Search Engine Optimization Services | Know What You Are Getting Into

It's a beautiful fall day here in western Massachusetts and it's got me in the mood to write. I'm writing this blog specifically to warn potential seo scam victims about the shady nature of search engine optimization services. I'm also writing this blog as a reference for my own clients. I believe my clients should be educated (at least just a little bit) about seo so that they can set reasonable expectations.

Search engine optimization services are not all the same to put it simply. It's not like all search engine service providers or companies do the exact same thing. However it's apparent to me that the majority of seo service companies are NOT the real thing. I don't care if they have a fancy site and tons of referrals either. It's all just fluff and BS!! Just like when you (yes you!!) fluff up your resume when applying for a great job. You fluff it up and you know it! Well so do seo companies. They fluff it up big time.

Don't be fooled by a ton of references or a big portfolio. Why? Because the VAST majority of website owners who employ seo's are small business owners who know nothing at all about seo and what to REALLY expect.

Content is KING! That is the popular saying that reverberates endlessly in the echo chambers of seo forums and seo blogs. I can't tell you how many seo's I know that say "Content is KING" and base their whole seo strategy on writing good content. I must say in all candor and honesty that this is complete nonsense! Search engine optimization services can include writing "seo'd content" but let's not get carried away with the idea.

Sine when is writing great content considered seo? Don't get me wrong here as I do believe that good content for your website or blog is a great thing. Why not provide your visitors with a valuable experience? I'm merely drawing a the distinction between what seo is and is not. It is NOT writing great "seo content"

See, as seo's we develop keyword lists for your site. We need to get those keywords in your content somehow because they do help you rank. In fact if we could just paste a list of about 1000 keywords to your homepage that would be perfect. However, your competitors would rat you out as a spammer to google and your site would be manually deindexed from the search listings. Hence the need for compelling content!

The "Great Content" is nothing but keyword camouflage. Google can't tell the difference between good content, good poetry, bad content or bad poetry. It's entirely subjective isn't it? How can an algorithm evaluate art such as creative writing? It can't. Good content is not seo. It may be persuasive copy that sells your products or it may be a place to stuff your keywords but that is all. Great content keeps competitors from flagging your site to google. End of story.

Seo's do frequently write content for their clients sites but that's just because we want to get your keywords on your website somehow. Often times professional writers don't understand how to weave these keywords in while maintaining the integrity of the content. There needs to be a certain amount of keyword density and that is usually beyond the average ghost writer.

Still, content is not critical in ranking your website. It counts for sure but it is not critical. There is a lot of google propaganda out there making it hard for the uninformed to really find out the truth, hence my blog post here today. Know what you are getting into when you are about to hire a company to provide your search engine optimization services. It's not about the content, it's not about the meta tags and it's not about search engine submissions.

So just what is the critical factor in successful search engine optimization services? I will save that topic for another day.