Whether you are just looking for local traffic eg: wedding photographer, Windsor) or you are a national business in a very competitive marketplace (mortgages, finance) we can help you get a high position in the search engines.

Why not call our friendly team of UK based SEO experts on 0800 081 1741 to have a chat & see how we can help.

What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization or SEO as it is commonly referred to is a term used to describe the process of performing caertain specialised tasks to improve the position in the Search Engines Results Pages (SERPs) such as Google. Ideally these tasks should be performed steadily over time.

What is a Start Ranking Report?
Before we commence your SEO campaign we will create a Start Ranking report which will act as a baseline against which you will be able to measure your improvement as we progress.

Is SEO like Pay per Click?
No, SEO is different from Pay per Click. Pay per Click is a service provided by a number of search engines, most notably, Google. The Pay per Click adverts appear at the top & to the right of the SERPs when you perform a search for a particular keyword. They can also appear on other websites that have signed up to (for example) the Google advertising network. The main difference is that with Pay per Click advertising you create an account & you can put your advert up immediately. If someone clicks on your advert then you are charged a pre-determined fee by the search engine. You can decide how much you are willing to pay per click. With SEO you appear in the main part of the SERPs & it does not cost anything to appear there. It can take longer to get a good listing, but once you have a good position you can start to get a steady stream of free traffic for a long time.

How long does it take to get results? We aim to get you on the first page of Google within 3 months for your chosen keywords. In some cases we find that this happens more quickly, but in other cases it can take longer.

Do I have to commit to a long term contract or anything like that? No, absolutely not. You can use the service for as long as you like. The only thing to consider is that it can take a little time to get a good listing but it is worth the wait. We usually estimate 3 months. Either way, for monthly services we will send you a Monthly Ranking report & a Monthly Work Report so you can see the work that we have performed on your behalf.

Do you have proof?
Yes. Please check our SEO Results page at http://www.pickaweb.co.uk/web-marketing-plans.htm

What guarantees do you offer?
Since Google never actually publish their algorithm for determining the search results all SEO is to some extent at the mercy of Google. However, our team of SEO experts are always keeping up to date with the latest developments in this field so you can be confident that they will adapt as the market changes. Having said that, we are confident that within 3 months we will get your keywords onto the first page of Google.co.uk (if in the UK).

Can I phone you?
Yes, our friendly UK based SEO Team is available during UK Business Hours (Mon – Fri 0900 – 1700) on FREEPHONE 0800 081 1741 – give us a call. We love to help our customers to get better results & we can help you understand which plan is right for you.

How can I measure progress?
At the beginning of your project we will provide you with a Start Ranking Report. This report provides you with a baseline against which to measure progress. Each month you will receive a Monthly Ranking Report & a Monthly Analytics Report. These reports will allow you to measure both the number of visitors to your website & the rank of your website in relation to the keywords we are promoting. This way you will quickly & easily be able to measure progress & to hold us to account.

How will I know that you are performing the work that I am paying for?
Each month we will prepare & send you a Monthly Work Report. This will detail all of the work that we have performed in that month for you so that you can see exactly what you are paying for.

What are Keywords?
Keywords simply means the words that people will enter into a search engine like Google to find something. It is really quite straightforward. The trick is to identify keywords that will bring people to your website who are interested in what you have to offer. For example, Pickaweb sells domain names, web hosting, SEO & other related services so we are interested in people who type in keywords related to these services.

Why are Keywords Important?
In order for Google to be able to categorise your website & present it to people searching it needs to be able to categorise your website. It does this through a variety of means (called an algorithm) to determine which websites are more relevant to a keyword & therefore to present the most relevant websites when people search on that keyword. That´s all it is really – they want to keep their users happy by presenting the best results. Once you know your best keywords then you need to build an SEO campaign around them to make surev that Google knows all about you & what you do. This is where Pickaweb can really help you by making sure that we choose the best keywords & we promote your website using these keywords for maximum effect.

