We hired an SEO firm...

[brian.mark]

We recently hired an SEO firm to work on one of our sites. They seemed to be very much on the level, great references from companies like FedEx and some universities.

During one of our initial consultations, they started talking about title tags and how important it is to only have a key phrase there. We currently had a key phrase and our company name to differentiate it in the SERPs a bit.

For an example, they pointed out a client site. When I saw this page, which he claimed was basically entirely their suggestions, I was astonished. It is a page that they had ranking for vacuum cleaners, which is everything that this company is about, but the page they targeted seemed incorrect as it had nothing to do with vacuum cleaners. The title tag sure looked like SPAM to me when compared to the other sites showing up in the SERPs, too.

I'm looking for opinions here. Do we overlook this, or is this a huge red flag? The page that they were referring to is located here: http://www.bissell.com/IconMenu.asp?Page_id=248.

What is your opinion?

Brian.

[mike]

Well, I have been following this stuff for the past 6 years or so and it has been my experience that the title tag is the single most important tag on your page as far as SEO goes.

I make no claims as to my authority other than what I've seen... but from 1999 to today, the title tag is one of the very few constants in the SEO world.

So, as far as I'm concerned, they're telling you precisely what they should be. The link you provided has a title tag of "vacuums, floor care products, aspiradora". The title tag shows up first thing at the very tip top of the code (another good thing). The page, while it may not be expressly about these things, does actually repeat those words in the body in a logical and reasonable fashion.

All in all, based on what I've seen, I'd say they know what they're doing (which is to say I'd do the same thing if it were me - not that I profess to know what's 'right' or 'wrong').

[KeithO]

I find it surpising that a major brand like Bissel is hiring an SEO company. Never-the-less, agree that title tags are important. I don't like the way they did it on that page. Doesn't keep a professional appearance for the whole site. They put some keyword phrases before the name of the company.

[flood6]

I find it surpising that a major brand like Bissel is hiring an SEO company.

This company claims to be handling Bissell's SEO work. Is this the same company?

I searched Google, MSN, and Yahoo for "vacuum cleaners" and the only one that had a bissell page in the top 10 was MSN at the #10 spot. How long ago did they show you that page?

[brian.mark]

They showed us that this week. They were #12 in google at the time, which isn't bad - but still not too good.

Yes, flood6, that is the company that we hired in the link. I didn't include their name because I don't think it is all that relevant. I just wanted some opinions of the techniques they used. The lowercase title tags really felt "Spammy", as did going to an about us page.

While I agree that title tags are important, shouldn't there be a page about their vacuum cleaners that they target for that term, not the "About Us" page? Seemed rather odd to me, and this is more or less what I was asking about. If they don't understand the sales process in the slightest (getting people to the information they're looking for), are they worth working with (keeping a careful eye on the changes for sure) or should we find someone else?

Brian.

[incrediblehelp]

I find it surpising that a major brand like Bissel is hiring an SEO company.

Why is that? Large companies like Bissel.com could be in need of SEO just as much as someone that runs cheap-buy-discount-vacuum-cleaners.com

[xmx]

Also in my opinion the meta tags are made in a good way.

These are just my 2 cents anyway.

[ElizabethReynolds]

Doesn't keep a professional appearance for the whole site. They put some keyword phrases before the name of the company.

I was actually in a webinar with a fairly reputable guy, who said it is always best practice to go from the most specific to the most general, getting your keywords in the title first and your company last will give the keywords more importance than the name of the company.

[xmx]

That's exactly what I did with the 2nd site in my signature and Yahoo & msn now rank it in first page for the keyphrase of the title.

[brian.mark]

keywords in the title first and your company last will give the keywords more importance than the name of the company.

I like that, but they don't list the name of the company on these pages, and they just added the company name to the homepage title after our phone discussion.

Brian.