Buyers' guide to search engine optimization firms : who should you hire? how much should you pay? / Alexis D. Gutzman, managing editor ; Anthony Muller, editor ; Donna Pfledderer, Tim Gibbons, interviewers.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gutzman, Alexis D.

Muller, Anthony.

Pfledderer, Donna.

Gibbons, Tim.

Series:

Practical know-how & case studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Web search engines.

Web sites--Marketing.

Web sites.

Internet marketing.

Physical Description:

206 p.

Edition:

2nd ed.

Place of Publication:

Portsmouth, R.I. : MarketingSherpa, 2002.

Contents:

Intro

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR, ALEXIS D. GUTZMAN

ABOUT THE GUIDE

RESEARCH FOR THIS EDITION

CHAPTER 1: WHAT THE SEARCH ENGINES TOLD US

FIGURE 1-1: SEARCH ENGINES BY AUDIENCE REACH

CONTENT IS KING

HIRE AN EXPERT YOU CAN TRUST

EVERYONE IS AN INFORMANT: YOU WILL BE CAUGHT SPAMMING

CLOAKING: MOSTLY NOT FORBIDDEN

PAID SUBMIT BUYS YOU "BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

CHAPTER 2: SEO BUSINESS BACKGROUNDER: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE SELECTION PROCESS

3 REASONS YOU NEED TO GET HIGH RANKINGS

1. MAKE SURE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR YOUR BRAND, COMPANY, OR DOMAIN NAME FIND IT

2. HELP PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR ITEMS DEEP WITHIN YOUR SITE, SUCH AS PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR ARTICLES

3. GET YOUR WEB SITE TO APPEAR WHEN PEOPLE SEARCH BY RELATED TERMS AND PHRASES

WHAT IS OPTIMIZATION, AND HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC)?

OPTIMIZATION: AN INTERNAL PROCESS

WHAT ABOUT PAID-SUBMISSION SEARCH ENGINES?

WHAT ABOUT DIRECT FEEDS?

PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC) SERVICES

FIGURE 2-1: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION AND PAY-PER-CLICK COMPARED

WHAT SEO MEANS TO YOUR BOTTOM LINE

FIGURE 2-2: SEVEN STEPS TO CALCULATING THE DOLLAR VALUE OF SEO

7 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO HIRE A PRO

1. BECAUSE DO-IT-YOURSELF SOFTWARE DOESN'T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB

2. BECAUSE YOUR IN-HOUSE EXPERT PROBABLY ISN'T AS EXPERT AS HE THINKS

3. BECAUSE EVERYONE WHO WRITES CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON YOUR SITE NEEDS OPTIMIZATION TRAINING

4. BECAUSE IT DEPARTMENT OR IN-HOUSE WEBMASTER MAY BE TOO BUSY

5. BECAUSE THE COST OF DOING IT WRONG IS TOO HIGH

6. TO PARTICIPATE IN DIRECT FEED PROGRAMS

7. BECAUSE PICKING THE RIGHT TERMS IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS

8 (OR 10) THINGS YOU CAN YOU EXPECT FROM AN SEO FIRM

1. RESULTS MEASURED IN ONE OF SEVERAL WAYS

2. TRAFFIC, CONVERSION, AND ROI REPORTS.

3. NEED TO MODIFY CODE ON MANY/MOST PAGES OF YOUR SITE

4. NEED TO CREATE ADDITIONAL PAGES TO INCREASE RELEVANCE FOR SPIDERS

5. NEED TO CREATE SITE MAP TO INCREASE NAVIGABILITY FOR SPIDERS

6. NEED TO PURSUE RECIPROCAL LINKS TO ELEVATE YOUR LINK POPULARITY

7. RESPONSIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

8. A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP

9. POSSIBLE NEED FOR ACCESS TO YOUR CONTENT DATABASE FOR PARTICIPATION IN DIRECT FEED PROGRAMS

10. PPC MANAGEMENT

8 WAYS TO WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR SEO FIRM

1. MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND YOUR REVENUE MODEL, AND MEASURE CAMPAIGN SUCCESS BASED ON THAT

2. MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES YOU MONEY AND WHAT COSTS YOU MONEY

3. GIVE THEM SPECIFICS

4. KEEP THEM AWARE OF CHANGES AND SITE FREEZES

5. MAKE SURE YOUR IN-HOUSE WRITERS LEARN FROM THEM

6. HAVE SALES, MARKETING, PR, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE USE KEYWORDS IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD

7. GET A COMMITMENT FROM IT TO MEET THEIR DEADLINES

8. PLAN ON REGULAR MEETINGS WITH STAKEHOLDERS

9 STEPS TO CALCULATING ROI ON SEO

FIGURE 2-3: WORKSHEET FOR CALCULATING ROI ON SEO

FIGURE 2-4: EXAMPLE OF CALCULATING ROI ON SEO

CHAPTER 3: HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT SEO FIRM FOR YOU

