Regional results as follows:

Best of the Rest
33 www.e-prominence.co.uk
32 www.emcom.co.uk
30 www.seo-insite.co.uk
30 www.internetmarketing101.org.uk
29 www.oyster-web.co.uk

National results as follows:

Best of the Rest
31 www.daedal.co.uk
30 www.bigmouthmedia.com
29 www.ehlonline.co.uk
29 www.dolphinpromotions.co.uk
29 www.weblinx.biz

International results as follows:

Best of the Rest
31 www.seoptimise.com
30 www.webcredible.co.uk
29 www.justsearching.co.uk
28 www.submitexpress.com
28 www.searchengineoptimising.com

Regional results as follows:

National results as follows:

International results as follows:

Those companies that are new entries this month are represented by dashes.

The segments are as follows:

• Regional : Scotland
• National : UK
• International

Points were awarded for a company’s position within the search engine for various competitive keyword phrases. The points were also weighted against the participating search engines in the experiment.

Search Engine Scope and point weighting:

• Google.co.uk : 30 pts for 1st; 29 pts for 2nd and so on…
• Yahoo.co.uk : 15 pts for 1st; 14 pts for 2nd and so on…
• MSN.co.uk : 10 pts for 1st; 9 pts for 2nd and so on…

Regional (Scotland) Keyword phrases:

• SEO Scotland
• SEO Company Scotland
• Search Engine Optimization Scotland

National (UK) Keyword phrases:

• SEO UK
• SEO Company UK
• Search Engine Optimization UK

International Keyword phrases:

• SEO
• SEO Company
• Search Engine Optimization

OK, all said and done - here’s the meat.

Top Ten Scottish SEO Companies

Top Ten UK SEO Companies

Top Ten International SEO Companies

This excerise not only shows ourselves who has been pro-actively marketing their site but also allows us to get a better insight on the up-and-coming companies who are just outside the Top Ten and are pushing their way in.

The project was taken from a regional, national and international view point. The regional area chosen was Scotland (it is only right that I run the campaign in my own market place), the national area was the UK.

We at North South Media would welcome your comments and remember we don’t do noFollow - so any comments posted, good or bad, with the exception of spam, will be posted and some link juice along with it.

Below are the rankings for the present and past months.

• Top SEO Companies for December 07
• Top SEO Companies for November 07
• Top SEO Companies for October 07
• Top SEO Companies for September 07
• Top SEO Companies for August 07
• Top SEO Companies for July 07
• Top SEO Companies for June 07
• Top SEO Companies for May 07

The segments are as follows:

• Regional : Scotland
• National : UK
• International

Points were awarded for a company’s position within the search engine for various competitive keyword phrases. The points were also weighted against the participating search engines in the experiment.

Search Engine Scope and point weighting:

• Google.co.uk : 30 pts for 1st; 29 pts for 2nd and so on…
• Yahoo.co.uk : 15 pts for 1st; 14 pts for 2nd and so on…
• MSN.co.uk : 10 pts for 1st; 9 pts for 2nd and so on…

Regional (Scotland) Keyword phrases:

• SEO Scotland
• SEO Company Scotland
• Search Engine Optimization Scotland

National (UK) Keyword phrases:

• SEO UK
• SEO Company UK
• Search Engine Optimization UK

International Keyword phrases:

• SEO
• SEO Company
• Search Engine Optimization

I did some research before I decided to write this article and I was surprised and saddened by the number of companies that I came across on the Internet (in a very short time frame) that either offer dubious SEO practices or promises of high rankings so cheap that professional optimization companies may as well gather their hat and coat and call it a night.

The intense marketing spiel that underhand firms adopt informs you to only pay them a few hundred bucks and hey presto the view from the top of the Search Engines was yours for the taking. Now, I have been in the business long enough to know when something doesn’t smell right. But what about the ordinary client who is only interested in getting their product sold or their service found on the Internet? How are they supposed to tell which SEO firm is transparent and which are as dirty as an mucky puddle?

