SEO Consultant Charles Preston Helps Your Business Grow... Our success is based on a philosophy that recognizes how much the consumer has changed since the advent of the internet. Traditional marketing isn't working as well anymore because of these changes. Today's economy is driven by the internet and tactics such as SEO, PPC, Social Networking, Website Usability, Analytics, etc are essential to the success of today's small business; however those tactics must be made more business friendly and combined with a messaging strategy that quickly and clearly differentiates your business from your competitors. Charles Preston's holistic approach to modern small business marketing combines the agility and power of internet marketing tactics (SEO/PPC) with the potency of a finely tuned unique selling proposition into a comprehensive small business profit growth strategy which has proven to be remarkably effective.

Being An SEO Consultant In 2010

Being an SEO Consultant in 2010

Looks like 2010 is shaping up to be an interesting year if you are working with an SEO consultant. With the Microsoft - Yahoo deal in play and Microsoft's new "decision engine", BING, gaining market share - SEO strategies might need a little adjusting.

Google certainly has most of the eyeballs at present but the future is uncertain now with a strategic alliance between Microsoft and Yahoo - with 2 sets of deep pockets anything is possible. As an SEO consultant I have mostly catered to Google centric SEO for my clients. The idea of course is to put the hook into the biggest pond with the most fish. Should BING start gaining more ground, I and other SEO consultants will have to start adding in a little more BING & possibly Yahoo centric ranking tactics into the mix. All things being equal, good content and good linking is the name of the game however there are subtle differences about how to execute those two aspects depending on which engine you are trying to rank for.

Long term SEO needs to be informed of possible future shake ups in the search engine world. A strategy designed today with Google in mind might be a disaster in a year or two with a surprise shift away from Google toward BING or some other "killer app" search engine that might be secretly in the works as we speak.

It's hard to imagine as an SEO Consultant with 11 years of experience that Google could ever lose its status as the most popular search engine. Anything is possible though, just look at everything that has changed over the past 11 years. One thing is for certain - massive, abrupt change seems to be more commonplace these days. SEO Consultants - be advised.

Why An SEO Consultant Needs To Be A Marketing Expert

Businesses are spending more on SEO. It makes sense when you consider that search based leads convert to sales almost twice as much as any other lead generation tactic. The reason for this is that prospects are actively searching for what you offer and you only need to be there when they search. Intent to buy is half the sale and search delivers just that. Compared to other forms of marketing like TV commercials, direct mail, telemarketing, etc, which targets a demographic group or list where you have no idea if anyone in that list has the intent to buy.

The only problem with trying to find a good SEO Consultant is knowing if they get the marketing equation. SEO is just a tactic, it's not a comprehensive strategy. SEO is just a fancy new way of doing something that businesses have always had to do and that is get leads. Prior to SEO the job of getting leads was handled by a marketing person who understood how to analyze a market and best position a company so that prospects could clearly see the advantage of doing business with that company.

The same holds true in today's post SEO world. A good SEO Consultant needs to be a good marketer. They need to have a strategy that will allow them to quickly understand the type of business you are in and what market you are targeting or should be targeting. This becomes critical when doing keyword research. Anyone can take a guess at what keywords a company should rank for but without a thorough understanding of what that company offers and what their target market really wants the keyword research will be at a severe disadvantage.

Any SEO Consultant worth their salt will tell you that keyword research is the most important part of any SEO campaign. You could have 100 1st page rankings but if you are not ranking for the keywords that prospects searching for your products and services are using then the campaign will fail. Why? Simply because the whole point of SEO is to provide a bridge between a company and a prospect looking to buy something from that company. Marketing intelligence is needed to ensure that the right keywords are chosen.

In addition to keywords, what happens when the site gets ranked and visitors start pouring into a page that has no conversion strategy? Zero results is what happens. Again SEO is marketing and marketing is about getting a sales lead. The pages that get ranked need to have a conversion strategy that includes good old sales oriented marketing copy , a unique and persuasive selling proposition and a clear and direct call to action. So often SEO Consultants will only focus on getting a site ranked for certain keywords and completely ignore the conversion strategy.

At the end of the day a successful SEO company has nothing to do with rankings, it needs to have increased leads and thereby increase sales. When searching for an SEO Consultant make sure they understand marketing which will increase the odds of a successful SEO campaign.

SEO For Small Business

SEO For Small Business

In today's economy being a small business is a lot tougher than it has been in recent years. Many small businesses have a much smaller marketing budget when what they need most is sales leads. Traditional marketing methods like direct mail, tv advertising, radio, etc are becoming increasingly cost prohitibitive. The good news is that traditional marketing methods are not workng as well as they used to and so not being able to afford to use them is a blessing in disguise

Of course I would say that, me being an SEO consultant and all but the fact is that statistically, SEO is much less expensive and in most cases twice as effective at capturing sales leads. A small business can do very well with SEO even with a limited budget. As it turns out a lot of small businesses target a local market and ranking for local key phrases is a easier than trying to rank for national key phrases. In addition to being more affordable local rankings convert extremely well. Did you know that over 50% of all searches done online are for local service providers?

SEO for small business has proven time and time again to be the most effective form of marketing and it is because of the simple fact that your prospects are actively searching for what you sell. You need only be on the first page when they go looking. That's half the sale right there!

A small business looking for an SEO consultant needs to make sure that the consultant has a proven track record of achieving measureable results. Case studies, testimonials and references are to be expected. In addition a very open explanation of how the rankings are achieved is also a good sign that the SEO consultant in question is a legitimate professional.

In today's economy when every penny needs to perform, a small business seo campaign is a smart choice.

