Grumpus - 1:57 pm on Aug 29, 2002 (gmt 0)

Well, first of all, if you want it optimized for Alta Vista and another for Inktomi, it's going to cost you not $100, but $200. And, then, what they'll do can vary, depending upon what the engine is and their actual knowledge of the engine itself. Different engines are very different (in fact, for INK, being #1 in a pure INK search does you some good, but it doesn't mean you'll get hits off it even if it is for a popular term - INK tends to be backfill on the engines it's currently on so you've got L$ or something else ahead of you. The only folks searching with Pure INK results are us webmasters and SEO folks.)

I, personally, am always skeptical of someone who promises #1 rankings. A guy who frequents (well frequentED, actually, he's too broke now to hang at the bar much anymore) was very successful at SEO for about a year. He was promising #1 rankings and commanding top dollar for his services ($150 per #1 ranking per term per engine, or something along those lines) and he was raking in a grand or more a week. Then, one day about 6 months ago, the poor sot had all - and I mean ALL - of his accounts banned or penalized by Google, INK, and Lycos - all in the same week. Now, he's got hundreds of accounts (and even more pages) banned or PR0'd from search engines. Demands for refunds; no new clients because none of his portfolio showed in SERPS anywhere; threats of lawsuits for loss of business. It was ugly.

I've yet to see a company that guaratee's number one results that doesn't use something that could eventually get you banned. You're mainly looking for someone who is going to promise you a discernable increase in traffic and/or an increase in visit to sale ratios. You're also going to have better luck, I'd guess, with a company that has to look at your site and research the market and competition already on the web and give you a price that is scaled to the work that will be involved. If you're selling "Xyzzy Traps" [google.com] you should expect it to be pretty cheap to get #1 rankings across the board with a single page. Lord help the wallet of the poor sap who is actually trying to sell a widget [google.com].

G.