Thus, I have mustered up some thought indicators that I feel you should be aware of before any relationship with an SEO Company is worthy of consideration. They are as follows:

Cost! : There is a saying that rings true here ‘You only get what you pay for!’ If a firm is offering something so sought after as ‘Page One in Google’ for an unbelievable price then that is normally what it is: unbelievable! I’m not saying they won’t get you on Page One but it will be for such an obscure keyword phrase that generates no traffic whatsoever to your site, your money will be wasted.

Blinding you with Science! : Please, forget about companies who claim they have analyzed Google’s or any other Search Engine’s algorithm and have cracked the technology and are willing to let you in on the benefits for a small fee - virtually gaining your site those prized possessions overnight. The words ‘Scam’ spring to my mind among a few others which I shall regress from printing.

Reputation! : Ask around amongst friends, business associates, on-line help forums like Yahoo! Answers or Google Answers for advice before you settle upon contacting an SEO Company. Professional SEO companies that are worth their salt mainly get a high percentage of their business from referrals. Look at the SEO companies site; do they have a testimonial page (again though be thorough as testimonials can be duped) are there contact numbers or a web address? Go one further and call that company, ask them about the service they received. Were they satisfied? Was it worth the money? Dig a little then dig some more.

Future Provisions! : Just what are you getting for your money? Does the company have a pro-active approach by embracing new marketing techniques and technologies or are they just concerned about your meta keyword tag and advising that you need an extra gazillion pages on your site to be able to rank better. Will they report back to you at the end of each month with details about what they have undertaken to help rank your site better?

Trust your Instinct! : A professional SEO Company will always ask you questions to help understand more about your business and the market your in, not just to help build an on-line profile about your company but to assess what service suits your requirements. SEO or Web Design companies that offer one-price-fits-all models have no conceptions (or experience) of the varying techniques required to help successfully promote a company on-line, drive its targeted traffic to their site and help boost their positions within the Search Engines.

Complacency has no room when you are trying to source a company who will deliver an increased return of investment for your site. Hopefully, I’ll never have the experience again of having to reply to an on-line post about what a company needs to do in order to rank their clients site.

Thus local SEO is the way forward to gain those prized ranking positions and priceless experience. I will give a few examples in this post to help you achieve improved rankings for your site.

First let’s look at the Title Tag: For this example I am going to presume that your company does Web Design and your company is based in my local city of Glasgow. Now this is not rocket science but by having the phrase ‘Web Design Glasgow’ in my title tag is as good a starting point as any. Some companies like to have their company name or brand in the Title tag along with the URL of the site. I always opt against this unless it is actually the company name or the brand that I’m more interested on optimizing for. Now as I have a little knowledge about keyword research I would also add the word ‘company’ so that our title tag now looks like the following: ‘Web Design Company Glasgow’ - that’s it, anymore and you begin too dilute the strength of your keyword phrase.

Then in the keyword Meta Tag I would reiterate the title tag as is: ‘Web Design Company Glasgow’ - nothing else as this is the phrase that I want to target. I know some SEO guys who completely forget about the Meta keyword tag as they know Google just skips this and goes straight into the content for the search terms. Personally, I like to use it because it’s just not Google I optimise for but all Search Engines.

The Description Tag is just that - it explains what the page is all about - so for this example I would put: “Professional and affordable web design company | YourCompanyName based in Glasgow” - nothing fancy just the right amount to help entice a user to click-through to your page. Notice the pipe bar in the middle of the description - this is a short-cut mode to relay different types of info quickly and effectively in a short sentence.

Our body content is the next stage we turn our attention too. Right at the beginning I would have a H1 tag with the words ‘Affordable Web Design Company in Glasgow’ or something that not only once again holds our keyword phrase but also makes sense to a human reader. If you just code for Search Engine robots or spiders then you may get high rankings but all that effort will be in vain because it’ll just look and read awful to the human eye and they’ll exit as soon as they enter.

