This faq page is a little bit different than normal perhaps. It is a mix of questions and complaints we hear from who have had a bad SEO or web development experience. It's not about pointing fingers. We would prefer to raise the profile of the SEO industry actually. We know it can be hard to find a good SEO company that fits with your business.
We also make funny a little bit about people who we feel procrastinate in regards to their online marketing and search engine optimisation in general.
If you have an idea about what questions or points we should include here we would love to hear from you. There might even be a discount for you or a prize if we add it in. info@rankfirst.com.au
1Did your web developer vaguely say that they would design your site so it could be found on Google?
Don’t worry about it. They all say that and they have to if they want to sell websites. It is sometimes kind of true but it is just impossible for them to get you on Google that easily. It takes dedicated hours of work each month to get high organic rankings and that is not what you pay them for. Many people get disgruntled with their web developer but it is best to just accept it and move on. Most of them are not bad people really and if they did not say you would be on Google, the next developer would have. As long as they have not made a site that is hard to edit, or does not have fields that are necessary for SEO, then they have done their job.
2What if Google just changes its way of ranking websites and then all the SEO effort is wasted?
That’s not likely to happen at all. Googles’ aim is to give the people the most accurate response for whatever they search for. That is why everyone uses it and also why they are billionaires. They are not going to mess with such a winning formula. If the person doing your seo knows what they are doing and takes an active interest it is possible to see the new improvements Google makes as they are making them and adapt to that. Car companies make new cars but they still have four wheels and we still drive on the left hand side of the street. Google has made on update in the past which affected many Australian businesses. This was called the Penguin update. It was brutal. Websites were penalised and banished from the results. It was mostly due to fake link building on dodgy foreign websites. Most SEO companies were doing that and knew it would come to an end one day. That day happened many years ago now. These days it is different and unlikely that such an event will happen again.
3Did you think you could get SEO done for five hundred bucks?
Sorry but that is not really possible anymore. Things can always be done for a cheaper price but that means cutting corners or just not getting a result. In the end you probably spent your five hundred bucks and got no real benefit. Usually this strategy is outsourced to India or the Philippines. So the cheap option costs more because you are in the same place as when you started and other people have moved further forward. SEO takes time and time is money. Especially if your SEO is being done in Australia, it can't be too cheap. It just isn't possible.
4Thinking of waiting until next year to start doing SEO?
We can not stress enough that the benefits of good SEO will continue to be harder to achieve and will only cost more as time goes by. Whether you read this last year, today or next month, it is very important now. Most businesses have some sort of SEO plan in place. To get the same results we have to work harder and harder for more hours. So does everyone in our industry and there is no benefit in waiting any longer. Unless of course there are budget or other constraints on your business that of course occur.
5Do you think it is too expensive or not within your budget?
Everyone has to start somewhere. Give us a ring. Maybe we can work something out or maybe our prices are less than you think they are. I think we are in the mid range price wise. Maybe there is something you can do for us as a trade to lower your monthly costs. Maybe we can teach you how to do things yourself on your website that save us time and you money.
6Have you had a bad SEO experience before?
Sorry for that, but we do unfortunately hear this many times. We love disgruntled clients from other SEO companies, and by talking with us we can help make sure that you do not have to go through any negative experience again. Whether it was poor reporting, deception, or just not achieving the results promised, tell us what upset you and we will make sure it does not happen with Rank First. Not every campaign is a success. But none should be a failure. Communication should always be open and tangible progress on your website should be visible.
7Do you just want to know the return possible?
Alright. If you give us enough information about your current situation we can give you a fair estimate of how many more visitors we can bring to your site. This can be calculated to how many more enquiries we can deliver or sales we can help you make. However you will have to be open and honest for this to work. We want our seo service to be worth it for our clients too. We can also offer advice on conversion optimisation or UX design.
8To the guy who handles SEO in-house.
That's great. We love SEO and also optimise many of our private websites for fun and profit. We understand it takes time and the more experience you have the better you can get.There is no SEO course at university after all. There is only so much you can learn though by working on just one website. If you need advice or want help to speed things up, then give us a call, we would love to get involved and might have the advice you need to solve an issue.
9Are you one of your competitors?
Man….you must be bored by now reading all of this stuff. Don’t you have your own website? Shouldn’t you be making that important call or working on something? It’s all good buddy, we're not your enemy. Go on now. Carry on little fella and do something more useful hey. Or wait, maybe you should read it again? Why did we write that? Do you think that’s a good idea? Ooh. No come on. Carry on.