How to Tell When Your Site is About to get Blacklisted, De-listed, or Banned

Posted on March 28, 2010 by Gervais Group

While a high percentage of websites need never to worry about these outcomes, there those that should. The developments that usually put a website into this kind of predicament typically run along similar themes:
1) The website owner decides that a presence on the search engines will be both necessary and profitable.
2) SEO shopping begins with bids coming in from a handful of reputable search engine optimization companies. Another bid comes in from an unknown company promising the same results as the other bidders, but at a fraction of the cost.
3) The website owners signs up with the lowball bidder.
From that point forward, many websites are put in the position where they run the risk of problems with the search engines, whether they knew about the black hat techniques employed on their website or not. Here’s a list of what to look for if the previously mentioned developments sound familiar:
* Keyword stuffing – This practice is one of the easiest to detect because all a website owner has to do is read the content on the site. Watch for keywords being used multiple times in a single sentence or in consecutive sentences. While this practice is unlikely to result in drastic measures by itself, it is a signal that other dangerous practices may also be in play on the site. However, the choppy and unprofessional content does carry the price of turning off any visitors who arrive at the site.
* Bad neighborhood links – This is another practice that signals trouble. Outbound links to adult sites, gambling sites, and link farms will eventually put the site on the search engine’s bad guy radar.
* Multiple title tags – Stacking titles allows for higher usage of keywords which can improve rankings. This is a relatively easy trick for search engines to discover and they don’t like one bit when they do.
Here’s where it starts getting serious. If any of the first three tricks are detected, it might be time to bring in one of the reputable SEO companies that weren’t chosen originally to look for:
* Invisible links – Invisible links are not intended for human use, they are there to fool the search engine spiders.
* Cloaking – Upon discovery by the search engines, a website employing cloaking practices will get banned. The practice involves setting up a page with two sets of content; one for the spiders and one for the visitors. The content for the spiders is then crammed with keywords for a higher ranking.
* Doorways and redirects – These are typically set up for relevant keywords but, when clicked, take the visitor to either unrelated content or a sales page for something else.
* Invisible text – Similar to cloaking, this practice puts text in the same color as the pages’ background to allow for keyword stuffing without sacrificing user experience.
Much like seeing a cockroach, seeing one of these practices is a likely indicator that there is a lot more going on than you know about. In this kind of situation, the best solution is to immediately find a reputable SEO company like the Gervais Group to undo the damage before the search engines take action against your site. For more information visit www.gervaisgroup.com or call (770) 529 2262

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Five Ways to SEO Your Way to Consumers Instead of Visitors