By also having your address in the site of your company you can again replicate the location you are trying to optimize for. One or two more mentions of ‘Web Design’ in the content should be enough to suffice. Remember do things naturally - there is such a thing as over-optimizing a page and stuffing keywords every 5 or 6 words apart- this will do you more harm than good and may even get your site penalized.

Finally do some off-page optimizing by submitting your site to a few on-line directories. Some are paid, some are free, some require a link back from your site to theirs (this is called a reciprocal link).

When submitting your site to the directory make the ‘Title of your Website’ in the submission form similar to your localized keyword phrase - Web Design Company Glasgow - this is known as having rich keyword anchor text and helps greatly in defining what your site should rank for in the Search Engines.

All in all this is a pretty basic level SEO task. We focus on one search keyword phrase and we localize it to gain a better ranking position. Give it a week or so then check Google, Yahoo or MSN to see if there has been improvement in your SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Positions).

Understand why these small changes have worked and once you see improvement move onto another page and run through the same process with another keyword phrase and so on and so on. At all times never make too many changes as then you’ll never know what is actually working for you or against you.

So, is it really all that important to have your site sitting top-of-the-stack? Are SEO’s or Search Marketing Agencies more than happy for a clients site to settle for a Page Two listing? Before I can honestly answer that question, lets delve into some facts and figures to get the general consensus of what page ranking means to your on-line business success.

It’s no secret that there are figures available on the Internet as to how many searches are performed on a keyword phrase. Some major Search Engines (Yahoo for example) release their figures to on-line sites or third-party desktop applications every month. One of the best examples that I have come across of determining the search criteria of a keyword phrase is SEO Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool: (http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword/suggestions/)

This tool collates the information released from Overture (Yahoo) and determines the estimated monthly searches by Google users simply by doubling the number. In the USA, Google has around roughly 60% of the market share and Yahoo 20% - that’s three times as much, not twice as many, I hear you cry but remember to take into account vanity searches, click bots, rank checkers, and other forms of automated traffic. Google in the UK has around 78% of the market (source: http://www.999today.com/technology/news/story/3285.html) and an educated estimate would be to times Overture’s figures by eight to find the Google audience for your keyword search.

The only Search Engine to release relevant data to help figure out Click-Through-Rates for Top Twenty Positions were AOL (source: http://www.jimboykin.com/click-rate-for-top-10-search-results/) and the figures were surprisingly astounding:

• Number 1 Position would get 3.5 times more Clicks than Number 2 Position
• Number 1 Position would get 4.9 times more Clicks than Number 3 Position
• Number 1 Position would get 8.5 times more Clicks than Number 5 Position
• Number 1 Position would get 14.1 times more Clicks than Number 10 Position

By using the above example I can run a test against a keyword search to determine the CTR for a competitive keyword phrase. If I type in ‘SEO Company’ I’m informed that I get around 9084 searches in Overture (Yahoo) and by using our 50% greater-than ratio for Google (US) this gives us just over 18,000 estimated searches per month. We can be liberal here and apply that 50% of searchers click the Number One position (a rough estimate would be around the 65% margin) this then gives us 9000 estimated clicks for the top rank site for ‘SEO Company’.

Number Two position decreases by 3.5 times thus 9000/3.5 = 2571 searchers would click this link. It gets even more extreme when you consider what Position Ten of Page One is equivalent to: 9000/14.1 = 638 clicks.

If we carry and consider that Page 2 clicks are worth only 10% of the total monthly searches then we can truly grasp the real rapid decline that is happening to a site that is positioned at the bottom of the pile on Page 2: Position Twenty makes 900/28.2 = 32 clicks.

So my answer to the question, ‘Should you settle for a Page Two listing’, is if your budget allows it and your SEO Company has the skills available for achieving Top Ten results… Absolutely No!

