search engine optimisation
"Guaranteed Top 10 position on
Google for only £XXX."
You probably get bombarded with these types of emails
every week. We certainly get asked whether this is possible on a regular basis
and more and more customers are now aware that unless they are selling a 100%
unique product competition for the top search engine positions means that
getting up there will require some expense over and above the standard website
design and build costs.
We therefore decided to look into what was actually offered by the top Search
Engine Optimising (SEO) companies, approaching several as a possible affiliate
reseller to get them to open up, and they all admitted that:
- They do not (and cannot) guarantee any search engine positioning as this
is wholly controlled by the search engine concerned. They also operate on
a compulsory monthly retainer system and advise clients not to expect any drastic
improvements to their positionings for at least 12 months. (When you see the
prices we were quoted below you can understand why!) We have to agree with
them that those who promise Top 10 placings usually do not last very long as
their customers start to realise that the promised results are not going to happen,
and also explains why these offers are almost always contained in SPAM
emails.
- They only promise is that they will optimise the websites keywords and add
the website to lots of search engines and free directories to help get it's
ranking higher.
- They usually take the list of keywords from the client. Unless you pay
for one of their advanced packages they do not research what actual keywords
are being searched for. For example, a client may sell blue elephants and
think that 'Blue Elephants' is the best keyword. However, internet users do not
know that 'Blue Elephant' exists, so hardly anyone uses that as a search term.
People in fact may be using 'Big Eared Animal' as the most searched term. It
therefore makes sense that this is the keyword/s for your business, rather than
'Blue Elephant'. With a lot of SEOs their basic package just tells you what you
need to do to come up high in the listings for 'Blue Elephant', which, unless
you are told otherwise, you think is a good thing.
- To come up with keywords the basic packages involve just selecting words
already on your website and manipulating the pages so that these come up high
in the engines. Again, these are not necessarily the right words to be using as
keywords.
- They don't do any work to the actual website, preferring to hand you the
list of recommendations and keywords, which you either have to add to your
website yourself or pay again for your web designer to add them.
- They use professional SEO software which automatically submits your website
to a set list of search engines and directories. Again, unless you pay for one
of the top packages they do not specifically submit to any directories involved
in your industry.
- To monitor how your website is performing SEO software is again used.
What was clear is that unless your are paying 'top dollar' for their highest
packages there is very little work done by a real person.
We obtained a quote from several of them for a website we have done for a wedding
planner in London. They all agreed that they wouldn't need to make any major
changes to the keywords and meta tags that we had already put on the site. They
stated that if this was a typical example of my websites then we could get a
further discount on the affiliate rates as half of their work had been done for
them. That only left the actual submission and performance reporting
aspects.
The lowest quote we received was for £400 per month and the highest
was £1500 per month! Not only that but they made a big point that
the wedding industry was very competitive and that even this cost might not get
the website onto the front page.
We therefore decided to invest in the
software to be able to offer this service at a greatly reduced rate,
whilst offering a better service.
The Sleepy Frog SEO Service falls into 6 sections:
- Initial Health Check
This establishes where your website is at the moment; what search engines you
appear on, which pages, how many people link back to you, your Google Page Rank
etc. [Manual check]
- Keyword Research
This is where the actual keywords for your website are developed by first
checking what keywords relevant to your business are REALLY being used
in Google during the previous month. [Manual check]
- Keyword Rankings
An report is produced to show how you rank for these keywords, how many
competitors there are etc. This report can then be used as a base comparison if
you decide to have regular update reports. [Automated check]
- Website Optimisation
Your website pages are updated to make the most of the selected keywords. This
may involve changes to the META TAGS, image ALT tags, link text and actual site
text as necessary. [Manual check]
- Search Engine and Directory Submission
The website is mass submitted to 150+ search engines and directories with the
relevant category settings to ensure that your are placed correctly. All
physical pages, not just the index (home) page, are submitted where allowed.
[Automated check]
Your business is then checked and submitted (if not already listed) to the
major UK directories such as Scoot, 118118.com, Thomson Local etc. [Manual
check]
A further search is done to provide a list of Industry-Specific Directories -
those aimed solely at your target audience. Where possible your site would be
submitted using their free 'Add Your Site' links. For those that charge a
yearly fee you will be given the details for you to decide whether to submit to
them personally depending on your preferences and budget. [Manual check]
- Link Amendments
If the work is being done to an existing website which has links from others'
sites these will be contacted to amend the links where necessary to help your
overall ranking.
- Ongoing Monitoring
As part of the initial package you will receive a second report after 14 days
to show any initial improvements, however, please note that for the main search
engines in can take anything up to 6 months to get your site listed or for
rankings to improve dramatically. Ongoing monitoring is important to show how
your website is performing over time and to ensure that your keywords are still
relevant - if not the website is updated and re-submitted as necessary. The
website is also monitored against your competitors to ensure that your website
maintains a comparable (or better) ranking. For small /medium websites the
minimum recommendation for monitoring is every 2-3 months. Larger sites or
those in very competitive industries should be monitored monthly. These reports
produce all the data included in the Initial Health Check and Keyword Rankings.
The Keywords are also checked to see if they are still relevant . [A mixture of
Automated and Manual checking]
The cost of this service is a one-off charge of just
£199 inc. Vat (£299 for websites not built by Sleepy Frog
Designs).
Ongoing monitoring and submission is purchased on a sliding scale
depending on your preferred frequency/budget and is shown below, based
on a 12 month contract.
| Package |
Cost per Report |
Cost Monthly |
Cost Per Year |
Minimum
Submissions
Per Year |
| Monthly |
£40 |
£40 |
£480 |
120 |
| Bi-Monthly |
£50 |
£25 |
£300 |
60 |
| Quarterly |
£60 |
£20 |
£240 |
40 |
| Half-Yearly |
£78 |
£13 |
£156 |
20 |
| Yearly |
£96 |
£8 |
£96 |
10 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| [All prices include VAT and reflect
the amount of work needed to amend a poorly-performing website increasing
when the period between reports is extended.] |
The cost of all packages can be spread over 12 monthly installments,
paid by Standing Order. Alternatively you can choose to be invoiced separately
for each report. Included in each package is the MANUAL submission of
your website to at least 10 new websites/directories to build up your
link backs. These will be genuine sites, not FFA (free for all)/Links
pages.
Click to see a sample of the initial
report and the 14-day follow-up report
|
