SEO without Headache or Expense

There are few projects these days that can bring forth as much confusion, misunderstanding and bad results as Search Engine Optimisation... It's akin to website design of early 90's. Everyone knows they need it, noone really has clear understanding on how to do it and a quick search on internet will bring forth many results with wildly different information. You'll find people who claim that they will guarantee your position within weeks, other will say it costs thousands and takes months. Between different opinions, price lists and confusing terminology it's enough to make most website operators to start pulling out their hair.

So let's break it down. There is no great mystery in SEO, just a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation. The benefit is obvious - free traffic to your website, free customers to your product. As for the ways to go about it:

1 - Reputable SEO firm
2 - Some guy named Ted who lives in his mothers basement
3 - Do it yourself

If you are a CFO of a large bank or have budget with no boundaries the recommendation is simple and straightforward: contract this project to SEO company. But beware! Do your research... With price tags starting around $5,000 and going up rapidly, depending on how much of the actual work you want done by them, it is not a game for the weak of heart. Here are some of the tips:

Use local SEO company, if possible
Visit their offices, meet the people
Ask for reference list, research these results online, talk to references
Discuss what exactly you will be getting
Make sure there will be lengthy time period in contract for results to be verified

There are many reputable Search Engine Optimisation companies out there that will take your project with care and competence, and if your budget allows, they most certainly are the way to go.

However most of website owners out there do not fall under multi-million dollar corporation category, and thus the steep price tags of SEO companies make them look for alternative solutions. Enter the rogue SEO expert! And as they say - you usually get what you pay for. Not to claim that there are no competent and honest individual consultants, but your chances of running into less than reputable one are significant. It's simply a logical outcome in situation when you have an industry with relatively high fees and no definate way of tracking success. Most of the truly tallented and successfull Search Engine Optimizers with proven track records are moving up into SEO firm category, and what youre left with at deep discount rates are either people still learning the ropes themselves, consultants using dubious or black-hat SEO techniques, which in the long run will only hurt your website, and plain incompetent, or worse yet, dishonest folks. With a lot of homework and luck you might be able to hire a good consultant who has not yet upped his fees, but likelyhood of that is somewhat low. Unless someone comes highly recommended from a trusted source, this is a scenario for a disaster...

And finally we arrive at Do-It-Yourself solution. We love doing things ourselves... Just look at Home Depot or similar stores and their success, and the evidence of fixit yourself mentality is abundant. However these can be troubled waters as well. Most SEO information is either aimed at a professional and reads like tax code amendments, or contains useless, sometimes even plain wrong information. As always there are exceptions, and here's one of them:

Common Sense Guide to SEO

Armed with this simple few page document you will be able to achieve reasonable Search Engine Optimization success. It doesn't include any "tricks" or black-hat strategies, no "get on top of Google by next week" tips, just simple, step-by-step reference to your SEO strategy written in plain english without fancy terms to impress or misguide. Compiled in one document are the best practices, reference tools and a roadmap to better Search Results.