This advice applies to any Web site marketing campaign...does your Web consultant take care of all this for you?

What makes Search portal placement such a great marketing assett?
More and more of your current and future customers are using the Internet to get information and make purchase decisions. There are only three ways visitors reach your Web site: Web search results (80% to 90%+!), Domain name awareness (they already know your Web address and type it directly into their Web browser), and cross-link partnerships (a mostly untapped resource!). Search portal placement is a crucial way for current and future clients to find you...if you aren't there and your competitors are, you lose!

If search placement is such an important issue, why should I trust Outside The Box to handle this for me?
OTB has helped many businesses achieve success with their Web marketing campaigns, and we go well beyond other firms in offering advice on how to convert Web browsers into custoemrs. We have overseen marketing both large and small, and our expertise will allow you to skip past the problems most businesses are having with Web site traffic building and analysis, and provide the fastest possible measureable results. Check out our Add-On Services for more information.

How often do you submit my site?
Every search engine is different. We use custom software tools to submit your site to 24 domestic and 62 international search engines (international placement costs more). Our tools work continuously, but work within the myriad ever-changing submission rules imposed by the search portal maintainers. We can save you many hours with just the submission process!

How will I know it's working?
OTB will deliver a easy-to-read monthly report on where you stand on each search engine for the keywords and key phrases you have chosen. The report also includes an analysis of your Web site traffic and which searches are resulting in "hits" on our Web pages. You would have to perform hundreds of searches to find out this information on your own, SearchFind/TrafficAnalysis saves you tons of time!

What does my Web site need?
OTB will analyze your Web pages, and work with you to develop a list of the "keywords" or "key phrases" that your potential customers will enter into search engines. OTB will also help you develop a compelling "description" of your site. This information is embedded in hidden "meta tags" on your Web pages, and control how the search engines index your site, and decide when to offer your site as a result of a user's search. This is a critical step for the success of the campaign, and we are experts at helping you establish and adjust this critical information.

What does a benchmark report include?
Before we start submitting your site to search engines, we create a "benchmark report." This includes the keywords and key phrases you've chosen, and shows your current placement (if your site is listed at all) on the target search engines. This allows you to see exactly where the SearchFind/TrafficAnalysis service is helping your search engine placement, by providing a "benchmark" to compare to subsequent reports.

What does a monthly report include?
The monthly reports show you where you've moved up (or down!) in placement on the target search engines, for all the chosen keywords and phrases. This saves you from having to keep track of hundreds of Web search results.

What does a quartely report include?
The quarterly report, delivered every three months, shows you where the SearchFind/TrafficAnalysis service is working, and provides recommendations for any changes to the campaign that will help your placement.

How long will it take?
It takes between 3 and 6 months to achieve substantial results in your site's placement for the initial keywords and phrases that you chose. We recommend an ongoing campaign, throughout the life of your Web site, to maintain placement that's been establish and constantly adjust your campaign to meet the unique needs of your firm and the challenges presented by your competition.

What's the first step?
The first step is to fill out the sign-up form, and an OTB representative will contact you to discuss the campaign. We will work with you to develop the list of keywords and phrases, and the site description, and to generate your benchmark report.

What if I can't make the necessary Web site changes myself?
Check out our Add-On Services. OTB staff can make any of the necessary changes to your site, so you don't need a Web designer to make the necessary changes to your site to ensure search engine portal placement success.

What about paid ads on search engines?
We recommend a 3 to 6 month SearchFind/TrafficAnalysis campaign to determine the need for paid placement. At the time of the second or third quarterly report, OTB will make recommendations for paid placement to firms that have the unique situations that make this a good investment.

Exactly what search engines do you submit to?
Domestic: 7Search, About.com Sprinks, Ah-Ha, AllTheWeb (Fast), AltaVista, AOL Web Sites, AskJeeves (Teoma), Epilot, FindWhat, Google, HotBot, ICQSearch, IWon, Jayde, Kanoodle, LookSmart, Lycos, MSN, Netscape, Open Directory, Overture (Formerly Goto), WiseNut, Xuppa (Formerly Bay9), Yahoo Web Pages, Yahoo Web Sites
International (submission to International search engines incurs extra costs): AltaVista (Australia), AltaVista (Canada), Altavista (Germany), AltaVista (Netherlands), AltaVista (Scandinavia), AltaVista (United Kingdom), Anzwers (Australia), Anzwers (New Zealand), AOL (Germany), AOL (United Kingdom), Asiaco (China), AskJeeves Teoma (United Kingdom), Biglobe (Japan), Club-Internet (France), Fireball (Germany), Freenet (Germany), Goo (Japan), Google (France), Google (Germany), Google (United Kingdom), Libero (Italy), LookSmart (United Kingdom), Lycos (France), Lycos (Germany), Lycos (Italy), Lycos (Netherlands), Lycos (Scandinavia), Lycos (Spain/Latin America), Lycos (United Kingdom), MSN (Australia), MSN (Canada), MSN (France), MSN (Germany), MSN (Italy), MSN (Japan), MSN (Netherlands), MSN (Scandinavia), MSN (Spain/Latin America), MSN (United Kingdom), NoMade (France), Overture (United Kingdom), Passagen (Scandinavia), Rambler (Russia), Supereva (Italy), Sympatico (Canada), Tiscali (Italy), TOnline (Germany), Virgilio (Italy), Voila (France), WebDE (Germany), WebWombat (Australia), Yahoo Web Sites (Australia), Yahoo Web Sites (Canada), Yahoo Web Sites (China), Yahoo Web Sites (France), Yahoo Web Sites (Germany), Yahoo Web Sites (Italy), Yahoo Web Sites (Japan), Yahoo Web Sites (New Zealand), Yahoo Web Sites (Spain/Latin America), Yahoo Web Sites (United Kingdom), Yandex (Russia)