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E-123's Showcase Marketing ServicesFrequently-Asked-Questionshttp://www.e-123.net sales1@e-123.net In anticipation of your questions regarding our services, we have compiled a list of our most frequently asked questions. Please feel free to respond with any comments or additional questions you may have. 1. How do E-123's services compare to Search Engine Submit Sites? Our services are often confused with search engine submittal sites, however our strategy is entirely different. We construct individual optimized showcase pages to match the criteria of each search engine, then combine the individual pages over time into what amounts to be a showcase page site for our clients. Each showcase page is carefully constructed to meet the requirements of one or more of the major search engines positioning algorithms, based on the engines current algorithm* (the way they determine what position your keyword phrase will appear in their index). Additionally, each page concentrates on a very narrow band of keywords whereas your existing web page(s) is targeting a much broader spectrum of words and phrases, therefore, diluting its effectiveness.
Our showcase sites not only use the showcasing technology described above but they also use a technology where pages are linked together in a strategic fashion to produce maximum results. Combined with rich content, this strategy produces consistently higher ranking keyword positions in the target market and pushes out the competition. This is the fastest and most effective way to drive large numbers of TARGET TRAFFIC to your site. 2. Why do I need your services for longer than 1 month? For businesses considering our services, many have the most difficult time in the beginning trying to understand why they need our services for more than 1 month. "Why" they ask, "should I have to keep paying money every month when all I really needed to do was come back to you every few months and get you to resubmit my site?" Additionally, they stated "Originally, my thinking was to have you do what you do for the first 30 days, and be gone." In most cases, this type of thinking is a common result of having read too many articles written by search engine submit companies. Search engine submit companies want you to believe that all you have to do is pay them $39 - $99 to submit your site, and suddenly thousands of new visitors will start arriving at your site every month.
3. Why are your prices higher than Search Engine Submit Sites? The only purpose of a Search Engine Submit Site* is to submit your existing web site's page(s) to the search engines. These pages on your web site will not do well for positioning into a top 10, 20, nor 30 position for the keywords that your clients may be using to find your web site. This is because they have not yet been optimized. Note: Even if your pages are optimized (formatted in such a way as to be attractive to the search engines), they will not do well for multiple keywords and phrases over a broad spectrum. This is because each of the pages on your "real" web site must cover a lot of ground and cannot zero-in on one specific term or phrase. This phenomena is called keyword dilution.
4. Why are the Showcase pages and sites located on your servers and not mine? Our showcase pages are located on our own sites for multiple reasons. They are: a) Ease of service. b) To prevent any conflicts with webmasters changing the sites. c) Off-site pages position better. d) We have access to 100% consistent logging information. e) Our pages are on Compaq Prolient Web Servers connected to the Internet on 3 redundant T3 connections for fast loading and 99.9% up time. f) It is possible that a site can get banned or penalized from a search engine for "crossing the line", and this line is redefined quite frequently. How would we look if the home page for your site suddenly disappeared from the search engine results?
These methods enhance the ability of the page to rank important keywords that the "real" page on the "real" web site simply cannot accomplish. The reason why the "real" web site cannot rank all of the terms you would like them to rank has to do with word "weight" (see explanation above). Your new showcase pages are always one-click-away* from the specific page on your "real" web site that is most appropriate for the term that the showcase page has ranked. The "new showcase page" or showcase site has the same look and feel as your "real web site" so most users never notice the transition.
5. Why do your prices vary depending on the industry of my business? The amount of keywords placed and the costs are directly proportional to the industry we are ranking the terms for. For example, "Internet" related terms, such as web hosting, marketing, development, ISP, etc. are extremely time consuming to position and carry a higher associated cost. Plus, just to make things more difficult, many of the search engines "cache" (static or hard code) popular terms and only do a 'total' re-index every few months. That means that a page, which should rank in the top 30 for 1 or more keywords may not get properly positioned for several months. Sounds like an excuse, but it's true. 6. Can you guarantee top placement on all of the major search engines? No reputable positioning company will absolutely guarantee top placement of keywords and phrases on all the top engines. None of us have control over the search engines positioning algorithms (the formula used to determine ranking). We can only monitor what's being positioned in the top spots, model our pages to fit that criteria, and by using up to date information on the latest search engine algorithms (the recipe used to position the results). We continue to refine our showcase and S.W.A.T programs accordingly to produce maximum positioning results (the order of where your keywords will be placed).
