Advice On SEO

[Mechanic]

Hi

I asked a company who did my website about SEO.They gave me a reply but can someone tell me if it looks any good for starters?

Also what would be key questions to ask in response to this?

They key points in the reply was.....



We will optimize the website with a focus on marketing the business concept through off-page and on-page mediums.
The inclusions:Extensive study and research for Website & Industry Competition
• Enhancement of Keywords: Proximity, Density, Placement, Frequency, Repetition/Spamming, Geographies, etc.
• On-Page Optimization: Meta Data, Alt Tags Creation, Keyword Placement, Heading Tags, Creating Robots .txt file, Anchor text and links, etc.
• Off-Page Optimization: Search Engine submissions, one-way link building, Two-way link exchange, Classified Advertising.
• Boost ranking by submission to 1000+ Directories
• Report submission at regular intervals

[QVA - Emma]

Hi Mechanic,

It's hard to say if it looks good when you don't say the price or a link to your site.

Why did the company not SEO your site when it was built? It's a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Regards

Emma

[Mechanic]

Well they did offer to SEO it when it was done but i wasn't sure and didn't buy it as i thought i could still do it down the line.



''Boost rankings by submitting to 1000+ directories''

Im not expert obviously but im sure i've read his can do more bad than good?

The price......think it was in the region of £220 intial set up cost
£120 per month/min 6 months

[fiona davies]

If you are going to pay that amount of money for SEO then really, really do your research. Just because they built your website, doesn't mean they know the FIRST things about SEO. They might...but you don't know. Phone a few companies....hang around this forum and you'll get an idea of who knows what and what they offer.

[TDplus4]

Hi Mechanic,

It's hard to say if it looks good when you don't say the price or a link to your site.

Why did the company not SEO your site when it was built? It's a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Regards

Emma

Good point Emma,

I'll go through their response..

We will optimize the website with a focus on marketing the business concept through off-page and on-page mediums. - First off, did they take the time to really understand your business concept and ideal customer profile?
The inclusions:Extensive study and research for Website & Industry Competition - Does this mean searching for weaknesses they may have that you can exploit, rating the SEO currently employed on competitive websites, SWOT analysis?
• Enhancement of Keywords: Proximity, Density, Placement, Frequency, Repetition/Spamming, Geographies, etc. - All well and good, but are they willing to go back to the drawing board and do an extensive keyword research analysis based on informational, navigational and transactional searches? If so, they may find keyword terms that should be included within your website that don't currently have web pages - in other words, additional copy and pages...
• On-Page Optimization: Meta Data, Alt Tags Creation, Keyword Placement, Heading Tags, Creating Robots .txt file, Anchor text and links, etc. - Title Tag is the most important Tag that search engines look for on-page - they may include this is in the "meta data" but best to check. Will they also provide website copywriting based on the best keywords? Or are they just going to stick keywords in where they can that may look odd to humon visitors?
• Off-Page Optimization: Search Engine submissions, one-way link building, Two-way link exchange, Classified Advertising. - They haven't mentioned "quality" links (e.g. from trusted, mature domains that search engines see as positive "votes"). Two way link exchanges - I would recommend against this to start with - keeping visitors on your site to build your brand and "stickability" is a better idea...later on, consider affiliate agreements, partnering or lead generation campaigns...
• Boost ranking by submission to 1000+ Directories - Would the 1000+ directories really drive quality traffic your way? Probably not as they wouldn't take the time to vet each of them. Ask them if they will be using automated software - not recommended. They haven't mentioned the main directories (DMOZ, Yahoo Directory etc) which is a worry - these directories (and other big ones) are what Google and other search engines use to provide search results on their own pages...
• Report submission at regular intervals - would be better to have ranking reports for all the keywords you agree to to find out how your well your SEO campaign is performing.

Hope this helps... ;)

If you have further questions, please us know.

Tony

[TDplus4]

Well they did offer to SEO it when it was done but i wasn't sure and didn't buy it as i thought i could still do it down the line.



''Boost rankings by submitting to 1000+ directories''

Im not expert obviously but im sure i've read his can do more bad than good?

The price......think it was in the region of £220 intial set up cost
£120 per month/min 6 months

Re 1000000+ directories - spot on Mechanic - you've read correct. Also, too many links at the outset can get you penalised. A new client of mine was banned from Google for a while due to the amount of "links" to his website by his previous "SEO".

