FAQ

Q1. What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a combination of methods and processes which improve the visibility and rankings of a website for given keyword search term when entered in a search engine such as Google.

SEO is purely focused on the organic/natural search results which being the non-paid results on the search engine results page (SERP). Incidentally the paid result listings are highlighted as advertisements and are based on Pay-per Click (PPC) campaigns.

Q2. What is the difference between SEO and SEM?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is focused on the natural organic search engine results page whereas Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is focused on paid advertisement such as Google Adwords with regards to PPC.

Q3. Is SEO dead?

No! and as long as search engines are around so will SEO! As Search engines evolve so does SEO with regards to methods and techniques used in achieving improved rankings within the SERP. Hence many SEO tactics which used to work no longer work and further can even get your site penalized.

It’s extremely important to know what the best enduring practices are and to avoid any unethical practices such as those which are against Google terms of service and quality guidelines or techniques which simply do nothing with many con artists, snake oil salesman promoting them thrown into the equation.

Our best advice is to focus on white-hat SEO which is based on ethical practices and thus avoiding potential search engine penalties and stay within the boundaries of Google terms and conditions.

Q4. Why not just use PPC?

Sure! But keep in mind each click as part of pay per click costs money and only a small percentage of each visitor through PPC will convert to a sale. Its’ a delicate balance ensuring profits/ROI is achieved within your budget and when the money runs out so does the advert for that given keyword.

Surely it would be much better to be ranking on the first page at #1 with no costs for visitors to click on your site and with that enduring traffic, conversions and profits. That’s where S5SEO comes into play!

Q5. What is the difference between on-site and off-site SEO?

First of all we need to emphasize that search engines such as Google have over 200+ parameters in determining the ranking of a site for a given keyword. Some of these factors relate directly to your website such as content, layout, navigation, user experience and for off-site this relates to determining your sites relevancy and popularity such as backlinks from authoritative, subject related sites which count as a vote of confidence for your site.

Q6. How does S5SEO achieve rankings?

The short answer: through a multitude of factors which focus on search engine algorithm parameters for on/off site as well as user experience through provision of relevant content in maximizing how search engines determine your ranking as well as increasing your sites popularity with users.

The longer answer: First of all we perform a detailed SEO audit of your site and off-site profile and determine deficiencies, issues and fixes such as technical, performance, search engine crawling, user experience, backlinking profile, brand awareness, reputation to name a few. It is an extremely detailed audit with the aim of gaining quick wins for ranking improvements prior to SEO campaign implementation. It also means that your site is built on a solid SEO foundation.

Thereafter we perform keyword analysis and determine the best keywords to target with regards to competition vs. traffic data. In other words we find the money words the ones which require least effort and gain the most traffic.

Once complete each chosen keyword represents a campaign/project which beneath has many activities designed in getting you the top position for that keyword.

These activities range from unique quality content development and its proliferation on your site and other on-line resources, leverage of social media as well as video/audio sharing sites all of which gains relevant backlinks pointing to your site through an interconnected cluster of sites in generating targeted traffic and popularity which achieves increased rankings and your conversions/profits!

Q7. How does S5SEO pricing work?

We provide up-front pricing with no strings attached. For off the shelf packages such as standard, deluxe, premier these are fixed price and for any specific requirements and customization we will provide a cost based on analysis of needs prior to commencing work.

For new websites seeking SEO services there is a minimum four months period given the significant effort for performing SEO audit work, requirements analysis, keyword research and project/campaign formation and implementation.

Typically it takes four to six months for campaigns to mature and for first page rankings to be achieved hence the four month sign-up period. Thereafter payment is based on a monthly basis and further campaigns can be amended at any time.

Q8. Can you guarantee number one position?

Only a snake oil salesman or con artist would guarantee number one position.

Given that search engines such as Google are continually evolving and changing their algorithms and that everyone outside of Google has no direct influence then it would be wrong to make such a guarantee.

We certainly guarantee a dramatic improvement in your rankings and traffic through implementation of solid sound SEO practices and further our aim is simply to make you much more money than you invest in S5SEO services and hence your (ROI) return on your investment is assured.

Q9. When will we see improved desired results? When do we expect to be on the first page of Google?

With achieving desired results within the search engine results pages (SERP) this depends on a number of factors such as the time lag for search engines to crawl and index all of the activities undertaken as part of the SEO campaign such as new content on your site or on related sites which provide backlinks to your sites as well as social media signals.

In addition campaigns must be conducted at a natural pace and growth for example creating 1000s of backlinks overnight for a site that has low traffic may deliver a short lived burst in rankings but followed quickly by detection of manipulative actions to influence the SERP and hence a penalty imposed which will cripple your rankings and traffic.

As such we anticipate that immediate results will be observed after one month given search engine crawling factors and for significant results to be achieved within four to six months resulting in first page top-level rankings.

Q10. Why are my search results for the same keyword search term different to my friends and colleagues?

This is because searches performed do not have personalization removed and Google then attempts to show you the results you most desire based on your past search and browsing patterns.

All of our analysis and data represented is conducted without personalization and checked against various geographic locations to ensure consistency and unbiased results.

Q11. Do you need to submit to 1000’s of search engines and directories?

Absolutely not! It amazes us that this practice is still advertised by con/scam artists. Stay away from them.

Q12. Is site ranking based on the number of backlinks accumulated?

Out of the many search engine factors such as that of Google numbering more than 200+ in determining ranking, backlinks still remains the strongest with social signals having increased weighting and consideration.

