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<meta name="keywords" content="widget, widget price, widget prices, widget bullion
... etcetera
Now, from what small reading I have done on the subject, this is an outdated and useless method and does nothing to help the pagerank, or SEO of the site.
Can you confirm or refute my thoughts on this? Because it looks to me like they dont have a clue what they are doing, and this method makes the page titles look cluttered and amateurish. Does it really take more than two months to get any pagerank at all (this is a reasonably well travelled site, getting 100 - 300 unique visitors daily)?
TIA
Ed
But don't get hung up on page rank; visible PR is at least three months out of date, and is a very poor guide to SEO progress.
Check your visitor stats and do some sample keyword searches, and check your progress there ... that's what matters.
are my SEO experts a pack of idiots?...
they are using title/meta tags for search optimisation (?)
They might be a pack of idiots, but not just for using titles and meta tags. Of course, they can be misused just like any other aspect of a page. Not editing titles on most sites would be a big mistake though.
Do you mean that it is a good idea to put keyworks in title tags?
Yes, as long as you don't overdo it and are using words relevant to the page. Of course, what people are actually searching for is a useful consideration for anyone writing online.
I have not seen a site that had a title made up of lots of keywords in a long time and I would assume that it is a useless technique for SEO.
Lists of keywords just constitutes a poorly written title. But then, most 'default' titles I've seen on websites that have never undergone optimisation are also very poor.
[edited by: Receptional_Andy at 1:46 pm (utc) on Feb. 13, 2008]
By stuffing 10 keywords in your title probably isn't going to work to well, especially if you don't even use those words in the content.
Their methodology takes me back to when certain owners insisted on "invisible" SEO...
Matter of interest, have you given them free rein to make changes to the site?
It's an odd place to start, did they make suggestions for changes/additions to the site content?
The only thing I can remember is that they mentioned something about making sure the image alt tags had keywords in them too, or something like that.
Also: I checked the backward links and we have none from outside our website - I mentioned this to them, and they said 'We do not offer link building as a service.' is this common for companies in the SEO business? I would have thought that they could at least put a few links up on dmoz or something...
making sure the image alt tags had keywords in them too
They definitely seem to be somewhat behind the times and are not taking the kind of 'holistic' approach that is likely to reap dividends.
We do not offer link building as a service.
I suppose credit to them for knowing their limits, however not to approach the question of links at all is really stretching the definition of 'SEO'!
valid link building is getting harder by the day,
then again, there are folk who will disagree, perhaps you should do some reading about link building
Except how to get cash out of your back pocket.
But you could suggest your site yourself :)
I am not saying there are no good SEOs out there, I am just saying there are some bogus ones who just turn on Word Tracker and go with what ever comes out...KF
I am just saying there are some bogus ones who just turn on Word Tracker and go with what ever comes out.
They may be beginners and that is the extent of their knowledge at this time. The $300.00 budget should give you a clear idea of what you could expect. You're not going to get "SEO" for $300.00. Keyword research is just one part of it.
For the typical consumer of these types of services, they may find the deliverables acceptable. They don't know about WT. They don't know the first place to look.
Back to the OP, "idiots" is a pretty strong term. I might tone it down and just say they are amateurs in their craft.
But if they are selling themselves as professionals (which they are), then 'idiots' is merely a term of affection.
Fraudsters comes a little closer.
What should one expect from a expert SEO person? I would like to see a list of
the most important tasks that they perform.
Also what price range would a competent SEO charge for an average website of average complexity? Thanks!...KF
1. At times, Google has gone over 6 months (8?) without updating what was visible to the public. It gets updated constantly within Google itself, but you can't ever see the "real" value.
2. Google has been known recently to actually manipulate what's visible to the public so, most likley, what you see is a bogus value.
So, how do you measure results? Well. Simple really, at least in concept.
Why did you hire the SEO?
I know, I know...you wanted your site optimized...right?
But WHY?
For bragging rights to your webmaster friends that your site is optimized? I hope not.
You want more traffic from search engines that does what you want it to...like buy stuff if your selling something, reads pages if your an info based site, etc.
The title tag you posted looks rather like 1998 spam to me, but that being said....
1. Is your traffic from search engines up?
2. Is the traffic up for phrases related to your site?
3. Are you making more sales (or whatever your goal is) from the traffic increase?
That's how you should measure results.
I'd also make it sure it's clear (in writing) that they are only to use tactics that fit with Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
[google.com...]
It WILL come back to bit YOU (not them) later if they don't. Keep a close watch on that.
Speaking of the guidelines, and looping back (again) to your title tag example....
Make sure that your TITLE tags and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.
What should one expect from a expert SEO person?
That is all relative. Budget will most likely be the primary determining factor. The other being who it is that is doing the SEO. If its a veteran who knows what they are doing, you can expect to pay a premium. If it is someone who is still learning, they know the basics, but are still missing pieces of the puzzle, expect to pay a commodity price.
I would like to see a list of the most important tasks that they perform.
The lists of tasks is going to be directly related to their level of knowledge and experience. Again, for $300.00, you are not getting SEO, it just doesn't happen, not today. From my perspective, SEO encompasses much more and requires an understanding of the various elements that could effect one's campaign. That typically only comes with tenure.
Also what price range would a competent SEO charge for an average website of average complexity?
What's average? ;)
Minimum $5k to start if you are working with a veteran. Don't expect too many professionals to operate on an hourly wage either, no, they are going to charge you for the years of knowledge they have. Someone else may be able to do it for half the price but "what if" they didn't know something that the vet knew? What if they overlooked an important part of the equation. All sorts of "what if's" come to mind.
There are plenty of topics out there about wages in our industry. They are all over the board. There is one common denominator amongst them and that is you will pay a premium to get expert advice.
Expect a good SEO to discuss your expectations with you, and even to try to change them, especially if what you want is to be 'top of Google' ;)
There is one common denominator amongst them and that is you will pay a premium to get expert advice.
I forgot to mention, you could also come to WebmasterWorld and pry it out of one of our members. Ya start a good topic, next thing ya know, you have all sorts of free expert advice floating about, wouldn't you agree? :)
And even to try to change them.
Oh, that's what makes this exciting. I had this type of discussion with a client just the other day and it was rather terse. We're still road dogs though. ;)
<added> P.S. You can do all the SEO you want to a site. If you are working with a dynamic site and don't understand what is happening at the layer above what you are doing, you're toast! Ya want some gam to go with that?
