1) Make sure the company you contract uses responsible methods when optimizing your website.
Most people are aware that if they hire an inept company for search engine optimization, the company may not be able to get the site ranked. What many people do not realize, however, is that an irresponsible search engine optimizer can very easily get your website banned or penalized in major search engines by using what are called "spam techniques." A spam technique is text, code or software that attempts to cheat a search engine's algorithms and which, ultimately, skews search engine results.

The following techniques of search engine optimization are considered spam by search engines. Although these techniques may initially produce results, they will eventually lead to your website being penalized or permanently banned by one or several major search engines. If you suspect a company of using one of these techniques do NOT contract them:

Cloaking: using software to direct search engine spiders (the programs that find and catalogue your website) to alternate keyword packed web pages that are not seen by the visitor or on the actual website.

Doorway, Gateway or Bridge Pages: These are poorly made web pages created specifically to rank well in search engines. They often have repetitive keywords and hidden text and offer no real content to the visitor of the website.

Hidden Text: Hidden text is created by making the text the same color as the background. Some search engine optimizers try to pack keywords into your website by hiding them in this way.

Automated Submissions: Some search engine optimization firms and many search engine submission firms will attempt to use software to submit your website to search engines. Almost all major search engines do NOT approve of automated submissions and will consider this spam. Make sure the company you hire does their submissions manually.

Mirrored Sites or Pages: These are exactly what they sound like--exact replicas of web pages or of a complete website. Mirror websites are acceptable only if they are used for valid reasons: i.e. to ensure faster downloads for users, or to ensure faster access to the site when the original website is geographically distant. Search engines do not allow you to create and submit multiple copies of your website simply for website ranking purposes.

Page-Jacking: Page-Jacking refers to stealing a highly-trafficked part of a well ranked website and hiding it somewhere on your website to try to get ranked under the same keywords.

Link Farms: Search engines are more likely to find and rank you well if several relevant websites are linking to you. Some people have exploited this by creating link farms: web pages of unrelated links created specifically for the purpose of increasing the search engine ranking of each of the websites on the page. Never allow yourself to be listed on such a web page.

2) Don't be pulled-in by free website ranking strategies.
As one might expect most free or extremely cheap website ranking strategies are either scams or an invitation to use a spamming technique. Inclusion in link farms (explained above) is a popular free website ranking strategy that is strictly forbidden by search engines.

3) Don't confuse search engine optimization with search engine submission.
Many companies, including IllDev search engine optimization company, offer submission services to directories and search engines for a low monthly or yearly fee. Submitting your website to a directory or search engine does not guarantee any sort of ranking in that search engine only that you will be indexed. Basically, it means the submitter will take the time to fill out the online forms and "paperwork" each directory and search engine requires and they will, in turn, index you somewhere in their directories.

For more information on what to look for when hiring a search engine optimization firm please see:
Our search engine optimization FAQ
Top 4 Scams in SEO
Google's policy regarding SEO's.

For more articles, resources and information on our services, please see:
Article - link popularity
Article - designing websites that work
Article - writing website content that sells
Resources - search engine optimization resources

For more information on search engine optimization and PPC search engines, please see:
Articles - Pay Per Click search engines
F.A.Q - search engine optimization FAQ
Resources - optimization resources and tools
Services - search engine marketing services

For more information on search engine optimization and our services, please see:
SEO Creed - Code of Ethics
Article - designing websites that work
Article - writing website content that sells
Article - link popularity
FAQ's - search engine optimization FAQ
Resources - optimization resources and tools
Packages - search engine optimization services

Still not convinced? Hear it from clients who have experienced our professional website marketing first-hand. Feel free to call any of our search engine marketing references. We know once you talk to them you'll be calling us. We're a premier vendor in the Bradenton, Florida Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Firm, Web Site Promotion Firm section of Marketingtool.com.

To set up a free, no-pressure appointment with one of our representatives, call us at: 941.705.1388.

Although we are located in Bradenton, Florida, we will personally visit customers in Sarasota, Venice, Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ellenton, Palmetto, Myakka, Siesta Key, Bird Key, Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton Beach, Anna Maria Island, Tidy Island, Cortez and other accompanying cities. We also boast clients from Chicago, Ukraine, Los Angeles, Myakka, Sarasota, Ellenton, Braidwood, Joliet, Longboat Key, Little Rock and Manhattan.