However we cannot emphasize enough that not all backlinks are equal. For example hundreds of backlinks from low quality sites, blog comments etc count for nothing in comparison to just one link from a high quality, well known reputable site which passes on trust rank aka “link juice” to your site.

This one backlink is worth much more and counts as a credible vote for your site. Keep in mind search engines such as Google seek only to show the most relevant sites to search queries, failing that people would simply stop using Google and have a preference for another search engine.

How would you feel if everything you searched for returned irrelevant spam, low quality site’s which do not satisfy your query. You would indeed try elsewhere and hence every effort is made by Google to identify the most relevant site and not simply base it on backlinking numbers.

Q13. Does SEO depend on meta-tags?

No! Also forget about keyword meta-tag. The title and description meta-tag is useful for how your site is displayed when it is returned as part of the search engine results page (SERP).

The snippet of text which is displayed is usually based on title/description meta-tags or otherwise Google can show a random content extract. This subtle difference is the fine line between a user clicking on your site or your competitors within the SERP. Therefore we do recommend its use but note that this does not influence your site rankings.

Q14. Does my site need a high PR (Page Rank) for SEO?

No! Further Page Rank is misleading and is not a true indicator of SERP ranking. Page Rank only indicates limited partial metric and is not the de-facto indicator which it is commonly mistaken for. It is useful in ascertaining a quick picture as to how well a site is established and if it has links coming in.

Like Coca-Cola, Google will never reveal its secret recipe as to SERP ranking and provide a true metric which is open to the public as this will no doubt open the doors for manipulating SERP results such as a gold-rush to buy links on sites which Google truly trusts and consequently greatly diminish and harming the relevancy of Google as a search engine provider.

In sum Page Rank is a smoke screen to calculating the true bottom line value which is placed by Google for your site rankings and credibility.

Q15. Can anyone do SEO?

Well that’s a tough one… We like to believe yes as we are passionate about SEO. We drink, eat, sleep and breathe SEO… Simply put we love SEO and assume everyone should feel the same way!

It requires dedication, lots of research and keeping up with search engine algorithmic changes, market trends and industry practices.

Ultimately if you take pride in meeting search queries with quality content and willingness to persevere and do the hard-work in building relevancy, reputation and visibility then you’re there!

Q16. Why outsource and use an SEO service?

SEO requires a broad range of skills from technical/website development, content creation and marketing.

It needs team effort to perform effectively and is resource intensive requiring up to date SEO knowledge, experience and expertise.

With outsourcing and use of an SEO service the costs and time savings can be significant compared to hiring direct team of staff with the correct skill set.

Q17. Is SEO only related to changes to a website?

No and far from it. Changes to a website indeed make a difference with regards to effective search engine bots crawling your site content as well as user experience leading to conversion and sales.

The biggest factor to date is off-site SEO which relates to indicators for your site popularity, trust and relevancy with leading industry analysts stating more than 80% of ranking factors relates to off-site aspects.

Q18. I heard search engines like Google hate SEO’s. Is that true?

No! Not at All!! Google even has its own guidelines for SEO practices and offers many SEO tools.

Further it’s down to SEOs whom test Google algorithmic changes/updates and report on issues which otherwise would not hold Google accountable. Many SEOs practitioners and Google employees attend the same conferences and work together.

In our opinion the relationship is symbiotic you can’t have one without the other.

Q19. Does SEO only focus on search engines and not humans?

It should not! The most reputable SEO professionals advocate human optimization takes priority. In other words site traffic is imperative but the conversion process from a visitor to a customer requires that additional effort for human optimization.

At S5SEO this is a critical factor that sets us apart from many other SEO companies with analysis performed on traffic behavior, split testing and observations for improvements for conversion ratio – traffic vs. sales which means more profits for YOU!.

Q20. Are some SEO practices such as black hat illegal?

In most cases it is not illegal depending on the specifics but in every case it is an effort to manipulate the search engines in a manner which search engines regard as unethical and against their quality guidance, terms and conditions.

We do not recommend such practices as is in every case its detection is extremely likely and results in penalization or worse a ban resulting in complete removal from the search index itself. Just search for comments relating to the aftermath of Google Panda/Panguin to get a greater idea as to how many sites have experienced the Google slap.

Q21. What is a search engine penalty and why does it occur?

A penalty is when a search engine detects behavior attempting to influence search rankings and can occur deliberately or even unintentionally as we have seen many times.

For example over optimization by using too many same word anchor text on backlinks or keyword spamming from just displaying post title comments on a widget can result in a penalty which reduces your sites effectiveness to rank.

It must be emphasized that a penalty is different to changes incurred by latest search engine algorithmic updates which always results in some sites doing better than other sites which consequently lose rank due to the different weightings on SEO factors such as social signals now having greater increased influence.

Q22. Why has my site lost significant traffic overnight and has never recovered?

There are various factors at play here and as such it could be technical such as website robots directive preventing search engine crawling, a search engine penalty or impact from algorithmic update which reevaluated your site being of lower rank than previously. At S5SEO we perform a detailed audit and determine the exact cause and resolution.

Q23. How do I know if my site has been penalized?

Primary indication is that your site has experienced a significant drop in traffic and if you are registered with web master tools such as Google you should receive a notification via email that corrective action is needed prior to a reconsideration request.

Another indicator is to check keywords which your site is ranked for and to note that they either have lost significant ranking places or simply just does not appear. A severe form would be if your site domain when entered into the search query is not returned which in that case means your site is banned and removed from the search index.

On that note should you feel further questions should be added to the above FAQ we greatly appreciate it if you email us at support@s5seo.com.