What is "natural" search engine optimization?
Natural or organic search engine optimization is the process of achieving top rankings in the search engines under the "regular" results for a website's most relevant search terms without paying for the sponsored results slots or the pay per click programs.  Many clients go with a natural campaign because the other options simply aren't in their budget.

How long does the natural search engine optimization process take?
Usually between 3 - 6 months to see results and after that it's an ongoing process. 

What is pay per click (PPC)?
Pay per click advertising is a search engine marketing technique that requires you to pay a fee every time someone clicks to your website from an ad you've placed in a search engine's results. The more you agree to pay, the higher your ad is placed in the results. You are only charged if your ad is clicked.  The ads are typically found on the right side under the heading "Sponsored Links" or "Sponsored Sites" or above the regular search engine results. Your ad appears based on the keyword phrases you have selected to pay for, therefore keyword research is crucial.  Pay per click campaigns can give you instant search engine traffic and is a good tool to use while you are waiting for the results of natural search engine optimization, or for keyword phrases that are highly competitive and for which you do not rank highly.

What are keywords?
Keywords are really keyphrases or keyword phrases now.  Keyword phrases are the words a searcher puts into the search engine box.  Once you determine what words people will use to search for your products or services, these are the words that should be in your page content and titles.

What's the difference between search engines and directories?
Search Engines -  An example of a search engine is .
Search engines rely on spiders to crawl the web and index everything they find. Spiders are just browser like programs that crawl the web indexing pages as they go to store in the search engine's database. They will eventually find your page, therefore it is not necessary to submit it.

Directories -  An example of a directory is .
Directories are listings gathered through human efforts, rather than by automated crawling of the web, therefore it is necessary to submit your site to the directories. Directory editors cannot index thousands of pages everyday.  So why use human editors?  Quality!  Humans are much harder to impress than the spiders.  When you submit a page to a specific category in a directory, the editor will visit your page and determine if your page is good enough to include.  Editors will reject sites that have been submitted to the wrong category, are under construction, are hard to navigate, have broken links, or that have unclear information.  Because every site must be reviewed by the editors, it can take time to get listed. But, once you are listed in DMOZ, you could get listed in MANY other places.  DMOZ's data can be freely used by other sites.  One such site that uses their data for their own directory is Google!  Aha!  Now you see the advantage.  Many say that once you are in DMOZ, your Google search ranking will improve as well.  Another good thing about directories is that they provide a static link to your site.  You can view one of Automated Horizons' DMOZ listings here.

Will using keywords in my meta tags get me traffic?
WRONG!  The keyword meta tag is all but extinct.  Many of the search engines ignore this tag now.  However, it doesn't hurt to use this tag.

What about these emails I get that say "For $99, we'll submit you to 100,000 search engines"?
It's true for drugs, and true for this - Just say NO! Several reasons: 1) 100,000 search engines?  C'mon!  There just aren't that many and besides, there's only a handful that matter - Google, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, Altavista, etc.  2) Mass submitting or constant submitting could get you banned from some search engines  3) Submitting to search engines just isn't necessary to begin with.  They will find you and come out and crawl your site on their own. 4) Obviously, it's a waste of money!

What about companies that offer guaranteed positions or results?
NOBODY can guarantee results.  While we stand behind our work, we cannot absolutely guarantee anything - that’s false advertising.  Beware of companies who “guarantee” because they will scam you.  Example: A coffee shop in Roanoke expects to get results for “coffee Roanoke” or “coffee shop roanoke” , when actually they will only get results for “freshly brewed coffee and roasted beans - Roanoke, VA" - something nobody will search for.  And, while it's very likely that they could place you at #1 for that phrase, they still can't "guarantee" it.  The only true way to get “guaranteed” results is with paid advertising with the search engines, like the ads you see on the right hand side with Google or the “Sponsored results”  for other search engines.  These programs are all “pay per click”.  However, while it's guaranteed that you'll show up, there is no guarantee that anyone will click on your ad.