Frequently Asked Questions

You ask and we answer!

A Search Engine is?
A search engine is a database of millions upon millions of websites found by spiders, crawlers or bots that constantly crawl the Internet looking for websites to add. These websites are assigned a certain order or relevance by each search engine. The search engines use different criteria to determine the importance of each domain. When an end user searches for a Keyword or Phrase, the search engine uses its own algorithm to determine which domains to show and in what order. The search engines will periodically update and make changes to their algorithms, thus changing the results they show for searches.

A Directory is?
A directory is also a database of websites -- not nearly as many as search engines, though. The main difference is a Directory uses human editors to manage sites. The best-known are Yahoo and Open Project Directory, aka DMOZ.org. Some are free to submit to and others require a fee. Both search engines and directories will increase your audience substantially.

Is it easy to achieve a top rankings in the search engines?
It is not easy to rank on the first page of any search engine. There are thousands of professional search-engine-optimization companies trying to get their respective pages ranked near the top. It is possible if the proper techniques are applied and your site is optimized correctly.

What is the best search engine?
That is really personal preference. Search engines are all unique and will show different results for the same searches. Right now Google.com supplies the most traffic followed by Yahoo.com and MSN.com.

If we hire your company what can we expect?
You can expect to see your site improve in the organic, or natural, rankings. We will help optimize your site and build incoming links from relevant sites. Your position on the search engines will fluctuate -- that is the nature of the search engines; they do not stay the same. If a company says it will guarantee a top ranking, be very wary; no one is 100 percent certain to deliver a top ranking in the natural search results. If a company is going to promote you through Pay-Per-Click engines, then maybe it can get your site on top ... but you will pay a premium to be there! Here is a useful tool to see exactly how much your keyword would cost on Yahoo Search Marketing, previously known as Overture.com. This is currently one of the biggest Pay-Per-Click programs.

Pay-Per-Click? What is that exactly?
Simply put, PPC is for the biggest companies with unlimited marketing budgets. Most of the PPC sites are large businesses that can afford to pay the per click costs for the keywords that generate the largest amounts of traffic. Some smaller companies do use PPC successfully. We recommend using the tool above to view the bid costs and make a wise choice before paying for placement.

I submitted my site to the Search Engines but it does not show up anywhere?
Search Engine listings are not guaranteed! Your site must be well optimized and relevant for its main keywords and phrases. If you are not sure if your site is optimized simply fill out our Free Form and we will analyze it for you.

How long does it normally take to see results?
It all depends on the search engines; they have their own agendas. We see results in as little as three weeks to as long as four months. The engines, crawlers, spiders or bots constantly look for new sites and re-index old sites. Depending on when they pick up your new page or new changes to your old pages will determine which update you are included in. Updates for Google run approximately every 90 days, Yahoo could take anywhere from two months to six months, and MSN might list a new or changed site in as little as a week.

Search Engine Optimization is?
Search Engine Optimization is the process of making a website friendly to the major search engines. The process can involve some small modifications to, or additions to, individual parts of a website. This may involve making changes to the Meta Tags, Headers, Body Text, Anchor Text, Alt Tags, Incoming and Outgoing Links, Keyword Density, etc.

Will the look of my page change?
No, we can optimize sites while maintaining the original look, feel and integrity of the site.

If all this was important, why didn't the original website designer do it for me?
Most website designers overlook the importance of setting up a website to be indexed by search engines. In most cases, the website designers do a terrific job with the design, look and feel. They just are not aware of the importance of making the pages search engine friendly in the design phase. At ianfalcone.com, we research how search engines work, and when we see changes we adjust to them in a positive way.

Can I do the work myself and save money?
Absolutely, you can do the bulk of this work yourself. As long as you stay up to speed with the always-changing search engines and are willing to commit the necessary time to the project.