In
this article I show you
why most guaranteed top
ranking packages offered
by search engine optimization
companies aren't really
what they're made out to
be.
There
are literally hundreds of
search engine optimization
companies online. They're
all trying to everyone else
with special offers and
guarantees. My favorite
gimmick has to be the guaranteed
top rankings offer.
Have
you seen search engine optimization
companies guarantee top
rankings in the following
top search engines?
All
The Web/FAST, AOL, AltaVista,
Direct Hit, Excite, Google,
HotBot, LookSmart, Lycos,
MSN, Netscape, Open Directory
Project, and Yahoo!
So,
what's the catch? Aha! You
know there must be one,
right?
Well,
let me explain.
Direct
Hit is no longer a search
engine on its own right.
It's now part of Teoma.
So, it's impossible to guarantee
top rankings in Direct Hit.
HotBot
(US) uses Direct Hit for
the top 11 rankings. HotBot
(UK) uses Inktomi results.
But that's no good if you
only want to target US customers.
AllTheWeb/FAST
and Lycos use the same set
of search results.
MSN's
top search results are powered
by LookSmart.
Excite
is a metacrawler with pay
per click engine results
hidden within its search
results. So, a search engine
optimization company could
easily get a top 10 ranking
simply by bidding for it
in FindWhat or Overture.
Many
of the top search engines
are powered by other search
engines.
Therefore,
if the search engine optimization
company achieves a top ranking
in one search engine, then
they would almost certainly
achieve a similar ranking
in other search engines
that are powered by the
same search engine.
For
example, Google powers Yahoo!
(web page), AOL and Netscape.
So,
if a search engine optimization
company achieves a top ten
ranking in Google, then
you would expect to also
get a top ten ranking in
the search results it powers.
Another
example is Inktomi powered
search engines. Inktomi
provides search results
for MSN and HotBot (#12
onwards).
So
a top ranking in one Inktomi
powered search engine would
almost always be duplicated
across the other Inktomi
powered search engines.
Note
that it isn't always the
case that a #1 ranking in
one Inktomi powered search
engine means you also get
#1 rankings in all the other
Inktomi powered search engines.
The
search engines usually add
some their own special filter
to distinguish their search
results from other Inktomi
powered search engines.
Here
is a table of where each
of the top search engines
get their search results
from.
Key:
AllTheWeb
is powered by FAST Search.
LookSmart
= LookSmart Directory.
OPD
= Open Directory Project,
which is also know as Dmoz.
Yahoo!
= Yahoo! Directory.
| Search
Engine |
Main
Results |
Paid
Results |
Back-Up
Results |
Web
Directory |
| AllTheWeb |
AllTheWeb |
Overture |
- |
ODP |
| AltaVista |
AltaVista |
AltaVista |
- |
LookSmart |
| AOL |
Google |
Google |
- |
ODP |
| Ask
Jeeves |
Ask
Jeeves |
Google |
Teoma |
ODP |
| Excite |
AllTheWeb
Ask Jeeves
Google
Inktomi |
About
FindWhat
LookSmart
Overture |
- |
ODP |
| Google |
Google |
Google |
- |
ODP |
| HotBot |
Direct
Hit |
Overture |
Inktomi |
ODP |
| iWon |
Google |
Overture |
- |
- |
| LookSmart |
LookSmart |
LookSmart |
Inktomi |
- |
| Lycos |
AllTheWeb |
Overture |
- |
ODP |
| MSN |
LookSmart |
Overture |
Inktomi |
LookSmart |
| Netscape |
Google |
Google |
- |
ODP |
| ODP |
ODP |
- |
- |
ODP |
| Overture |
- |
Overture |
Inktomi |
- |
| Teoma |
Teoma |
Google |
- |
- |
| Yahoo! |
Yahoo! |
Overture |
Google |
Yahoo! |
Why
is all of this important?
Well,
before you sign up with
a search engine optimization
company, work out what the
X number of guaranteed top
rankings really means.
For
example, a search engine
optimization company could
easily count a top ranking
in Google, Yahoo! (Web pages),
AOL and Netscape as four
top rankings, when really
it's only one.
So,
don't be fooled into accepting
four top rankings, when
it's really only one.
About
The Author
Michael
Wong is a successful
and respected search engine
optimization specialist,
and author of several search
engine optimization books.
Mike is also the Editor
of Mike's
Marketing Tools,
the leading review site
for the very best web marketing
tools.
Use
Stickysauce Search
Engine Tools
