Successful SEO: Four Reasons Why Your Search Engine Optimization Firm Should Know Web DevelopmentBY: Collyn Floyd
If you are in the market to hire a search engine optimization (SEO) firm, selecting the right vendor can be a daunting task. In recent years, SEO has gained immense popularity and acceptance as a formidable marketing technique, so it should come as no surprise that SEO firms are popping up in various shapes and sizes: one-person SEO consultancies, SEO-only firms, combined SEO/Development firms, traditional ad agencies offering SEO, and even offshore SEO enterprises. But which of these options will deliver the best results for your business? Which can you trust to suggest - and possibly implement - changes to your site? The fact is that true Web marketing success requires knowing the web business inside-out, including programming, design, usability, and SEO. Here are four reasons to hire a firm that offers both SEO and Web development: 1. Get a truly search friendly site. SEO-only firms tend to be focused on top rankings. While rankings are important, they won’t mean much if your site’s design and functionality aren’t appealing to your visitors. Even if a site gets heavy traffic, what’s the point if visitors quickly leave and don’t convert? When selecting a SEO firm, ask yourself these questions:
2. Get an SEO team who understands how sites are built. Sometimes the search engines need a little help “seeing” your site, especially if you have a dynamic or e-commerce site. Search-friendly sites have properly written URLs which avoid characters like a question mark, ampersand or equals sign in the URL since these can create roadblocks for search engine spiders. SEO-friendly URLs are built to eliminate these roadblocks, and as a bonus, a creative programmer can actually incorporate keywords within the URL. If you have URLs on your site like in this example, the search engines may have trouble navigating and indexing your site: http://www.company.com/products/display_product.jsp? In short, good programming results in pages that are easier to update, easier for the search engines to navigate, load faster, and some would argue, rank higher in the search engines. 3. Get expanded expertise all under one roof. Want to hire and manage different firms for your SEO, PPC, and design/development? Probably not. One firm means one production timeline and one team handling all your needs, which should result in a more consistent final product. By hiring a company that has development and marketing under one roof, you can simplify the SEO process and save money, too. While some advertising agencies offer a suite of marketing and public relations services under one roof, oftentimes just a tiny sliver of their business (perhaps one or two people) is dedicated to Web marketing. Simply put, most ad agencies that offer SEO lack the SEO resources to do your job right. It is important to ask who makes up the SEO team: is it one person trying to do everything, or a team of individuals each offering different skills and areas of expertise? SEO consultants and SEO-only firms, on the other hand, usually have a firm grasp on SEO but either outsource development or provide recommendations to pass on to your development team. If you have ever tried to pass along suggestions from a consultant, you know this can be a challenge. Without fail, unforeseen issues crop up and certain items get misinterpreted between the consultant and the development team. This can mean production delays and unexpected expenses for you. By hiring a firm that does both Web development and SEO, you will find that the development and SEO teams interact with one another to ensure your site’s design, programming, and optimization work together on every level. 4. Get an SEO team that understands – and implements – development changes. Understanding the development side of a site is especially important if you have a dynamic or e-commerce site, but still important if you have a static site. SEO-only shops, consultants, and ad agencies without a firm grasp on development may not understand the full impact of the site changes they request or, in some cases, even know how to make the right kinds of requests. A team that understands development can ask for - and implement - the right things, the right way. Otherwise, you might end up with a dispute between your development and SEO shops, not getting the development services your site really needs, paying too much for the services, or all of the above. Do yourself, your Web site, and your business a huge favor: avoid headaches by hiring an SEO shop that knows their way around sites and servers and can make things happen.
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