Never, believe the hype that Page Two is an affordable place to be. When you consider 9000 clicks against 32 clicks that is when you conceive that SEO can be the greatest return-of-investment your on-line business is ever going to participate in and why many SEO firms still hail that Number One ranking as the Holy Grail.

The simple truth is the Internet is stuffed with cloned replicas of the same static or e-commerce template sites offering nothing else but predictability. By employing media rich, interactive content, a site can help boost its on-line profile. Sites that do really well in getting a return on their investment know how to motivate their audience and entice a sale.

So what are the tools available that can help in securing a purchase from your site? A 360 Degree Virtual Tour is a proven pro-active sales tool that can add depth to your site and also motivate potential customers to securing a purchase on your site.

360 Degree Virtual Tours allow your visitors to get a first hand glimpse of visiting your premises from the comfort of their living room. If you have premises that you feel a static image fails to get over on your site then a Multimedia Presentation may be for you. Here are some examples where 360 Virtual Tours have added to the on-line presence:

• Restaurants
• Pubs and Clubs
• Real Estate
• Limo Hire Firms
• Sporting Facilities
• Conference Centers
• Hotels and Guest Houses

The beauty of interactive 360 Degree Virtual Tours is that they can also be used within e-mail marketing campaigns or copied to Cd’s and used as off-line digital brochures.

Video Production is definitely the buzz word at the moment. You only have to look at the phenomenal success of YouTube and MySpace plus a whole plethora of Video Blog websites. An on-line video commercial can be used as a massive on-line marketing tool. These advertisements can be used in Viral Marketing campaigns, on your website and also submitted to the above web 2.0 sites mentioned above. Imagine what the cost for this sort of exposure would cost you for a television or cable advertisement.

The beauty of the 360 degree virtual tours and video commercials is that they are a one stop shop for all your multimedia requirements on your site. Rather than storing say, a video on one page of your site, a gallery on another and music on another you can combine all these elements into one presentation and engage your user immediately with the simple click of a button.

The Internet is a true world wide marketing tool, giving you access to people and places that used to be beyond the reach of traditional marketing methods. By absorbing these stimulating interactive web-ready mediums you are not only dressing-up your window of opportunity to on-line consumers but your giving them the keys to your premises twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Directories: Still a good way of helping you gain some traffic and help with ranking overall in the Search Engines. Do not submit, however, to Free-For-All (FFA) directories. These can do more harm than good. Either exchange reciprocal links (two-way) or if you can afford it then purchase a one-way link to your site (the last option works best if the directory is seen as trustworthy within your niche market).

Blogging: If you are leaving comments on other peoples posts then for best effect stay within your community. Don’t get nasty or controversial. If you are creating a Blog then generate interesting posts worth reading. Don’t go ripping off someone else’s material. There are free basic Google and Wordpress Blogs that all is required is a sign-up and you can be posting your own Blog in minutes.

Social Bookmarking: Fundamental to quickly creating some buzz and interest about either your static website or a post in your Blog. Again, join communities and interact by posting comments and reviewing what others have previously submitted.

Article Submissions: A good way to help increase yourself as an expert within your targeted market is by submitting an article or a review of a particular service or product. Generate one way back-links to your site. Don’t over submit your article and try and create at least two versions of the same article to stop the Search Engine penalizing it for duplicate content.

Forums: Again by contributing to online forums can build your stature as an expert in your field also forum signature links can be useful for back links to your site. Stay in context. Don’t go joining a cookery forum and pointing your signature link to an IT website. Relevancy is the key with back links. If forums are not your thing then try Google or Yahoo Help Groups and promote your site this way.

Pay-Per-Click: Getting listed in the top pages can be achievable even if you have a small budget. All major search engines offer sponsored listings and the opportunity to have your site listed for highly competitive keywords at a price. Check with your hosting company or do a search on the internet for the PPC free vouchers that are on offer to help get you started.

