SEO FAQs

Search Engine Optimization - FAQs

Why doesn't my Web site rank very well in the search engines?

A: Having your website rank high in the search engines is a science and the rules for search engine optimization (SEO) are always changing. Here are some reasons why you may be having poor ranking:

* Incorrect usage of the TITLE tag or no TITLE tag content or Too many occurences of the same word in a page (spamming).
* Missing H1 and H2 heading tag content.
* Missing ALT tag content in your graphic links.
* No meaningful content in the first 250 characters on each page.
* No optimized content on pages.
* No InBound links.

Also, you should always submit your site to any search directories manually. Please do not use automated submission services.

How long does it take for SEO results to kick in?

A: The amount of time required to see results of search engine optimization work range anywhere from 30 days for existing sites in local or niche markets to 8 months for new websites in a competitive of national/global market.

Should I create a blog for SEO purposes?

Search engines do tend to like that, regardless of the format. If they know any given site is adding new articles on a frequent basis, they will come around often to index it. Blogs are certainly one way of easily adding new information to your site. Newsletters archived on your site can provide a similar benefit, as can archived press releases, or a popular forum.

What is my site ranking dependent on?

A: Site ranking tends to be "cumulative" and is dependent on the following factors:

1. The specific keyword phrases that have been targeted
2. The overall competitiveness of your industry - how many players are there
3. Whether you are targeting a regional, national, or international market
4. How well ranking is monitored and the site tweaked over time for SEO improvement
5. The progress of your reciprocal linking campaign
6. number of competitor sites achieving new ranking themselves.

Does every page of my website really need to be optimized?

A: In a word - yes. Every page of a website can be a potential entry point for visitors. You can't predict which page or pages will be ranked the best for specific keywords. As such, each page must be individually optimized to for optimal ranking. Collectively, all pages of your website reinforce the common "theme" of the site, which also can help boost ranking. Don't assume that your home page is the most important page on your site.

Should I add a robots follow meta tag to my pages?

The default for all search engine spiders is to automatically follow the links that it finds on any given page, which makes any "robots follow" tag redundant. If you *don't* want the search engine spider to follow the links, you can try the "no follow" tag, but it may or may not be obeyed by all robots.

Can SEO companies really have special relationships with the search engines like some of them claim?

Nobody has a "special relationship" with Google, and you can't buy your way to the top of the natural results. I would suggest politely hanging up on any telemarketer that tries to tell you otherwise.

Most likely the company claiming for that is simply buying the sponsored PPC ad spots and will then resell them to you with a high markup.

How can we minimize traffic loss after a domain name change?

Normally, this would not be a major problem with the search engines as you could simply park the new domain name at the same DNS and people could use either domain to get to your Website. However, there are some issues that you may want to try to avoid or minimize.