In SEO you get what you pay for..always choose quality over price...

One last little tip - do a HTML validation check (validator.w3.org) of your website to see if there are any errors/warnings. SEO always starts with Good Coding and Good Hosting ;)

[crossdaz]

One last little tip - do a HTML validation check (validator.w3.org) of your website to see if there are any errors/warnings. SEO always starts with Good Coding and Good Hosting ;)

Give the guy a break - why don't you just try and give him some good advice - you might get some honest business out of it?

For your information OP - virtually every site on the web will show errors on validation including google. It makes no odds at all.

[TDplus4]

Give the guy a break - why don't you just try and give him some good advice - you might get some honest business out of it?

For your information OP - virtually every site on the web will show errors on validation including google. It makes no odds at all.

Give him a break? If he takes on board what I have suggested, he'll give himself a good chance of online success...

Re good advice - look at my previous post - already have done...and this is what this forum is all about :rolleyes:

...and coding errors can and often do affect SEO (spider crawlability roadblocks etc)

[crossdaz]

...and coding errors can and often do affect SEO (spider crawlability roadblocks etc)

yeah, right :rolleyes:

you want him coming back saying 'I've got 600 errors, can you help?'

don't try and kid a kidder :D

[TheSlackers]

One last little tip - do a HTML validation check (validator.w3.org) of your website to see if there are any errors/warnings. SEO always starts with Good Coding

Errrrrrr....no it doesn't! Valid HTML is not an issue for search engine rankings, only web developers looking for work will tell you it is. :rolleyes:

[TDplus4]

yeah, right :rolleyes:

you want him coming back saying 'I've got 600 errors, can you help?'

don't try and kid a kidder :D

No, I want him to get the best possible SEO implementation on his website, to give his website a fair crack at ranking.

Perhaps you and TheSlackers could also provide some sound, free honest SEO advice for Mechanic regarding his original post? Anything you'd like to offer? :rolleyes:

[TDplus4]

yeah, right :rolleyes:

you want him coming back saying 'I've got 600 errors, can you help?'

don't try and kid a kidder :D

Errrrrrr....no it doesn't! Valid HTML is not an issue for search engine rankings, only web developers looking for work will tell you it is. :rolleyes:

Perhaps you could both offer some free, honest SEO advice for Mechanic to help him with his original question? :)

[crossdaz]

Perhaps you could both offer some free, honest SEO advice for Mechanic to help him with his original question? :)

No problem - if he wants to PM me I'll be glad to help. All for free :):)

[willitbe]

I will offer some sound advice OP....Avoid people that give you wide of the mark information, such as TDplus4.

I had a site that ranked at no-1 for 15+ very competitive search terms that crashed the Validator site because it had so many errors!.:D

[TDplus4]

No problem - if he wants to PM me I'll be glad to help. All for free :):)

Good man - that's the spirit :D But please do post your advice on this forum - nothing like sharing the love :eek:

[TDplus4]

I will offer some sound advice OP....Avoid people that give you wide of the mark information, such as TDplus4.

I had a site that ranked at no-1 for 15+ very competitive search terms that crashed the Validator site because it had so many errors!.:D

OP - please do investigate and check out these claims for yourself. Hope the original advice is helpful - if your SEO company comes up trumpts well done for checking it out here first ;)

[david64]

We will optimize the website with a focus on marketing the business concept through off-page and on-page mediums.
The inclusions:Extensive study and research for Website & Industry Competition
• Enhancement of Keywords: Proximity, Density, Placement, Frequency, Repetition/Spamming, Geographies, etc.
• On-Page Optimization: Meta Data, Alt Tags Creation, Keyword Placement, Heading Tags, Creating Robots .txt file, Anchor text and links, etc.
• Off-Page Optimization: Search Engine submissions, one-way link building, Two-way link exchange, Classified Advertising.
• Boost ranking by submission to 1000+ Directories
• Report submission at regular intervals


Sounds good enough for a small business. That's all you will need to be able to rank for niche terms. Not sure about the link exchange though.

Would not be able to give you any more than that without seeing the finished work.

[Codefixer]

With the increasing importance of Local Search, and I am guessing you're probably a local mechanic you should think about getting listed in Google Local.

Pay Per Click, Google Local and SEO all working together can be a pretty rewarding strategy for a local business and it doesn't have to break the bank.

