Businesses Beware Search Engine Optimisation Scammers

We are talking to and hearing about more and more companies who have been using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) companies only to find their search engine rankings have not improved. Worse still in many cases those companies have learned that despite regular payments for SEO services their Web sites have not had any optimisation work performed, and for some they’ve suffered blacklisting and removal from Google listings altogether.

We’re providing this quick free guide to help bring business owners and marketing managers quickly up to speed with what SEO is, how search engines rank your page, how to avoid the scammers and how to approach search engines strategically.

Back Story

Search engines are essentially just pieces of software that search through and index code, they have existed for as long as Web users have needed to search for sites. During the mid nineties many search engines competed for dominance such as Infoseek, Lycos, Altavista, HotBot and Ask Jeeves. Compared to the search engines of today these systems were very primitive and naively relied on the honest creation of Web content to rank the relevance of pages to search terms.

Due to the primitive nature of the early search engines the software was easily mislead into ranking low quality unrelated content for popular keywords. Spamming the early search engines was very easy and as a result users often had to scan through lots of irrelevant content to find what they wanted.

In 1998 Google came onto the scene, not only did it offer a clean easy to use interface but its more sophisticated indexing algorithm gave better quality results.

There has always been a battle between search engine developers and those that try to abuse their way to the top of the listings. Spammers constantly work hard to find loopholes in the system while software developers fight to close those loopholes and penalise accordingly.

As a result of this the detailed workings of search engines are kept secret to help stop spamming and ensure better quality results for users.

As Google is by far the most popular search engine on the Internet this guide will focus on it. However many of the same rules that apply for Google apply to other popular search engines too. We’ll also stay away from over complicating this guide with information on Adwords and other Pay Per Click search engine advertising options, for more details on these feel free to contact us.

What actually is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation is the art of configuring Web sites so they effectively communicate their content with the search engines. As the search engines are software based they see only code and thus are programmed to make judgement based on factors the software developers program into them.

Optimisation consists of two core objectives:

• Making the content easily found and read by the search engine
• Showing structure to the content to establish relevance

Optimisation also has to take into account the many factors search engines consider when indexing a Web site such as:

• Hosting server details
• Domain name details
• Directory structuring
• Page titles
• Page descriptions
• Content headings

So essentially it is about communicating clearly with search engines. Sites that aren’t well optimised can inadvertently hide content so it never becomes listed or considered relevant to certain search terms.

Generally professional Web designers build Web sites that are already search engine optimised, and quality content will should its own way up the listings over time. If you are concerned you Web site is badly optimised there are free online resources available for Web site owners to check the optimisation of their Web site, we’ve included some helpful links at the bottom of this guide.

What Google PageRank is and why should you care about it

While search engine optimisation is critical for getting your Web site content indexed it plays a less significant role in search engine rankings than most people think. Search engine optimisation alone will not automatically get you to number one on Google, in fact poorly optimised sites can outrank those that are well optimised, and this is due to PageRank.

The PageRank system is the most significant thing Google brought to the world of search engines, it gives a Web page a measure of quality based on link popularity.

Google attributes the number of links from other sites to yours as a measure of quality; more incoming links suggests higher quality content. So the more incoming links you have to a page the higher its PageRank. But it isn’t just a quantitative measurement, an incoming link from a page with a high PageRank counts more towards yours. So it’s not just how many people link to your site, it’s who links to your site that counts.
Getting to the top of Google is a popularity competition and the more popular the search terms the more competitive it will be.

How SEO Scammers Work

SEO scammers often contact companies out the blue via phone or email. Their claims tend to be sensational and can provide figures and demonstrations that make their services appear highly valuable, it’s very easy for people to get caught out by these Internet age snake oil salesmen.

The biggest give away you’ve been contacted by an SEO scammer is when they guarantee success; this is simply not possible and should be treated with extreme caution. Some back this up with claims they have an exclusive relationship with Google but this will not be the case.

Be wary of SEO companies offering packages with varying subscription rates. SEO requirements are unique to each company and any solution should be bespoke.

Check for contractual clauses in their small print, there are often entries which clear the SEO company of any responsibility if they do not generate successful results.

Some SEO companies will only concentrate efforts to improve your ranking for searches on your company name. As it’s likely your company name is unique this is often an easy task to achieve.

SEO salesmen may demonstrate how a search for certain terms shows one of their clients ranking highly. This may have been achieved by unscrupulous tactics such as link farming or using a fake search engine client.

Ultimately if you have a relationship with a Web designer or agency who you trust then contact them before employing the services of an SEO company. If you have no one to talk to then by all means contact us and we’ll give you a second opinion

Ethical Search Engine Marketing Strategies

At Cookies & Java we approach search engine marketing strategically. We have the tools and knowledge to find popular niches on search engines. We can analyse your competitor’s efforts to establish where you can and can’t compete with them and suggest ways to search out and generate quality incoming links.

We believe the search engines should be treated with the same research, planning, creativity and dedication as all marketing channels.

Further Reading

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Google overview with further links

Web Site Grader SEO Tool: Use this tool to check your sites optimisation