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Running and Interpreting WebPosition™ Reports
The SEM industry's standard WebPosition report is used to discover how highly your site ranks in the top search engines when prospects type pertinent queries into the
search engines. The interpretation of these WebPosition reports is one of the many elements of DISC's ROI Planning and SEO Results Reports. We price this separately because
customers sometimes want only this standard report.
There are several key benefits to this service: (1) You get objective, industry-standard reports on your web site's positions in the major search engines by using
software that does the equivalent of days of manual testing; (2) with DISC's interpretations based on our years of viewing reports, you will learn the relative strength
of your current position; (3) you will find out how well your site is positioned against those of your key competitors; and (4) you will discover whether your
server architecture or site code is blocking the search engines entirely.
Options and Prices
Price for DISC to run the report and add our crucial interpretations - $150 per web site for existing DISC customers;
$300 for newcomers.
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Link Campaigns
Establishing legitimate reciprocal links with relevant web sites boosts your position in some search engines, and delivers qualified traffic from relevant sites.
The key word here is "legitimate." Major search engines continually strive to screen out search engine optimizers who use illegitimate tactics. The engines have enacted a
variety of methods to eliminate offenders and reward professionals who use legitimate search engine language and techniques. One such method is to improve the rank of web
sites that have incoming links from other legitimate web sites.
DISC will assess the potential incoming traffic from sites with whom you would request a reciprocal link, to maximize the returns on this investment.
For SEO to be successful, web sites need at least a handful of links from relevant and legitimate web sites. But many people, including some SEM pros, overestimate the
importance of incoming links in boosting your search engine ranking.
Architects of the search engines know that web pages and sites continually add important, new information - for example, about a health treatment or news event. Such pages
will not have been around long enough for many sites to link to them. Therefore, the search engines must rank all pages in large part by the linguistic content.
Inbound links are especially apt to improve your search engine position if you are in a highly competitive arena. Where there are plenty of relevantly worded sites,
incoming links can be a critical tie-breaker. Of course inbound links from relevant, well ranked "authority" sites can bring good traffic directly, regardless of search engine
position.
The down side of link campaigns is that implementing and properly managing them requires substantial time and expertise. And the returns on that effort are almost always
less than those achieved by SEO, PPC, trusted feeds, and conversion rate optimization.
What's Entailed in a Reciprocal Link Program?
- Set-up a good link page and link instruction page for prospective linkers.
- Evaluate the quality and popularity of prospective interlinking web sites.
- Establish the right contacts.
- Engineer a diversified spread of key phrases throughout incoming links to maximize the boost in Google's PageRank and Yahoo's WebRank algorithms. (While adhering to
etiquette specific to this kind of reciprocal link request.)
- Ascertain the terms for your link on the partner's site - such as text-only, text/logo, placement, etc.
- Decide on the terms for your outgoing links page.
- Create the links to your partners and email notice that you have done so.
- Negotiate payment terms, if one partner's site has much more traffic than the other(s).
- Follow-up to ensure the partners have correctly linked to your site in the agreed-upon time frame.
- Determine that your server-statistics software is set up to track results.
- Run detailed link reports that assess the ROI of the campaign.
Options and Prices
Initial Campaign: DISC prepares your link page(s), your link instruction page with all code and confirmation instructions for prospective linkers, suggests other
"link bait" your site could have, sets up tracking code, drafts your link request emails and/or letters, and then equips you with protocols to enable your team to manage the
ongoing reciprocal linking campaign. We will ensure that your incoming links are well written, well disposed to the search engines, and well placed. The links will generate
relevant traffic and boost your position in the search engines. Your team manages the campaign, and in the process learns a lot about your web marketing environment.
Price: $1200 to $1800.
Link Solicitation and Follow-up: The long and labor-intensive process of soliciting links from good web sites other than those of your business partners is best done
off-shore. DISC will select from our well-researched list of such firms the best for your purposes. We will oversee this process, ensuring quality control.
Price: $1200 to $1800, which includes costs of the off-shore firm.
Comprehensive Link Campaign Plan: DISC has and will update and customize for you a comprehensive plan, which prioritizes all aspects of a cost-effective
link campaign. This plan includes a list of select firms, some off-shore, for performing the long and labor-intensive process of soliciting links from good web sites.
Price: $1250.
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Searching the Web (and Web 2.0 Social Media) for Bad Press, "Page Jackers" Stealing Your SEO, and Unauthorized Resellers and "Reps"
This service enables you to detect and deal with bad PR, misrepresentation, and hijacking of your company's code, trademark, or reputation. (On the brighter side, this
report can also reveal good news about your company!)
With the rise of such Web 2.0 channels as blogs, user-generated content in the likes of MySpace and YouTube, and social bookmarking sites like Digg, assessing and influencing your brand has become a high priority. DISC's search engine expertise enables us to compile a report and action plan that can reverse and prevent damage, and even turn it into a substantial positive for your brand.
One disadvantage of having strong search engine position or a successful company is that such achievements can attract offenders. Web-based offenses against your company
include (1) bad word of mouth, PR, or even libel posted on blogs, web sites, and Web 2.0 media; (2) trademark violations in PPC advertising and web sites;
(3) duplication of your site for capturing credit card orders; (4) copying your site's SEO; and (5) duplication of your site
by a competitor or angry customer as a ploy to prompt search engines to demote or banish your site because of duplicate site spamming.
