Ecombuffet

Below you will find a list of questions we hear on a daily basis. If you are looking for information you can't find here, simply contact us and we'll get you the answers you need.

Select a topic to find the answers you are looking for:

Content
Pricing
Search Engine Friendliness
Links
Keywords
Techniques
Terms of Service
Guarantee
Additional Services
Reports
Results
SEO Industry
Customer Service

Content

How Important is Content?
Content is King. This has never been more true. Focus on solid content that is keyword rich and has a strong marketing messages for your site visitors. Make your site the source for information in your industry.

Pricing

What is the cost?
Our pricing is broken into 6 monthly payments. SEO Standard Plan Including 10 PowerPages (6 monthly payments of $495.00 ) or SEO Premier Plan Including 20 PowerPages (6 monthly payments of $795.00). Once you have selected an SEO Program, we will work with you on pricing factors as well as payment options.

Search Engine Friendliness

Can Google Follow Links in Flash?
While Google can read and index Flash, it cannot follow links in Flash. Make sure all links are plain text.

Is it Really Important to Remove Javascript, Define CSS Off-page And Keep my Code Clean?
Yes. By placing your CSS and javascript in external files you remove excess code from the page, which makes it easier and faster for the spiders to find your wonderful keyword rich content.

Minimizing the use of tables also helps reduce the HTML to text ratio, making the text stand out to the engines.

Clean, error-free code is also essential. It ensures the engines won't get stuck or lost - they can simply and easily spider through your site and eat up your content.

Your keyword rich text should appear as close to the top of your code as possible. Sometimes this is difficult, when top or side (left) navigation appear first in the code. You can always try a different page layout or even consider using CSS to reposition the text for the engines.

Do Too Many Keywords in the Domain Name Harm You?
Too many keywords in a domain, all separated by dashes is a red alert for the spiders.

Are Dynamic Urls Bad?
Google says that a dynamic URL with 2 parameters "should" get indexed.

Techniques

Do You Need to Use the Google Sitemap Tool?
If your site is already getting crawled by Google and pages are being added to their index, you do not need to use the Google sitemap submission tool. The sitemap submission tool was created to provide a way for sites which normally do not get crawled to gain the attention of Google and be crawled and indexed.

How Many Links Should You Have on Your Sitemap?
Google recommends 100 links per page.

Is a monthly follow up necessary after the initial 6 months of service?
We strongly recommend if you do not wish to lose your rankings that you continue with a discounted maintenance plan after your initial 6-month contract.

What engines do you submit to?
Engines we hand submit to and optimize for: AltaVista, Google, HotBot, Yahoo! Web Pages, MSN, Lycos, Iwon, Fast/AllTheWeb, Direct Hit, LookSmart engine, AOL Web Sites, Overture/Excite, FindWhat, Netscape, About.com, Open Directory, ICQSearch, AskJeeves and Jayde as well as hundreds of secondary engines.

What about foreign search engines?
We submit to international engines as well. Please contact us to discuss your specific needs.

What techniques do you use to optimize my site?
We utilize only ethical techniques. We create meta tags, we bold text, we interlink your content, we use header tags, ALT tags and various other techniques. We recommend various tips to make your site search engine friendly, and handle some of the SEO friendliness changes. We DO NOT use cloaking, spamming or keyword stuffing. Techniques are subject to change based on engine's criteria. Our solemn vow is that we will never use a less than ethical technique that can ban you from the engines.

Keywords

Do you help with my keyword list? Do I get final approval?
Yes, we will provide you with research and a report indicating which keywords we feel are best suited for your campaign. You do get final approval on the list.

How long is my term of service?
Our initial contract is a 6-month contract. At the end of 6 months, you may choose to transfer into maintenance mode. 6 months is an appropriate amount of time to see extensive results, but does not tie you into a long-term contract.

Do I own the work you do for me? Where does it sit?
All work resides on your domain, and you will not be leasing it from us, like with other firms. You own all tags, and other optimization techniques.

Guarantee

Do you offer a Guarantee?
Both SEO plans are covered by our search engine-accepted Guarantee:

You are guaranteed to receive 6 months of guaranteed performance, where your website receives at least 20 rankings in the top-20 search results among any of the major search engines we submit to. We will continue working for you until we achieve the full 6 months of guaranteed performance. (If you select the Premier Plan, this guarantee applies with 40 top-20 rankings.)

Additional Services

Are there any services you provide over and above your packages?
Yes, we provide consultation in a wide number of areas. Our passion and ultimate satisfaction comes from working directly with you and your company to provide powerful solutions to your most pressing Internet business challenges. If there is any issue related to E-commerce, doing business online, or increasing your company's profits that we do not address, please don't hesitate to ask us - chances are we can help you. We also offer full design, Website Surgery, directory submission, lead generation, copy writing, and programming services. Please contact us to discuss your needs.

Do you assist in converting traffic into buyers or solid leads?
Yes, in addition to SEO experts, we are very experienced in marketing and increasing site's conversion ratios. Please read our testimonials and case studies by clicking here

Reports

Do you provide regular reports and how often are they provided?
We provide monthly reports (with weekly reports at the beginning until we get you in guarantee status). If further reporting is needed, please let us know.

Results

When will I start seeing results?
You can start expecting some results about anywhere from 2-6 weeks and up to 4 months in some cases, with more rankings appearing as your promotions mature and as the engines crawl and index your site.

What about past results? Do you provide references and testimonials?
You may click here to view examples of our rankings achieved.

SEO Industry News & Updates

Who has a bigger Index, Yahoo or Google?
The truth is, it doesn't really matter. It isn't about size, it is about relevance. The engine that can deliver the most relevant results to a search query is truly the winning engine. So, it's not the size of the index that matters, it is what they do with the information in the index and how it is delivered.

The real question behind this question is: "which engine should I use when I do my searches and which engine should I focus on in my marketing". The answer to those questions are; use the engine that you feel delivers the best results. Don't buy into the hype stating which engine people think is best. Use many engines and then find the one you like the best. You never know, a new leader may emerge. The more people try engines and demand better results from them, the more the industry as a whole benefits. As far as marketing goes, you can't afford to focus on just one. Your goal is to get exposure and traffic. Why limit it? Focus on all of the top engines and achieve maximum exposure for your site.

Is PageRank Still Important? Yes - PageRank has always been important to Google. Google still uses the algorithm to help determine rankings.

How do I know my site will be kept up to date and current with the latest criteria and technologies?
We subscribe to all important industry publications as well as check in daily with the engines themselves. We post all new information on the Client FYI section of our website. We will adjust our methods as necessary to ensure you continually receive the highest level of service based on current knowledge and techniques. We also offer refreshers on your campaigns at various intervals, to ensure your campaign does not go stagnant.

Customer Service

Do I have access to anyone on your staff, so I receive personalized service and can ask questions at anytime?
You are assigned an account rep, who you have access to from 8am (PST) to 4:30pm (PST) 5 days a week and emails are answered on Saturdays. All calls and emails are returned within 24 hours maximum. You also have direct access to your SEO technician that is performing your service. Your service comes with up to 1.5 hours per month of consulting time our Director of SEO Services, to help you with any issues that may arise. There is no limit on your access to the Customer Service department.

For Sales or service inquiries, click here to email us or call 562-592-5347.

For Customer Service please click here to email us or call 607-642-3900

For SEO Partnership Inquiries, please click here to email us or call 905-858-9465.

Our fax number is 714-877-5574.