SEO Singapore FAQ...
General SEO Questions
1. What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
2. Why do I need SEO?
3. Why doesn't my site rank high on
search engines?
4. What does my ranking on search
engines depend on?
5. Why didn't my previous web designer/programmer
optimize my site when it was built?
6. Can you guarantee a number 1 position
on the search engines?
7. Do you offer exclusivity to your
clients? Do you optimize competing sites?
8. I have different websites for different
countries. Do you optimize them differently?
9. Can I see how my competitors are
ranking for my targeted keywords?
10. Am I losing out to my competitors
if I don't start SEO?
11. When is the right time for me
to start SEO for my website?
12. Why is SEO service so expensive?
13. How does SEO compare to my other
marketing investments, especially offline marketing?
14. How can SEO help my business?
Technical SEO Questions
1. What are META tags?
2. I have already placed keywords
in my META tags, is it enough to rank well on search engines?
3. Does every page of my site need
to be optimized?
4. What if my site uses flash, frames
or Java?
5. What if my site contains dynamic
pages?
6. What is link popularity and why
is it so important in SEO?
7. How do you increase the link popularity
of my website?
8. Do you use SEO black hat techniques?
9. How long does it takes for me to
see results?
10. What if my domain name is new?
Does it affect my SEO results?
11. How often will I receive search
engine ranking reports?
12. How will I know if my business
increases as a result of having top rankings?
13. How can I ensure that my site
always stay ahead of my competitors in search engine ranking?
General Questions
What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
SEO is the process of getting high natural ranking on search engines to drive traffic to a website. SEO is an on-going process which needs consistent maintenance to make sure that a website is always challenging for top positions on search engines.
Why do I need SEO?
There are millions of searches conducted every day, your site that appears at the top of the search results essentially get free advertising, driving massive potential customers to your website.
Why doesn't my site rank high on search engines?
There are many reasons why your website is not ranking high on search engines. Some of the reasons are as followed:
- - Incorrect usage of the TITLE tag or no TITLE tag content
- - No meaningful content
- - Missing H1, H2 and Alt tags
- - No links from other websites to your website (link popularity)
- - Website contains too many images
- - Website built with flash and frames
- - New domain name
What does my ranking on search engines depend on?
There are many factors that will affect your ranking on search engines. Some of the factors are as followed:
- - The keywords or keyphrases that have been optimized
- - The number of competitors optimizing the same keywords as you
- - Whether you are targeting a national or international market
- - The number of competitor sites achieving new ranking themselves
- - Your link popularity
Why didn't my previous web designer/programmer optimize my site when it was built?
Depending on who developed your website, there are many reasons to this. Some web developers think that it is the marketer's job to ensure that the website is found on search engines. Most don't bother to include keywords in places such as your TITLE, H1 H2 and ALT tags. Or those that do include keywords in tags without close consultation with you, resulting in the wrong keywords used and poor performance.
Not many web developers know how to make your website rank high on search engines that requires constant monitoring. With OOM, we are not just web developers but search engine marketers, to ensure that your website is visible on search engines and drive targeted traffic to your site.
Can you guarantee a number 1 position on the search engines?
Nobody in the SEO industry can guarantee you a number 1 position for your site for a given keyword. There are many factors beyond anyone's control: search engines changing their algorithms, new competitors coming into your market and optimizing the same keywords as you, aggressive SEO effort by your competitors. Achieving high ranking on search engines is like financial advisors managing your portfolio. They will put in their best effort to monitor the stock market so as to make sure that your portfolio is managed to the best of their abilities. However, they cannot guarantee you that your portfolio will be at a specific dollar value at a given time.
Do you offer exclusivity to your clients? Do you optimize competing sites?
Yes, we do. We don't optimize sites for the same keywords of our existing clients. This means that we would not take in new clients whose sites are in direct competition with our existing optimization clients. To try ranking 2 sites with the same keywords is definitely a conflict of interest.
I have different websites for different countries. Do you optimize them differently?
Yes. To rank a website for different countries, we will use different strategies to make sure that the site obtains local ranking for that particular country. We will create tags for each site, tailoring to different countries. We will also submit the site to relevant directories in the appropriate country.
Can I see how my competitors are ranking for my targeted keywords?
Yes. We will give you a competitor analysis and intelligence report so that you will know how your competitors are ranking for your targeted keywords.
Am I losing out to my competitors if I don't start SEO?
Yes, you are. Your competitors who are ranking high on search engines will be getting all the traffic to visit their sites. Those traffic are potential customers that will most probably result in sales. If your site is not having high ranking, you are missing out on a lot of potential traffic.
When is the right time for me to start SEO for my website?
