SEO FAQ

How long does SEO typically take?
The answer is, it depends. Often we have been able to get very good rankings for customer going after local keywords like “TV repair Jacksonville” or “AC repair St. Augustine” in about three months. If the term you are going after is very competitive, or a national term like “portable storage” it could take six months to a year.

Can you guarantee me first page results?
If any company guarantees you results on Google, find a new company. No SEO company can guarantee results. The fact is we use the best strategies we know how to increase your ranking, but we are not Google. Google can make an algorithm change whenever they want it and it can dramatically change search results. We adapt to new changes and stay on the cutting edge of SEO, but ultimately all SEO companies are at the mercy of Google.

What is Google Panda?
Panda is the latest update Google made to the search results. It caused havoc across the web. Panda hurt a lot of website rankings and very popular websites. The biggest change with Panda was de-valuating sites with poor content. Make sure your website has good quality pages that you would want people to link to.

How do I know I am making progress in my SEO program?
We create monthly reports for you to see how your rankings improve. You can also type in your keyword terms in Google to see where you rank. We recommend using a browser with a private browser function. This gives you the most accurate results when searching for your keywords as it does not take into account your browsing history, cookies etc.

What are White Hat and Black Hat SEO Tactics?
There is a dividing line in the SEO community between Black Hats and White Hats. SEO White Hats try to always play by the rules and organically grow sites over time. SEO Black Hats focus on winning the search engine game; however, the tactics they employ are dangerous and can get your site banned from search engines. Examples of Black Hat tactics include typing a bunch of keywords on your site in the same color as the background so a user cannot see it. Google will find this and it will negatively impact your results. Do NOT do it!

What about links to my site?
Link building is a critical part of SEO. Some say back linking is 75% of the SEO process. The more links you have for site with high “Page Rank”, the better chance your site will rank higher. Once your site is completed, the link building process begins. If you are a web designer, it is good to get links on web design sites. If you are an architect, it is good to get links from architecture sites, vendors, suppliers etc. The more relevant the site is to what your site is about, the better quality of the link.

Can my site be optimized without a website redesign?
Yes and No. It really depends how your site looks on the search engines. We will do an analysis before we start on a redesign. If your site makes heavy use of Flash, chances are the search engines are ignoring most of your site. Search Engines also ignore Javascript, so there are ways to use Flash, but keep your site visible to the Search Engines. We also look at things like URL structure to see if a redesign is needed.

Can my site be kicked off search engines for bad SEO practices?
Yes. There are several ways to “boost” your website in the search engines that Google and other top search engines do not approve of. It is best to avoid using these techniques (also known as Black Hat).