If your website is geared towards business or commerce you should consider professional SEO consulting. Studies have shown that the vast majority of users find websites by using the major search engines, and for the most part, “commerce” related search terms that generate significant traffic tend to be highly competitive in terms of SEO. If your company is considering building a new website or updating an existing one, then securing search engine optimization consulting should be one of the top priorities in mind.
Remember: if you spend a significant amount of money to develop the "look and feel" of your website but users can’t find you, then all of your "design & development" money has gone to waste.
Keep in mind that SEO can be geared for large competitive industries as well as small niche markets. Also, if your new website contains dynamic elements, such as a content management system (CMS), you will definitely want to consult with someone that has experience with integrating a CMS system into their overall SEO strategy. CMS systems are notoriously SEO unfriendly.
When will I see results?
You might see some tangible results within days, but typically it takes between three to twelve months to see a positive return on investment. Achieving a favorable ranking in the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and MSN) is a gradual process. You must consider two key factors when determining the timetable for achieving a favorable rank. First, what keywords or key phrases will be targeted? Second, how competitive are those keywords and key phrases? These two questions are actually just components of the same question, who’s on top, and how much/ long will it take to surpass them?
Pay close attention to how your prospective SEO consultant answers this question. Make sure that your consultant (whether it be a firm or a freelancer) provides a detailed analysis of your competition for your target search terms which includes competitor’s backlink info and indexed pages info. This will be a key factor in determining if your SEO consultant is worth the investment. You may have to pay for this initial consultation ($250 to $500), but it is well worth it.
Search Optimization 
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