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Gervais Group

Getting traffic to your site is wonderful but visitors who don’t convert into consumers will come and go, leaving nothing behind. For a results-based website, just getting traffic simply isn’t good enough. In fact, a search engine optimization strategy which drives visitors instead of consumers is, at best, delivering a half measure. The key to operating a successful business on the web is the development of an SEO campaign which consistently delivers targeted traffic which, once on the site, converts from visitors to consumers. Here are five keys to getting targeted visitors/consumers to your site.
1) Keyword research – It may sound a little mundane, especially when you’re ready to charge ahead, but finding keywords and phrases that will drive targeted traffic to your site in a cost effective manner will be the foundation on which the rest of your search engine optimization strategy will be built. The determination of “low hanging fruit” keywords versus those which are highly competitive can mean the difference between success and failure of an SEO campaign. This research can be time consuming and may be better executed by an experienced SEO company. Whether you do it yourself or hire out, keyword research must be your first priority when setting the course for your search engine optimization strategy.
2) On-Site Content – The content on your site must first capture visitors to keep them from leaving to continue their search elsewhere. This capture must happen quickly as visitors typically make the decision to stay or go within seven to eight seconds. In this, your content’s relevance to the keywords your visitor used to find you is of utmost importance. Whether they are being sent to a landing page or somewhere else on your site, visitors must be immediately assured that they have found what they are looking for. For example, if one of your search engine optimized keyword is work boots, the page your visitor lands on should have content relevant to work boots placed where it can be seen immediately. A common mistake here is to optimize for work boots and then place the relevant content “below the fold”, out of the sight of visitors unless they scroll down to see it. Many won’t bother, clicking the “back” button never to be seen again. An SEO company will engage in additional on site techniques such as optimizing meta tags and making the site search engine friendly.
3) Off-Site Content – This type of content can come in many forms including articles, blogs, and press releases. Off-site content should always be written with your targeted keywords and phrases in mind. As this content can often be the first impression of your business, it should also be engaging, well-written and informative. A high percentage of off-site content should be created with the objective of driving targeted visitors from the article/blog/release back to the site, specifically to a page which is highly relevant to the subject and keywords used in the originating content.
4) Link Building – One way links from both relevant and high page rank sites are considered to be the most important aspect of getting to the front pages of the search engines. Acting as a quasi third party endorsement, these links are heavily weighted in determining a site’s importance and relevance to its associated keywords. Your own off-site content, as mentioned, should created with one way links back to your site as a means of getting these desired traffic drivers but, in competitive situations a link building strategy must also be employed. Link building (ask any SEO company), is highly labor and time intensive. Unless you have endless hours available, outsourcing this activity to an SEO company will definitely yield the best results.
5) Capturing Visitor Information – While not as exciting as capturing a visitor purchase, capturing their contact information and building your own data base will allow for direct communication with those which have been to your site. A great way to encourage visitors to leave their contact information is offer something for free, such as a mini e-book, white paper, or newsletter. With visitor and consumer contact information in hand; you can stay in regular contact with them to build rapport, trust, and credibility. Consistent contact which encourages repeat visits to your site will ultimately result in conversions, usually at a much higher rate than that for new visitors.
The Gervais Group implements successful search engine optimization strategies for companies of all types and sizes. For more information, visit them at www.GervaisGroupLLC.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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Combining Search Engine Optimization, Sponsored Ads, and Pay per Click Strategies

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Gervais Group

Once the decision has been made to use search engine marketing to raise the ranking and visibility of a site, the next question asked is, “What are the best and fastest ways get results?” Considering that search engine results pages are essentially divided into two parts, organic results and paid advertising, it usually makes sense to employ both for optimal results. In fact, paid advertising has two options in itself, presenting a total of three options to market a website. These options are:
* Search Engine Optimization – Aimed at achieving high rankings in the organic search section of the results pages, SEO is an online and on-site marketing strategy made up of several different elements. These elements include keyword research, the creation of off-site content such as blogs, press releases, and articles, on-site optimization, and link building. This process, unless a site is operating in a micro-niche with little in the way of competition, yields optimal results when left to an experienced SEO company due to the time, expertise, and labor required to execute a successful strategy. In the view of many, the biggest drawback of search engine optimization strategies is the length of time it takes to see results. As opposed to the immediate gratification offered by on and off-line paid advertising, getting to the front pages of organic search rankings can take weeks or even months. That being said, organic search (specifically on the front pages of the search engines) is where a growing majority of consumers go to research, find, and buy products and services. This makes the rewards of a successful search engine optimization strategy well worth the wait. For those looking for more immediate results while the search engine optimization work takes effect, the following paid advertising solutions can achieve the aforementioned instant gratification.
* Pay per Click – Found on the right hand column of the search engine results pages, Pay per Click (PPC) advertising can be combined with an SEO campaign to buy “real estate” on the front pages of the search engine results pages. Buying this real estate is done by determining the bid prices for PPC ads and making a bid which is high enough to reach the front page for the keyword or phrase selected. Once the bid has been selected and a short (about ten words) ad is created, searchers are able to see the ad on the front page for the relevant keyword or phrase as long as higher bidders for PPC spots don’t come along. From that point forward, a charge will occur each time someone clicks the ad in order to be directed to the associated website. Bid prices can vary widely depending on the level of competition for the keywords selected. This is another area where keyword research by a search engine optimization company can make a huge difference, providing a basis for avoiding expensive and competitive keywords with high bid prices, instead allowing for alternate keywords that can generate traffic without a high price tag.
* Sponsored Advertising – Search Engine Placement (SEP) is a relatively new approach to Search Engine Marketing which can actually guarantee fixed placement in the top three sponsored spots on the first page for your selected keywords. These fixed placements are found in the sponsored links/results/sites in the shaded area at the top of the search engine results pages. Unlike pay-per-click, the fixed payment guarantees a spot in the top three sponsored positions for as long as it is maintained. The fixed price eliminates issues such as exorbitant click-through fees, being out-bid, and/or being removed from an ad spot when the budget is exhausted.
While an organic search engine optimization campaign cannot be expected to deliver immediate results, adding pay-per-click and search engine placement ads can provide a front page presence while the SEO campaign gains traction. The Gervais Group is an experienced SEO company that specializes in balancing these three activities for maximum returns. For more information, visit them at www.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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Three Reasons to Hire a Professional SEO Consultant