5 (OR 7) THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN AN SEO FIRM

1. GOOD TRACK RECORD WITH COMPARABLE KEYWORDS/CLIENTS

2. GOOD REFERENCES

3. PRICING YOU CAN LIVE WITH

4. REPORTING ON USEFUL INFORMATION

5. TACTICS THAT DON'T EXCEED THE RISK YOU'RE WILLING TO TAKE

6. PARTICIPATION IN DIRECT FEED PROGRAMS

7. ABILITY TO DO INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS

2 THINGS NOT TO LOOK FOR IN AN SEO FIRM

1. RANKING REPORTS WITH MONEY-BACK GUARANTEES

2. GUARANTEES OF SO-MANY CLICKS

GUIDELINES FOR DECIDING WHAT YOU NEED FROM AN SEO FIRM

5 RISKS OF SELECTING THE WRONG SEO FIRM

1. BEING BANNED FROM ONE OR MORE SEARCH ENGINE

2. HAVING YOUR LINK POPULARITY ELIMINATED.

3. HAVING ALL YOUR SEARCH-ENGINE TRAFFIC RE-ROUTED TO YOUR COMPETITOR OVERNIGHT

4. MISSING TRAFFIC THAT YOU DESERVE

5. GIVING UNETHICAL PEOPLE ACCESS TO YOUR WEB SERVER

CHAPTER 4: THE QUESTIONNAIRE EXPLAINED

COMPANY INFORMATION

PRICING

MAINTENANCE

CONTRACTS AND CONSULTING

OWNERSHIP

PAGE CREATION

REPORTING

INTERNATIONAL

KEYWORD RESEARCH

TACTICS: SAFE AND EFFECTIVE

TACTICS: POTENTIALLY PROBLEMATIC

SIDEBAR: HAVE YOU HEARD FROM SOMEONE LIKE CHRISTINE HALL?

OTHER SEARCH-ENGINE-MARKETING SERVICES

CLIENT RESULTS

CLIENT COMMENTS

CHAPTER 5: THE SCORING EXPLAINED

SCORING CLIENT SUCCESS

ASSIGNING SPECIALTIES

OPTIMIZATION (O)

PAY-PER-CLICK (P)

METRICS (M)

DIRECT FEED (D)

INTERNATIONAL (I)

CHAPTER 6: COMPANY PROFILES OF 55 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION FIRMS IN THE US AND CANADA

@WEB SITE PUBLICITY, INC.

1ST ON THE LIST PROMOTION INC.

360TRAFFIC

6S MARKETING INC.

ACKLEY'S CUSTOM SITE SUBMISSION

ASPENSITES

ATTACH

BACKBONE MEDIA

BRUCE CLAY, LLC

CENTRIC

COASTAL SITES, INC.

ECOMBUFFET.COM LLC

ELAUNCHES.COM

GET CUSTOMER TRAFFIC.COM

GRANTASTIC DESIGNS, INC.

HIGH RANKINGS

IHELPYOU, INC.

INFUSE CREATIVE

INTELECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

INTRAPROMOTE, LLC

IPROSPECT

KEYWORDRANKING.COM

MARKET MY SITE!

MARKETLEAP

MARKETTRIX INCORPORATED

METAMEND

MY MARKETING PRO

NETPATHS.NET

NETSETGO MARKETING

NEXUS INTERACTIVE

OUTRIDER

PAGE ZERO MEDIA

PAGEVIEWS

PLATINUM WEB SITE SERVICES

POSITION RESEARCH

PRIME VISIBILITY

PRIORITY PLACEMENT WORLDWIDE

PROMINENT PLACEMENT, INC.

PROMOTEWEBS

SAGEROCK

SEARCHENGINEPOSITION INC.

SEARCHINTELLIGENCE

SHARPNET SOLUTIONS INC.

SITELAB INTERNATIONAL INC.

SPECTRACOM INC.

SUBMIT360

TRAFFICBOSS

TRAFFICLEADER.

TRANSCENDIGITAL LTD

UNREAL MARKETING SOLUTIONS

VKI STUDIOS

WEB IGNITE CORPORATION

WEBADVANTAGE.NET

WEBMAMA.COM

YOUNG &amp

ROEHR GROUP

THE EDITORIAL AND RESEARCH TEAM

APPENDIX A: TRANSCRIPT OF YAHOO INTERVIEW

APPENDIX B: TRANSCRIPT OF GOOGLE INTERVIEWS

APPENDIX C: TRANSCRIPT OF FAST INTERVIEW

APPENDIX D: TRANSCRIPT OF TEOMA INTERVIEW

APPENDIX E: TRANSCRIPT OF OPEN DIRECTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW.

ISBN:

1-932353-00-3

OCLC:

435738986