Q: Why doesn't my Web site rank very well in the search engines?
A: Having your website rank high in the search engines is a science and the rules for search engine optimization (SEO) are always changing. Here are some reasons why you may be having poor ranking:

* Incorrect usage of the TITLE tag or no TITLE tag content. 
* Too many occurrences of the same word in a page (spamming). 
* Missing H1 and H2 heading tag content. 
* Missing ALT tag content in your graphic links. 
* No meaningful content in the first 250 characters on each page.
* Less than 200 words per page. 
* Very few pages on your website. 
* No links from other websites to your website (link popularity). 
* Also, you should always submit your site to any search directories manually. Please do not use automated submission services.


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Q: How long does it take for SEO results to kick in?
A: The amount of time required to see results of search engine optimization work range anywhere from 30 days to a few months. This is dependent on how often search engines crawl sites to pick up changes, update their index, and subsequently re-rank sites. The Google Dance for example is almost a spectator sport among the SEO community.


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Q: What is my site ranking dependent on?
A: Site ranking tends to be "cumulative" and is dependent on the following factors:


* The specific keyword phrases (search terms) that have been targeted 
* The overall competitiveness of your industry - how many players are there 
* Whether you are targeting a regional, national, or international market 
* How well ranking is monitored and the site tweaked over time for SEO improvement 
* The progress of your reciprocal linking campaign 
* number of competitor sites achieving new ranking themselves. 


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Q: Does every page of my website really need to be optimized?
A: In a word - yes. Every page of a website can be a potential entry point for visitors. You can't predict which page or pages will be ranked the best for specific keywords. As such, each page must be individually optimized to for optimal ranking. Collectively, all pages of your website reinforce the common "theme" of the site, which also can help boost ranking. Don't assume that your home page is the most important page on your site.


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Q: Why are SEO services so expensive?
A: SEO is a highly-specialized craft requiring much research, forethought, skill and can be extremely time-consuming to implement correctly. However, compared to offline and print advertising, SEO is quite cheap. The cost of having your website SEO optimized is by far the best advertising dollars spent and the return on your investment (ROI) can be very great.


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Q: Can you guarantee a number #1 position in the search engines?
Nobody can guarantee a number #1 position or specific ranking for your site for a given keyword phrase. There are simply too many factors beyond anyone's control - the search engines changing their ranking algorithms, efforts made by competitors, and new sites being added to the Web.

Obtaining a specific ranking is analogous to managing a portfolio. Your financial advisor will do their best to monitor the stock market and other indicators and to make sure your portfolio is managed to the best of their abilities. However, your advisor cannot guarantee that your portfolio will be at a specific dollar value or even that the amount will be up at all by a given date.