Below is a list of the most commonly asked questions regarding our company, our services, and SEO services in general. Please feel free to contact us if your questions aren’t answered on this page.
1. How exactly will Top Rankings change my website?
This isn’t an easy question to answer, mainly because no two websites are created equally. With that in mind, we start by carefully evaluating the most profitable keywords in your niche, the way your website is designed, the content your site contains, and your competition. We take the information we gather and use it to develop a strong website promotion strategy including but not limited to on-site optimization and link building. On-site optimization involves adjusting the text contained within your meta tags, link structures, and even tweaking your content. Link building involves creating relevant, topically related links to your site from other popular websites using one-way linking strategies.
2. Is link building really important?
The mathematical algorithms created by the search engines place incredibly high value on the link popularity (or the number of websites creating links to yours) of a site. They count not only the number of links you have, but the value of those links as well. The more outside links you have sending traffic to your website the better your search engine rankings. Link building isn’t usually effective on its own, but combined with good on-site optimization you’ll begin to see dramatic results.
3. Are meta tags really important?
Meta tags aren’t as important as they used to be. The search engines have altered their algorithms to place a lower value on the meta tag, due largely in part to blatant misuse by unethical webmasters and SEO firms. We do believe that strong meta tags are important to the overall search engine optimization of a website and, therefore, include them in our services.
4. Will a website created in Flash have trouble gaining top rankings?
In the past it was believed that search engine crawlers could not detect content on Flash sites. Google and Adobe have recently made changes that would allow Flash sites to be indexed. We highly recommend creating two versions of your website – one in HTML and one in Flash – and letting your visitors choose which one they want to view.
5. Does Top Rankings use spam techniques during SEO promotions?
Simply put – absolutely not. The results achieved through the use of black-hat SEO techniques are usually short lived and the penalties (up to and including search engine bans) once your unethical tactics are uncovered are far worse than the short-term gains. Our goal is to see you earn and keep top search engine rankings. Black-hat tactics may help you earn a #1 ranking, but you’re going to lose it faster than you can blink.
6. How long does search engine optimization take?
The length of time it takes to complete the SEO process varies from site to site and differs within industries. SEO services for a small website with minimal competition will take less time than it would for a huge website with hundreds of pages and competitive keyword phrases. On the average website (with 20 pages and a moderate level of competition, for example), it would take approximately 2 weeks to optimize the website itself, the link building campaign is an ongoing process, and up to 9 months for your site to achieve the rankings you desire. The results of our promotion will become apparent much sooner, especially once some of the links we generate are picked up by the search engines. But, realistically we can expect some results within 8-12 weeks.
7. Will my site be blacklisted?
No! Blacklisting, or blocking your site from a search engine, only occurs if unethical SEO tactics are used to promote your site. It is very difficult to recover your website once it has been blacklisted, especially if the search engine algorithm itself determined you were using black-hat tactics. In that case, you might be better off simply choosing a new domain, stopping the use of black-hat techniques, and starting over again. If you are looking for our services to help you overcome a blacklisting, we will be happy to discuss your options, and provide a plan that fits best with your specific situation.
8. Why are spam techniques working for my competitors?
There are hundreds of spam techniques and not all of them are recognizable by the search engines. Hackers make their living figuring out how to get around every method that is blocked. On the upside, the search engines eventually catch on and change their algorithms and your competitors will likely see their search engine rankings fall. It is not unethical to report search engine spam, so if you know a competitor is using these methods you should do both yourself and everyone searching the web a favor by filing a report.
9. Do I have enough content on my site to earn high rankings?
We’ll have to conduct a full SEO Analysis on your before we can answer that question. The amount of content you need will depend on the size of the sites of your competitors. Don’t be discouraged if we recommend expanding your website. In the online world, content is king and adding additional content only gives you the opportunity to prove to your visitors that your products and services are superior to those offered by others. Adding additional content will also give you the ability to add additional related keyword phrases to your website. Our SEO Analysis service is free of charge and creates no obligation, so please take advantage of this incredible service before you get started with your SEO campaign.
10. Does Top Rankings rely on automated software systems?
No, we do not use automated software in our SEO processes. The only automated software we use is a tool that allows us to check the rank of your website on several search engines at the same time. Human interaction is paramount to successful search engine optimization and that’s one aspect of our services we aren’t willing to replace with technology.
11. What will one of your SEO packages cost?
We have two comprehensive packages available to choose from. Simply visit our pricing page or fill out our online form to contact us for information on how to obtain a customized quote.
12. Can’t I just do this myself?
Yes, you can – but only if you have hours and hours to dedicate to the research and testing it will take to find and implement the right SEO techniques. The real question is whether or not you have the time to dedicate to creating an SEO campaign while at the same time attending to the day to day operations of your business. In most cases, hiring a professional SEO expert is more effective than attempting to implement a search engine optimization campaign on your own.
13. Will hiring a SEO firm hurt my search engine rankings?
Using a professional SEO firm will not hurt your search engine rankings unless the firm you have hired uses unethical techniques. Google and the other search engines love well-optimized websites with plenty of unique content and a spectacular list of incoming web links. You won’t be penalized unless the methods used to obtain those links and rankings are questionable or black-hat tactics.
14. Are there any websites you won’t work on?
The types of websites we refuse to work on fall into two categories. First, we will not optimize a website that is a direct competitor of one of our current clients. Our agreements offer exclusivity for the life of your contract – that’s the only ethical way to do business and we’re sure you’d agree if a competitor wanted us to raise their rankings above yours. We also avoid working on adult oriented and gambling websites. While we could optimize these sites, our family oriented workgroup prefers not to look at adult content every day and has a moral objection to promoting games that promote addictive habits and debt. We’re happy to optimize websites in any other niche!
