If you have a question about search
engine optimisation, search engine marketing,
affiliate marketing, or related services that you would
like us to answer send an email to seo@phfreelancewebsitedesigners.co.uk
Q: What is search engine optimisation
or SEO?
A: Companies and individuals define the term "search engine
optimisation" or "SEO" in different
ways, and they often interchange them with other terms such as "Internet
marketing," "web marketing," and "search engine marketing." For
PH's purposes, we define SEO as "all activities performed with the
intent of increasing the rank of a website in search engines for a given
keyword or combination of keywords." When we at PH talk about search
engine marketing we are referring to pay-per-click or PPC advertising,
and when we talk about Internet marketing we are referring to marketing
on the Internet in general which encompasses all web-based marketing
activities such as web design, conversion analysis, SEO, PPC, and online
ad banner campaigns.
Q: How long does SEO take?
A: Unfortunately if you have heard that search engine optimisation takes
time you heard right. In most cases you can expect to start seeing very
positive rankings within about 3 months. Depending on how established
your website already is, or is not, this number can vary from company
to company. SEO is a long-term marketing option that has a very postiive
ROI when looking at the big picture. Work that you do one month will
benefit you for months or years to come.
Q: Why should I be doing SEO?
A: The Internet is quickly replacing printed phone books, newspapers,
and magazines and is more effective dollar for dollar compared to TV,
radio, print, or outdoor advertising. Internet marketing isn't just for
Internet companies, it's for everyone, including traditional businesses.
The business that can't benefit from Internet marketing is becoming more
and more rare and more and more people turn to the Internet, not just
to make online purchases, but to research offline purchases as well.
Law firms, universities, car dealers, realtors, manufacturers, architects,
home builders, and offline retailers have benefitted from SEO and so
can you.
While there are many forms of online marketing, SEO is the one you should
definitely include because it is not a directly variable cost. For example,
if you run a PPC campaign you pay a fee every time someone clicks on
your advertisement. If you stop paying, you stop getting any results.
SEO is different. You pay a one off cost and whether you get a 2x return
or a 100x return your cost remains the same.
Q: How do search engines work?
A: A search engine tries to guess what you are looking for when you type
in a certain keyword or keyword phrase. This is tougher than it sounds.
For example, one person who types in "Northampton
web design" might be looking to hire a web design firm in Northampton,
while another who types in the same phrase is looking for a job with
a web design firm in Northampton, and yet another is trying to sell something
to web design firms in Northampton. The goal of any search engine is
to provide relevant search results for the greatest number of people
possible. Search engines do this by creating an algorithm by which websites
are ranked. A website shows up in the #1 spot for "Northampton web
design" or any other keywords in Google because Google's algorithm
has determined that website is what the majority of people want to see
when they type in their search terms. Of course that may or may not be
the case and you may find that in a majority of the searches you do you
don't find what you want, but seeing as how Google is the #1 search engine
by a long shot you can be sure they're doing a better job than any other
search engine out there, which leads us to the next question and answer...
Q: Which search engines matter?
A: The ones that will bring you the greatest return, and that usually
means Google. Google is
the king of search engines and owns almost half the search engine market,
with Yahoo and MSN taking
distant 2nd and 3rd places. All other search engines combined make up
such a small percentage of searches they are generally not worth considering
unless there is a special niche search engine that happens to service
your industry. But for the vast majority of our clients, Google is
the #1 focus because it has the most users, the most searches, and therefore
produces more leads than any other search engine.
Q: What is the SEO process?
A: SEO as a whole is not the simple process it used to be, although there
are many seo strategies a firm can do on their own. A few years ago (decades
in internet time) all a webmaster had to do to get decent rankings in Google or Yahoo was
add meta tag data at the top of the code of the webpage such as keywords
and description tags. Today most search engines virtually ignore meta
tags, and packing meta tags full of keywords or including white text
containing keywords on a white background is considered spam by search
engines and can do serious damage to a website's rankings. At PH we stay
abreast of changing trends in SEO and marketing and we apply that knowledge,
as well as our own experience, to get our clients' websites positioned
well for the keywords that will bring the most high-quality traffic to
them.
Although the specific techniques we use differ depending on each client's
situation, there is a general set of steps we go through. These steps
are repeated on a regular and frequenty basis, generally monthly.
- Analyze
- Modify
- Wait
- Repeat
Q: Is PH really a search engine
optimisation firm? You seem to do a lot of other things.
A: PH did not start out as a SEO firm and that is why we offer a host
of other services such as web design and content management. However,
SEO represents more than a fifth of PH business and is the fastest growing
portion of PH's business. While we don't plan on discontinuing our other
services, we are being more selective about what clients we take on so
that we can focus more attention on SEO, which is where we see the greatest
potential for growth.
Q: How are you different from other SEO companies?
A: Unfortunately there are many search
engine optimisation firms that use less than ethical means in either
getting results or dealing with their clients. Many will promise top
10 results in a short amount of time at an inexpensive cost. The reason
why some firms promise this is because they will get your site positioned
in search engines to gain #1 rankings for keyword phrases that no one
uses. Others use methods that may work in the short-term but over time
will not be effective. And still others only give clients half of what
they need. It's one thing to get a lot of traffic, but turning that traffic
into revenue requires more than just SEO services. We focus on getting
you quality traffic - website visitors that are truly searching for your
product or service. Then we also work with our clients to make sure their
website credible and is effectively leading those visitors down a path
towards making a purchase or contacting the client for more information.
Q: Why should I use PH to market my website online?
A: Results and integrity. We're good at bringing your website traffic
and gaining rankings, but that's only part of the equation. What kind
of traffic is it? Are you making more money from it? Is the traffic being
brought to your website in an ethical manner or using gimmicks that will
hurt your search engine rankings in the long run? PH uses ethical, straightforward
methods for improving your search engine ranking that deliver long-term
results. No gimmicks, no tricks, just hard work and experience. And because
we provide other services such as web design and web development we understand
how SEO works as part of a web marketing strategy to
increase revenue, not just rankings.
Q: Do you only provide SEO services to companies outside the
UK
A: Although PH is a UK based search engines optimisation firm
we have client experience in Spain, France and Italy. Please contact
us should you need to talk about any foreign language SEO project.
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PH
Freelance website designer