Immediately. Because of the advanced broadband technology, billions
of people are using the Internet to look for products and services.
This means that it is extremely critical for you to strategically capture
your share of the market. Obtaining high rankings on search engines
is one of the most effective online marketing tools that you can implement
in today's online world.
Why is SEO service so expensive?
SEO is a highly-specialized skill set that requires a lot of research,
thought, strategy and effort to implement correctly. It is also a very
time-consuming implementation that not all businesses can afford to
have the time to specialize in it. However, when SEO is compared to
offline advertising, it is actually quite cheap. The cost of having
your website optimized is the best advertising dollars spent and the
return on investment can be very great.
How does SEO compare to my other marketing investments, especially
offline marketing?
As search engines leaped ahead to become a critical marketing tool,
no longer can companies afford to ignore this marketing strategy. More
people are getting online everyday and it is extremely important now
for companies to use search engines as a marketing tool to market their
products and services. Companies can also easily track the performance
and conversion for every online marketing campaign that they launch
with the help of analytic tools. However it is difficult to go into
detailed tracking for offline marketing campaign.
How can SEO help my business?
With more than 1 billion people using the Internet and search engines,
you can grow your business by reaching out to your potential customers
with your products and services. Effective SEO will bring you more traffic
and help your business to get qualified leads which you can convert
into sales.
Technical Questions
What are META tags?
META tags are part of a site's HTML coding. If your site contains META
tags, you can view it by selecting "view source" from your browser toolbar.
These tags include "keywords" and a "description" of your web page.
Generally, you will put keywords that you want to target in these META
tags for search engine to see. But putting keywords in your META tags
is not enough; there are many other elements that search engine will
look at to determine the ranking for your keywords.
I have already placed keywords in my META tags, is it enough to
rank well on search engines?
No. Nowadays, search engines pay little attention to META tags. Therefore
with just META tags alone, it is not enough to get high ranking for
your keywords.
Does every page of my site need to be optimized?
Yes. Every page of your website can be a potential entry point for visitors.
Each page must be individually optimized to obtain optimal ranking as
you cannot predict which page or pages will be ranked.
What if my site uses flash, frames or Java?
Websites built with flash, frames or java are visually appealing but
they are not readable by search engines. When search engines cannot
read the content of your website due to these technologies, they are
unable to rank your website. So, technical workarounds need to be implemented
to get these sites indexed.
What if my site contains dynamic pages?
A dynamic page contains an URL which looks something like this:
http://www.yourdomain.com/products.asp?productid=100
When search engines index a dynamic page, it eliminates every thing after the "?" and index "http://www.yourdomain.com/products.asp" which displays nothing. With this, search engines will not be able to index your dynamic pages. Our technical team has the expertise to help you overcome this problem.
What is link popularity and why is it so important in SEO?
Link popularity is the measure of how many other websites contain a
hyperlink to your site. Especially for Google, link popularity is an
important element that they use to determine the ranking for your site.
A further component of link popularity is the quality of sites linking
to yours. A link to your site from a government site will be regarded
as more important than a link from your friend's website hosted on a
free server.
How do you increase the link popularity of my website?
We will get quality sites to link back to your site. It is not about
quantity here, it is about the quality of the sites linking back to
you. Tactics such as "link farms" or "free-for-alls" can actually be
penalized by search engines and may cause your site to be banned. Therefore,
it is extremely important we do not use these tactics to get links.
Do you use SEO black hat techniques?
No. All the SEO techniques that we use are white hat techniques. We
will not want to risk having your site ban from search engines.
How long does it takes for me to see results?
The amount of time required to see the results range anywhere from 30
days to a few months, depending on the competition of the target market
and keywords. It also depends on how often search engines crawl sites
to pick up changes, update their index, and subsequently re-rank sites.
What if my domain name is new? Does it affect my SEO results?
Yes. New domain name usually get keep inside a "sandbox" for at least
3 months. When your domain name is inside the sandbox, search engines
will not index your page, thus the time it takes to see result will
be slightly slower.
How often will I receive search engine ranking reports?
You will receive a monthly report from us once you commission us to
optimize your site.
How will I know if my business increases as a result of having top
rankings?
We have analytic tools to track the effectiveness of your SEO campaign,
with details on traffic and conversion. You will get an analysis report
and our account strategist will explain to you how your website is performing
since SEO is implemented.
How can I ensure that my site always stay ahead of my competitors
in search engine ranking?
Search engine marketing is not a one time project. If you want to stay
ahead of your competitors, it must be seen as an ongoing strategic business
process. Our team is capable to analyze the strengths and weaknesses
of your competitors' search marketing campaign and devise customized
and appropriate strategies for netting superior visibility for your
site.