Search Engine Optimization

Driving Site Traffic With Our Search Engine Optimization and Paid Advertising

You can’t simply build a new website, sit back, and expect to welcome a horde of visitors showing up at your door step. If you want your business to be successful and your website to bring in new business, you must promote your site. Both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertising on search engines can help drive visitors to your site. More visitors can ultimately lead to more customers for your business.

We can use a combination of SEO and search engine ads to increase your online business and boost your bottom line.

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO refers to modifying your Web pages to enhance your visibility in search engine results. If your business sells, say, Real Estate, your goal is to be listed near the top of the results if someone performs a search using the keywords “real estate in state college, pa”.  Research shows that if your site isn’t within the top 30 search results, very few visitors will click through to your site.

What is Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)?

SEO refers to modifying your Web pages to enhance your visibility in search engine results. If your business sells, say, Real Estate, your goal is to be listed near the top of the results if someone performs a search using the keywords “real estate in state college, pa”. Research shows that if your site isn’t within the top 30 search results, very few visitors will click through to your site.

What is Search Engine Advertising?

If you don’t like waiting months for SEO benefits to kick in, we recommend advertising on search engines for fast results. The paid approach might bring increased traffic to your site within as little as 24 hours.

The most popular type of search engine advertising — and the easiest to set up — is the pay-per-click (PPC) text ad. You write short text ads that display next to the search results for specific terms or keywords that people enter in a search engine. You pay for each visitor who clicks on your ad and is then directed to your website.

5 Questions to ask about an SEO firm before you hire them:

1. Does the SEO firm set realistic expectations about what they can and can’t do, or do they simply promise the moon? Smart SEOs under-promise and over-deliver, so watch out for those that do the opposite (and there are many).
2. Does the SEO company have a proven record of success and not just for long-tail keywords? Be sure to check references to learn whether the SEO firm actually improved their clients’ bottom line in some way.
3. Does the SEO agency provide recommendations for making your site better than it currently is, or are they trying to do things to it that will actually make it worse for your users? This one sounds crazy, but a good portion of SEOs think that it’s all about the search engines and not the users, and make bad decisions accordingly. Never, ever, ever let an SEO company do something that you feel worsens your site’s overall usability or readability.
4. Does the SEO consultant tell you what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, or do they just want you to blindly trust them? This one should set off a major red flag if you ever encounter it. Sure, you don’t need to know every last detail or to micromanage your SEO campaign, but your SEO should be able to explain their reasoning for why they want to do the things they recommend. If they can’t, or if their answers don’t make sense, then run (don’t walk) to the nearest door!
5. Does the SEO company use only automated methods to achieve their goals? This isn’t necessarily bad; however, you need to be aware if this is what they’re doing. SEO is very much an art as well as a science, and because of this, creativity should always play a big part. It’s very difficult to be creative when everything you do is based on a numbers game. Just keep that in mind!

The above questions were referenced from High Rankings: http://www.highrankings.com/choosing-an-seo-company