Search Marketing (SEM), or Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is a complex, ever
changing process.

Search engines constantly change their algorithms, shuffle their indexes, merge
results and share content. The only consistent thing about marketing your website
to them is that what works really well today probably won’t work so well tomorrow.

That’s why you need an experienced search marketing professional who keeps two
fingers on the pulse of the major search engines. If Google hiccups, we know about
it. If Yahoo! gets stubborn, we’ll coax those rankings back to the first page.

Working with search engines is a long-term, high maintenance relationship and
we're dedicated to managing that relationship so you don’t have to, and at an investment
you can feel good about.

So How Exactly Does SEO Work?

This is the million dollar question. And we can almost guarantee you that for
every person you ask, you’ll get a different answer. That’s because marketing to
the search engines is like any creative endeavor: cooking, painting, carpentry,
etc.

If you ask five people to bake a cake, you’ll get five unique cakes each with
different ingredients. Ask ten people to craft you a chair and you’ll get ten distinct
pieces each with its own style.

Because the search engines change their ranking algorithms (the equations they
use to analyze a website’s reputation and rankability) so often, and they each use
such widely varying criteria, there are literally hundreds of ways to promote your
site to the first page of search results.

However, there are certain universal guidelines regarding what central principles
and elements are vital to your search marketing strategy. There are also very clear
rules against certain practices that attempt to cheat or trick the search engines.

Fundamental Principles for Successful SEO

1. Content
Content will always be your key ticket to top rankings. Without it, any rankings
achieved will be short-lived. For content to help your ranking, however, you need
a lot of it and it has to be updated regularly. Most importantly, each page of content
must target a specific keyword term.

However, if your site possesses content that is auto-generated or is poorly written,
i.e. a human visitor would not find it useful and informative, the search engines
will figure it out and demote your site, possibly even blacklisting you and preventing
you from showing up in their results at all.

We develop well-written, keyword targeted content for your site that is updated
consistently and monitored for rankability. Your business will enjoy the added benefit
of an ever-growing resource library of information that your site visitors will
enjoy and which will also help with your sales conversions.

2. Links
More specifically, one-way links from authoritative sites in your niche market.
You can find out how authoritative a site is by looking at its Page Rank.

Page Rank, or PR, is a ranking system Google devised to show how much weight
or authority a particular site has. No one can say the exact methodology Google
uses to assign Page Rank, however all SEO experts agree that it largely has to do
with the amount of incoming links a site has, how long it’s been around, and visitor
activity on the site (yes Google even knows how long someone remains on your site
after they click through from the search results!).

What this means for you is that you want as many high PR sites linking into your
site as possible (without you linking back to them). This is because Google gives
these sites a lot of respect and values their “recommendations” signaled by who
they choose to link to.

If all this sounds a bit complicated, think of it this way:

Google and the major search engines analyze your website the way scholars judge
academic papers. The more journals and other reputable papers cite your research
and quote you, the more authoritative and "expert" you become.

We negotiate inbound links on your behalf, concentrating on links from sites
related to your market whose reputation thematically relates to the reputation you're
trying to build. We also make sure these links deep-link into your website, meaning
that they link to various pages in your website, rather than just to your homepage
(also a sign that you're highly authoritative).

3. Visitor Behavior
Google knows everything. Other Search Engines like Yahoo! and MSN aren't so far
behind. If a visitor clicks from their search engine into your site, and leaves
immediately, Google knows that they didn't find what they were looking for. If too
many people do this, Google will drop you from their rankings because they assume
you're not relevant for that particular term. This is why site design, compelling
content, and conversion analysis are important.

We offer Website Conversion Optimization in addition to SEO to help you address
this particular issue.

This won't just get you knocked off the top 10 rankings - Google and other search
engines will ban your site from ever showing up in their results - even when someone
searches your exact domain name. This is why any illegal or unethical techniques
will kill your business.

We hand craft every single page of information on your website and upload those
pages consistently over several months.

Universally Illegal SEO Practices: Avoid at ALL Costs

Search engines may be vague about what you can do to get top rankings. However,
they are not vague about those practices that will get you banned from their rankings.
For instance, Google provides

Webmaster Guidelines that detail what you are NOT to do when promoting your
website.

When you are looking for an SEO professional, be aware of these illegal techniques
and the different “pet names” given them by dubious fly-by-night companies. We’ve
provided several of them here for your easy reference. You can also
download these tips in an easy-to-read PDF format.