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  • Affordable, Small Business SEO Services | SEO Factor

    Our SEO Services will help you rank higher in the search engines for the search terms your customers use to search for your products or services. By ranking higher, we can drive more traffic to your site and increase sales generated by your website.

    When considering any of our SEO services, you can be sure that we only employ “white hat” techniques, complying with the guidelines of the search engines themselves. SEO Factor will never place a website into a position to receive a ban due to questionable online marketing practices.

    With SEO Factor’s experience, we are able to provide the simplest or most robust services. Select the service that matches the needs of your business’ online marketing goals.

    When you need a robust, comprehensive online marketing strategy, my custom SEO Services are right for you.

    If your business relies on local traffic, then my local SEO service will do the trick.

    My SEO Website Review service will provide you with everything you need to start a solid SEO campaign, or enhance your existing SEO efforts.

  • Pricing | SEO Factor

    Being a freelance SEO allows me the ability to price my services a little differently than other firms. Without the overhead, I am afforded the luxury of charging a much lower fee for a high quality service. I also work primarily with small businesses, and am able to accommodate the lowest of budgets.

    I price every project accordingly, taking into consideration your website’s needs, the needs of your business, your competitive landscape and the return on your investment. Every quote I give is created for you, and you alone.

    Custom SEO Prices

    The cost of my custom SEO solutions depend primarily on your goals, your website’s current visibility online and the competitive landscape. This service is usually reserved to businesses with very specific, particular needs; or perhaps desire to compete nationally/internationally. Prices for these solutions range from $2000/month to $5000/month.

    Local SEO Pricing

    Monthly costs for local SEO range from $300/month to $1200/month. This depends on your site’s current progress online, your goals and the competitive landscape.

    Let’s Get in Touch

    No matter what your needs, I’m sure I can create a solution perfect for you. If you would like to learn more about any of my services or have questions about your site, contact me today.

  • Internet Marketing Services | SEO Factor

    Our Internet marketing services are customized to cater to varying business modes big and small. From local service providers to national production companies, we create individual solutions to provide what you need specifically. You won’t find any packages here; just the right website promotion solutions for your business.

    From SEO Services to PPC Management, we have what it takes to bring more, quality traffic to your website. We also cater all of our services on a case-by-case basis so you can be sure that you are getting exactly what you need, and only paying for that.

    New To Internet Marketing?

    This industry has been around for almost as long as the major search engines (at least Yahoo!), but that doesn’t take away from its mystery to most people. A large part of our services involve gaining higher rankings and increased traffic, educating you along they way.

    But if you still have questions it’s important to get them answered before you fork over any money to anyone for services. Though we offer in-depth SEO consulting, we also like to make ourselves available for basic questions. Feel free to contact us and we can take a quick look at your site and answer most preliminary questions without charge.

  • SEO Promise | SEO Factor

    Internet Marketing services are funny in that everyone is offering them. From companies that have suddenly appeared, claiming to be experts in the industry, to traditional web design and marketing firms that have moved to add revenue generation; these services are hot for any company.

    Before you hand over any money though, it’s important to make sure you know what you are purchasing. Instead of warning you about what other companies may or may not do, we will tell you exactly what we will and will not do.

    No Tricks

    We strive to bring quality traffic to your site. It won’t be of any use to us if you get banned from Google. In fact, the only person that would benefit from that is your competitor. No, sir. We keep things strictly ‘white hat’ here at SEO Factor. We only implement methods that we wouldn’t mind sharing with the search engines themselves.

    No False Promises

    If we don’t think we can have a positive impact on your business, we won’t sell services to you. It’s as simple as that. Though this adds to the initial consulting and sales process, it also ensures that you aren’t unhappy with the services we provide.

  • The Internet: Is That What You Read, Or Is That what You Know? | SEO Factor

    For a relaxing Friday post, I’m going to step away from strictly talking Internet marketing and talk about our thought process and how it relates to the decisions we make with our websites. This post takes a look at a few scenarios in which a general consensus or industry agreement is determined and how that information is disseminated and acted upon.

    Let me be more specific. You read a blog post or article somewhere on the Interwebs that says Facebook is dead. This hypothetical article states that the user base has dropped so considerably that placing more effort in the outlet would be a mistake.

    Perhaps this article is founded on real, global information gathered. So, you head to your marketing department and tell them that Facebook is dead and to put your efforts elsewhere.

    But wait.

    Why would you tell them to put their efforts elsewhere? Because you read a blog post? Because extensive research was performed and a decision made by a third party?

    For this hypothetical situation, I want you to put aside the idea that an article of this sort could further impact the fall of Facebook (true or not, enough general consensus can and often does have an impact on the action, whether that was the current course or not). Instead, let’s talk about how you take advice on the Internet and what you do with that advice.

