Panama City, Panama is finally opening its doors to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services.  Companies in North and Central America looking for affordable SEO / SEM will no longer be forced to deal with companies in India or countries in a totally different time zone.

Panama does have a growing number of web design firms, several of them working internationally.  It is gradually becoming a high tech hub within Latin America.  But, until recently it has not had a firm focused exclusively on Internet Marketing consulting and SEO.   Some of the existing firms in Panama City do offer SEO as a sideline.  But it is offered in addition to their primary web design business, not their primary focus.

This forces companies within Panama as well as the US, Canada and the rest of Latin America to look to companies in the eastern hemisphere if they want affordable SEO Services.

SEO For Less (http://www.seo-for-less.com), started by an ex-Microsoft engineer, aims to change all of that.  "We want affordable but world class SEO services to be available right here, in Panama.  There is no reason that a real estate company in North or Central America should have to outsource their SEO work to a company in India, 12 hours away."

Panama, being the crossroads of the world is in a perfect location for outsourced software services like SEO.  It has a central time zone, which matches both North and South America allowing for fast response times when work needs to be done.

Over the last couple of years, SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) have become increasingly important for companies doing business online.  As more and more websites flood the World Wide Web, getting found has become increasingly difficult.  

As certified Internet Marketers, SEO For Less is in a great position to help companies get to the top of search engines like Google and Yahoo.  By providing keyword research, page optimization and link building activities, a company’s search ranking is improved.

There are many automated tools on the market, but knowing how to use these tools is very important.  SEO work done by untrained personal can actually be damaging to a companies online presence.

A good SEO / SEM firm works with a very systematic process to improve a company’s search position.   By having a system in place, customers understand exactly what is being done to improve their traffic.  

Unlike a web design firm, an SEO company doesn't need to start with a clean slate.  They will analyze your existing website and optimize it so it gets results.  They will even work with your existing web design company if you prefer.

Typically when a client decides that they want to increase traffic to their site, an SEO firm will analyze what the client already has.  They will fix problems like broken links and performance issues.  Once these are completed, they will research their company’s niche to find out how customers search for a specific type of business.  Based on those results they will make changes to the page.

Once all pages are optimized, they will begin building outside links back to the home page in order to drive traffic.  This process will repeat over and over again.

Within 6 months or less, companies will find traffic increasing over their competitors, along with actual sales and results.

Because of the high time commitment and specialized knowledge required for search engine optimization work, most web site owners either don't optimize, or outsource the work.  Only large companies have inside SEO teams.

India has stepped up with a number of different SEO firms, but the cost of dealing with a company so far away can be prohibitive.

SEO for Less deals with both local and international clients, driving their internet marketing efforts.  While they also do web design for Content Management Systems and ECommerce sites, SEO for their clients is their primary business.  Most of their clients already had a website before hiring them.  

Because they are in Panama, labor costs tend to be much lower than those in the US.  Thanks to this location, Panamanian and other Latin American clients can afford their services and US clients can get an excellent deal.

Even though their services are affordable, quality is not sacrificed.  The company’s engineers have been certified in Internet Marketing and have experience working in US and Canadian markets.

In the future, Panama is going to continue to grow as a hub for technology companies wanting to outsource various aspects of their business.  Now, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing have been added to the services available.