Q: How do you price your
various services?
A: Each web
site we develop, optimize for marketing and maintain is a unique, customized
product and is competing for customers in unique
industries. Therefore, we don't
have a standard pricing sheet. Our pricing is based primarily on the
functionality (database, shopping cart, forms, chat rooms, etc.)
incorporated into the web site, the customized graphics, and the level of
ongoing maintenance the client desires. We often enter into
performance based or revenue share agreements
with clients that greatly reduce the design or
redesign costs. VisionMasters
earns a monthly
fee based on the number of visitors or sales
generated on the web site. The % earned or
amount per visitor depends on the industry and
target audience. Many services we offer
can be priced on a project basis or a
performance basis depending on what best fits
the client's needs. For example, strategic
links, keyword
purchasing, banner
ads, viral
marketing, newsletter
advertising, newsletter
set-up, etc. We can develop a marketing strategy
for all size budgets that will deliver effective online
results.
Q: Do you guarantee
search engine ranking?
A: No, and the truth is
that no one can make this guarantee. We guarantee that we will
dramatically increase the traffic to your web site. We can prove it
too! There are several ways to drive traffic to your web site
independent of search engines. Search engine ranking is a
by-product of all the work we do for our clients. And many of our
clients are ranked in the top 20 listings of major search engines under
a great many keywords.
Q: How do you measure your success?
A: Talk is cheap. You
want proof that VisionMasters
Technologies can increase traffic to your web
site. Our success is measured by the traffic statistics (hits,
page impressions and
unique visitors) for your web site. We require our clients to use the
latest version of WebTrends (tracking software) which is supported on the
web server of your web hosting company. This software reveals a wealth of
information about the activity on your web site. Information like
where visitors are coming from, what keywords they are using to find your
web site, what pages of your website are the most popular, etc. is readily
available. These statistics are the most objective measure we are
aware of and prove what we say we can do.
Q: How successful are banner ads?
A: Banner ads are very
popular. Many companies spend a significant amount of money on
banner ads. Opinions vary widely on their success. The recent
statistics we've seen on banner ads indicate that generally the
"click thru" rate is between 0.5 - 1.5%. The most
successful banner ads have a "click thru" rate of 3 - 4%.
We are proponents of banner ads, but we recommend only placing strategic
banner ads on certain websites (such as industry portals, distributor's
websites, or complementary businesses). We don't recommend some
highly advertised banner ad programs that claim your ad will be placed on
500 websites because these ads are not placed strategically.
Q: What web design tools don't work
with indexing search engines (and why)?
A: Macromedia Flash &
Shockwave. These are very popular design tools used today to produce
"high end", "bells and whistles", "graphically
pleasing" web sites. Many web developers don't understand
that indexing search engines don't read Flash & Shockwave.
Indexing search engines use "crawlers" or "robots" to
record your web site in their databases. These crawlers read the code
in your web site. Flash and Shockwave are used to produce spectacular
graphics. However, these graphics require significant load
time. Load time is a key component for the algorithms of these
indexing search engines. The search engines have changed their algorithms
to "ignore" websites that use Flash and Shockwave. These
web sites won't get recorded into the databases of these indexing search
engines.
Q:
Can't I just resubmit my web site every month to
ensure good search engine rankings?
A: The
short answer to search engine resubmitting is NO.
Resubmitting over and over does not help and if it is
"required" it is a symptom of a much deeper
problem with your web site. The search engines are
designed to index web sites and then keep them in their
index. It can take 4-6 months to truly move up the search
engine rankings. The only way you need to resubmit every
month is if you are getting kicked out of the search
engines. If you are getting kicked out of the search
engines resubmitting the same exact web site won't help
because you will get kicked out again and again.
Additionally, if you are getting kicked out of the search
engines it is because there is a fundamental problem with
the design of your web site. This needs to be fixed and
optimized to ensure high rankings in the search engines
and then "properly" hand submitted once.
Learn more about search
engine optimization by clicking here.
Honestly, search engine resubmission
programs are a SCAM that are wide spread and completely
not understood. Stay far away from them and if someone
tries to sell you search engine resubmission services ask
them the questions above.
i.e. Why do we have to keep
resubmitting? Why am I not staying in the search engines?
Why are my search engine rankings not improving over time?
Can you give me examples of clients that have been
"significantly" successful doing this? Can my
URL get barred from search engines for doing this? (see
below)
One other big thing to note:
Repeatedly resubmitting to the search engines can get your
URL barred from many of the search engines as they are
increasingly getting tired of their bandwidth and time
being eaten up by frivolous resubmissions. STAY AWAY FROM
THIS PRACTICE.
Q:
Can you design a dynamic web site?
A: Yes, we can. However,
dynamic web sites are not indexed by search engines and
take time to download as well as require special
software to enable you to view it on your computer.
Dynamic web sites are interesting and entertaining the
first time around, but they don't sell your products or
services.
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