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Things to Watch Out for When Hiring a Search Engine Optimization Firm...
1) Make sure the company you contract uses responsible methods when optimizing your
website.
Most people are aware that if they hire an inept company for search engine optimization, the company
may not be able to get the site ranked. What many people do not realize, however, is that an irresponsible
search engine optimizer can very easily get your website banned or penalized in major search engines by
using what are called "spam techniques." A spam technique is text, code or software that
attempts to cheat a search engine's algorithms and which, ultimately, skews search
engine results.
The following techniques of search engine optimization are considered spam by search
engines. Although these techniques may initially produce results, they will
eventually lead to your website being penalized or permanently
banned by one or several major search engines. If you suspect a
company of using one of these techniques do NOT contract them:
Cloaking: using software to direct search engine spiders (the programs that find
and catalogue your website) to alternate keyword packed web pages that are not seen
by the visitor or on the actual website.
Doorway, Gateway or Bridge Pages:
These are poorly made web pages created specifically to rank well
in search engines. They often have repetitive keywords and hidden
text and offer no real content to the visitor of the website.
Hidden Text: Hidden text is created by making the text the same color as
the background. Some search engine optimizers try to pack keywords into your website
by hiding them in this way.
Automated Submissions: Some search engine optimization
firms and many search engine submission firms will attempt to use
software to submit your website to search engines. Almost all
major search engines do NOT approve of automated submissions and
will consider this spam. Make sure the company you hire does
their submissions manually.
Mirrored Sites or Pages: These are exactly what they
sound like--exact replicas of web pages or of a complete website.
Mirror websites are acceptable only if they are used for valid
reasons: i.e. to ensure faster downloads for users, or to ensure
faster access to the site when the original website is
geographically distant. Search engines do not allow you to create
and submit multiple copies of your website simply for website
ranking purposes.
Page-Jacking: Page-Jacking refers to stealing a highly-trafficked part of a well ranked website and
hiding it somewhere on your website to try to get ranked under the same keywords.
Link Farms: Search engines are more likely to find and
rank you well if several relevant websites are linking to you.
Some people have exploited this by creating link farms: web pages
of unrelated links created specifically for the purpose of
increasing the search engine ranking of each of the websites on
the page. Never allow yourself to be listed on such a web
page.
2) Don't be pulled-in by free website ranking strategies.
As one might expect most free or extremely cheap website ranking strategies are either
scams or an invitation to use a spamming technique. Inclusion in link farms (explained
above) is a popular free website ranking strategy that is
strictly forbidden by search engines.
3) Don't confuse search engine optimization with search engine submission.
Many companies, including Directory One, offer submission services to directories and search engines
for a low monthly or yearly fee. Submitting your website to a directory or search engine does not guarantee
any sort of ranking in that search engine only that you will be indexed. Basically, it means the
submitter will take the time to fill out the online forms and "paperwork" each directory and search
engine requires and they will, in turn, index you somewhere in their directories. |
