Re: search engine aquisition

 8-Second question: Is this just a case of someone likely taking
> advantage of us, is there something he did not tell us concerning search
> engines.

Many search engines will only look at the first 16 tags, but it looks like
you've covered all the bases there.  I've heard that the big search engines
even use factors like how many times a word is used on the page to help
determine placement.    I think it may be the wording of 100 search engines.
There are probably close to 2000 search engines and if they didn't guarantee
you top placement in the MAJOR search engines, you could be on some obscure
search somewhere.  I would definitely ask for a list of the search engines
you are registered with and what your current ranking is there.  If they
can't provide you with that information, something seems wrong and I'd see
if you can get a partial refund or some other compensation for that portion
of their services.  Personally, I do the submissions for our clients (you
can pick up good software under $200 for mass submissions)  and I would
never GUARANTEE top placement.  I do the best I can and submit to major
search engines by hand - I do have top 10 ranking on certain engines and a
#1 on one particular keyword, none of which come from the home page.  I
check to see which pages have been added to the databases and then add a new
page.  I get better rankings with different pages because of that word
frequency and more direct page titling (I work with Realtors - so the
seller's info page ranks better than the home page when someone wants that
info)  Not all search engines will spider and database all the linked pages
depending on a lot of factors.  You could seriously go crazy trying to
determine all the factors that go into placement.

I think I'm probably making it even more confusing  -- bottom line -- get a
list of the engines and your ranking.  If you aren't happy and they don't
have a very good explaination -- get a partial credit or other compensation.
Check out Webposition Gold submission software.  They have a free trial
download and useful information on their site.

http://www.webposition.com/cgi-local/d.pl?DS1=Goto.com&DS2=webposition-gold
another reference site
http://firstplaceranking.com/software.htm

Deb

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