Phases of Search Engine Optimization:

• Keyword Research & Analysis – 1-2 Weeks
  The most important part of website marketing is determining the keyword terms to be used that will generate quality, targeted website traffic.  This process generally takes 5-7 days depending on the level of interaction of the client (time for interaction with the client is taken as 4 days (assumed that keywords for approval are sent and received in 3 days). We will actually visit your competitor's websites and gather information about how they are optimizing their sites to see what efferts we will have to take to perform higher in the rankings than their site currently does.
  
• Website Optimization – 2 – 4 months
  Assuming that all keywords have been approved and ftp information or alternative method of optimizing the website has been provided, we should have the process started by the 3rd week after agreements have been signed. We will include the option of slowing down our efforts should the traffic become too heavy, and also increase our efforts to drive even more targeted traffic. Pay-Per-Click is a good options to increase imediate traffic that is relevant and can be monitored.
  
• Submissions – 1 Month – Through Duration of Campaign
  Once the site has been fully optimized and all necessary changes are made, we will submit your site to the major search engines, directories, and authority sites to get your website listed in the top or the web directory results. This process generally takes 1 week but actuall inclusion in the organic results may take longer. We know when to submit on what day of the week. Some directories require a fee-based inclusion which is optional according to your request.
  
• Expected time to see Results – this varies per search engine
  Each search engine indexes pages differently and takes different times to do so. Once submitted our work takes at least 2 weeks to be picked up and then your positions start to climb, continuing to do so for weeks and months to come. This is a process that unfortunately we cannot rush or we would, of course. Google sometimes takes 3 - 6 full months to index our work but we monitor the submitted work and know exactly when it happens so we can begin to see the effects in a timely manner. Once we see how the work is indexed by each particular engine we can then make changes to each submitted page to make it get spidered faster and move higher quicker. If you are in the Real Estate industry you can expect a longer "waiting" period because of Google's sandbox put in place in 2005 for all real estate webmaster link partners.
  
• Keyword Positioning Report – Monthly/Weekly
  Once each month/week you will receive a keyword ranking report.  This report will outline your current positions in each of the major search engines. We can setup more frequent statistics if you would like to stay more involved on a daily basis.

According to recent estimates, marketers in the US spent only $238.5 million on optimization this year already (as of April 2008). That's tiny considering that the average Web site gets 73% more total traffic within six months of optimization.

Why aren't marketers spending more? Here are two factors:

• Do-it-yourself syndrome - people think they can do this in-house. Search engines have a vested interest in you *not* being able to figure out how to do this. Google and others have giant tech teams working on changes to the organic ranking systems so you can't jerry rig your site to win. Most webmasters just can’t win against them.
  
• Industry Trust – because this field is so lucrative many amateurs can just build a website and claim they can get top positions for $29.95 and it dilutes the industry for firms like ours with experienced professionals. Once burned by a company as mentioned above, it leaves business owners with a bad taste in their mouth about the industry as a whole.
  
• Intangible Cost - On the other end of the spectrum there are companies charging exorbitant prices and not delivering anywhere near the results they should. Typically you should pay a full time expert no less than $500 a month and really no more than $2,500 unless you have an employee onsite working for you. We as seach marketers know the value of what this does to a website and will factor that into the cost in almost every case.
  
• Budget Flooding - Most companies blow their wad on paid advertising, which has really taken a hit in the last 3 years. In 2005 an average of 1.5% of the visitors to your site were expected to follow through to a sale. Now, in 2008, there is a whopping 0.03% that a visitor will purchase from you through a banner or text link advertisement.

We have been at this for 6 years now and have many references, case studies and stand by our work 110%.

Our optimizers will work on getting you linked with quality, complementary sites within your niche market. This will increase pre-qualified traffic that is ready and willing to purchase your services or products, and improve your position in the top search engines and Internet directories by increasing your link popularity.

The search engines take into account the amount of times a keyword is searched. The more popular a keyword is that describes your business, the more points you gain towards having good keywords. Once all of the criteria is looked at, the points are added up and in a nutshell, this determines your page rank. The higher your page rank, the higher you are listed in each particular search query.

The time to gain all of your reciprocal links depends on the number of links required and updates are given periodically. Quality links take time to acquire and track down but we have many of the best link specialists in the industry working with us to aquire these trusted links. Links must be achieved manually as link farms and automatic reciprocal link programs are illegal...in the eyes of the search engine judges. Just recently a major SEO reputable firm was banned from Google for using a text link broker – we use all accepted white hat techniques, there is no need to mess around with spam techniques when we're putting relevant, authentic product and service information onlne for your company.

Once we have established your requirements, we dedicate our time to conduct extensive research of your competition; the sites they are linked to, their current Google page rank, position in the search engines, etc. – then we begin to acquire valid links for your website. This is a time-consuming process, which must be done by hand, one at a time.

To give you an example, AOL.com has 50,800 links pointing to their website from other sites. Google gives them a Page Rank of 9. Any amount of inbound links from reputable sites will give you website more value.

Google's Page Rank is information that tells us what Google and the world think of your website – this rating is very important when trying to achieve the top slots. 0 is the lowest score and 10 is the highest. This rating is determined by several things:

• the primary factor is the quality of websites that link with you
• What links on your site take visitors to other websites
• The Page rank of your interior pages, or pages other than your home page
• the quality of content on your website and how long the site has been indexed

If your site has a PR of 4 and you have 12+ solid links, we have to get Google to recognize more links to build to it to a PR of 6 or 7, highly profitable in most industries. Once this is achieved it will be hard for Google to stay away from your website and the many millions of searchers will find their way as well.

Currently it is estimated that Google updates their more than 50 Page Rank servers 4 times a year, coincidentally the same number of quarters in the financial calendar. Hmmm.