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Gervais Group

Business owners usually succeed by playing to their strengths while delegating work outside their areas of expertise to others who are either more capable and/or less costly in terms of handling specific tasks. When considerations are being made as to whether search engine optimization should be executed by in-house personnel or out-sourced to a professional SEO company, three issues must be taken into account. They are:
1) Time – For many people running small and medium sized businesses, there aren’t enough hours in the day already, even without taking on additional responsibilities. From its outset, a search engine optimization strategy will take time to develop and execute. Estimates of the time required to mount an effective SEO campaign can vary widely depending on a host of factors including competition, the number of keywords to be optimized, and the amount of necessary content, for starters. Add ongoing testing, measuring, and analysis of the campaign and suddenly the size of the time commitment can start to look overwhelming. In fact, the average time requirement of one hundred hours per month to start a campaign is often enough by itself to convince business owners to go with an outside search engine optimization company.
2) Labor – All of work requiring a time commitment also requires labor to conduct it. Staffing up for an SEO campaign, in addition to the time it takes for things like seeking applicants, interviewing, and then hiring them, often turns out to be a very expensive option. Most of this expense comes from the cost of the associated infrastructure such as office space, computers, phone lines, etc., as well as the ongoing cost of the labor itself. This expense can harm a company in several ways; stretching a possibly tight operating budget as well as reducing the potential return on investment, even if the SEO campaign is successful from the beginning. The distraction of resources attached to the implementation the in-house initiative would add to the cost as well.
3) Skill Sets – Without the appropriate skills, neither time nor labor will be able to deliver anything close to the results required to cover the costs incurred. As a combination of art and science, search engine optimization requires constant attention, creativity, and experience. Starting with keyword research, successful results for any SEO campaign require getting it right and getting things done in a cost effective manner. Additional requirements include quality on-site content for optimization purposes, link building, and the creation of blogs, articles, and press releases. Integrating these activities into a workable and successful strategy takes a level of skill and experience which is normally found only at professional SEO companies.
Search engine optimization which results in front page rankings on the search engines can deliver huge returns on investment by driving branding efforts, company recognition, and revenues. With increasing competition for consumer dollars, the importance of running successful SEO campaigns has never been greater. For that reason small and medium sized business must seriously and realistically take into consideration whether they have the wherewithal to succeed on their own where so many have failed before them. Professional SEO companies, like the Gervais Group can deliver SEO solutions which are long lasting, cost effective, and, most importantly, successful. For more information, visit the Gervais Group at www.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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Keyword Research and Successful Search Engine Optimization

