Can a person guarantee you that if you go to Vegas next year, you will hit it big? If they can, can I have their phone number? The real answer is no way. There are a whole lot of SEO companies out there that claim to be able to wave their magic SEO wand, and get you placed in the top of all the major search engines. The truth is that SEO is more like playing Blackjack, than an instant purchase with your credit card. Sure, there are probably lots of things that a good SEO firm can do to increase your rankings in search engines. But when it comes right down to it, search engine optimization is like playing Blackjack, in that you can’t guarantee someone to hit it big at the tables, but you can probably show them some things to increase their chances of it.

What if I were to tell you that I could get you into the #1 spot in Google for your keyword phrase? How do you know that 10 other SEO companies out there are not telling their client the same thing? In fact, that is more than just a real possibility. What happens to 10 of the 11 websites that were guaranteed to get the first spot? Well, they don’t get it. They may not even get the first 5 pages of results. My point is that unless your business is the only one of its kind in the world, other websites are in direct competition with you on the Internet, and not everyone can be ranked first.

Search engine optimization is about being unique. In this day when the World Wide Web is growing by leaps and bounds daily, it is very difficult to offer something that is unique, and I am not just talking about the product you’re selling. I am talking about offering the web community a complete website that is not just a copy of someone else’s. A website that has good and unique content, that is updated and changes regularly. If your website is all about selling “Green Squares,” and there are a thousand other sites offering the same thing, how are you going to offer up something that search engines are going to find unique? It is back to finding your niche, and updating the information about your niche frequently.

Someone once ask me, what I would charge them to optimize their website. My answer was “For how long?” they sent me an email back that just said, “I don’t understand. I just want you to optimize it and then leave me alone.” Okay then, I can do that. But, you’re not going to be happy with the results. Sure, I can jump in and do some work on your website. You might even hit the top 20 results in a couple of months. However, you won’t stay there. In a short time, you will be just about back to where you were. Good SEO means constant work. It means watching the competition, and keeping up. If you are #1 right now, the odds are stacked against you to stay there. Any other company that wants your spot will be doing what they can to bump you down.

Good search engine optimization is a partnership between your you and your SEO firm. It means long hours of research for your SEO Company, and training for you. Part of being good at SEO, is training the company you are working for to keep their ranking. If the content on your site needs to change and update, who is going to write that content? Me? I don’t know anything about selling squares, and I really don’t want to learn. A good SEO firm can guide you in what type of content to use, and where to place it, and what keywords or phrases to use, but in the end, you get to do the work of typing it out.

So many companies out there are going to try to tell you that you will hit it big in Vegas the next trip. In the end, isn’t it really all about learning how to play, and how nice the dealer is to you when you get there? Getting higher rankings in search engines is really no different. It’s all about learning how to compete, staying in the game, and playing it until it’s time to go home.

About The Author

Jamey Perkins has spent the last few years working in website design at www.siteexpressions.com. He is currently studying SEO techniques to further provide better service to his web design clients. You can visit his website on Search Engine Optimization at www.optimizingwebsite.com and learn more about his techniques. This article is free to use and copy, provided that it is not altered, and all links remain active.

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to SEO... Breaking SEO Myths Part One: The SEO Expert Could there be another industry more inflated by ego, misinformation, and repetition than search engine optimization? Perhaps there are a few others out there, but not many. But what else can one expect from an unregulated industry? There's no FCC, FTC, FEC, FMC, FERC, HIPAA, ATF, SEC, FAA or any other acronymed agency standardizing legitimate SEO practices. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask Jeeves each have their own secret algorithms which mathematically select, arrange, and prioritize search results. No two search engines work the same. No two search engines yield exactly the same search results (unless they are actually powered by the same search engine but packaged under different names). No SEO "expert" or firm knows all of the search engines' secrets. So how do they write so many articles, blogs, and forums with such authority? And why are the ones pinky swearing that they're honest only telling you enough to maintain enough mystery to keep you...

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