1. Manage expectations on initial Search Engine placement:

Do NOT tell your prospect that you will get their web site placing in top 10 search results right away. Don't guarantee that you you'll get them thousands of visitors right away. I tell my prospects that I will do my best to position them within top 30 search results initially. As you know, in this business there are no absolute guarantees, but even if you can often position a client within top 10 search results on at least a few of Majors right away, think about what you say before you say it.

People are tired of hearing a lot hype. Many firms make mistake of pedaling a lot of trumped up claims, even before they learn and understand a prospects business. With so many people out there, who will promise world to get a sale, a little realism goes a long way to establishing your credibility. Setting a client's expectations low initially, only enhances effect of achieving a high-ranking result. Why not initially tell your client something that is EASY to believe.

I like to teach client to expect top placement over a period of 3 to 6 months. It's much easier for them to believe and for each time you immediately place within top 10 quickly, client has another exciting surprise! Learn to under promise and really over deliver every time! Focus on educating your clients and teaching them truths that others only gloss over (or are not aware of themselves).

2. Blow away old misconceptions

While some web firms talk about huge volume of "Hits" to their customers sites, I teach my prospects very early, that "hits" are irrelevant. Hits are not best means of determining site activity. A hit is NOT a visitor. A hit can be any action from server. For example a page that displays 1 image, 10 buttons, 1 logo and plays music in background, might generate up to 14 hits for every visitor to site. This is best explained by showing client an activity report and pointing out difference between hits (any action from server) and User Sessions (actual visitors). Eliminating any of common misconceptions about traffic right from start, will serve you well in a marketplace where others are selling nothing more than hype. Set yourself apart from rest. Instead of letting customers believe old ideas, educate them and help your customer to grasp how things work.

3. Teach your client about time required for initial indexing:

I tell my client not to expect much site activity right away. I like to prepare them for time it takes robots to visit their site for first time. Once again, this a great opportunity to set your client's expectation a little lower. If we give them an expectation of waiting approximately 6 weeks after registration, before traffic commences, we know that some search engines will probably begin to visit in 3 to 5 weeks. Indeed a few may occasionally even visit within just 48 hours from time you register. However, creating an expectation of 6 to 8 weeks allows you to out-perform yourself every time. If you really must exaggerate...then under promise and over deliver.

Success Principle: Teach your client's truth and learn to manage your client's expectations. If you deliver above average results and communicate well, you will have a client for a lifetime.

4. Tip on Mass Search Engine Registration:

With my personal Web site, I use a nationally known Internet Host provider to host it. They’ve hosted my site for years, and I can’t really complain about their services (except that you can rarely find a real “person” to talk to).

However, a few days ago, I wanted to give a good friend of mine, Dave Barry, access to FTP into my Web site to download a particular file. Rather than using an FTP program, he used IE (Internet Explorer) to FTP into site. The strange thing is, before I even gave him my username and password, Dave was inside server where my site is hosted!

Dave said that server, and any sites hosted on that server, were wide open for attack. He was able to see System 32 Directory, passwords, etc. The good news for me is that Dave is a Certified Internet Webmaster Security Professional Instructor, so he knows exactly what he’s talking about (and I don’t).

He ran a report to show vulnerability of my Web site. That report indicated that there were seven high risk vulnerabilities, four medium risk, and two low risk. It also said that it was imperative that I take immediate action in fixing security issues of network.

Now isn’t this a comforting thought, especially since I’ve never questioned security of my Web site? I use one of top Web hosting firms in country. This problem should NOT have happened.

I contacted hosting company, and they’re checking into it. At one point, they said, “A little further research on my part found that anonymous FTP is erroneously enabled on your website.” Then, in a later e-mail, they changed their mind, “I did misspeak last night when I said that anonymous access was enabled, as I could not upload any files at all, though I could view some directories and files, evidently some relatively innocuous system data files.”

Dave disagreed, and he promptly sent me two files to prove how vulnerable and insecure system is. I sent them those files as well as security report Dave ran, and they’re continuing to look into it. To date though, a week later, they still haven't gotten back with me on it.

In my case, though this is a very disturbing situation, it isn’t end of world. I don’t sell anything on my Web site – it’s there for informational purposes only.