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Gervais Group

For some of those not working with a search engine optimization company, keyword research is a simple process of either choosing search terms with the highest traffic counts or writing down a list of terms assumed to be relevant to the associated website. An example of the first method would be for a website that sells snowboarding travel packages to select a keyword like “snowboarding”. Granted, in terms of traffic volume “snowboard” is an extremely popular search term within the category. Going with a broad keyword, however, presents a couple of different issues:
* The term is so generic that the competition for the keyword ranks near the top of the category. For even the most seasoned search engine optimization company the optimization process, at least one with any hopes of success,  would take months or years of work and an enormous budget.
* Even if, against all odds, a successful search engine marketing campaign managed to get a high ranking with the search engines for the term, the resulting traffic would be so untargeted that a majority of visitors that clicked through to the site would depart quickly because they were looking for something else related to “snowboarding”.
* Search engine users are becoming savvier and are now employing more detailed search terms (aka keyphrases) to find what they are looking for. It’s very likely that the people this website would love to target would be using a keyphrase like “snowboarding travel packages Aspen” and skipping the generic term “snowboarding” altogether.
The process of making assumptions and/or guessing on the best keywords has its pitfalls as well. Using the previous example, a list of keywords and keyphrases formed around “snowboarding travel packages” might actually contain terms that could be optimized successfully. The issue is that, without analysis, choice of the terms which would provide the greatest returns would be based totally on guesswork. For example, the assumed list could contain among its entries “snowboarding travel packages Aspen” and “snowboarding travel packages Big Sky Montana”. While Aspen is an internationally known destination, Big Sky might prove to be the better location to optimize for because they get traffic but there is less competition. Without keyword research the best keyphrase of the two would remain unknown to our theoretical company. Instead of guessing, keyword research done by an SEO company would define the answer to this issue, rank the other keyphrases by opportunity, and add many other cost effective keyphrases as well. This analysis is based on:
* Keyword and keyphrase relevance – Any terms which are going to be optimized must hold relevance at the site for the search terms. In this case, a person searching “snowboard travel packages” should immediately see that the page they have landed on is about “snowboard travel packages”.
* Potential visitor traffic – Optimizing for non-existent traffic is basically a fool’s errand. Getting to the top of a search engine results page with a term that doesn’t have any searches may be fun to look up on occasion but will do nothing in terms of getting visitors to the site.
* The level of competition for each search term – At the other end of the traffic spectrum lies high traffic/highly competitive search terms. These should normally be avoided as well in favor of terms that carry less competition but which can still deliver targeted visitors.
Keyword research is unfortunately one of the most neglected aspects of search engine marketing when website owners go it alone. The fact is, having the research done by an experienced SEO company can provide a massive return on investment by providing faster and more cost effective results while delivering targeted traffic which is much more likely to turn into customers that buy products and/or services. For a complete keyword research report for your website visit http://www.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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Six Steps Toward Successful Search Engine Marketing

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Gervais Group

Search engine marketing, as a subset of search engine optimization, can be broken into a six step process. Whether website owners decide to take all six steps on their own or bring in a professional SEO company to assist on the project is usually a decision based on a multiple of factors including time, resources, and the level of expertise required. Whether done in-house or by an SEO company, the six steps are as follows:
1) Research your keywords – Keyword research is the foundation of all successful SEO endeavors. Defining keywords and keyphrases can determine where the opportunities exist, help to avoid overly competitive ones, and will go a long way toward the success of your search engine marketing plan. If you are unsure of how to do it yourself hire an SEO company to do it for you. It’s that important
2) Find a domain name that is search engine friendly and then register it – Having a domain name that utilizes the main keywords that will be on the site will drive targeted traffic and score relevance points with the search engines. A little creativity may be required to get what you want but it will be worth the effort. Also be sure to go with a domain that has the .com extension due to its status as the quasi default choice for websites. Once the name is decided, be sure to buy and register it.
3) Determine a marketing budget – Defining your marketing budget will determine the direction of your search engine marketing plan and how it will be executed. For example, if the marketing budget is going to require operating on a shoestring, marketing options might include setting up a presence on the social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Other activities could include the creation and submission of blogs, articles, and press releases. A larger budget might allow for outsourcing the work either in part or in total to a professional search engine optimization company.
4) Content creation – Created content serves three purposes; marketing the site, capturing visitors at the site, and converting them from visitors to consumers. This content must be of high quality across the board to have the best chance at driving and monetizing traffic. It should also be created on a consistent basis to keep visitors interested and to let the search engines know that the site is constantly growing. Content creation, submission, and optimization is often outsourced to SEO companies due to the time and skill required for its successful implementation.
5) Develop additional revenue streams for the site – Selling advertising or allowing for advertising to be placed on a site through program such as Google’s AdWords can add additional streams of income to your site. Other revenue generators might be affiliates programs which carry products and/or services related to those already being sold on the site. The advantage of affiliate programs is that billing, collecting payments, and shipping are all done through a third party. Setting up referral arrangements with other on and off-line businesses can generate substantial revenues as well.
6) Re-investing revenues back into additional marketing – Once the site begins generating revenues, be sure to make a commitment to re-investing a portion of them into expanding your marketing effort. The reinvestment amounts may be small at first, but adding and expanding successful marketing efforts will start to grow revenues at an increasingly faster rate.
These are the basic steps toward building successful search engine marketing campaigns. All search engine marketing strategies should be designed with an ultimate objective of driving targeted visitors who are likely to convert into consumers at the site. Unless the site is targeted toward driving micro-niche oriented visitors, the best results are most often achieved when professional SEO consultants like the Gervais Group handle the work load. For more information, visit www.GervaisGroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262

