SEO and SEM Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do you have a minimum monthly PPC budget?

A: We can implement a PPC strategy for nearly all budgets. It is important to understand that it is more difficult to compete with lower budgets and your return will be higher with a more agressive budget…we cannot perform miracles.

Q: Why are you able to work with such low budgets? It seems like many Search companies have high monthly spend minimums.

A: We have lower overhead than most SEM firms; therefore, are able to work with smaller PPC accounts. Additionally, protocol 80’s foundation was built on helping smaller businesses achieve online success. We are able to work with companies of all sizes, so if you have a 1 person small business or 500 employee large business, we can implement an SEM strategy that fits your needs today.

Q: How large can we make our PPC accounts?

A: We want your campaigns to be successful just as much as you do. We do not have account size limits because we will create your account to perform to the best of its ability.

Q: What do you ask from me after we implement our SEM and SEO strategies?

A1: SEM: Please keep us informed of any new promotions or ad messaging you would like placed in your account. Also, please notify us if you are changing your web site as this may affect landing pages in your PPC account.

A2: SEO: Please keep us informed if there are new pages where you would like to implement an SEO strategy. Our SEO packages allow you to optimize a set number of pages per year; they all do not need to be done immediately.

Q: What is a quality score, what are the benefits of improving it, and what steps do you take for improving the quality score?

A: Quality score is calculated by the engines to determine what an advertiser will pay when their keyword is clicked. The higher the quality score, the lower CPC you will pay. By organizing your account so keywords, landing pages, and ads are all relative to each other and highly relevant to the searchers query, we can help you achieve higher quality scores for your keywords.

Q: Do I pay every time my ad shows?

A: No, you pay only when the search engine user clicks on your ad. Cost-Per-1,000 impressions (CPM) is also offered by Google, but we generally do not recommend this strategy.

Q: Which engines allow me to utilize Pay-Per-Click advertising?

A: There are several engines that allow PPC advertising. We focus mostly on Google, Yahoo, and MSN, but if there are other search engines or niche engines that will assist in your PPC strategy, we can also utilize those engines.

Q: Do you recommend using both PPC and SEO?

A: We recommend what is best based on your business goals. In many cases the optimal solution would be to use both PPC and SEO because one or the other may not satisfy all of your business needs. SEO will always provide you with the highest ROI, but PPC can produce traffic to your site immediately.

Q: How long will it take for my SEO strategies to take effect?

A: It varies based on the nature of your site and the competition in the online space in which you choose to target. Generally we advise that SEO strategies may not take effect for 6-12 months.

Q: Do you guarantee top ranks in any engine?

A: We do not guarantee top ranks because it is simply not a promise we can keep. We will adjust strategies accordingly to achieve the best results possible, but the online space has tons of competition and the engine’s ‘secret’ algorithms are constantly changing. So, although we do not promise top ranks, you will find that no legitimate SEO firms will.

Q: How soon can you start my PPC campaigns?

A: We implement a PPC campaign for your business relatively quick, although this will vary depending on complexity of the account. Contact us to discuss your PPC strategy today.

Q: What is black hat SEO?

A: Black hat SEO is using tactics that are unapproved by the search engines. Some black hat SEO tactics include cloaking, doorway pages, link spamming, keyword spamming, hidden text and duplicate sites/content. Black hat SEO tactics can get your site banned from the search engines; at protocol 80, we do not promote any black hat tactics.

Q: Are you willing to take clients outside of your local area?

A: Although our SEO/SEM, IT, and web development firm is in Bradford, PA, we accept clients both nationally and internationally.