10 Questions To Ask An SEO Consultant Before Hiring Them

How To Hire The Best SEO Consultant

Whether you are outsourcing the SEO for your business website or looking to bring someone into the company fold there are a set of criteria you need to know how to cover to ensure that you hire an effective SEO consultant. Here are 10 suggested questions to ask --

1. First of all I would recommend that you not hire anyone without at least 3 years of experience. An amateur SEO consultant can do much more harm than good. Ever professional SEO consultant I know, me included, had to earn our chops by doing work for free until we had built up the knowledge base and track record to start sending invoices.

2. Ask for case studies. These should include a list of websites and sample keywords with a before and after summary. Site www.somewebsite.com was ranking at #23 for keyword "suchandsuch" and now ranks at #7. Something along those lines. Also inquire as to how long it took to achieve the results and what the budget was.

3. Ask for references. Any good SEO consultant should have at least 5 current references. People you can actually talk to.

4. Make sure the case studies presented represent keywords that actually get traffic. It's really easy to get 1st page ranking for obscure keywords. You can check approximate monthly traffic volume for most keywords using Google's keyword tool.

5. How well does the SEO consultant understand website conversion tactics? Ranking is one thing, getting leads and sales is another. SEO & website conversion rate strategies go hand in hand and should be included in the expertise you are paying for.

6. Does the SEO consultant ahere to Google's wembaster guidelines? In other words do they practice white hat SEO? Chances are, if the SEO consultant has ample case studies representing bona fide businesses and references then they are practicing white hat SEO. Black hat SEO typically gets a site banned in the long run and includes unsavory clients such as online gambling sites, pornography and so on.

7. What is the actual process they use to get ranking? It should be no secret. If the SEO consultant is vague about this or chooses not to reveal his/her "secrets" - run!

8. Give them your url and a few keywords and ask them to do an analysis for you. The report you get back should include other relevant keywords they found that are getting decent traffic, where your site is ranked now for these keywords, a competitive analysis that shows who is currently ranking 1st page for the keywords in question and a strategy to get your site to the 1st page as well. This strategy should include creation of keyword rich content and a link building plan. The report should also include an approximate cost and time schedule to reach key metrics.

9. If you are outsourcing make sure and inquire as to how they will keep in touch with you in regards to campaign status. You should be able to communicate with them on a regular basis and they should be issuing monthly reports showing clear progress.

10. Do they understand copywriting and marketing in general? This ties into website conversion mentioned above. Website conversion strategies typically boil down to 50% page layout and design and 50% good ole marketing know how and copywriting skills. Ask for examples of how they have proven expertise in these areas.

SEO Consultant Commentary On The "Caffeine" Google Update

Caffeine - Do more faster!

As a professional SEO consultant it is my job to keep abreast of the ever changing search engine landscape. One such major change coming our way is Google's new ranking algorithm update nicknamed "Caffeine". As the name suggests the focus is on efficiency and speed.

Here is a brief summary of what Caffeine entails:

1. Speed Benchmark tests are showing that the new Google will be almost twice as fast in serving up results.
2. Accuracy The new Google seems to be giving on-page keyword strings more relevancy.
3. Timing A new focus on being able to serve up the most relevant breaking news and time sensitive content. No doubt Twitter and Facebook influenced this.
4. Accuracy The new Google seems to be giving on-page keyword strings more relevancy.
5. Index Size The new Google is going to have a bigger index. This seems to be in response to Bing's focus in this area.

So there you have it in a nutshell. When searching for an SEO consultant to hire it helps to know the basics of new developments like these.

SEO Consultant Advice From Entreprenuer.com

Just finished reading an article on Entreprenuer.com entitled, "What you don't know about SEO"

The article begins by discussing what SEO is and that it is "the web's unfolding, and unregulated, frontier." It then warns that there are countless seo consultants out there charging on average $200 an hour and monthly fees as high as $12k. The article goes on to say that most of these consultants are not providing the value that they claim to provide.

On this point I would have to agree. After 12 years of being an seo consultant primarily to the small business market I have had my share of clients who have had very negative experiences working with other providers. It's one of the biggest hurdles as an seo consultant to convince a small business that I can in fact get the seo results they are seeking.

SEO consultants who charge a lump sum then monthly service fees, it says are suspect. I would have to disagree with this statement as typically most of the work for an seo campaign is in the beginning stages which requires a lump sum investment. After the site has been ranked it does in fact require monthly maintenance. This is especially critical in competitive keyword markets. A site can't just rest on it's laurels once ranked as there are many other websites out there competing for the same keywords.

It requires monthly activity to monitor and maintain keyword ranking. I do agree however that locking a client into a long term monthly contract isn't a good idea. In my contracts I typically require a lump sum investment up front and then a monthly service plan that is not based on a long term contract. That way if I fail to maintain or continually improve the client's rankings they can simply cancel their service.

The article ends with some very pertinent questions when hiring an SEO consultant which I have paraphrased below...

1. Ask for references.
2. What results can I expect and in what time frame?
3. What is your experience in my industry? (I don't find this question to be particularly pertinent as any good SEO consultant is going to interview the client before keyword research is done to make sure they understand the market well enough to know what kinds of keywords prospects will be using to the products and services the client is offering)
4. What techniques are used to achieve results? The SEO consultant should be able to explain the process they use. If the consultant is not forthcoming with this information it might be a warning sign that they could be using black hat techniques.
5. What is the communication protocol? The SEO consultant needs to be available for questions during the campaign and have a process in place that keeps you up to date on ranking results.

All in all, a very informative article that clearly points out the necessity of knowing enough about the SEO process to be able to properly investigate an SEO consultant you are thinking of hiring.