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Seven Ways to Lose Visitors with Bad SEO Copywriting

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Gervais Group

The best of the search engine optimization companies, when creating on-site content, develop text which is balanced between two types of viewers; the search engine spiders and visitors to the site. This balanced approach is absolutely necessary, as any content that is written without it risks losing one or both sides of this combined audience. In terms of the content presented on each page of the site, it is vitally important to remember that its objective is to quickly capture and ultimately convert visitors. The following activities can work to opposite effect, alienating visitors who click the back button and then never come back.
1) Overloading page content with keywords and keyphrases – Page content which is overloaded with keywords provides for a disjointed reading flow and a generally unpleasant user experience. Poorly written content also decreases a site’s professionalism and credibility in the eyes of visitors, making it less likely that they will stay on the site and eventually make a purchase. Cramming excess keywords in the copy doesn’t really even work with the search engines either. While slightly more effective at a time in the past, the sophistication of search engine spiders allows them to see this practice for what it is; a sloppily done grab for visitors.
2) Taking a guess on the best keywords and keyphrases for your product and/or services – Guessing on what keywords are going to prove to be relevant to your potential consumers isn’t necessary or advisable. Keyword research, as done by an experienced search engine optimization consultant, can define which keywords will provide maximum return by resonating with visitors which drives them to, and keeps them on, a website.
3) Catering to search traffic using awkward keyphrases – Much of what drives visitors away from a site relates to user experience, meaning that if they’re having a bad experience, they’re likely look elsewhere. Piecing together awkward keyphrases to generate search traffic is just another way to present poorly written content that will deliver a dismal return and send visitors packing. Even if the strategy works to drive some traffic, visitors most likely take a dim view of it once it is seen in context.
4) Catering to search traffic using misspelled keywords – Using misspelled words in the page content to drive traffic typically does more harm than good because visitors won’t know that the errors are intentional. They are much more likely to assume that the site has been assembled by amateurs that haven’t heard about “Spell Check” yet. Additionally, spelling errors will diminish any branding, trust building, or credibility efforts.
5) Using keyphrases in the same manner throughout the text – Repeating keyphrases throughout the content in the same way is a sure way to convince a visitor that the content was written by a third grader. For example, if the keyphrase is “little orange cars”, starting multiple sentences with “Little orange cars are…” isn’t going to capture your visitor. An SEO company can usually come up with many different ways to put the keyphrases in context while maintaining the flow of the content.
6) Ignoring your sales process while writing copy – Page content must both capture and convert visitors. While there may be some visitors that are so eager to buy that they will do anything to get a product or service, most visitors are not going to be quite that eager. For the vast majority, a site must have a process that leads visitors toward conversion in as simple a manner as possible. A major part of the on-site optimization, as done by successful SEO companies, is intended to build a clear path for the visitor from landing to conversion.
7) Taking a shotgun approach to your keywords – Shot gunning every keyword into all content has a much better chance of confusing visitors than converting them. The problem with taking a shotgun approach is that most visitors arrive at a site looking for assurance that they have come to the right place and that getting what they want will be relatively easy. If their search related content and keywords are not easy to find they will most likely assume that what they’re looking for isn’t there or that it’s too hard to find. The content on the landing page for the visitor should instead be very closely related to the search terms that brought the visitor in the first place to let them know immediately that they are in the right place.
Setting up a site with high quality content that captures and converts visitors can be much more difficult to execute than it sounds. For this simple reason, it’s often advantageous the hire a professional search engine optimization company to handle the complexities of on and off-site SEO. One such company is The Gervais Group, a team which has specialized in search engine optimization strategies since 2001. For more information, please visit www.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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Avoiding the Bad Guys in Search Engine Optimization

