Large SEO Companies

Before you sign that complicated contract with any SEO Company, take a look the part that says they own the code and pages. Then take note of what will happen to your rankings if you leave them. Since they bought the links going to your site or they put your site into a link network, your rankings will disappear when you don't want to use their services any longer. Contracts like this are developed because the SEO company wants to create residual or ongoing revenue, and because the purchased link network participation was used as a simpler method of gaining rankings.

Avoiding a Bad Choice

SEO services consumers want to feel comfortable when buying SEO services therefore many tend buy on gut instinct, traditional advertising buy criteria, and the appearance of SEO company's Web site.

Many of our high-price competitors get their results through techniques that are automated and use linking techniques that are considered unethical to search engines. This is the key problem for large SEO companies: how to get quick rankings while using only links to achieve those rankings. On site work and content development are too costly and require a lot of versatility from their staff.

So these companies often have or will arrange, a large network of sites to buy links on. By economies of scale, they can place numerous sites on one Web page. The client's ranking may go up, but the fees have to be paid every month and it can get expensive. If you decide you want to try another SEO company, your links and rankings disappear. Once you're dependent on their system, they've snared you.

"But It's So Tempting to Take the Easy Way Where they promise the Moon"

So although, the SEO company may have plenty of ancillary services and big name clients, they may have to use more cost-efficient and less on-site optimization to get high rankings for their clients. Unfortunately, automated, mass-production optimization tactics and paid text link advertising are what search engines want to get rid of, and that will happen sooner than later. At some point, paid text link ads will be punished because they usually ruin the quality of search engine results. That's not to say you should or shouldn't buy text link ads. You just need to be aware that these costly, large scale techniques will run their course and lose their effectiveness.

Search engine optimization markets are different than regular marketing channels. Attempts to buy or use strong arm techniques to gain top rankings are commonly known as spamming. Certain types of blackhat optimizers use spamming techniques because they need to get immediate rankings at any cost. Legitimate and reputable SEO companies avoid using these unpleasant approaches.

The so-called free search engine listings are supposed to represent the best available sites on a particular keyword topic. Google, for instance doesn't want paid text link advertising to increase ranking on "organic" or natural search listings, because users won't be getting the web pages they assume are the best. Instead they would be getting the pages a wealthy advertiser wants them to see. SEOs currently try to overload the Web with paid links in the hope that Google will treat many of them as legitimate links, and thus boost the rankings of the advertisers' Web site. Buying high rankings sounds exciting and irresistible, but as many sites learn, they should have resisted the temptation.

Some SEO companies under great financial pressure or big business directives, must obtain high rankings using more efficient methods. These methods utilize machine-generated web pages and engineered or paid link networks. It is a sophisticated type of digital engineering that ruins the quality of search results for users.

Customized, human-generated content development is not possible at that level since it is too costly. However, Google and Yahoo prefer human-generated content and Web page linking that is human selected. This conflict will take up most of large SEO companies time and resources as Google deals with this rising tide of big money spam.

The approach big SEO companies use is directly counter to what Google and Yahoo use. While the search engines do want big money advertisers, they don't want their organic indexes taken over. Unfortunately, this is what will happen if effective counter measures aren't increased by Google and Yahoo. No worries though, they will find a way.

Google representatives have stated that their algorithm and filters are sufficient to weed out those trying to dominate their indexes. The truth is, is that the algorithms are having trouble with link related spam used by big money manipulators. So, we can expect Google and Yahoo to take further measures to deal with companies trying to manipulate rankings at a system wide level, and that means "big SEO companies."

Shortage of Skilled SEO Professionals

Building a company with skilled professionals at an acceptable cost is very difficult since the number of skilled designers, copywriters, researchers, and search engine optimizers is limited. There simply aren't enough skilled practitioners to go around, let alone to have them work flawlessly together.

Walmart may have solved a similar problem in the realm of retailing, but search engine optimization cannot be put on a mass-production schedule, even though most major web publishers would like it to conform to the traditional advertising model. The difference is that Web users want an uncontaminated search index. They don't want it ruined by corporate money. Google then, wants results to be natural and most relevant based on their algorithm and not the based on collusion by companies with lots of money.

Google is out to rid its index of mass, automated search engine optimization techniques. Google's attitude toward SEO is that it is more of a curse than a benefit to them. They have indicated an intention to get tough with SEO companies. A large-scale, automated approach is not considered conducive to search engine quality. The use of silent networks is compromising the quality of the search results.

Google was built on the idea that human beings are best at locating valuable Web resources by their choice of who to link to. The linking practices of large scale SEO companies negates that, or even subverts it. By using large networks of colluding Web sites, the real value of a Google listing is put in doubt.

What's more, is that they can't match the nimbleness of smaller, more flexible, and experienced SEO companies who have access to the same tools and information they do.

Big SEM operations will hire high school and college students, MBA's and print copywriters and try to teach them the fundamentals of SEO. New competitors in India are following this strategy to a tee. They believe that using shear brute force will create domination. We've all received their countless e-mails asking for links to topically irrelevant Web sites.

The site's the optimize and the copy they write just doesn't sound comfortable for North Americans. And, intense, personalized service is too costly. That means automated techniques must be used or they can't make a go of it.

They really have no competitive advantage other than the fact that their target prospects have a belief that a large company has some extraordinary powers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

High Quality SEO

Top search engine optimizers have high quality skills in a number of areas such as research, marketing strategy, copywriting, Web design and knowledge of search engine algorithms.

Google has written and produced a search engine algorithm that examines the keyword content and liking patterns within and between Web sites. This analytical technique looks for non-repetitious copy, linking and page design. Why? Because spammers are using computer generated programs to pump out thousands of templated Web pages. They do it only to stuff the index full of pages in order to gain some sort of size advantage. They've also fabricated Web link networks and buying links on other sites.

This technique is still working, however Google will pull the plug on it soon enough just as they did with the Florida update. At one time, Pagerank was considered everything and popular opinion had it that all other optimization criteria were irrelevant. That wasn't long ago and many pagerank experts have gone into hiding.

If you're thinking of investing a lot of money in a search engine optimization service, don't rely on generating thousands of template driven Web pages. Google can easily spot them and delete their effect on rankings.

Google has not gotten aggressive with identifying and penalizing manufactured link networks (not link farms). This is the biggest current threat to their index. These linking relationships are just as manufactured as though they were paid links. There are many top rankings sites currently relying on these sophisticated link networks. They are well put together at a level that Google has difficulty identifying, yet the algorithm improvements the search firm is undertaking will soon eliminate the advantage these link networks deliver.

The moral of the story is that if you are looking to build a long term presence in the search engines, you should try to make a genuine effort where you are creating value for search engine users.

Should You Hire a Large SEO Company?

Some large SEO companies have some powerful resources and charge very high fees to cover the use of those Web assets. The best advice is to avoid hiring a firm that will have to resort to automated techniques and paid link networks. It puts your site at risk of using unethical techniques which will require constant attention and ongoing maintenance fees. Once you bite their hook, you won't get away easily.

Hire an SEO firm that produces natural optimization that results in easy to maintain rankings. That way, you can rest at night and not be greeted with a new spate of costs and risks. Choose a reputable search engine optimization company you can rely on.