Organic Search Marketing FAQs

We have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive regarding the organic search engine marketing services. Click on the link that pertains to your question below.

Q: What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

A: There are many different opinions on what search engine optimization otherwise known as SEO means. To properly define this, it helps to first look at what "optimize" actually means. Webster's Dictionary defines it as follows:

optimize v., mized, mizing. -v.t. 1. to make as effective, perfect, or useful as possible. 2. to make the best of. 3. to write or rewrite (the instructions in a computer program) for maximum efficiency and speed in retrieval, storage, or execution. 4. Math. to determine the maximum or minimum values of (a specified function that is subject to a set of constraints). -v.i. 5. to be optimistic. optimization, n. optimizer, n.

Therefore our definition of SEO is to take all the various elements of a web site that are important to a search engine and "write" or "rewrite" them for maximum efficiency, the efficiency being that the site will rank well in the search engines for specific keywords and phrases. Those elements often include things like title tags, meta tags, html text (body copy), alt attributes, internal linking structure and page design or html architecture. These are on the page factors that search engine evaluate when deciding which web site shows up first for a particular search query.

Q: How long will it take until I start seeing results for an SEO effort?

A: It varies from search engine to search engine. Some will index the improvements made to your site within days while others can take up to 3 months. Usually it is safe to say that you should start seeing some results two months after the campaign is set up, the optimization has been performed on the web site and the initial submission process has taken place.

Brand new sites can experience delays simply due to the fact that it takes time for them to establish themselves. Establishment is typically obtained by gaining inbound links from other sites such as directories as well as the age of the domain name itself.

Q: Do you manually submit to search engines and directories or do you use automated software?

A: First of all there is no need to ever submit to the top four search engines which currently are Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask. While the first three have "Add URL" forms (Ask does not), it is not their preferred method of finding new sites. They would much rather come across a new site via a hyperlink on another site that is already included in their index, thus the reason why we submit to directories.

As for smaller search engines and directories, we feel it is very important to manually submit your site. Many search engines refuse submissions from software programs all together which is why we choose to manually submit. Additionally, most directories require that categories be selected within their structure before a site is submitted. No automated program that we are aware of can do that effectively.

Q: How often does my site need to be submitted to the search engines?

A: There is a common myth that in order to stay in the top of the search engines, one has to continually submit their site. There are companies that sell services stating that they will submit your site monthly, weekly or even daily so you are sure to stay in the top of the results.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, you don't ever need to submit your site to a search engine. First of all, if your site has been online for any length of time, it is probably already in their indices. To find out if it is or isn't, simply go to the search engine and conduct a search for your unique domain or company name. Secondly, if it is a new site, then all you have to do is get it listed on another site that the search engines already know about such as a directory and then the search engines will find it on their own. This is their preferred method of finding sites to add to their indices as up to 90% of submissions that come through "Add URL" forms are spam.

Once your site is in a search engines index, there is no need to resubmit again and again because they will revisit your site on a frequent basis to see if it is still there and to learn of any changes. The only way it is going to get dropped is if it is offline for an extensive period of time but other than that, your site will remain in the search engine's index.

Q: What does it mean to "spam the search engines"?

A: There are many ways to attract traffic from search engines. Some methods go too far and are known as "search engine spamming," "spamdexing" and "spammage." Below you will find some common spamming techniques that search engines frown on.

Keyword Stuffing - Keyword Stuffing involves the repeated use of a word or phrase in an attempt to increase a page's relevancy. For example, one might place the following at the bottom of a page:

sports equipment sports equipment sports equipment
sports equipment sports equipment sports equipment
sports equipment sports equipment sports equipment
sports equipment sports equipment sports equipment
sports equipment sports equipment sports equipment

Most search engines are wise to keyword stuffing. They can analyze a page to determine if the frequency of a word seems out of proportion to normal, "relevant" documents.

Invisible Text - This is a technique where spammers will insert text, which is usually repetitive use of keywords, somewhere on a page (usually at the bottom) and make the color of the text the same as the background of the page so as not to be seen by the average Internet user. However, many search engines can now detect when a font is the same color as the background and will penalize or even reject such pages.

Tiny Text - Another method of hiding and stuffing is by placing words in a small font size. Because of this, some search engines may reject or penalize pages that make heavy use of small font sizes. You may wonder about pages that use small font size throughout. This can be acceptable so long as there is other text using default or larger font sizes.

Page Spoofing / Meta Refresh / Redirection - A meta refresh tag automatically directs an Internet user to a new web page. Spammers commonly develop a page for a particular keyword phrase, insert a meta refresh tag and then submit that page to the search engines. Anyone clicking through to this page from its listing in a search engine will be automatically taken to a different page. Often, the "final" page people reach has little content relating to the keyword phrase. To combat this, some search engines won't accept pages with a fast meta refresh rate. 