What are Long Tail Keywords?
The thing is that for every basic keyword there are literally thousands of variations. For example, people searching on the keyword "web hosting" could also search for "low cost web hosting", "UK web hosting", "best web hosting", "cheap web hosting", "Linux web hosting", etc.. These types of keywords are called long tail keywords because they have multiple words & often they can be like diamonds in the coal mine – they can deliver a ton of traffic but with little competition.

What is Keyword Research? Keyword research is absolutely critical. Get this even half right & you stand a chance, but get it wrong or worse still ignore it & you will find it difficult to get traffic. We have prepared a keyword research video to help your get started so that you can understand this process more clearly.

How do I know what are my best keywords? Don´t worry, leave this to us. Our team of SEO experts will make sure that we find keywords that get traffic but where you have a good chance of getting a good listing. If you watch this video you can learn some great keyword research techniques

How many keywords can I get ranked for?
In therory there is no limit. However, our SEO team will specifically target keywords that will bring you traffic so there needs to be a limit.

What are Metatags & why are they important?
Metatags are small pieces of html code that appear in your website´s code & they allow Google & the other search engines to understand what each page of your website relates to. There are 3 main Metatags & they are as follows (in order of importance):

Page Title Element
Meta Description
Meta Keywords (nowadays this is not very important due to abuse of meta keywords so is not so important.)

They sound complex but really they are quite simple to understand. We have made a couple of videos for you to understand why they are important & we show you exactly how they can be created. The first video covers the Page Title Element & the second video covers the Meta Description

What are other On Page Factors that I should be aware of?
Other important On Page factors are things like the file names for the pages of your website & the use of your keywords in the text of your website. With filenames, all we mean here is that if you have identified that one of the keywords that you want to target is for example “holiday cottage Devon” then you should have a page on your website that specifically relates to this keyword & also uses the keyword in the URL (i.e. Uniform Resource Locator – a fancy way of saying the address of that page). For example, if you had a website called www.brilliantdevonholidays.co.uk then the page that features the holiday cottage should have your keyword in the URL, eg: www.brilliantdevonholidays.co.uk/holiday-cottage-devon – this way Google will pick up that keyword in your URL. Try to avoid using filenames that don't mean anything, eg: /page2 Another important thing to do is to use your keyword in the text of your website. In this case, use holiday cottage Devon in the text several times. But it must sound natural otherwise the search engines will think you are trying to game the system & may penalise you. Aim for it to appear at about 3 or 4% of the total text on that page.

What are Off Page Factors?
Off Page Factors are things like other websites linking to you & Google picks this up & this can have a positive effect on your ranking. In fact, you can expect Off Page Factors to have a much greater bearing on your ranking than On Page Factors. The problem is that you have less influence over these Off Page Factors for the simple reason that they are happening on websites other than your own. When most people talk about Off Page Factors they are usually referring to external websites linking to your website. See the nest FAQ for a more detailed explanation.

What is Link Building?
Think of the internet like a beauty contest or an election. The contestant with the most votes wins. Now consider that votes are links from other websites to yours. That is the goal of anyone involved in SEO – to gain more links & therefore a better ranking. To understand more about Link Building & how to build the perfect link, please check our Link Building Video . When link building it is vital that it is performed steadily & over time. If it is performed too aggressively then it can actually damage your ranking if Google suspects that you are gaming the system. Our Team of SEO Experts will make sure that your website gets a steady stream of links over a period of time & from a variety of different sources.

What is an Article?
An Article is simply a written article which you can publish tto the internet to demonstrate your knowledge on a particular subject. The benefits of doing this are that this allows you to demonstrate your knowledge & when used in conjunction with your keywords it is a great way to get links back to your website. An Article consists of 4 main components: Title, Summary, Article Body & resource Box (aka author´s signature or bio box). For a full explanation of how to create the perfect article please check our Article Marketing Video . With our SEO plans we will research & write your custom articles for you.

What is Article Marketing/Distribution?
There are numerous websites which will allow you to submit articles to them. These are called Article Directories. They allow you to link back to your website. We have prepared a video on Article Marketing Techniques which show you how to submit your article correctly to probably the best known Article Directory Ezine Articles. We also have another video for you which covers other popular Article Marketing websites you can use. With our SEO plans we will perform this imprtant task for you to ensure that your site gets loads of Backlinks.