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Gervais Group

Thinning budgets and a slow economy have lead to budget cutbacks at many small to medium sized business. This, in turn, can justify the rationale to shop for the cheapest search engine optimization company available. The hook is set, for many web-based business owners, when they get a low-ball search engine optimization bid that makes the same promises as other bidders for the work, at a fraction of their prices. Feeling great about “steal” they got on their SEO campaign, these owners sign with the low-ball bidder and start anticipating their front page ranking on Google, which “should be done within forty eight hours”. The first sign of trouble usually shows itself at about the same time when there is no sign of the website on the front pages of any of the search engines and the hired company isn’t returning calls. Where this company might succeed in getting something close to the front pages is with a long keyphrase which has no chance of driving traffic. The good news is that avoiding these unfortunate circumstances is relatively simple process when one knows what to do and what to look for. Here are five ways to tell when you might be dealing with one of the bad guys in search engine optimization:
1) Take a look at the page rank of the SEO company that is bidding for your business. While search engine optimization companies exist in a very competitive space, the company that wins your business should rank in front pages of the search engines. Unethical SEO companies simply won’t be found when searched for by potential clients.
2) Watch for a company that promises or guarantees front page results. The only guarantee here is that they will not be able to back up their claims. The algorithms used by search engines to rank website pages are known by very few people, even at the search engines themselves. For that reason, a company that guarantees rankings is just telling a prospect what they want to hear in order to separate them from their money.
3) Initial contact comes in the form of an unsolicited email or from a call center. A relationship which starts with a spammed email is doomed to failure, as is one that starts with someone reading a sales script at a call center. The attention, skill, and experience required for successful search engine optimization will simply not exist at a company which initiates contact in either of these manners.
4) Watch for ridiculously low bids, especially when the deliverables are similar to a group of much higher bids. A front page ranking requires time and effort which costs money. A company which claims they can get a front page ranking for a low one-time fee or for a couple hundred dollars per month is either not doing the work or employing unethical or black hat practices. The ramifications here range from a waste of money to being de-listed by the search the search engines, which effectively puts a site out of business whether they knew about the practices or not.
5) Be wary if the company does not list a street address. The lack of a street address either means that the operation is either too small or doesn’t want to be found by their clients, probably for good reason. Run away as fast as possible.
A legitimate search engine optimization company will have years of experience, a list of satisfied clients, and proven search engine results. Additionally, a legitimate SEO company will not hesitate to tell the truth in terms of how much a successful campaign will cost. The Gervais Group has been delivering successful results for their clients for eight years. For more information, visit wwww.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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SEO and Keyword Tips

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Gervais Group

As competition increases for the rankings on the front pages of the various search engines, the importance of getting search engine optimization and keywords right has never been greater. Whether you are doing your own optimization or have hired an SEO company, the following are some SEO tips and ideas to get your search engine optimization efforts off to a great start.