    Before I explain the problem with the last example, let me give you one more.

    You read some super awesome post on SEO Factor’s blog (you would have to go back in time to do that, but still). It’s a post about the title tag, how important it is, and how I write mine for my clients. You head to your website designer and say “hey, re-write all of our title tags just like Josh does.”

    But wait.

    Think about why you are re-writing your titles. Was it because of my advice; because I’m a professional SEO?

    Take Steps to a Change Instead of Drastic Measures

    In our Facebook is dead scenario, what is globally true is not always the case locally. Maybe Facebook is dieing, but to who? Instead of pulling your efforts make sure you aren’t still generating leads/sales/visits/whatever through Facebook.

    Perhaps you find that you are still getting what you need from Facebook. Take a look at your site’s stats and make a decision based on your needs. Maybe such consensus would justify keeping an eye on the situation and making decisions as they are needed.

    You read that Facebook is dieing, and you need to jump ship.
    You know that Facebook is still serves a purpose to your business.

    In the case of the titles, what if your website developer already had good titles. The funny thing about SEO is there are a ton of “wrong” ways to do something, but so few right. I know my titles work for me because I’ve implemented and experienced several ways of writing them. I also know of the different ways I would write a title depending on the specific needs of the site.

    Maybe by changing your site’s titles so blindly, you risk a huge loss in search engine traffic. Instead, take a look at the performance of your site, consider your needs specifically and let your designer look at the article. Maybe, your site is performing just as it should on that front.

    You read that I write my titles a certain way.
    You know that your site is performing as it should be, and the titles are just fine.

    At the end of the day, you have to keep an open mind in regard to your decisions online. There are a lot of great blogs and communities out there with information galore. Most of it is correct. But that does not necessarily mean that the opposite is incorrect.

    If you ever read something that you think deserves attention, why not email the author or leave a comment asking if such a change should concern you? Why not also ask another expert in the field as well?

    Oh, and please, I beg you. Take note of the dates on articles you read. I’ve gotten 7 emails in the last 2 weeks asking “should we do this?” All were in regard to a post not less than 3 years old.

  • QA | SEO Factor

      The guide I wrote on Ranking in Google Places received/receives quite a bit of traffic. Obviously, this is a big deal to small businesses; what with Google Pages listings showing among organic search results. I’ve been tracking the types of search terms that come through to the article, and wanted to answer some of […]

  • Local SEO Packages and Pricing | SEO Factor

    Our local SEO services cater to small businesses who need to market to a specific region. By utilizing one of our local SEO packages we can put your business in front of your customers via search engines like Google, as well as common applications used on mobile phones.

    If you provide a service or product to your immediate area, then we’ve got a local online marketing solution perfect for you.

    • Keyword Research
    • On-Page Optimization
    • Monthly Traffic Reports
    • Monthly Ranking Reports
    • Major Local Directories
    • Major Niche Directories
    • General Directories
    • Google Places SEO

    We’ve established tiers within which we are able to categorize local SEO services. These categories are based on the goals of the website, the competitive landscape and budget.

    Local SEO services start at $300/month and can range up to $1,100/month.

    Request a Quote Today

    Local SEO Details

    How Many Directories?

    You’ll notice that we don’t mention the exact number of directories to which your site will be submitted. There are 2 major reasons for this. First, we don’t know how many it will take to see results for your specific business. Second, some industries don’t have a lot of directories from which to choose in regard to niche types.

    Generally, there are about 30 to 40 local directories we can really count on. These include the likes of yellowpages.com, etc. But the niche and general directories are something of a mystery until we look at your site specifically. Sometimes there are plenty, sometimes there aren’t many.

    Required Commitments

    We offer a range of commitment and payment options to accommodate both your local SEO needs, as well as your budget. We work with contracts ranging from 3 months, to a full year.

    Link Building Efforts

    Generally speaking, we don’t consider directory submissions to fall into the category of “link-building.” For many small businesses that’s all that is needed to achieve ranking success. But for the more competitive sites, a little outside-of-the-box thinking is required. Our link-building efforts are catered to those more competitive industries, and come from quality, relevant websites.

    If you have any that weren’t answered here, please contact us and we’ll be happy to answer them. If you’re interested in services, fill out this form and let us know. Here’s to your success.

    Request a Quote Today

  • Ranking in Google Places – A Definitive Guide | SEO Factor

    Find out what it takes to optimize your Google Places listing to get the most visibility and traffic for you local business. This guide will show you: what Google Places is, why you should care and how to use Google Places to increase your business’ online visibility.

    Download Your Guide Today!