What is a Blog?
A Blog is a dynamic part of your website that can be easily updated. One of the things that Google loves is content. It is always looking for fresh, new content & yuor blog is an opportunity for you to add new content to your website. There are some easy to use blogging tools like WordPress which is available free with most of Pickaweb´s web hosting plans. We have prepared a video to show you how to create a wordpress blog which shows you how to set one up in just a couple of minutes. With our SEO Plans we will create & manage your blog for you.

What are Blog Posts?
A blog post is just an entry in your blog. We will write & update your blog for you with researched, professional, relevant & keyword rich content to make sure that you get the maximum benefit from Google.

Why do you need to perform a Competition Analysis?
By performing an analysis of your competitors we can learn loads of things from them. Our trained SEO experts will quickly identiufy which strategies they are using. Using this information we can obtain links from the same places as they have. We aim to dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes for you to get a good ranking & using specialied tools we can quickly ensure that your website benefits from all of the hard work that your competitors have done.

What is Google Places?
Google Places (aka Google Local) is a feature whereby local businesses can create an account & get listed high in the rankings for local searches. This is a fantastic way to get targetted, local traffic to your website. All you need to do then is to convert your traffic into paying customers. We have prepared a video on getting a good ranking in Google Places in a new tab or window using anchor text "getting a good ranking in Google Places") to show you how effective this can be. Why not let Pickaweb manage your Google Places account to make sure that you get ahead of your local competitors. This service is included in our monthly SEO Plans.

What are Natural Rankings?
Natural Rankings are the search results that are presented by Google in the centre of their results listings. They are different from the Pay Per Click listings which appear to the right & top of the Google results pages. With Pay per Click you can get an instant ranking just by creating an advert & paying fro traffic. When you stop paying your advert no longer appears. In the natueral listings it takes more effort to get involved & is based on using the technioques we are describing here (eg: SEO techniques). The advantage though is that you can appear for much longer once you get a good position without having to pay for traffic. Our SEO Services are aimed at getting you a high position in the natural listings.

What is Social Bookmarking?
Social Bookmarking is a way of organizing websites rather like your "Favourites" in your browser, but in this case it is online via various Social Bookmarking sites. It can be used to increase the number fo backlinks to your website. We have prepared a video which explains how Social Bookmarking works . Our team of SEO experts will ensure that you get 100 Social Bookmarking links per month to increase your search engine ranking.

What are Directory Listings?
There are literally thousands of websites out there which will allow you to update some information about your business & you can link back to your website. Some of them are little more than listings, but there are some which can give you a real boost if you get listed with them. In this video we give you an overview of Directory Submissions . As you will see it is a very easy & effective technique. The downside is it is time consuming & this is where Pickaweb can help. Why not let our team of SEO experts submit your website on a monthly basis to the most relevant industry based directories (available in SEO Business & SEO Corporate Services).

Why are Press Releases useful?
Hold the Front Page! Most small business owners never think that they have anything newsworthy to say about their business but there are loads of news hungry websites just waiting for you to upload your news to their website & guess what – they are willing to let you link back to your website so you can see that Press Releases are an important part of your SEO campaign. In this video we explain how to create the perfect press release for your business. Our team of SEO experts will create great Press Releases for you & make sure that people get to find about about you & your business (available in SEO Business & SEO Corporate Services).

What is DMOZ & why is it important to get listed there?
DMOZ (aka The Open Source Directory) is a multi lingual Directory which is considered by many to be one of the most important Directories on the internet. Part of the reason for this is that it is peer reviewed so humans will monitor all submissions to ensure the integrity of its listings. Getting listed in DMOZ will demonstrate to Google that your website has been reviewed & this gives a certain amount of authority to your site. In this video we show you how to get listed in DMOZ but if you are not sure we recommend leaving it to our team of SEO experts to ensure that you get the best chance of getting listed (available in SEO Business & SEO Corporate Services).