This does not lead to miss leading or "ripped-off" pages, or pages that look like someone else's, they simply model the algorithm that's currently being used by each engine. Search engine placement guarantees (not to be confused with top 10, 20, nor 30 positioning results) are only available through banner advertising on the search engines. The average banner costs run between $2,500 - $7,500 per month, per engine (not our costs, but actual costs charged by the search engine companies). This buys you a small banner advertisement located at the top of the search engine, which has roughly a 1-3% click-through *rate and only 0.5 percent of that total typically buys anything. The downside of banners is cost as well as public immunity to advertisements (kind of like being billboard blind while driving down the freeway).
Also, some of the engines are now auctioning off specific keyword phrases to the highest bidder. To date, the majority of the major engines do not do this. And our surveys show that consumers consider this to be another type of trickery used to smother smaller businesses who quite often have better deals. 7. How can you possibly position over 500 of my keywords and phrases? I cannot even think of 500 words that my prospective customers might use to find me. As for 10 keywords or 500 keywords, our experience reflects that everyone types in their search engine queries differently. Some use all lower case, some capitalize the first letters of each word, some capitalize the first word of each phrase, and many misspell and hyphenate or run words together and/or use Boolean logic. Our techniques include common capitalization, hyphenation and misspelling variations. These examples alone would make your 10 keyword phrases turn into 60 keyword phrases. Why miss sending a user to your site, just because he/she can't spell one or more of your keywords? We create a blanketing effect on all of the major engines so that anyone looking for a product or service (that you offer) will find you. 8. What does your average client pay for your services? As for our "average" client, our records indicate the average client spends approx. $300 per month for at least 6 months for our services. Most do not stop using our services and continue to use our monthly services well beyond the initial average time periods. $300 per month* gets them 3-5 showcase pages that typically rank 6 to 50 "good" variations of their main keywords and keyword phrases on multiple engines based on the common variations in use for that particular industry, including brand names, geographical locations, models, colors, and cheap to expensive variations in types of products. We can typically come up with hundreds of good terms that people will use to describe a particular product. For example, we have found more than 600 ways to say "contact lenses".
9. What happens when I run out of keywords for my web site? As search engine positioning algorithms change, we continue to update our showcase pages and showcase sites so that your pages will remain in top positions. We have found that some major engines change their algorithms sometimes several times in a given month. The rise of competition can also put pressure on your top positions. We make the necessary changes to keep your site above theirs. 10. Can you show me an example of your showcase page and showcase site technology? · Showcase site: http://www.doublebarrel2.com/lakearrowhead/Default.htm · Showcase Page: 11. How many new visitors can I expect to see each month? The number of increased visitors per month you will see to your web site is directly proportional to the "general popularity" of the subject on the web. Our contact lens showcase pages receive over 10,000 verifiable unique user sessions per month (not to be confused with "hits" or multiple pages visited by the same user). While others like our birding site receive far fewer (around 3,000 user sessions per month). A few "isolated" markets may only see a few hundred new visitors per month. The difference is quality, not quantity of visitors (TARGETED TRAFFIC). Remember these are people who are ready to purchase your product and/or service. We can drive traffic to your site, but your site must present a positive "buy", "contact us", or similar image to turn visitors into buyers. 12. What happens to my pages once I stop paying for your services? So, what happens at the end of your "paid" time? Depends: I used plans 1, 2 or 3 (see descriptions below): ALL your showcase pages stay up for as long as they maintain a top 30 position in any of the search engines. We cover the costs of all hosting fees. While a client is paying, we submit new pages, track their positions and modify/resubmit any that drop. Once they become inactive clients, we simply let the pages ride. The only reason we would pull pages is if we did the work and didn't get paid for our services. We couldn't stay in business if we pulled pages at the end of a promotion. Our resellers and end-users would not stand behind us 100% if we stooped to such trickery. I used plan 4 (see descriptions below): Plan 4 involves a partnered approach that does not qualify for a continuation of the pages after the "partnership" is ended. 13. Summary So, as I hope you can see, we are not a "search engine submission site", but a "marketing partner", looking after your best interests on the Internet. Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions you may have. http://www.e-123.net, sales1@e-123.net We have a plan to fit almost any budget or time frame. 