Search Engine Marketing Myth - #1

Quite often when we propose our services to a potential client, we receive a follow up call to clarify some of our services. Many times we are told that a competitor offers ongoing search engine optimization services that require a monthly retainer. “Where is that in your proposal?” they ask. “Your competitor offers monthly submissions to the search engines?” When we tell them that isn’t necessary, we are often met with skepticism.

There seems to be a misunderstanding about search engine submissions. Though many search engines offer a “Submit URL” and some are free – that doesn’t necessarily mean that your site will be admitted to the engine’s index. Furthermore, if a site is already present in a search engine’s index, there is no need to continually re-submit it! It will NOT increase the frequency of indexing, nor will it help with your rankings.

Let’s look at Google as an example. Google offers a submit URL page at http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl . Google also offers a very hand “Webmaster’s Do’s and Don’ts” section too http://www.google.com/webmasters/ . A particularly interesting section is the “How Do I Get My Site Listed on Google” section.

Here are a few direct quotes from that page ::

• “The method by which we find pages and rank them as search results is determined by many different factors”
• “Submission isn't necessary and does not guarantee inclusion in our index”
• “We DO NOT add all submitted URLs to our index and cannot predict when or if they will appear”
• “You can submit your site as often as you like, but multiple submissions won't improve the likelihood of your site being added or accelerate the process.”
• "The best way to ensure that Google finds your site is to have pages on other relevant sites to link to yours. Google's robots jump from page to page on the web via hyperlinks, so the more sites that link to your pages, the more likely it is that we'll find them quickly. "

I am the first to promote search optimization as a “process” not a one-time “project.” But I continually warn potential clients to pay for only what they need. In this day and age, quality inbound links play an essential role in search engine success, most notably in the “discovery” process for new web sites. Rather than spend your money on a monthly retainer to “re-submit” your web site to the same search engines over and over again, we recommend consumers spend their money on a well implemented inbound link campaign. Such an initiative will not only improve the speed at which new sites are discovered by search engines, but it will also promote the credibility of existing web sites, increase index frequency and ultimately improve search rankings for well optimized pages.

Results of search engine optimization take time. For new web sites, it is unlikely you will see the true benefits of a well optimized page for 6-8 months (especially in Google). For existing sites with a strong network of inbound links that time may be cut in half.

Rather than spend your money on useless monthly submissions, we recommend the following ongoing budget considerations::

1. Continually add to your quality inbound link structure
2. Monthly search position reporting
3. General web site updates (stale sites will suffer from poor rankings)
4. Minor adjustments to web pages to maintain cutting edge optimization technique.

Consumers should take time to understand a search marketing company’s services, and avoid paying for what you don’t need.