Search Engine Optimization Done Correctly


Search Engines – Driving traffic on the Internet

Shoppers, researchers, and surfers use search engines as a starting point in their quest for finding information, products or services. Search Engine Optimization  (SEO) and Search Engine Submission (SES) are becoming common services you will see around the web.  If used correctly, they are critical to the success of any online venture, if used improperly, they will do significant damage that will take months from which to recover.

Search Engine Marketing – Powerful online ROI generator

Nearly 90% of Internet traffic originates from the major search engines and directories daily.

Search engine marketing has shown to deliver the highest ROI (return on investment) as compared to any other type of marketing, both online and offline. Traditional forms of advertising attempt to create a desire for a product or service with the potential customers, while search engines bring buyers to you, who already have that desire. Relevant traffic sent by search engines can result in increased sales conversions, as most of the fact-finding may have already been accomplished (this assumes your web-site is useful). SEO offers an affordable entry point for marketing your website and an effective way to promote your business online.

Search Engine Ranking – The competitive battlefield

Search Engine Optimization ReportsThe larger search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo index well over 3 Billion documents. Competition for the top spots is extremely difficult and fierce. If your Web site does not have a top position in the search engines, you are losing customers…worse, your competitors are winning them.  This is particularly true if you are in a niche business and every new customer is critical to your success.  Generally speaking, the more niche your business, the moreeffective SEO can be in achieving a higher Search Engine placement.

“Anyone can build a website and submit it to the search engines on the web.”

While anyone can submit a site, there is actually very little chance that your site will achieve a high search engine placement by luck alone.  Submitting a poorly designed, unoptimized site, is akin to going to the doctor for an ailment and then going home untreated but still paying the bill.  To make matters worse, many services sell re-submission services where you pay a monthly fee to annoy the most popular engines.  Of course this is counter productive and usually has a disastrous effect.  If your site isn’t optimized for your message, shouting it does no additional good.  The constant evolution of these engines has shut out much of the old-school methods for ranking improvement such as keywords and other meta information.

Maelstrom Solutions recognizes and constantly studies the changes in the search engines science so we can better the position our clients.  By keeping a watchful eye on the technology, doing constant research, and our commitment to best practices, we can position you as close to the top as possible.  Please note, that the top positions are normally “pay-per-click” and are not cheap.  Our goal is to get you as close to the top as possible without breaking the bank.  If you are interested in the top positions, this can be discussed,but in many instances is not a good return on investment in our opinion.

Keywords, titles & more stuff that isn’t a secret

In the past, using Meta Tags for your keywords was good enough to get your site on the top of the pile.  Then people started getting cute and attempting to trick the search engines to win a better position then what keywords alone could deliver.  The search engines had to adapt to these abuses and change their ways to keep the quality in their listings.  Anyone that tells you that getting the keywords and the other “meta” information is all you need does not know what they are talking about.  We suggest you run away from them while waiving your arms over your head like a complete loon.

Our goal is simple, simply allow the search engines to do what they were intended to do, and that is deliver the best results to a customer search.

We work with our clients to get the best set of keywords for their business or product, then we take those extra steps that seem to make all of the difference as far as our experiences have shown.  This is an involved process, but one that can be quite rewarding.  The same thing goes for the site titles as well as the site descriptions, which are all related to each other.  A complete n00b will tell you this is all you need, but just check that theory on Google and you will soon see that the rules have changed and these people have day-jobs that are unrelated to website architecture.

Keep in mind that the best optimized site will win, always.  So, if your competition is using a professional organization like Maelstrom to groom their site, you will need to hire a professional to beat them in the ranking game.  If you don’t, then you should learn to depend on other mediums for advertising, because your site will never show up as highly ranked as they will.  This is quite a ridiculous place to be, because the costs for optimization are so minor compared to the funds spent on the site initially.  Of course, if your one of these people that has a $99 website, and want to be ranked #1, then perhaps you should shut down the site, as a poor site will do more damage then good if it gets found.

Search engine optimization is a serious science, and not a guessing game.  For instance, when we optimize your site, we will give you specific instructions on what you need to do.  If you wish, Maelstrom can also do the work, or you can have your web-master follow our simple check-list (averages around 60 pages per search term).

Maelstrom Search Engine Optimization Pricing

Did you know that if you use a word too often you are actually penalized by most engines?

Because of the complexity of the SEO process, our services are on a time and materials basis.  We will use any of the existing materials you may already have to jump-start this process.  This is a very customer centric exercise, and it will create time demands on you, the client.  This is due to the fact you know your business and target audience better then we do.  Therefore, this tends to be minimal use of our time, and a more demanding task for you.  In this process, you will be given specific instructions on what is needed and the quality of the content you present.  If you are a Maelstrom CMS customer, your site optimization is much easier since grooming of the site elements is already programmed into the solution.

If you wish to purchase a search engine report and do the work yourself, the reports are $250 per multi-word term.  Maelstrom does not recommend that you optimize for more than three terms in any one site.  We will also talk you out of silly search terms, like your company name.  After all, if someone already knows the name of your company, they are more than likely already past the buying decision.

Contact our sales group today for pricing and details on this valuable service.

Vortex Password Contest

Maelstrom will give a fully branded version of Vortex away to the first five clients that can pass on a success story as to how it helped you improve your business (a $500 value).  To qualify, you must have installed Vortex on at least 10 desktops and should be able to tell us how long it took you to roll out the product.  If you have questions, please post them in the forums. So, what are you waiting for?  Download Vortex and tell us how it helped you do your job.  Remember, this is only available to the first five entries, and I will remove the contest once I have five that qualify.  Email Vortex Success stories to scottd@maelstromsolutions.com.

Hundertmark for Lt. Governor

Maelstrom delivers the highest quality product quickly and at a reasonable rate. Their team is easy to work with and very responsive to the customer’s needs. I would recommend them highly and without hesitation.

Chris Lato – Hundertmark for Lt. Governor