SEO Question....

The best thing you can do is create a useful, relevant, frequently updated website that people want, need, like, and are compelled to return to again and again.

That's the best SEO you can have. IMO.

Yeah that's what I was thinking as well.

I don't exactly disagree with what MicroGuy says, but speaking as someone that has been doing SEO for about 10 years, it's only part of the story.

If you have a great site with good content that is constantly updated that's great. And if you have content that people need or like and they return, that is also great. But how are they going to find you in the first place? Yes, search engines will find and index your site and bring you some traffic, but if you don't have at least basic SEO, your site cannot reach it's full potential. I consider basic SEO to be the process of having unique page title tags, meta description tags, and meta keyword tags.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and that's really not a good name for it. You don't optimize a search engine, you optimize a web site FOR search engines.

At it's core, SEO is the process of having on your site, the keywords and keyword phrases that people use to search with. If you have that, your site will be found more often then sites that don't. It's as simple as that.

To optimize your site, you do some keyword research and find out what people are using. You make a list of all the things that people use to find a site like yours, then you add that to your site as much as possible, following a few rules: Don't over do it. Always use good English usage. And combine keywords into sentences that are also good advertising copy.

Along with this is making sure your page title tags, meta description tags, and meta keyword tags are also optimized and unique for each page of your site.

If you don't think SEO matters, try optimizing a section of your site, or just one page. Wait at least one week, or maybe more if you site is not being indexed very often. If you don't see a big change in traffic to that page, contact me and I will check it and give you some free advice.

Back to your original question, companies that offer SEO vary widely is price, techniques, and skill. You should talk to more than one before you choose someone, learn as much as you can about SEO first, and make sure you understand what you are paying for and what you will get for your money.

If a company offers to get your site to rank for certain keywords or phrases, make sure someone us using those keywords to find sites like yours. A top ranking means little if there is not much traffic. Also, remember that just because you GET a top ranking, that does not mean anyone will click on your listing. Lastly, even if someone DOES click, it does not mean they will become a customer.

I hope this helps...!

i see that you've mentioned meta keywords tags a few times.

i've heard that google completely ignores this tag while yahoo has essentially eliminated any real use for it. any thoughts?

This page has some good things to consider if you're thinking about hiring someone to do SEO:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Webmasters/Site owners Help

Or you can download this guide and learn to do it yourself:

http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Shockie: You are going to "hear" many different things from many different sources (including me). All I can tell you is that those with experience or can provide facts are the ones you should pay more attention to. The problem is that facts are hard to come by, and even if things are documented, they can change and later no longer be true.

Many people, especially newbies, will change one or more things on their site and then tell people, "I did this and this happened". The problem is there is no certainty that the change they made was the result of the effect they saw. They may have changed more than one thing, or a change they made in the past didn't take effect until a later time, like if the site was not indexed for a while.

If you look at some sites that don't get much traffic, one thing you may see is a keywords meta tag that is the same for all the pages, while the title and description tags are all different. In the past, changing this tag so that it's also unique for each page has made a difference in sites I have work on. It's not an "important" tag, but it can show you are putting effort into your site and may have a positive effect. It doesn't take much time to add a few keywords for the page and add it, so I always make sure it's part of what I do.

You can't trust me or any one SEO information source, including Google. Get as much information as you can and try to find things that most people agree on, and that should be the best information.

People should pay more attention to doing "simple" SEO and follow the advice of "old timers" like Jill Whalen, who got me started with the SEO that I have been doing for a long time now.

Keywords aren't used in google ranking any more - Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking - but notice that they don't say they're not using it as a spam indicator. For that reason, I agree that IF you use it, it should be relevant to the page content and unique.

very true. i've definitely heard lots of different things as seo can be quite of an art.

however, the consensus seems to be that meta keywords did work quite well in the past, but due to... "inappropriate" uses of it, it is no longer a factor to the point that google supposedly completely ignores it (according to them, i believe) - not that they should be completed trusted either, lol.

i think yahoo came out to say that they disregard the meta keywords tag completely as well, but then a test done by searchengineland (iirc) proved otherwise.

best advice: try it out for yourself if you can. :tu:

enlytend: I would put more value on that statement about keywords tag not being used if it was on Google's main site and not the blog. Even then I don't trust them to be honest. The more people know about how things work, the more they will use that information to get better rankings, or more importantly, more traffic.

I think the keywords tag was a great idea so webmasters can say which ones out of hundreds or thousands on a page are the most important for that page. The problem is that it was abused. But if people are still using the tag, why not include it in some way so that legitimate use will have small effect on the results? I try to use common sense and think like a search engine. Then I try to do what makes the most sense.

Google typically makes their product announcements on their blogs. I think that their public statements are truthful, but carefully worded and perhaps not full disclosure.

I think the keywords tag was a great idea so webmasters can say which ones out of hundreds or thousands on a page are the most important for that page.

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But that's exactly how it was abused in the past and why they stopped using it. Makes more sense for them to go by your content, i.e. what your visitors actually see.

SEO is a mystery. I am learning SEO, especially using CMS wordpress . I got some tricks on the internet applied it, and in few months I get a significant improvement. So, in my point of view SEO is very important, and the good thing is there are so many free resources about SEO.

FadiasJustice said:

Do you really think there is a benefit to using them?

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If good rankings for your site gives you a good financial return and you're clueless about SEO and have no inclination to learn more about it then it's worth it.

Which company is the best?

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No such thing as the best company.

What do they really do?

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Everything that can have a positive influence on your search rankings, what that is in your case depends on your site and your specific needs and your budget.

Each company is best if your site is promoted by SEO rules and requirements

Before spending $$$ on SEO Companies...

...I would suggest adding worthy content applicable to your website/target audience. How to add worthy content? Simply google the subject, find applicable articles on that subject, copy and paste your selected content from several articles into a new Word doc. Once you have 300 to 700 words...re-spin the content, re-structure the sentencing into your own words. You will now have unique content (as far as SEO 'bots are concerned) and can do so within 1 hour. Put the "new" content on your website. Write 6 - 10 articles the same way ASAP, then continue "writing" a new article and placing it on your website every month.

Just my $0.02, it worked for my first website and in short time I reached Page 1 on Google, Yahoo and MSN (now Bing) for most of my prime keywords (mattress cleaning, professional mattress cleaners, mattress cleaning service, mattress stain removal, etc.).

Personally, I would exhaust all possibilities and first learn what I CAN DO...before spending $$$ with SEO Companies.

Hi...
SEO is the good for web site and also the traffic increasing way.. so if you are going for the right way in search engine so you may find the site up...

Hi..
I think the keywords tag was a great idea so webmasters can say which ones out of hundreds or thousands on a page are the most important for that page. The problem is that it was abused.