Questions About Search Engine Optimization?

Unless you have experience in the field of website promotion, you probably have some questions. Here is our list of frequently asked questions about our search engine marketing Vancouver services (remember, we help businesses with web marketing in Vancouver as well as clients throughout Canada and the USA!). Plus, you may also be interested in checking out our Search Engine Marketing Glossary. Contact us – the search engine marketing Vancouver specialists – if the answer to your question is not listed here.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

What is organic SEO?

Organic SEO placement in search engine results (SERPs) means that the site naturally displays well in search results, without the need for paid or sponsored advertising (PPC – pay per click).  A site that has good organic placement is likely to be more stable in its long term search engine positions.

Do I need search engine optimization?

If you want your website to be found online, you must make it visible to the search engines – so yes, you do need optimization.  Unless your site is being optimized/marketed (the RIGHT way), you are relying on people that already know your website and are actually typing in www. _______.com and it’s the people who don’t know your business that you want to reach.  Don’t let all of your optimized competition dominate the Internet!

We've been listed in the Yellow Pages for years. Why should I allocate my marketing budget for SEO?

When was the last time you opened the Yellow Pages?  More than 70% of online consumers start their quest for a product, service, or support using the Internet.  If you’re a small business, how can you honestly afford NOT to be associated with this massive audience?  There’s really no excuse for not doing search engine optimization. If you have a website, then your intention is likely to have it found – SEO is the process that will make this happen.

If I don't have SEO, how do I show up in Google when I type in my business name?

If your company name is in your website address and someone types in your business name, of course you will pop up in the search engines – that is because they are typing in your business name!  This is often mistaken for getting found in the search engines.  You want to get found when people type in specific keywords that pertain to your business and location.

Why do some companies say they will submit my site to between 1000 to 6000 search engines?

Our guess is to make their packages sound good?!  When was the last time anyone actually came across all of these?  This is a ridiculous SEO myth.  Anyone who asks for money to submit your site to thousands of search engines is not going to be doing you any favors.  Web Warrior Marketing is straightforward, honest, and doesn’t need to say these things for ‘fluff’.

How long will it take for my website to show up in the search engines?

The reality is that search engine optimization is not about instant results. You can’t expect a top ten ranking overnight. With SEO, you need patience. It’s a common misconception that a website should pop up in search engine results immediately.  A search engine has to first find your website and index it (add it to the database)…that is the first step.

Depending on how competitive your market and search phrases are, it can take weeks/months to rank well in the search engines, assuming that your SEO has been done the right way.  You will see results sooner if your site has already been live on the Internet for some time, and already has solid directory listings and quality links.

I heard that it can take new websites longer to get found. Is this true?

Unfortunately, yes.  New websites have to go through initiation so to speak.  Google has been known to hinder the rankings of new websites (or pages) until they have proven their viability to exist for more than 6 months. This is referred to as the ‘Google Sandbox’. Google and other search engines reward older websites with higher rankings.  The sooner you get started on your SEO, the sooner you will start to get found – it’s all about looking forward with a positive outlook!  It can be really exciting when you start seeing your website appear in the search engines.

How will I know the progress that SEO by Web Warrior Marketing is making on my website?

We ensure that we have 14 days of data collected via Google Analytics to show the current state of your website (number of visitors you are currently getting etc.) before any of our work is inserted into your website.  Also, once we have the final keyword phrase list that you approve, we run a Base Ranking Report to show where you currently rank with that list of keyword phrases on the top search engines: Google, Yahoo, Bing (before any of our work is inserted into the website). We then run this same report again in 3 months and compare with the initial report.  Web Warrior monitors all websites on an ongoing basis and updates clients when required.  We provide clients with a monthly Google Analytics Report, along with any suggestions that we think you should make to your site based on the Report.

Do you need FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access to my website?

We will need your FTP login codes as well as your Admin login for your website, whether it is WordPress, Joomla etc.

I heard there are some companies that use shady techniques to get fast results. What is this called?

Some individuals or companies use what are referred to as ‘black hat’ techniques  which can get traffic to your website short term…until the search engines discover they are being tricked – then your website has the chance of being banned temporarily or permanently once the search engines discover what they are doing!
SEO is not about “tricking” the search engines with doorway pages, keyword stuffing, or cloaked pages (see Glossary) Plus, it’s not about just getting visitors to your site – you want targeted visitors who actually need your service or product – not because a bunch of common/unrelated words were hidden within your site just to draw traffic.  You won’t see conversions from that anyway – people will just leave your site if they were lead there because of deceitful techniques.  We can assure you that everything we do is in compliance with guidelines and accepted standards of the search engines.