14. Reseller Info Our network of Web hosting and Web site developer companies resell E-123 services to their clients as a value added service. For more information on becoming a reseller, please contact sales1@e-123.net. 15. Pricing examples Pricing really depends upon your budget. There are four basic plans being utilized for our services, 1) a month-to-month, 2) a pre-pay, 3) a "guaranteed" plan and 4) a "partnered" approach plan. The good news is our showcase pages are "modular", so we can customize a plan to fit almost any timeline and budget. PLAN 1: Month-to-Month Plan The month-to-month is a "stepped" program, meaning we create one or more showcase pages per month (depends on the budgeted amount per month), each month for the time period you use us. Since you pay for our services over a period of multiple months, this plan doesn't take as big a bite out of your monthly budget. Typical "budget" amounts our clients choose are between $120 and $1,200 per month. We recommend using this plan for a minimum of 6 months. PLAN 2: Pre-Pay Plan The pre-pay plan allows us more flexibility to rapidly increase the number of relative phrases we can position and point at your site (doesn't have the monthly allotment restrictions). Typical pre-pay amounts our clients choose are between $1,000 and $7,200 per 6 month pre-pay. PLAN 3: Guaranteed Placement Plan With the guaranteed placement plan, you only pay when we position your phrases in the top 30. It requires a minimum $1,000 fee that we deduct $75 for every phrase we rank between 1 and 10 on each major engine, $50 for every phrase we rank between 11 and 20 on each major engine and $35 for every phrase we rank between 21 and 30 on each major engine. We don't charge more if we rank over the $1,000 (which is common) and if we haven't used up the $1,000 in 120 days, we will refund any remaining amount. How we check your position and determine the charges (only applies to the Guaranteed Placement Plan) At the end of each month, we will check your keyword phrases for their current positions using our Web positioning software. The first time a keyword phrase is ranked, you will be charged for it's position (it is deducted from your pre-paid fee). We do NOT recharge you for positioning the same phrase each month. You only pay once for the positioning of each phrase on each engine. We will forward a copy of the report to you. You can use the information available from the report to verify positioning of your phrases. PLAN 4: E-123's Partnered Approach Drives Targeted Traffic to Your Site Partnering with E-123 to promote your site makes sense. Why? Because we become active marketing partners and only profit when we deliver your most precious resource… TARGETED TRAFFIC! We take the guesswork and worry away from your company and place it squarely on our shoulders to drive traffic to your site. We will promote your site using many advertising vehicles, including search engines, directory services, links pages, banners and other proven methods to promote your site on the Internet. You are charged a small account setup fee that helps offset the initial costs involved with setting up your promotional showcase pages and promotional sites. After that, you are only charged for the actual traffic we deliver to your site. For as long as your company maintains a positive account balance, we will continue to promote your site. We deduct a fixed fee per click-through to your site from your account balance everytime you receive traffic. All you do is maintain a positive monthly balance with E-123. We will continue to deliver traffic to your site until your account balance is zeroed out. We verify traffic to your site Via our database that records where the showcase page traffic is coming from, the page on your site where we delivered your traffic to, and the date and time your traffic arrived at your site. We will provide you a detailed monthly account statement documenting all traffic generated to your site by E-123, your charges for the traffic, your account balance and if you need to replenish your balance. Account setup fee: $negotiable (non-refundable) Minimum starting balance: $negotiable Total first cost: $negotiable Fee per click-through: $negotiable Account will be charged per verified click-through to client's site. Performance review every 3 months to adjust advance fees. You agree to give E-123 a minimum of 90 days per deposit to zero out account. E-123 agrees to advise you in advance of projected date of balance depletion. Our partnered approach is the safest and easiest way to generate traffic to your site. 16. Definition of major indexing search engines Major indexing search engines include: AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, InfoSeek, WebCrawler, Lycos, Magellan, Northern Light, whatUseek, Go.com, AOL NetFind, Inktomi, MSN Search, NetScape Search and Search.com. Yahoo! is not an indexing search engine, it is a human powered directory service and is not included in the base rates. We will be happy to submit your site to Yahoo!, however an additional charge applies. 17. How we develop your keyword phrase list We check the Internet search engines, your competitors, and our log files and databases for phrases currently being used to attract users to sites like yours. We often expand the list to include common variations of the base keywords and phrases to cover a wide spectrum of common capitalization, hyphenation, etc. We never use quotation marks when evaluating your positions. Contact sales1@e-123.net for additional information. |