SEO: If you can afford it then getting your site optimised is a high priority for anyone that owns a website. There are plenty of professional SEO Companies that will greatly increase your traffic and conversion rate. There are resources on the internet that will help get you started with SEO. But be warned! SEO is extremely time consuming and does require that you have some basic level of programming knowledge.

Video Marketing: Again a certain skill set is required to help construct and edit your video. There are a numerous internet sites and even search engines that you can easily submit your finished video to. Most successful videos run for between 30 and 60 seconds long and have a humour element to them.

E-Mail Marketing: Probably, not as effective as it once was, thanks to email spammers. Yet, it still has a conversion rate if done correctly. Try and co-ordinate your email template with your sites profile adding to that touch of professionalism.

Your own Websites Look and Feel: If your site looks tired and old compared to your competitions web design then it probably is. People will click off your site if they don’t like what they see or if it’s too confusing to navigate around. The negativity factor can end a websites existence before its even got started.

The web designer’s answer would go something like this ‘I’m here to design, you want optimization you go to an optimiser’. The client will only trigger when the promised leads or sales from the new website never come-to-pass. Things are changing however, more and more designers are switching on to offering their paying clients search engine friendly websites. So, we’re making a little headway. We now have designers that actually want to give their sites a helping hand when they release them into the World Wide Web.

But here’s the rub. Most designers have read a few pages from a few websites and suddenly they know everything about Search Engine Optimisation. In fact they know so much that they’ll even promote the service on their websites and suddenly we’re back to the bad old days again. So tell me, I hear you ask, what can I expect from a Search Engine Friendly Website? Read on and I’ll tell you what you should - at the very least - expect when buying this service from a web design company.

Validation:
The first check is to make sure the website validates under any of the W3C Validation certificates. This check makes sure that the HTML written to design your site is valid and any visiting search engine bot or spider can cleanly access all the content and links contained within.

Title Tags:
Your designer should make sure that all title tags are themselves unique. Whether your site is static or dynamic, it is of the utmost importance to have unique title tags for each page. Sites that have similar title tags will find search engines like Google placing their pages in their Supplemental Index (not a good place to be). Another hint with title tags is don’t place your company name at the beginning. Importance of this position belongs to the most prominent keyword phrase of your page not your company’s brand name.

Semantic Markup:
All main headings should use the Heading1 tag and sub-headings the Heading2. These can be styled using CSS .

Images, Flash, Frames, Counters and Animated Gifs:
A brief description on the Alt tag to describe an image is best for those that use screen-readers. Never design 100% Flash based sites, your textual content won’t be found and neither will you. If your a paying client and your designer is using frames, counters and animated Gifs on your site then stop the payment now and get a new designer. If your a designer using frames, counters and animated Gifs on a site! Ahem, where you been buddy?

Javascript:
Make sure all Javascript is called from its own file. If it is on-page or in-line Javascript make sure the page validates. Spiders have a tendency to get caught in Javascript and will eventually give up trying to crawl your site.

Site Maps:
Site maps are a great way to get all your pages indexed with the search engines. A site map can be designed in various forms: it can be HTML based and a page in your website; can be created in Notepad by placing each URL of your site into a new line and submitted to the search engines; can be quickly created in XML from numerous sites on the web and for free. Just type ‘XML Site Map’ into Google.

Content:
Content is still King. However, make sure all spelling is correct and grammar as well. Never trust a firm that wants to use your keyword any more than is naturally normal on a site. This is known as Spamming and will do you more harm than good. If your web company tries to use hidden content in your site by whatever means: text colour the same as the background; using CSS to not render text to the screen; stuffing keywords into the noscript tags then ask for your money back, this is illegal and will get you blacklisted from the search engines.

So my advice is research those web companies that offer ‘Search Engine Friendly Websites’ Ask them questions relating to the advice above. If they falter on any then move on as they spell professional with two f’s.