WebProNews

There is much to learn about making an informed decision when it comes to selecting a search engine marketing (SEM) contractor. As in most industries, some are reputable and some are flaky.

An important consideration is the definition of the services themselves, so you know what you're getting for the money. Other factors include pricing, vendor experience and proficiency, customer service, and vendor contracting and reporting practices. Below is a description of issues to consider before making a selection.

SEM Services
Services can be categorized into four areas: site analysis and optimization, manual submission, offsite development, and monthly reporting.

1. Site Analysis and Optimization Category and keyword research. Development of strategic keyword phrases, beginning with client suggestions and requiring further research and analysis. The number of terms will be proportional to the campaign cost. Tweaking of keyword phrases should be included. Homepage optimization. Specific HTML optimization of your homepage and subpages (title, description, keyword meta-tags, etc.) and general site suggestions (navigation, subpage guidelines, site map, etc.). Content review. Ensures that your strategic keywords are reflected throughout well-written site content. Includes a review of content quality and placement with suggestions for improvement. Directory compliance. Directories like Yahoo!, LookSmart, and ODP (Open Directory Project) have specific guidelines for good placement. Ensures strategic category selection and site compliance, suggesting necessary changes. Dynamic site optimization. Many search engine spiders can't crawl dynamic sites. Provides home-page optimization, site modifications (creation of crawlable dynamic pages), additional content creation, and specific subpage submissions to certain directories. Frame site optimization. Subpages within framed sites are sometimes incompatible with search engine spiders. Site modifications to ensure subpage indexing and proper display of framed sites from subpage listings. 2. Manual Submission Free Submissions. ODP submission of homepage and subpages requires working with editors to identify the best possible category. An ODP listing is critical because it provides search results for numerous search portals, boosting link popularity. Also includes submission and monitoring of your homepage in major search engines. Paid directory submissions. A yearly review of directory submissions helps determine which paid-inclusion programs are advantageous for your positioning campaign. Yahoo Business Express. A Yahoo! Business Directory listing is mandatory. It requires working with Yahoo! editors to acquire your best possible category and to submit in compliance with guidelines. LookListings and LookListings Small Business. LookSmart just changed from a paid-inclusion to a paid-placement (pay-per-click) model. Despite some of the bad press, a LookSmart listing can be important because its partner network reaches 77 percent of Internet users. This service requires working with LookSmart editors to acquire your best possible category and to submit in compliance with guidelines. 3. Offsite Development Keyword optimized pages. High rankings can be obtained by customizing Web pages for submission to search engines based on unique requirements. Requires research to determine the requirements for each search engine specified. Creation of keyword optimized pages for each strategic key phrase, customized for each specified search engine. Customized pages are then submitted, monitored, reported on, and resubmitted to the robot engines specified. Robust link popularity. Professional technicians can provide specific and relevant content links created from content-rich Web sites linking directly to your site. Requires analyzing your site to determine and match your content with relevant content from cataloged content pages, online publicati ons, and topic-focused articles. 4. Monthly Reporting Search-based position reports. Reports positioning for each URL and keyword phrase once a month. See where your homepage, subpages, and optimized keyword pages are located. Reports list page number and location (numbered 1 through 50) of each keyword phrase search.