Some Search Positioning Services use a pricing scheme whereby they only charge for visitors sent to your web site. At first glance this seems very attractive - if you don't place well you don't pay. You gotta like that! However, this is a practice that ends up being very costly to you and demands scrutiny.

These search engine positioning companies usually use one of two methods. The first method is where they create dozens of "doorway pages" (they may call them "keyword rich pointer pages" or another name) that forward to your web site. If done correctly this can send traffic to your site but there is a down side. Search engines consider such pages spam and will penalize your site once discovered or reported by a jealous competitor.

These penalties are usually permanent - which means your domain that you have invested so much in becomes basically worthless. It is not a matter of "if" this will happen but "when" - because all spam is caught sooner or later.

Sometimes this first method is used in combination with hidden link farms which are also considered spam and will also result in penalties that have proven to be permanent.

The second method is where the company creates a "doorway page" in another domain that forwards visitors to your web site. They then promote this new page - not your web site - in search engines and in some cases in their own directories.

This new page actually replaces your web site in the major search engines (who recognize it as a duplicate of your original site) and in most cases does not rank well because it really is not optimized as they are relying mostly on directory traffic.

So, at this point your web site is gone from search engines it once appeared in. Wait - it gets worse! This strategy is also considered spam and the same penalties apply as in the previous scenario where your domain becomes worthless!

This is not a good thing to happen to your web site! You may receive some traffic - at least initially - but eventually your domain becomes penalized and all of your pervious marketing and branding efforts are thrown out the window.

Site owners are usually not even aware of the strategies being used or of the consequences and often refer offending companies to their friends and colleagues - who then sign up on blind faith and become victims themselves. You need to be aware of this and do your own research - even if the company is recommended by respected colleagues.