Tom Petryshen, CEO of Search Marketing firm Amplify and 10-year veteran of SEO comments on the state of the search industry in Australia.

Following a recent article on the 'dark side' of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) (read: ' Most search ranking firms unethical: CEO , published 15 May 2007 in Next), it's easy to see why some feel the SEO industry is dominated by shady salesmen and fly-by-night operations.

Despite concerns few marketing mediums can compete with SEO on cost of sale. When you get it right, the rewards can be tremendous for both businesses and consumers alike.

However SEO's significant up side can lead businesses to seek the easy road to success and 'over optimise' their website/s and links. Long term success with search engine rankings requires a lot of hard work enhancing your site's content in quantity and relevance and acquiring relevant links from outside sources among other things. Most importantly, long term success comes with a strict adherence to SEO guidelines published by the search engine.

So what can your business do to ensure you pick the right SEO partner? For starters, look for someone with strong business knowledge who is willing to take the time to learn what your business is about. A solid understanding of web standards, analytics and usability is also important. While you may find it difficult to find a sole proprietor with all these skills, more than a few SEO firms can meet your needs.

Here's how to find a good SEO partner:

Get educated - There are resources online to acquire basic search engine optimisation knowledge so you don't feel overwhelmed - start by googling 'SEO training' and work your way from there.

Get more than one opinion - This standard practice for most things in life also applies here. You'll begin to understand industry best practice (and what isn't) and get better at asking the right questions.

Suitability - Your ability to get results from an SEO strategy is affected by your industry and the marketplace in which you compete. If you are in an established sector with many long-standing competitors, expect to pay a hefty price in time, money and effort to compete effectively.

Find someone local with a physical address - There's no substitute for local knowledge and there's no substitute for meeting your consultant face to face - especially if things don't go to plan.

Testimonials - Find out who they work for and ask to speak with at least three of their clients.

There are no guarantees - If an SEO consultant guarantees you the number one spot on Google's Natural Search Rankings - start to worry. Make sure they mean to make you number one for your main keywords, NOT just for your company name or brand - and ask them to explain how they plan to do this in a cost-effective manner. That's probably the last you'll hear from them.

Search Engine Guidelines

• Google: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/
• Yahoo: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/ranking/
• MSN: http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx