Search engine optimization (SEO) is like being a stockbroker: many people do it, but few do it well. Just as bad stockbrokers will waste your money, so will bad SEO firms. To avoid hiring an unprofessional organization, businesses need to recognize the undeniable signs of an SEO firm that will not deliver quality, sustained results:

Guarantee Immediate Results

Improving the search ranking for a website starts with analyzing its content and design—a process critical to developing proper strategy, and one that cannot be completed in forty-eight hours. A firm that promises significant results within forty-eight hours appeals to every marketing team, but is laughable to anyone who has a clear idea of how SEO really works.

Promising Fast Search Engine Ranking Improvement

Google did not become a superstar overnight; therefore the company knows your website has not attained rapid success either, so trying to fool a search engine can get you removed from SE rankings. Search engines only “crawl” websites periodically, so exceptional SEO practices will improve a website’s rankings through slow, methodical processes that take weeks, not days.

Supplying Bad Content

Content is king, but weak SEO content has two drawbacks: first, no one reads it; and second, it reflects poorly on the professionalism of the site. Firms that supply bad content often use offshore writers with poor English, or spinning software that recycles organic writing. Prior to hiring a firm, ask how it generates content.

Failing to Offer Lead Conversion Strategies

Many firms view high search rankings as the sole goal of SEO. Although raising a website’s rankings may be the initial goal, the real success comes from increasing conversion rates. Lead conversion is the lifeline for sales, and developing the best strategy can only come from a full-service SEO firm. Unless your website is delivering hot leads, the value of its search engine rankings is negligible.

Ignoring Social Media Pages

Firms that do not optimize social media ignore an entire generation and an important opportunity to direct traffic to your website. If your firm incorporates YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter into its business plan, optimizing these sites could significantly improve your sales leads.

Using Black Hat SEO Techniques

The dangers of implementing “black hat” optimization tactics for organic rankings are well known, but some firms still use these unsavory tactics to improve search rankings. Keyword stuffing, invisible text, link farming, doorway pages, and duplicating content across different domains could lead to search engines banning the website.

Offer One-time Fixes

Thriving businesses grow and change to meet market demands. SEO Firms that offer “one-off” SEO solutions only provide temporary solutions. Search engines often change their crawling strategies, and new avenues for optimization are always evolving as an ongoing process, not a one-time solution. In most cases, the results of one-off fixes do not last for long and do not address the challenges of ever-changing internet marketing.

Have SEO Firms Let You Down?

After working with a poor search engine optimization firm, some businesses become hesitant to pursue SEO. At Face Forward Media (FFM), we understand this reluctance. That is why we offer a free consultation where we explain proper SEO practices, the results it can achieve, and how different strategies meet different needs. We can often identify strategies your company is already performing, but might not be leveraging to its full potential.

In addition to specializing in SEO, we also specialize in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, social media optimization, web development, sales conversion, video production and online reputation management. To learn how our services can drive your business’ online sales, call us today for a free consultation.

organic rankings, Search engine optimization firms

The world of web has changed. You only have seconds to catch a potential customer’s attention and less than a minute to see if you can keep it. It is essential to have an interesting, professional, and SHORT video that conveys your main points in a quick, concise, easy to understand manner.

Four important reasons to add a short video to your website:

1. Video will help you rise to the top of the search engines.

Statistically most people only click on the top two listings for any topic they search, so getting your website listed as high as possible is essential. Many search engines look for video as part of the criteria to rank. This means that if you have properly optimized your videos, they can be an essential part of driving more traffic to your website, which could mean more sales.

2. Grab and keep visitor’s interest

Face it – Video is more interesting than text. Most people would rather watch an exciting movie than read a book. Video helps your web site stand out from those that are less professional or boring, and encourages interactivity.

3. Ability to make information easy to understand

People don’t always want to be “sold to” all the time. Videos give you the chance to not only get your sales pitch across quickly, but tutorials and related educational information as well. By creating interesting information, you can keep customers on your site longer. By continually adding new information you can keep customers coming back for more, therefore familiarizing them with your product.

4. Video allows you to connect emotionally with the customer.

People buy from people they know. Video gives the customer the feeling that they know you – as well as your product – an emotion that turns into money in the bank.

According to Internet Retailer, an April 2010 report stated that consumers who watch product videos are 85% more likely to buy products compared to those who do not watch.

Having corporate web videos, sometimes called webmercials, should be part of a multi-pronged marketing solution – one that you will want to customize with your internet marketing consultant and will ideally contain social media campaigns, pay-per-click advertising, article promotion, blogging, and a strategy to convert more visitors into buyers.

Short Video