This issue’s interview with a subject matter professional revolves around search engine optimization. Chris Mulvaney is the brains behind CMDS, an award-winning marketing, website design company and SEO agency that helps businesses generate more qualified online leads. Reach him at (732) 706-5555 or visit cmdsonline.com.
Q1. Some company told me they could get my site listed on the first page of Google for only $75. Is this true?
Unfortunately, we hear this all the time, and it is absolutely false. Companies claim they can get you placement on search engines for a cheap price, but in fact it is impossible for anyone to guarantee search engine placement. You might be there for a minute or two, but even that’s doubtful. Search engines like Google and Yahoo update their databases constantly, and with thousands of websites getting submitted daily, rankings shift all the time. SEO success depends on many factors, including persistence and trial and error. There’s no one magic formula that works across the board.
Q2. How much should I budget to get to the top of the search engines?
Rankings depend on a whole host of things – your industry, your competition, the keywords you target, and even the way your website was built. How many pages does it have? When were they last updated? Was the site programmed properly? Are elements like H1 and meta tags in place? Did you include keywords in your footer? Factors like these determine the level of investment required to boost your traffic. Like almost anything else, the more you spend, the more you’ll see in return. It’s very easy to spend $2,000 a month or more to get page one rankings.
Q3. Why doesn’t my site doesn’t show up on search engines?
Much of this goes back to the question above: how your site was programmed, its content, page naming conventions, image alt tags and link title tags. Once the basics are in place and your site is optimized, you need to market it to gain the highest possible organic placement on major search engines.
Basic marketing starts with identifying and analyzing keywords based on volume, relevance, your goals for the site and what the competition is doing. At the end of the day, it’s all about ROI – using online marketing more effectively to drive a steady stream of qualified leads in your direction.