Click here to add www.upstarthost.com to your favourites folder

If you have not registered your domain please do so now

SEARCH ENGINES

For the foreseeable future the only way of ensuring that you get quality traffic to your site is through the proper use of search engine technology. Spend some time reading the following articles which will give you a broad overview of how to get to the top of the various search engines:

Search engine optimization

There are over 250 million searches a day on Google alone. Research shows that a large portion of traffic comes from search engines, but, if your site is not in the top 10 listings, that traffic won't be coming to you. It is a proven fact that people rarely go past the first page and hardly ever go past the third page of search results to find what they are seeking.

How do I get top positions?

There are two primary methods to get top positions. Major search engines typically display search results in the form of sponsored listings and free listings. So, you can either pay your way to the top or you get listings for free.

What are sponsored listings?

Sponsored listings are obtained when you pay (or bid) on a particular keyword or position within a search engine results page. Depending on the search engine, you either pay for the number of times the listing is displayed (per impression) or how many times the listing is clicked (pay per click). These listings occupy a small portion of the search engine listings because usually, the larger portion is reserved for free listings.

What are free listings and how do I get them?

Free listings are the foundation of a search engines business. Search engines spend considerable energy crawling the Internet and indexing website content so that when visitors perform a query, they can display highly relevant results. Each search engine has their own methodology to rank your website in order to determine the relevancy to any particular search term. All you have to do in order to rank high is to make sure your website is deemed relevant in the eyes of the search engines. This process is commonly called search engine optimization.

What are search engine optimization services?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an established process of improving how your web site interacts with search engines and thereby boosting your overall search engine ranking for free listings. SEO involves many processes including research and selection of popular search terms (keywords), performing HTML code analysis, improving keyword density, enhancing content, enhancing page construction, testing, verification and submitting to search engines.

What is the benefit of search engine optimization?

There is usually a large amount of up-front work involved in SEO; however, the payoff is a long-term flow of free traffic. Free listings tend to have a higher click-thru ratio than sponsored listings. By achieving positions that are free, you can significantly reduce the amount of paid positions you maintain. Free listings tend to remain in place much longer; unlike paid listings that evaporate the minute you stop paying for them.

Search engine optimization services

Can you do the work yourself or should you hire outside for search engine optimization services? There are some considerations when making this decision and you will need to fully understand the concept and strategy of search engine optimization. Simply, if your budget can afford an SEO company, hire one. Otherwise, be prepared to spend a few months just researching and learning before you even begin. And, be careful what you read - search engine requirements and methodology change by the day. Much of the information that exists may be outdated and you don't want to waste time backtracking.

An important issue is that you need to be certain the positions you obtain are correctly listed and positioned. If they are not, then it could sometimes take an act of God to get them changed. After a few months of learning about search engine optimization - you will still make mistakes. There will be a long period of trial and error that will cost you time and money - you must decide, based on the importance of your website, if it's worth doing it yourself.

What are the costs for search engine optimization?

The costs for search engine optimization services vary greatly primarily because of the marketplace, amount of work that is required for various keywords and the number of competitive listings that already exist. For some SEO companies, costs will vary based on the number of pages you need optimized. A few will also include the costs of search engine submissions in their price. Because of all these variables, prices can range from $1,500 to $15,000 or more.

If your budget is tight but you are hesitant to do it yourself, consider contracting search engine optimization services (with a reputable company) in the form of consultancy and/or partial services to at least get you started and headed in the right direction.

Be apprehensive of firms that claim to provide guaranteed top positions. The bottom line is that NOBODY can guarantee a position except the search engines themselves. Some may say that a guarantee is made because they are so sure of their performance, they can afford it. Usually these guarantees come with so many loopholes; it isn't even an assurance… so, make sure you read the fine print. The fact is that even a mediocre SEO expert should be able to obtain a few top positions for your website. If the company you hire is only focused on the guarantee, the keywords for which you get top positions may not be the search terms you really want.

Back to the top