* Do a deep dive on keyword research – Keyword research is both the most important and most overlooked aspect of search engine optimization. This research is critical in that it will govern all SEO activities that follow it by providing insight into to the most optimal keywords and phrases on which to focus during an ongoing SEO campaign.
* Check the field – Part of keyword research is aimed at analyzing where competition exists and finding underutilized keywords which are generating traffic with nominal competition. These keywords are considered to be the “low hanging fruit” and are normally incorporated into the early stages of a campaign to develop traction as quickly as possible.
* Develop quality on-site content – Whether provide by you or through your SEO company, quality content is king. This is the content which will play a vital role as you build your brand, customer trust, and credibility so it has to be professionally presented.
* Set up your landing pages – Set up your landing pages so that a visitor who has arrived immediately finds content relevant to the keywords they used to find you. This is the capture aspect of on-site optimization, intended to let the visitor know that you have what they’re looking for and encouraging them to go deeper into your site.
* Develop quality off-site content – Off-site content can come in the form of blogs, informational articles, press releases, etc. Like your on-site content, this material must be of the highest quality possible considering that your off-site content will be the first impression for many of your visitors.
* Convert, convert, convert – Once a visitor has been captured, the next step is for conversion. Develop your content to encourage your visitors through your site’s sales process. Your site should be built to make this process as convenient and seamless as possible.
* Test and analyze – On and off-site activities should constantly be analyzed to make sure that the process is working at its optimal capability. This analysis should include traffic generated from keywords, visitor tendencies on the site, and a host of other measurable activities which can indicate weak points both on and off of the site.
* Have patience – The rewards from even the most expertly executed SEO campaign can take a while to develop. Committing and staying with the process will deliver benefits that will be well worth the wait.
* Know that instant gratification is available (For a price) – Sponsored ad placement and Pay per Click advertising can buy some real estate on the front pages of the search engines while you wait for organic results. An experienced search engine optimization company can integrate these ad campaigns with your organic search efforts for maximum effect without killing your budget.

The measurability and transparency of internet activity combined with the experience of a seasoned SEO company can result in a search engine optimization campaign which delivers a great return on investment. The Gervais Group has been coordinating these kinds of successful SEO campaigns since 2002. For more SEO tips and information, visit www.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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Professionals and Amateurs in SEO

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Gervais Group

The field of search engine optimization is can be divided into three categories; the professional SEO companies, the newcomers, and the do it yourselfers. Each of the levels of expertise can be categorized by skill levels, resources, and experience which translate directly into how successful the end result of an SEO effort will be. Unless directed at a completely un-served micro-niche, any SEO effort will require a defined process, resources, and the skill to see it through to a successful finish. Here’s look at the three categories and the likely results from each:

* Do it yourselfers – This category is populated with two types of search engine optimization people; those that are on their own for budgetary reasons and those that assume that SEO can be accomplished using their existing skill set. In many cases, those who are operating with limited budgets get better results than the existing skill set group simply because they need to maximize the results for each dollar spent. This group will often use grass roots campaigns to begin developing revenues and then direct some of that income toward outsourcing the work to an SEO company due to affordability and the time commitment required for SEO campaigns.
* Newcomers – The field of search engine optimization draws new people looking to “put out a shingle” on a daily basis. These newcomers are usually small (1 to three employees) operations with skill sets which can vary widely. There are a handful of potential problems in dealing with a newcomer including the lack of any track record, determining their level of expertise, and their daily work load. Regardless of skill level and track record, if a two man operation starts getting busy, current clients will suffer in terms of level of service and SEO activities due to the fact that the company is now spread thin with limited resources and not enough time in the day to do everything. It’s common in these situations for a newcomer to take on a new, high paying customer who requires putting everything else on the back burner or outsourcing the work of existing clients to an unknown entity.
* Professional SEO companies – Dealing with a reputable SEO company is, by far the best way to ensure a positive outcome for your search engine optimization efforts. These companies always have track records, satisfied clients, and a set protocol for developing SEO strategies, regardless of the type of business. This protocol always starts with keyword research, a step neglected by a high percentage of do it yourselfers and newcomers. The primary goal of the research is to define the keywords which will provide the best return on investment. On and off-site optimization practices are then determined from the results of the initial keyword research and the strategy is put into motion. With keywords in place, the work then revolves around the labor, time, and resource requirements of implementing a successful strategy. A professional SEO company will always be able to describe the process in detail with realistic goals and objectives. Of the three options, working with a reputable SEO company is usually the most expensive choice, but the ultimate outcome in terms of return on investment, targeted traffic, and conversion ratios are typically much higher.

Dealing with a reputable search engine optimization company can literally make the difference between success and failure. SEO companies, like the Gervais Group, which can provide past client successes and present search engine results are much more likely to deliver optimal outcomes than those new to the field. For more information, visit www.gervaisgroupllc.com or call (770) 529 2262.

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