Even the best of intentions can go awry without careful attention to details and expectations. Weve tested these methods out and they work.
1. Get it in writing.
Define the service scope in detail (i.e. well research keywords and optimize these pages with approved search phrases for this long).
2. Return phone calls.
That goes both ways. If the consultant needs some feedback, dont wait three days. If the client calls, dont wait three hours. It doesnt sound fair, but it makes sense. Consultants need help, but clients deserve more attention (prompt responses).
3. Dont overwrite changes.
SEO consultants can easily overwrite source code if theyre not careful. Web site owners sometimes overwrite the very optimization steps a consultant put in place. Talk to each other and work out protocols to avoid these problems.
4. Return e-mail messages.
Like phone calls, e-mail messages deserve a quick response. Hitting reply is easier than picking up a phone and dialing a bunch of numbers. Clients and consultants shouldnt let a day go by without a response.
5. Own up to mistakes.
Painful and embarrassing as it is, admit mistakes. They can include failing to return a phone call and poor communication in a written report. If you mess up whether its getting some data columns in the wrong place or placing the SEO consultants META data in the wrong spot, just acknowledge the mistake and move on. Were human. Things happen.
6. Dont switch domain names.
If you sign up with an SEO consultant, dont start with one domain and then get a notion about introducing a new one. It throws the whole program off track.
7. Dont change your page names.
If you have a page called newproducts.asp, dont change it to new-products.html after the SEO program begins. The change will just confuse search engine spiders and hinder or delay high rankings.
8. Dont insert alt tags after the SEO program begins.
Alt tags with images are for search engine consultants to manage. Theyre in the best position to know when alt tags might be appropriate. If you add them on your own, you may ruin the delicate balancing act SEO consultants perform with many page factors.
9. Avoid altering page title tags.
If an SEO consultant has a title tag strategy you approve, dont go back in a week and change it. Some pages can work with a company name in the title tag, others wont.
10. Keep an open mind.
Clients and consultants both need an open mind as creative ideas and approaches are expressed. A client may suggest something unethical, but the consultant should gently steer them away from the tactic. If a consultant finds a useful way of introducing a links directory on the Web site, give it some thought. Just because your Web site lacks a directory doesnt mean it cant support one. How can you have reciprocal links without one
Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, an Ohio-based search engine optimization firm. We are members of SEMPO, SEO Consultants and SEOPros. Visit our site for our SEO white papers and recent SEO studies on the manufacturing and health care industries.
Who doesnt want to get high rankings in the search engines. Ive read everywhere and have been sold a bill of goods that writing and publishing your own articles get you to the top of the search engines.
Think this through with me.
You will see for yourself its not altogether true.
Let me paint a picture for you. . . You pick a keyword or keyphrase and write an article using your keyword or keyphrase that you think will rank well.
Next you submit your article to all the places you can submit articles to, ezines, directories and article submission sites.
(I know what Im talking about, because I did this very thing). Wow! Your article gets published in many places, maybe hundreds.
Now you have hundreds of links pointing back to your main siteBut what I found to be true was my own site never shows up in the top ten results for that specific keyword or keyphrase.
Rather, you discover that there are lots of other sites carrying your article that out rank yours. Youve lost a great opportunity to reach high rankings for your keyword or keyphrase.
What have I done wrong, you ask yourself. Why you just gave your keyword filled article to possible people who compete with you because they can publish your article on their website. They get the high ranking and your ranking stays the same.
So, how did this happen Right from the start, your article was used for the wrong purpose. (This was a hard lesson for me to discover).
The right way to use articles to hike up your search engine rankings.
1. Putting one of a kind articles on your website.
Articles made available for reprint by you, now have the possibility of being published on hundreds of other sites, which means, they no longer meet the requirements as one of a kind or unique content.
2. Feed the Spider
Look at this way, your articles are like crumbs dropped along a path.
When you publish your articles all over the web its like leaving a trail of food for someone to follow (the search engines in this case).
But where do you want the search engines to go as they follow the trail (food for the Spider) BACK TO YOUR WEBSITE!
Back to your one of a kind content (such as a report, article you wrote just for your website.)
3. Keywords - Place keywords in your Resource Box As Anchor Text.
This is the important point. Place your keyword or keyphrase in the anchor text of the article resource box that has a link pointing back to your unique content.
What happens is you make hundreds of keyword links pointing back to the your well optimized report on your website, and give your pages a gigantic advantage over other websites.
Many times this alone is enough to take your Website to the top of the search results, particularly with Google and MSN.
These tips are a few steps you need to get a high ranking for the keywords that you have chosen.
Cindy Warner owner of Christian Book Outlet, writes about Internet marketing and owning your own online business. Visit her site at: for more information about the Online Christian Book Business.