A guaranteed top ranking in majority of search engines is a simple task and can be accomplished for far less than $1295 to $3000+ that some so called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies ask.

Very shortly you too will know truth and be able to do deal more effectively with your SEO and SEO companies.

Here are two of biggest hypes in SEO.

First is guaranteed 1st position hype...

Many companies tout this as a huge selling point of their SEO service. That's great. Until you read fine print.

The fine print tells you that this guarantee is based on a pay to play basis. For all of us novices and laymen that is pay per click (PPC) advertising.

You pay a large fee to SEO company and then you pay additional money for PPC ads.

PPC is either in form of bidding per click such as on Google AdWords or Overture. Or paid submission to Inktomi, AltaVista, AskJeeves, etc.

Bottom line is that for enough money you can be number one on any keyword.

Yes you can pay $8.00 per click on certain words in your industry, however question is do you want to and is it worth it?

The second touted benefit is keyword research. Most of this research is based on what you tell SEO and use of tools such as WordTracker and Overture's Inventory tool.

The keyword list is mailed or emailed to you for approval.

A huge disadvantage is limited amount of keywords that most SEO's include in their fee (some only allow 20 words.)

The problem is these sites aren't optimized for search engines. SEO, Search Engine Optimization, SE Friendliness, however you refer to it doesn't matter, fact is it works and I'm going to tell you what's involved.

Before we continue let me familiarize you with some relevant terminology in my own words.

Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization can be referred to as addition and modification of all variables and extended variables of a web site in hopes of achieving a better position in search engines. By variables I mean components of a website such as META tags and content. By extended variable I mean things such as links from other sites.

Different SEOs, search engine optimizers, may have different opinions on this but alas this is only my own.

What is a Search Engine Optimization Company? A search engine optimization company is a company that offers service of creating and adjusting all variables involved in search engine optimization in order to get your web site best ranking they can achieve, during designated project period, for all major search engines.

Search Engine Optimization Hurdles Back to question of why these sites rich with content aren't bringing in numbers. There are several reasons why sites small and large aren't optimized for search engines, fortunately these can be remedied.

1. Many webmasters/site owners believe in "If You Build It They Will Come". This attitude will get your web site no where fast. Sure if you build it you will get users maybe even a decent amount of users but you will not be unleashing real potential of your web site.

2. Not feeling that your site can do better than it is. Websites can always be further optimized. Search engines change their algorithms all time so what worked 2 months ago may not work as well or at all in present times. For any of you that fee you can get your site optimized better, think of story of Little Engine and don’t think you can, KNOW YOU CAN.

3. Laziness is also a major contributing factor. Many webmasters feel it is just too hard or too time consuming to do search engine optimization.

This is partially true. Search engine optimization is not easy but then again, anyone can do it. It does take time though and time is a precious commodity. In situations where you just can't devote time to search engine optimize your site I would recommend seeking services of a professional search engine optimization company. You can choose one here SEO Companies