    • How to get your business listed if it isn’t
    • How to get higher rankings with your Google Places listing
    • Advanced Strategies, Troubleshooting
    • Much more…

    This guide was created by bringing our real experiences with real local SEO clients. Find out what we’ve learned, and how we handle a lot of common problems. For an example of the guide, scroll down for the first 2 sections.

    If you’re having problems ranking in your local area be sure to also check out our Local SEO Packages.

    Google Places is a business listing page within Google’s Maps service. Within Google Maps, a user can find products or services offered by local businesses; as well as transportation directions and business information.

    The business information shown to a user within Google Maps is the product of the information compiled and retrieved from Google Places (or the business’ “Place Page”).

    If you’ve ever conducted a search at Google.com, you’ve probably already been exposed to Google Places. You’ll know this by the incorporation of a map and a set of listings when you include a city or region within your search.

    In fact, recent changes in Google’s search engine will now show the Maps listings with a great deal of emphasis when a local search is conducted; pushing the “organic” listings down the page.

    Thelistings from Google Maps take up the majority of the results page. And each of these listings is created by a Google Places listing.

    And why should I care?

    Google states that 1 out of 5 searches on Google is related to a location. It is difficult to know just how many searches that comes out to, but it’s been estimated that Google provides results for more than 2 billion searches every day. That’s more than 400 million local searches every day conducted by people looking for something in their area.

    So, if you own a business that provides services or products to consumers in your local area, and you need to gain more visibility to those consumers online, then Google Places is where you need to be.

    Furthermore, we’ve noticed that not only does a well-ranking Google Places listing send a lot of traffic to a website (more than organic listings in many cases), but the traffic from Google Places often converts at a much higher rate than organic traffic.

    Sure, it becomes a bit more difficult and time-consuming as competition increases, or in areas of high population (just imagine having a client in New York…who owns a pizzeria), but most small business owners should be able to handle most of the process of making a Google Places listing work well for their business.

    Even if you simply don’t have the time and you decide to hire someone to take care of your Google Places listing, then you should at least understand the process. By understanding your Google Places listing and the ranking factors that come into play, you can hire the best person or firm to get the job done.

    Before we can jump in, there is just one more thing we need to cover.

    Any time you’re dealing with Google, it’s a good idea to understand what it is they are looking for when they return results to a user. In the case of Google Places, there are 2 major points we need to make so your business gets the best, maximum exposure; and ensures that Google regards your listing in a positive fashion.

    Know The Rules

    Google has a history of being the best at fighting spam on their search engine, and Google Places is no different. Google has a set of guidelines in place to ensure listings are ranked based on their relevance, and not their ability to game the system.

    As such, it’s a good idea to make yourself aware of these guidelines. You can read them, and more helpful articles at the Google Places help page:

    http://www.google.com/support/places/

    Generally speaking, don’t try to trick Google. They don’t like it. And when they catch a bad listing, they remove it completely or penalize it. Once one of those things happens, you have to start over.

    You may be thinking that there is some method that is working, or have been told of something that someone is doing to get higher rankings. After this guide, there will be a few sections on additional information regarding Google Places, a section of which we will use to discuss the reasons those methods don’t work. If they are working right now, we’ll give you a few real-world cases as a warning against relying on short-term gains.

    Know Your Business

    Another interesting thing about Google; they love data. They built a business around the collection, categorization and retrieval of data. In order to ensure Google makes the best decision on returning results to a user, you’ll need to provide to them as much relevant information as you can.

    Following is a list of things you’ll need during the creation/modification of your Google Places listing. Get them all together now so you won’t have to scramble around later when you are asked for it.

    • The official business name – This is the exact name of the business. Try to stay away from unofficial acronyms or shortened names.
    • Physical Address – PO Boxes don’t work. And you will need this later when we get your listing to rank.
    • Phone Number – Gather all the phone numbers you need. Toll and fax included.
    • Email address – You will need an email address to list in your Google Places listing. Keep in mind that people may use this to contact you.
    • Website Address – You don’t need a website to have a Google Places listing, but it will help a lot when we start looking at ranking the listing. Plus, you really need a website.
    • Business Category – We will go over the details later, but start thinking about the categories that might define your business.
    • Gather Images – Take pictures of your business and any items that might apply to the definition of your products/services. For example, if you own a bakery, a few shots of cupcakes wouldn’t hurt.
    • Gather Videos – If you have them, get them together. Instructional videos are best, but information/commercial videos will do fine.
    • Gather Additional Details – Aside from categories, you can also list details that apply to your business. Do you carry certain brands of products? How about specific services provided? Start thinking about these.
    • Locations – All of the above points apply for each location you have. This isn’t too big of a deal if you only have a few listings around town; it gets interesting if you have hundreds across the nation.

    2 Ways Google Collects Listing Data

    The information provided in Google Maps is the result of 2 main data-gathering methods.

