more traffic to my website

[cnnx]

So I was told the best way to get more traffic to my site is from traffic coming from search engines, now I know that is done with good SEO. With all the SEO companies out there which one do you recommend investing in and what kind of money would it cost me? I tried the do it yourself thing but not sure its enough. Please advise, my goal is to increase my adsense earnings safely.

[netmeg]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld. We don't actually allow any promotion (self or otherwise) in the forums, so we can't give you a recommendation. We do have a forum dedicated to Google SEO, so you can ask some general questions in there, but you won't get a recommendation there either.

Here's the thing about traffic from search engines - it's great when you have it, and it really sucks when it goes away. You will probably want to gauge how much time and money spent on SEO with the knowledge that even if everything is perfect and you rank at the top of page one for all your best keywords today, tomorrow Google can make a slight change in their algorithm and take it all away. And you won't even know why. So yea, make sure your site is in the best possible shape for Google (and Bing) to index it and potentially rank it, but also you really want to think about how much time and money you want to put into something you have absolutely no control over.

[cnnx]

ok thanks i have spent some money in the past just to see no results before

[RedBar]

you really want to think about how much time and money you want to put into something you have absolutely no control over.

This is a very important point that, realistically, is not understood by many new to SEO.

The 90s philosophy of "build it and they will come" disappeared years ago, fine if you are working for a company with lots of money to throw around, nice, but to personally risk a lot/everything with absolutely no guaranteed return on investment, well, you'd probably have better luck at the races or in a casino.

Have you a good, niche subject with unique content that no one else has, is it a popular subject and will it likely generate good paying ads?

Plus, if you haven't already noticed, many publishers are complaining about their much-reduced earnings recently. AdSense is nowhere near what it used to be for many.

[LuckyD]

AdSense is nowhere near what it used to be for many.

For many, but not for everyone. Informational websites with steady organic traffic are flourishing with AdSense. It really depends on your niche.

[RedBar]

Hmmm ... Informational, yep, steady organic, yep, flourishing AdSense, nope ... some/many of us have been, for whatever reason, well and truly hammered even though we have done absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong.

[tangor]

For income:

1. Site must be viable, ie, a niche with purpose, clean coding, good content, avoid the pitfalls of pushing too hard on ads, diversify.

2. All the above

Search engines are how your site is found... one way your site is found that is to say. If you have dollars to invest, put those in print, radio and tv for a more immediate return, or into web ads for a longer term return.

Publishing ads is not "income" it is publishing ads. Your actual income is your site having value or worth.... without that it won't make any difference how many ads you hang on it, or how much traffic you might get by doing the least bit of effort.

Make your site SHINE for content, value, customer service, etc. and you'll see traffic. If you have product of your own then you have true value and whatever ads bring it is "added" value.

You might fool the search engines by gaming the system (links and so forth) for a bit, but they will find out and nail you (penalties which put you on page 50 or more), so avoid the quick fix. There are too many testimonials on this website that show that path is the worst way possible.

[trebuchet]

Informational websites with steady organic traffic are flourishing with AdSense.

That's the case for me. Though "flourishing" might be pushing the boat out a little too far.

Also, what @tangor said. Your site/content must have sufficient value that it attracts traffic through organic search and also keeps eyes on the page. There is no easy road to SEO glory and anyone who tells you that probably wants you to open your wallet.