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Search Engine Optimization Guide


SEO stands for “search engine optimization” or “search engine optimize”, a commonly used method of fine tuning your web site in order to increase the position in which your website is displaying in search engines such as Yahoo and Google.

Hiring an SEO firm like Stilton Company is a big decision which can potentially help your business immensely and drive new visitors to your website, but if done improperly, can also ruin your online business and get you delisted from search engines.

Make sure you research your SEO firms diligently and understand their methods completely before allowing them to perform SEO on your website.   Be aware of the following pitfalls that can hurt your website’s page ranking, or position in the search engines.

  • Claims to have a network of free linking websites that will instantly give you back links. Back links are very important for your website, but the quality of the back links are more important.   If one company owns all of the sites linking back to you, these days, the search engines are smart enough to figure it out.
  • Any company offering a quick or instant fix to your SEO problems should be avoided.  Quick fix solutions usually imply filling your website with pages full of irrelevant jumbles of keyworded content that while may be mathematically correct will turn away customers.  Only a steady stream of solid content that users are willing to read and share with each other will help you out for the long haul.   A quick fix might help you in the immediate future, but you will be a click and forget business.   This means that you will get found on the search engines, but visitors will be unhappy with their landing page and move on, never to return again.
  • Ask your SEO firm if they have done work for any of your possible competitors.  If they peformed work for one of your competitors and they are willing to work with you to compete against their former client(s), chances are, they will do the same to you in the future.
  • Claims to have expertise in all markets, including yours.  Remember, you are the best representative of your industry and a company that claims to have done it all, while perhaps true is misleading, especially in SEO.    SEO requires a lot of work on your end to be effective since you are the one with the industry knowledge, knowledge of your customers and competitors.
  • Avoid paid link schemes.   These do not work unless you intend to keep paying for the entire existence of your website.  Advertising on paid link services such as Google Ads or Yahoo search marketing will not benefit you in the search engine rankings, they will provide you with a false sense of success that will disappear long after the SEO firm has cashed your check.   While paid advertising is helpful, do not be led to believe it will be beneficial to SEO.
  • Experience trumps technology.   If the SEO firm places more value on their technology and tools they use to promote your business  than their experience, be careful.   There are many online websites and tools you can download that will have the same results, but they are not as effective as experience, common sense and good strategy.
  • Pay attention to the strategy, make sure it’s inline with your own business strategy.  If you are only concerned with cornering the local market and the SEO firm wants to have you competing against international businesses it would be a waste of your time unless your business is prepared to deal with fulfilling international orders and providing services abroad.  Concentrate on your own goals and don’t be led into new and unrealistic expectations.

SEO companies can make a world of difference in your business, but unethical ones who use overly aggressive techniques for instant gratification and ‘manipulation’ of search engines using unfair practices will eventually be caught by the search engines and adjusted.

Here are somet tips to remember:

  • Do not use companies who send you an out of the blue email saying they want to help you.    These companies use spam and have most likely sent that same email to thousands of other businesses.  They have likely been reported to spam filtering services and search engines for their practices.   You do not want your website to have links from their sites or be associated with spammers in any way.
  • Nobody can guarantee #1 rankings.   If you can get a #1 ranking, nobody can guarantee you will always have that ranking.    No companies have special relationships with Google and any services provided by Yahoo or Google are available to anyone.  They do not offer any premium SEO services or partnerships for SEO businesses.
  • Your SEO plan should be discussed openly.   Be careful of companies with “trade secrets” or “stealth techniques” as they are most likely using deceptive tactics to try to witfully trick the search engines into thinking your site is relevant such as doorway pages or throwaway domains.   They may want to fill pages of deceptively keyworded pages on your behalf which when discovered by the search engines could result in your removal from their service.
  • Avoid link popularity schemes.  “Free for All” links do not help your website, nor does simply submitting your URL to hundreds of different linking services.   Only a well targeted and well defined strategy of quality content over a long period of time will have lasting success for your business.
  • Own all of the content the SEO company creates.  One popular method SEO firms use is called “shadow domains.”     For instance say your company sells high speed widgets.   They may suggest creating a new domain called  allabouthighspeedwidgets.com in which they will own and develop for you.   They will position the new domain as an authoritive source on highspeed widgets and link back to your website.  Once your contract with them is over, they will own the new domain and use it to sell services to your competitors. “We own the #1 google search in the high speed widgets space, by linking to you we can increase your ranking”.  They will also then start selling links to all companies who sell high speed widgets.    Make sure your company owns and controls any new domains created for your project.

What else to watch out for:

    There are several signs that should raise warning flags for you.  There are companies identified as rogue SEO companies, so always trust your instincts.  Here are things to investigate before you sign a contract:

  • Does the SEO firm use shadow domains.  Properly keyworded domains with filler/junk content and links to other potential clients.
  • offers to sell keywords in the URL.
  • cannot distinguish for you true search results from ads that appear on search result pages.
  • guarantees ranking on long and obscure phrases
  • false whois information
  • shows you results from unkown search engines and not Google,Yahoo or MSN
  • make sure they are listed in Google. Chances are if they have been booted from Google, you will eventually be booted if they employ the same practices that they were banned for.
  • innapropriately asks for your systems root or ftp accounts.

In closing, SEO is like any other business out there.  There are many good, hardworking firms that will do the right thing, but the industry is also loaded with crooks and scam artists.  Choose wisely and do your research before you buy.