Over nine years of providing Internet Marketing Services for small, mid and large business, I found the following to be the most often asked questions about Search Engine Optimization
1. What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Simply put, it is providing search engines with a page of content written for a specific keyword/phrase in the way that search engines want it written. By doing so, the page optimized for a keyword/phrase will obtain high rankings in the search results.
2. Do I need to change my current website copy in order to obtain high rankings on search engines?
In almost all cases your website copy will remain as it is written. Search engine optimized pages are new pages that are added to your website.
3. Should I use a national company to create optimized web pages for my website?
In most cases, a local Internet Marketing company can do a better job at a lower price and offer personal service. Most national companies won’t optimize web pages for local market reach.
4. Do I need to resubmit my website to the search engines after the optimized pages are added to my site?
As part of any search engine optimization program, the person doing the optimization should be the one responsible for submitting web pages to the search engines. They should also provide you with a report on the new rankings of your pages on the search engines.
5. Can optimized web pages be created for more that one keyword/phrase?
Unfortunately this is not possible. Search engine use a strict formula to rank pages in the search results. Having multiple keyword/phrases on one page dilutes the effectiveness of all the keyword/phrases for ranking.
6. Can I create my own optimized web pages and post them on my site?
If you know all of the search engine rules, understand search engine’s ranking formulas then yes you can. However, there are many optimization techniques that are posted on the Internet that are incorrect and if used could cause your website to be Black Listed on the search engines. Bad practices like using hidden text, link farms and others are a sure way to get your site in trouble.
7. How long does it take before an optimized web page gets ranked by search engines?
In can take about a month for some search engines to spider and index new pages on a website. However, with proper submission, results can be seen in as little as a week or two.
8. Can an optimized web page be created for a single word rather than a phrase?
An optimized page for a single word is almost impossible to optimize and get a good ranking. Using a single word search generates too many results on search engines. Literally millions and millions of pages are ranked on search engines for single words. That’s too many pages in competition with a page that you might want to have optimized. In most cases a single word is not specific enough to give a searcher good search results. It is far better to be more specific and create optimized pages for phrases with two or three words.
9. Will it help with the page ranking to have Meta Tags on all of the pages on a website?
To some degree yes! The search engines do look at all of the text that makes up a page including the use of keyword/phrases in some of the Meta Tags. However, search engines no longer give much weight to words used in a Keyword Meta Tag. Of more importance is that search engines use the title and description Meta Tags when creating the search listing results. A good title and description can mean the difference in your listing getting more clicks than your competition.
10. Does it cost a lot of money to have an optimized webpage created?
For local optimization, a page optimized for a keyword/phrase and 5-7 locations (example: Auto Repair + Foxboro, Mansfield, Easton, Plainville, and Norton) will cost $200. Pages used to reach a national market or more competitive keyword/phrases are a bit more expensive as they require ongoing adjustments to maintain rankings.
11. What type of search engine ranking can I expect from an optimized web page?
Using proper search engine optimization practices, your keyword/phrase should ranking within the first 20 search results on all major search engines. Depending upon the keyword/phrase being optimized you could expect to see your page ranking be on the first page of most of the search engines.
12. How do I select the most popular keyword/phrases to have pages optimized?
You should provide your Internet Marketing professional with a list of 50 keyword/phrases that you think potential customers would use to search on for your products or service. They can provide you with a FREE report showing the most popular phrases for your business. (Not all Internet Marketing professionals provide free reports.)
If you have questions about Search Engine Optimization feel free to call me at 508-223-3653 or email me at (jconant@usamarketingassociates.com)
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