Top 10 SEO suppliers in the UK – December 2004

 A search for ‘search engine optimisation’ on Google UK now lists 740,000 sites. So how do you go about finding a supplier you can trust with yours?

 One prime method of judging their effectiveness is to see which perform best for themselves.  Each year for the last 3 years we have been monitoring the rankings to aid customer judgement.  Each year we have slightly modified the method of testing to try and give meaningful results as the market for search engines changes.

 This year there are 2 major new search engines that have launched to rival Google – Yahoo and MSN.  So we have checked rankings in the UK versions of all three.

 According to Overture UK Keyword Assistant the principal searches in October were:

search engine optimisation	16147
search engine submission	7920
search engine optimization	5350
search engine ranking	4376
search engine marketing	3910

 So with 3 search engines and 5 search terms there are a possible 150 different companies to be found in the top 10.  Listings by directories or purely information sites were excluded.

 In fact we found 73 different companies appearing, of which the top 10 for the number of listings achieved were: 

1)	www.submitexpress.co.uk	10
2)	www.oyster-web.co.uk	9
3)	www.greenlight.co.uk	8
4)	www.goldminedesign.co.uk	7
5) =	www.bigmouthmedia.com	6
5) =	www.search-engine-uk-optimisation.co.uk	6
5) =	www.consultancymarketing.co.uk	6
8) =	www.searchengineserious.co.uk	5
8) =	www.servicewrap.net	5
10) =	www.knobblycrab.co.uk	4
10) =	www.1-hit.com	4

 It is likely to be harder to achieve good rankings on these terms than on almost any others since the players are the most expert and the proof of performance most crucial to their continued existence.  Not all SEO companies will have chosen to compete in this way because of the impossibility of all quality companies getting into the top 10.  However the ones listed above have certainly proved their ability. The others have to find some other means to win credibility.

 One of the reasons often cited for not concentrating on search engine rankings is the danger that, over night, the search engines can change their algorithms and the top positions can be lost even quicker than they were won.  However the top 5 in the list above were all in our top 10 at the beginning of the year.  That shows that the search engines are actually quite consistent in their rankings despite all the changes.  Effort put into ensuring a site is well ranked will not be lost so long as the site is kept up to date and continues to deserve its listing.

 In fact it is quite possible that search engines are reluctant to replace a well-established site by a newcomer that may suddenly show highly on some factors but still has to prove its staying power.  The cost of good search engine optimisation should show benefits over a long period. It is also much easier to keep a site fresh and up to date than it is to create it in the first instance.

Regards & Happy Christmas

Stephen Orr