Below is a list of promises we often hear from companies claiming to be SEO firms. We have also listed why those promises won't increase your traffic. And isn't increased traffic the whole point in having your web site optimized?
| The promise |
Why it won't bring traffic |
The reality is: |
| "Your site will receive a top ranking, a first-place ranking, a top 10 ranking." |
A unique keyword phrase is used for optimiaztion that has no competition making top rankings easy. Pay-per-click can also be used for a first-page listing but since no one will search for and click on that unique keyword phrase, it won't cost anything for the placement. |
A top ranking for a keyword no one uses is easy. But it won't bring visitors to your web site. |
| "Your site will be submited to thousands of search engines." |
You probably can't name the top 10 search engines and neither can anyone else who's not an SEO expert. So who is using these thousands of other search engines? Almost no one. More than 75% of all searches are done on just Google and Yahoo. Google and Yahoo also provide search results for most of the other top search engines. That covers just about all the significant traffic you can expect. |
Get listed on Google and Yahoo and you will show up on the other top search engines. |
| "Your site will be automatically re-submitted to the search engines several times each month." |
You get indexed and given a ranking by the search engines. How is your ranking going to change if your web site doesn't? Frequent re-submitting is considered spamming by the search engines and could get you banned. Google recommends not submitting at all and letting them find your site from links on other web sites. |
Once indexed, the search engines will automatically return periodically to re-index for any changes to your site. |
