Dallas SEO FAQ
Frequently asked questions about my
Dallas search engine optimization services:

1. Should I have my site designed by someone else and then come to you for optimization?
   In most cases I should be able to both design and optimize your site.  This is preferable, because Optimization starts with web design. If I think someone else would be a better fit, I'll tell you and refer you to a designer for a quote that is someone I trust, and can work with that understands the basic things to do and not to do when designing a website that are important to the sites' chances for ranking well.
   
   Here's a prime example of why you need an optimization expert to consult on your design: Keywords should be used in the naming of your pages at creation and in the text that makes up the hyperlinks of your sites' internal navigation.  Every page in your website should be linked to via a text link (not just an image or button) from your home page, so that it is not orphaned. Each page URL (webpage address) should include the main keyword associated with that page.  This is because the URL  is one of the places where the search engine spiders look for keywords.  For example, instead of naming your services page services.html and linking to it in your navigation as Our Services, the web designer should name it keyword-services-dallas.html and internally link to it as Keyword Services... and dashes instead of underscores should be used to separate the words.  Words separated by dashes are seen by the search engines as separate words, while words separated by underscores are seen as run on words.  Also, a lot of web designers have the tendency to overuse graphics so that they can use cool fonts, embedding important content that then cannot be read/indexed by the search engines.
   

2. Once my site has been optimized, how long does it take to get ranked?
   Getting ranked can take anywhere from just a few days (with existing sites) to 30-90 days or even a year or more for new sites.  It depends on how competitive your keywords are. Here is some information about Google and the ranking of NEW websites:  Sandbox Filter - It is thought that Google applies a filter to new websites - In the seo world, this is called the Sandbox theory or Sandbox effect, and is a dampening filter applied to new sites. It seems to last between 6 and 12 months from the date the site is launched. It is common for a new site to show up in the search engine results for a couple of weeks and then to fall out completely until the Sandbox filter has been lifted, so if this happens to you - don't freak-out - It will come back!
   

3. How long does a site stay optimized?
   The type of optimization I do, which is organic, on-page optimization, lasts forever.   It is setting up the site's STRUCTURE to have the best chance of ranking high. Usually once a site starts ranking well, it stays there and doesn't require continual work (contrary to popular belief - based on my experience) ... maybe just some tweaks to the meta-tags and page content a couple times per year. This does not mean though, that you do not need to do anything else to help your site rank high and stay ranked high. Read this article on Off-Page SEO for other things you can do to help promote your site in the search engines.
   

4. other seo companies are telling me I need monthly MAINTENANCE to keep MY site optimized, is this true?
   No, not usually.  Once I optimize a site it tends to continue to do well without constant maintenance.  I have tons of clients that will verify this fact.   I do though HIGHLY recommend doing the things I mention in this article on Off-Page SEO.  It is not a complete list though... That I will email to you after you hire me.