How to Find a Good Search Engine Optimization Company ( SEO ) - Part 3
* Ownership and Hosting of the SEO Web Pages
You should have full ownership of the optimized pages. There are companies who will register a new domain name under their own name and host it on their own servers. In this event all traffic is redirected to you. This is not a good idea since when you cancel their service you lose all your site traffic! Try to ensure that your name will be transferred to you in the event of a service cancellation.
* SEO Ranking Reports and More
A good search engine optimization company will provide you with monthly ranking reports. Reports of this nature are likely to be very time consuming unless you have your own software. The best companies offer this as part of their package. Ask about extra services they provide for example Yahoo and LookSmart Express fee based submissions and link popularity improvements.
* SEO Prices and Plans
Payment plans vary from a one-time flat fee to monthly maintenance fees and still others charge on a Cost-per-Click (CPC) Basis. There are pros and cons to all three. Flat fee or monthly plans mean you have a fixed budget and are usually guaranteed a certain number of top 10 or top 20 results. Be careful, though since some companies will not give you a traffic guarantee.
CPC plans mean you pay a fixed fee e.g. 50 cents a click, but there could be no limit on what the max fee is on a monthly basis. You pay only for traffic delivered to you and will need to decide for yourself which plan is best for you.
A good search engine optimization company will provide the best of the above services and be amenable to answering your questions and proving themselves to you. Never carelessly hand over your money to a fly-by-night operation who doesn't really know what they are doing.
Any company will take your money but a good search engine optimization company will give you something in return. Ask for the best or you risk getting lost in the ultra-competitive internet rat race!