    Third Party Sites

    Google will sometimes rely on the information provided on third-party websites with business listings. They crawl the sites, find business listings and pull them into Google Maps.

    Obviously, Google has the ability to crawl a very large portion of the Internet and harvest a great deal of information. And there is plenty of it out there for Google’s taking.

    More often than not, your business is probably listed on many websites. Usually, this is the result of a business listing data center getting your business’ information from public listings of your company, and sharing it among other directories. These are what we call “feeder directories.” We’ll talk about them more in coming sections, but for now just know that once you start a business, it is also listed somewhere publicly, ensuring that it will eventually be shared across the Internet.

    Remember this, as it is often the cause of a lot of problems in Google Places, like incorrect business information and duplicate listings. We will also talk about how to remedy those types of problems after the guide.

    Direct Submissions

    The other manner in which Google might receive and list your business is by acquiring the information directly from a business owner. Because the listing is being created by the owner of the company (or an authorized individual), Google will take the direct submission and the information provided as more authoritative.

    Being that other websites could be incorrect or out-dated, the information you provide directly to Google will always take priority. At least, this is what they claim. There are cases where this isn’t true, and we will talk about those cases and solutions in later sections. For now, let’s just get your business in there.

    Search for Your Business

    We need to first see if your business is already listed in Google Places. If it is, we need to make sure there aren’t any problems like duplicate listings or incorrect information.

    Finding Your Business

    Searching for a Google Places page is simple enough. Simply go to http://maps.google.com and search for the name of your business.

    It’s a good idea to search for more than just the business name though. Try your street address and phone number. Also, go ahead and try a few “common” searches one of your customers might make. If you still don’t see any listings for your business, it’s probably not in there.

    Google will also do a search for you when you first begin the claiming process, and if they find similar listings they will let you know.

    What if You Find Your Business?

    If you find a listing for your business, then there are a few things we need to look at. Take a look at all of the information on the listing’s Place page and note any corrections that need to be made. Also, see if there are more listings, and make a note of those as well.

    When you’re looking at the Place page, you should see a link in the upper-right corner (almost the exact middle of the screen). The link will either say “Business owner?” or “Owner-verified listing.”

    If your listing has the “Business owner?” link, then nobody has claimed ownership of this Place page yet. However, if the page you are looking at has the “Owner-verified listing” link, then somebody claimed that listing. Don’t worry too much. This could just mean that someone in your company has already claimed the listing. Ask around the office to make sure.

    If your business was claimed, but not by anyone in your organization, then it means that someone claimed the listing, and not likely for honorable reasons. Take a closer look at the listing, and you may notice that the phone number or website address is incorrect.

    No matter. Whether your business has a listing or not, you will soon be taking ownership.

    Download the Rest of the Guide Now!

  • Google Local | SEO Factor

    During your continued monitoring of your link profile, you may find a few links that continuously pop up as a result of a blog discussing your company or content that you had produced. This blogger was nice enough to not only link to your site, but they also send little traffic your way due to […]

    Every once in a while you come across a situation in which you must move your company’s website to a new domain name. But if you move the site to a new domain name, you have to ensure that the search engines can find the new location, and that you hi

    It’s no secret that having a keyword or 2 in your domain name can have an impact on your rankings. In fact, in some cases it’s difficult to see any other reason why a site may rank; with the exception of their spam-keyword-keyword.com domain name. Bu

    Though this doesn’t happen as often as it did 5 years ago, we still bring on clients to whom we suggest either re-writing the URLs to their site’s pages, or re-creating pages with search engine friendly URL structure and redirecting. Please note t

    When we talk SEO with our clients or potential clients, the topic of link-building will undoubtedly come up. And this conversation always gets into “what is a good link.” There are plenty of other articles on what signifies a quality link (relevan

  • Local Seo | SEO Factor

    During your continued monitoring of your link profile, you may find a few links that continuously pop up as a result of a blog discussing your company or content that you had produced. This blogger was nice enough to not only link to your site, but they also send little traffic your way due to […]

    Every once in a while you come across a situation in which you must move your company’s website to a new domain name. But if you move the site to a new domain name, you have to ensure that the search engines can find the new location, and that you hi

    It’s no secret that having a keyword or 2 in your domain name can have an impact on your rankings. In fact, in some cases it’s difficult to see any other reason why a site may rank; with the exception of their spam-keyword-keyword.com domain name. Bu

    Though this doesn’t happen as often as it did 5 years ago, we still bring on clients to whom we suggest either re-writing the URLs to their site’s pages, or re-creating pages with search engine friendly URL structure and redirecting. Please note t

    When we talk SEO with our clients or potential clients, the topic of link-building will undoubtedly come up. And this conversation always gets into “what is a good link.” There are plenty of other articles on what signifies a quality link (relevan