A growing specialty within the SEM field is "SEO PR." SEO and PPC experts are uniquely qualified to unearth the abuses listed above. For example: several years ago, DISC
was compiling a quarterly web marketing report for one of our SEO clients. We discovered an offender who had found our client in the search engines and then copied the
client's site but changed the contact info so that he could take orders and credit card numbers. The offender probably planned to disappear
after getting enough card numbers and cash - or perhaps ship bogus product and keep the scam going as long as possible. In any case, DISC scared him off. Another example
entailed a misspelled domain name containing a simulation of the client's site and contextual PPC ads, some of which linked to competitors. This case required legal
action.
DISC's abuse report can also help you to detect and address misunderstandings, rather than abuse, by franchisees, distributors, dealers, or retailers.
Price for comprehensive search and report: $1200 to $2100.
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Privacy and Security Statements and Certification
Every commercial web site should have a professionally crafted privacy/security statement, and many sites benefit from third-party privacy and reliability seals of
certification. Such statements and seals help distinguish your company from your competitors, gain user confidence, reduce liability, and increase your web site's conversion
rates.
This is no trivial matter. In fact, according to one Pew Internet & American Life Project study, 9 out of 10 users who do not shop online are dissuaded by fear that
their privacy will be violated. A flurry of articles in widely-read consumer magazines (Consumer Reports, for one) have joined tech magazines in offering tips to help shoppers
evaluate which sites pose a threat. It has become a necessity to address these privacy and security concerns.
A privacy statement that meets the criteria of the BBBOnline's application for a privacy seal is not only a great step forward in and of itself - but it also lays a solid
foundation for applying for the BBBOnline privacy seal. After all, 84% of online shoppers in another survey agreed that the recognition of companies on the Web by a reputable
third party (such as the Better Business Bureau) would make them more confident about buying.
There are three types of online security issues:
- Identity verification ("Are you who you say you are?")
- Security of information transmission ("Can someone hack into this online store and get my credit card number?")
- Privacy of personal information ("Will you sell or rent my name to mailing lists?")
The first two pertain mainly to e-commerce sites. Both can be addressed with a "security certificate," which confirms the identity of the company issued the certificate and
protects information transmission via SSL encryption. Once you provide a copy of your business certificate - attesting that that you are who you claim to be - the security
certificate can be installed in a day or two.
The third issue pertains to any site which collects user information, whether through an online form, cookies, or a shopping cart. This issue can be addressed with a
"privacy statement" and/or a "privacy seal" issued by BBBOnline or Etrust.
While the privacy statement should be written in plain English, it does touch on technological bases such as cookies, encryption, and other technologies used to gather
information and protect it. DISC can write a privacy statement for you that will meet the requirements of a governing body such as BBBOnline, so that when and if your company
decides to go for a privacy seal, the privacy statement is already up to snuff. We recommend this for any site collecting sensitive information, whether it is an e-commerce
site collecting credit card numbers or a brochureware site collecting names, phone numbers, or email addresses.
Options and Prices
Privacy / Security Statement: A privacy and security statement explains what information is being collected by your site, how it's being collected and
safeguarded, and how it will be used. It is a binding legal document, an explicit statement made on behalf of the site owner to the site user. (It does not, however, provide
your site with the third-party authorization and approval that a privacy seal does.) It is simply a page of text accessible from any page of your site. View an example:
http://www.pvteye.com/privacy.htm. DISC's labor fees in evaluating your site's eligibility and writing and
posting the statement to your site: $700 to $1200.
Privacy Seals: A privacy seal is a small graphic containing the logo of the issuing body (e.g., BBBOnline, Verisign, or ETrust). Placing such seals on your
site shows that you have met the industry-standard requirements for privacy. Both BBBOnline and ETrust allow consumers to log complaints against member companies, and then
resolve the disputes. We recommend BBBOnline, primarily because its reputation predates the internet. To apply for a BBBOnline privacy seal, you must (a) be a member in good
standing of your local BBB, and (b) have a privacy statement and web site that meet the approval criteria. The application must be submitted with two non-refundable fees: a
$75 application fee and an annual fee to maintain the seal. This annual charge ranges from $200 to $6000, depending on your revenue. ($200 for $1 million in revenues or
less; $6000 for $2 billion or more.) Applying for a reliability seal (discussed below) from BBBOnline can cut this fee in half.
DISC's labor fees in evaluating your site's eligibility, applying for the seal, and placing it on your site: $700 to $1200.
Reliability Seals: In a survey of web shoppers conducted by Greenfield Online, 84% agreed that the recognition of companies on the Web by a reputable third
party (such as the Better Business Bureau) would make them feel more confident about buying. The BBBOnline Reliability Seal has been reviewed and approved by PCWorld and Money
Magazine. It shows that you stand behind your products and services. This can help address the biggest concerns for online shoppers today - lack of customer service and poor
order fulfillment. The application must be submitted with two non-refundable fees: a $75 application fee and an annual fee to maintain the seal, based on a sliding scale
dependent on company revenue. This usually ranges from $150 to $900, and
it can cut the cost of the privacy seal in half. DISC's labor fees in evaluating your site's eligibility, applying for the seal, and placing it on your site: $700 to $1200.
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