Calgary Web Design Network Forum

I had an interesting question from a client who called in today asking me about search engine optimization and getting a “top ranking in Google”. This gentlemen informed me that he got a call from a company saying they would give him a top 5 ranking in Google for $70 plus $40 extra per month? Sound familiar? 

Unfortunately in the world of online business there are a lot of predators who get off on making quick money off of other people’s ignorance. Ignorance is probably not the right term because unless you are a professional is very hard to know what is what when it comes to search engine marketing.  

First and foremost there is NO SUCH THING as a guaranteed ranking in search engines, so the minute you hear anyone promise you this run the other direction. Getting a top natural ranking in Google often takes a lot of time and effort and there is no quick and easy way to get to the top. For more info in SEO read my article… 

http://www.calgarywebdesign.ca/articles/search-engine-optimization-basics.html 

Why so many people are suckers for an offer like this is because they WANT it to be true against their own better judgment. No one wants to hear getting ranked highly in search engines can be a slow, tedious, and potentially expensive affair. 

Remember though search engine marketing is expensive because every form of advertising is expensive, newspaper, radio, magazine, mailout, Facebook you name it. The great thing about search engine marketing however is that it works LONG TERM and when done right will be a consistent stream of revenue for your business. 

Leave your comments below if you have encountered anything similar… 

I received a request from a client the other day asking for a quote regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services. He informed me he had been trying to promote his website up until this point using various pay-per-click services online with “very poor results”.

This asks the question is pay-per-click advertising actually a good way to try and promote your website?

In my personal opinion although it can save you a short term buck PPC advertising should NEVER be used as a substitute for professional SEO services. PPC advertising may claim it can expose you to thousands of new customers daily but these ads are often untargeted and don’t often bring in the kind of traffic that leads to sales conversions.

Many also view PPC advertising as a scam and not overly trustworthy. Kind of like when you receive a message in your inbox telling you that you’ve won a free seven night cruise, there is a lot of natural skepticism. SEO specialists sometimes will use PPC as part of their marketing campaign but do so with a more researched perspective.

In short trying to gain a natural result in search engines (with the help of an SEO specialist or company) is a much wiser long-term investment despite the often expensive costs required. It is very unlikely you will ever promote your website successfully using pay-per-click advertising alone.
 

In this section we will be posting common on the job questions we recieve from new clients. This is advice we have passed on to new customers during the consultation process that may be of interest to website builders. Check back regularly for posts.