[QVA - Emma]

Well they did offer to SEO it when it was done but i wasn't sure and didn't buy it as i thought i could still do it down the line.



''Boost rankings by submitting to 1000+ directories''

Im not expert obviously but im sure i've read his can do more bad than good?

The price......think it was in the region of £220 intial set up cost
£120 per month/min 6 months

They built the site for you so I would at the very least have expected them to set it up as SEO friendly to say the least.

I take it then all you have paid for with the site is the actual graphic design rather than if it is functional, user friendly etc.

Another £220 on top for adding a few internal links, tags etc is a bit steep IMO but not if you had gone to a seperate company.

What are you looking to rank for, is it a local business? Or do you plan to expand? Is it a UK wide business, where visitors will come from all over the UK to buy your products?

If local (which I am led to beleive by your username) - you may be best to DIY it for local terms i.e. with your county or city PLUS get a good Google Map listing (Ali-v-8 on the forum is the best at it).

There is a great offer in the Special Offers section from a recommended user (given a great referance by Tin - administrator) and lots of members have used the service already for backlinks.

Look at your options carefully before you agree to anything.

Regards

Emma

[NextPoint]

OP - please do investigate and check out these claims for yourself. Hope the original advice is helpful - if your SEO company comes up trumpts well done for checking it out here first ;)

Nobody knows exactly how the search engines work because Google and the others will not reveal all of the details to how their systems rank content, plus they always make changes to improve the quality of their results. Good quality content structure is important for:

* Making sure the search engines can read your content easily - don't mix inline styling or have lots of in-page Javascript or CSS - this will distract the search engines and make them less likely to read all of your content. It may even reduce the points you get - instead include CSS and Javascript from external files to be safe.

* Don't use unrequired HTML - again, anything that makes it harder for search engines to read your content should be avoided.

* Don't have important keyword rich text generated by Javascript or used in Flash or as graphics - search engines will find it difficult to read this type of content - if they can at all.

* Put your keyword rich intro at the top of the HTML - you will get more points for this.

* Identify your keywords as appropriate using elements like H1, H2, H3, strong and ul or ol lists - this makes the keywords stand out to the search engines to have some type of importance.

* Avoid black hat SEO tactics like the plague.


In in summary, quality of HTML is important - but not to the point where you have to be excessive to meet W3C standards. W3C standards are a guideline to make content layout more standard - much better to get your content viewable in all browsers, as content that have no errors with W3C can still fail to show properly in the different browsers.

[Ali-v-8]

This is gone off at the deep end.
You may be running when all you need is to stroll.
If your targeting local and that company can deliver i would still be careful on the price.
Cheap SEO can mean cut corners.
If they are going to implement all the work stated in the OP the its either very very good or just a con.
See some examples of work.
also how long term clients not just 5-8 months.
Getting quick results is easy but maintaining is the key

[Mechanic]

Hi

Thanks for the replys.
It is for a local business service,just want to focus on my city for now.
My site has has jumped a page recently for some keywords,it even appears on page one of local search sometimes.All i've been doing over the last few months is getting links from classified add sites and i rank well on google maps.I use adwords too but the rank for that has dropped lately :|

My gut feeling is the site just needs a bit of a push now to get it up there,my classified ads rank better in most searches.Obviously i don't want to spend that kind of money.Maybe if just keep getting links here and there if will slowly sort itself out? considering it has improved recently.

Also how quickly could it be done? too rank 'good' maybe top 3?
I don't think there is that much competition,when searching it is mostly ads and rubbish,not competitors websites.

[Ali-v-8]

if your willing to pay anything is achievable.

Hi

Thanks for the replys.
It is for a local business service,just want to focus on my city for now.
My site has has jumped a page recently for some keywords,it even appears on page one of local search sometimes.All i've been doing over the last few months is getting links from classified add sites and i rank well on google maps.I use adwords too but the rank for that has dropped lately :|

My gut feeling is the site just needs a bit of a push now to get it up there,my classified ads rank better in most searches.Obviously i don't want to spend that kind of money.Maybe if just keep getting links here and there if will slowly sort itself out? considering it has improved recently.

Also how quickly could it be done? too rank 'good' maybe top 3?
I don't think there is that much competition,when searching it is mostly ads and rubbish,not competitors websites.

[jason830]

It looks good, but i want to know how much did you cost?