Searching for an Effective Search Engine Optimization
Expert for Your SEO Campaign

The Difference Between Search Engine OPTIMIZATION and Search Engine REGISTRATION - SEO vs Registration

When looking for a professional search engine optimization specialist, the waters can be pretty deep and muddy now that the profession has increased in popularity. Back in 1996 when I started targeting search engine placements as a viable form of serious online marketing, the online community was not flooded with automated software or SEO wanna'-be's riding on the coattails of true SEO professionals. Industry misinformation was not floating rampantly around the internet confusing search engine registration with search engine optimization. People had
not started purchasing automated software for "seo" tasks and launching a "Seo" business claiming to be an SEO company.

These obstacles are what you face as a purchaser and are what we face as a professional SEO company. The trust factor has been tainted - UNLESS you know what to look for.

There are quite a few articles on "How To Choose A Professional SEO Company". For the most part, these articles identify obvious points that will steer you in the right direction but leave out a few tactics that can positively identify the success rate of a true professional SEO expert. Marketing Sherpa's "guide" to search engine companies attempted to rank SEO company performance but fell short of the intended goals by trying to judge an industry that is vastly unregulated and uncertified. Your own investigation is the only way to truly find companies that will perform properly for you and help achieve SEO marketing goals.

Below we list a few SPECIFIC tips to add to the general articles you can find out on the web to use when interviewing SEO companies for potential contract employment. I have not seen these tips or methods on other recommendations - you have the advantage by having this information in hand to use to sort out the "good" from "not-so-good" SEO firms.

1. ALWAYS ask for at least 3 references and require that the "SEO expert" give you a name, phone number and website of the clients. If they do not have established references, then there must be a reason. Either they are too new, they don't have favorable SEO campaign results, or they do not have clients at all. A good SEO expert will be proud of their client placements achieved and should not have any problem in getting the client to agree to help promote their skills. Clients are usually very proud that their sites are placed high under their target key phrases and like to get the word out in any manner possible so they normally cooperate by being a reference for the SEO person or company.

2. If a company can not produce 10 or more SEO client sites to review (different from the 3 in-depth references), they do not have enough measurable experience to show consistency as an SEO company.

3. A professional SEO expert knows how to tag their work in the source code of a website to "lay claim" to their work and prove that they worked on the website optimization. After you receive 10 or more website references for verification, be SURE to check the source code for evidence that the person or company had indeed performed search engine optimization on the websites.

4. Don't get sucked into an SEO campaign based on "money" and "saving money". This is marketing. This is the equivalent of buying a full page ad in the New York Times and comparing that purchase to buying a full-page ad in the Lizard-Lick, NC Weekly Newspaper. Which would you expect results from? Which would you pay more for? Search Engine Optimization from a true professional is a long-term investment and is not cheap. If you want cheap, go buy some automated software and do your website yourself (just don't call your website "optimized" because automated software falls very short of being able to really "optimize" your site). Your investment is minimal and your results will be minimal. If you want your website to show meaningful and profitable results, your investment in a professional SEO campaign will not be disappointing.

5. Look up other search terms about SEO besides "search engine optimization" or "SEO". These terms are too broad and do not focus on just companies, but include "how to" pages, directories, opinion pages, articles and reports in the SEO industry. Be more focused in your search. Look for terms like "SEO results" to find companies that post "SEO results" on their website. If the company you are looking at does not post public results for verification, you may ask yourself why are they not proud of their accomplishments. Do they not have any? That is a legitimate question. Look up "SEO specialist" or "SEO expert" to see who is listed and "why". What <em>evidence</em> do they have to qualify for that type of terminology? It is easy to state on a website what can be done. It is much more telling and relevant to list what has been done.