, there's an obvious bias toward outsourcing in the article that he wrote. IMHO, this article is nothing more than a sales pitch, posing as advice.

.....
So I read this article about "doorways/gateways":
http://www.rankwrite.com/gatewaymyth.htm

Essentially they say:

"If your site has content that naturally uses your relevant keyword phrases, and you follow simple guidelines on how to create your titles and meta tags, your Web site will rank high."

And this doens't seem to be anything noew..it seems to boil down to this:

*clearly state what the content is about

...so i still feel unsatisfied as to realizing what value and what real impact SEO consultants do or if it's just a self-aggrandizing term for "I-know-how-to-use-a-search-engine submission-form,-pick-key-words,-and position-them-at-the-top-of-the-page".

legendax

true....i beleive you should do it yourself if you have time. my company does not. i do not think that they are willing to hire me as a programmer/web developer to do search engine. i got couple of URL int Yahoo and they are OK. if you have time and know what you doing i say go for it. but don;t force it because you will get banned

phpbigot

..all this silly talk about manipulating search engines every few weeks seems like such a waste of time.

Why not focus on the content? And when I say silly talk, I don't mean from you guys, but from this SEO "industry".

Anon

My company paid $40k to some yahoo to give us a better placement. I say yahoo beacuse some of the things he wanted to do would actually hurt our rankings. Use some common sense and if you really want to spend money for better placement, buy your placement with GoTo, FindWhat, or Sprinks.

Bob