If a meta refresh tag is to be used, it is recommended that it should be set no sooner than 30 seconds. With a fast meta refresh tag, some search engines will end up ignoring the first page and index the second instead.

Search engines may also reject pages that use JavaScript to perform redirection. For legitimate redirection, server-side redirection is an acceptable format.

Meta Tag Stuffing - Meta keyword tags are a useful and acceptable way of adding keywords to a page without resorting to keyword stuffing. However, sometimes people place high traffic keywords in them that are completely unrelated to a web page in order to generate more traffic. Some search engines can detect when the keywords in a keyword meta tag don't match up with the actual content of a site and will penalize or even reject such pages.

Page Stuffing - Page Stuffing is where the same web page will be duplicated or slightly modified and then these variations are all submitted to a search engine. If the page is successful for a particular keyword phrase, then all of its variations can dominate a search engines top listings. Some search engines eliminate duplicate pages while others watch for heavy submissions, which is a sign of page stuffing.

Page Cloaking / Code Swapping - Page cloaking involves submitting one thing to a search engine and then using something else for the end user. Sometimes a web page is optimized for a search engine, and then the code is immediately changed after a position has been attained. This is done to either prevent others from imitating the success of the page or simply to hid an ugly text-only type of a page for one that is more stylish.

The top search engines combat this by revisiting the pages they index on a regular basis. There's no way to predict when a search engine will return to a site, so a page cloaker risks losing position since they can't tell when to put the optimized page back up.

Some spammers use more advanced types of use page cloaking systems to alleviate problems with code swapping such as IP delivery. Most search engines frown on page cloaking and will penalize and even ban pages caught practicing this technique.

Domain Spamming - Domain spamming usually involves having the same exact web site at different URLs also called "mirror sites." While there are some legitimate reasons to have "mirror" sites, operating such sites simply to increase search engine traffic is generally considered spamming. If the search engines detect you doing this, they will probably ban one or both of the sites.

Well there you have the most common spamming techniques and again, it cannot be stressed enough that SearchRank does not and will not use spamming techniques like these in their search engine positioning efforts even if asked to by by clients. As search engines get smarter and smarter, these type of techniques will not help anyway but only hurt positioning efforts. At SearchRank, we recognize that "content is king" and will deliver to search engines content rich web sites that in the end will help searchers find exactly what they are looking for.

Q: Will SearchRank alter my existing web site in any way?

A: It is possible!

When optimizing your web site, much of the optimization lies in the source code itself and not on the public view of the page. These elements usually include the title tags, meta description tags, alt attributes and the internal linking structure of the site. There are times however when body content needs to be modified as well as site design and html structure to gain the best search engine positioning. There is no set formula in optimizing a web site for optimal search engine positioning but rather each site is examined on a case by case basis.

Q: Can sites with obstacles such as frames, Flash animation and dynamic sites be optimized?

A: As long as the client is willing, any obstacle can be overcome regarding search engine optimization. It really depends on what the exact obstacles are and the client's willingness to make necessary changes and improvements.

Framed Sites - Framed sites are really a thing of the past. People used to use them so navigation could stay in place while page content changed or so that elements such as navigation could be contained in one "framed" file and it be easily updated if needed. However now with the advent of server side functions and include files, there is no need for framed sites anymore.

If a client is persistent in keeping their framed site, the method then is to optimize the code in between the <no frames> tags as well as each "framed" sub page of the site. The optimization not only allows a search engine to understand what the main page of the site is about but enables it to find the sub pages which are optimized themselves.

Flash Sites - Flash is okay to use within the structure of a html page, but when sites are completely developed in Flash meaning they are one Flash movie, search engines cannot understand what they are about nor crawl links to subsequent pages. The strategy then is to create a html version of the site which not only helps search engines understand what the site is about but is useful for the end user visiting the site that does not have a high speed connection to the Internet.

Dynamic Sites - These are database driven sites and can experience problems because of the sometimes long URL strings that are associated with dynamically generated pages as well as elements such as requiring cookies and session IDs. Each dynamic site can have its own unique set of circumstances but can be addressed so long as the site owner is willing to accommodate the changes.

Q: Are singular keywords or phrases better to use in my marketing strategy?

A: In relation to singular keywords, it depends on the popularity of them. Keyword phrases that specifically identify your products and services enhance your ability to be ranked well. For instance, it would be quite a challenge to rank on top using the singular keyword "fishing" as there are thousands of sites out there related to that topic. However, we target the keyword phrase "bass fishing" and we just narrowed the margin greatly.

Research has discovered that most people use keyword phrases of two or more words as opposed to singular keywords when conducting searches as well. The SearchRank Account Representative assigned to your account will work with you to develop a strategy to best suit your needs.