Archive for seo
Guaranteed Page 1 Google Scam
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Avoid the facepalm. Read this article.
Image credit: Scaredofbabies
There’s nothing I hate hearing or reading more about than “guaranteed page one results”, or worse, “guaranteed position 1 results” from web marketing and search engine optimisation companies.
They guarantee that they’ll get your business page 1 results and that if they DON’T get you page 1 results, they’ll work for free!
Wow!
I can’t lose! Right?
Wrong.
The first thing you should be asking your snake oil salesperson is, “do you have a conscience?”. Then walk away. Companies that guarantee you page 1 results are manipulating you. You don’t want to do business with a company who is willing to manipulate you into buying from them.
Thankfully, if you search for “guaranteed page 1 results” Google will return this as its page 1, position 1 result, specifically warning customers NOT to choose SEO’s that guarantee results (full Google article here).
Straight from the only source you can trust. Beware page 1 guarantees.
So why are guaranteed page 1 results a scam?
Some industries, terms or phrases are simply higher competition than others in search engine marketing. Much like in real life, not everyone can be Paris Hilton or Bill Gates.
If a publicist approached you and promised to make you the new Brad Pitt you’d be skeptical, because only a lucky and super dedicated few reach such a level in their career, business or whatever pursuit they’re engaged in.
The same is true in Google, and its why guaranteeing results is manipulative.
Lets look at an example.
The phrase, “weight loss solutions” is pretty close to what I call a “Brad Pitt” term in Google.
Because the phrase has:
- Boat loads of “commercial intent”,
- Specificity (but it could have more)
- Emotion (solution to a personally troubling problem)
- Easily shipped products
- Millions of customers
- and more…
There is a LOT, a LOT of competition. Everyone wants to rank well for weight loss products. There are millions of web pages online trying to do so. Because of this, maybe your second question to that web marketing company should be “can you rank me on page 1 for weight loss products?”.
See their breathing quicken and cheeks turn red. They know they’ve been caught out.
Just like this company. They guaranteed top 10 to 20 results (page 1 and page 2), but they didn’t pull through for their clients, and then didn’t agree to refund their money when they didn’t receive exactly what was promised.
What Can Web Marketers Guarantee?
Nothing. Nuthing. Naught.
Photo credit: OUCHcharley
Web marketers cannot guarantee you any organic search results in Google or any major search engine. Why?
Because we don’t live in a vacuum for one. There’s other search engine marketers out there trying to rank for the very same term you are. They may have:
- Been around longer than you,
- Have a bigger budget than you,
- Have larger more authoritative websites than you,
- Have links from other websites you cannot get,
- Have better web marketers than you do,
- And any other number of variables.
Google’s ranking algorithm changes all the time. For all we know, tomorrow Google will announce that backlinks from domains with fewer than 100 indexed web pages will no longer count, throwing existing ranking into chaos. Similar changes have happened before!
The above is an extreme example, but SEO is not a science where input “A” always guarantees output “B”.
SEO is marketers from one business changing or adding to a website to rank higher in another businesses (Google’s/Yahoo’s/Bing’s) search engine.
No laws of nature like gravity and fluid dynamics exist which remain constant.
The Lesson?
Whatever you do, if you’re approached by any kind of internet marketer, web marketing expert or SEO saying that they guarantee to rank you on page 1 Google, or any major search engine, run.
If you’re approached by an SEO telling you they’ll do their best, and that you might not see ANY results for months, you might just have a legitimate businessperson on your doorstep.
How to Navigate the Trust Minefield Online
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PSST! Just enter your details to the right, and I'll make you a trillionty dollars! FREE!
If you’re a small business owner or an expanding SME, choosing web designers, web developers (they’re different), SEO’s, PPC managers, copywriters, etc, can be tough.
How do you know who to trust and who is actually being upfront and honest with you?
In fact, articles like I’m writing right now are one of the tactics a dodgy operator will use to make clients feel more at ease. Readers will think, “gee, if this guy is telling me how to choose a web designer, he must be one of the good guys”.
Articles like, “10 ways to spot a good SEO” will of course include every attribute the SEO wants to you to believe he or she possesses, while leaving out the important bits. I’m talking dodgy SEO’s of course… I’m perfectly fine with someone legitimately marketing themselves by putting their best foot forward (oh look another grey area!).
The crux of the problem is, online, its easy to look trustworthy.
How to Choose Online Services
So, you’ve got a problem, you have no expertise or related experience. You need to outsource to someone to help you but you don’t know who to trust, or who is going to give you what you need at a reasonable price (and maybe you don’t even know whats “reasonable”).
Here’s some tips on how to choose – from someone who’s been around long enough to be paranoid enough.
1. Choose a local provider. Just because you’re looking for a service that’s related to the internet doesn’t mean you have to hire someone from a different country, or even a different state. The best way to assess a person’s trustworthiness is face to face.
2. Choose based on a recommendation from someone you know in the “real world”. Not someone you met through a forum, but someone you’ve known personally and can trust.
Its easier to spot potentially terrifying relationships face to face
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orinrobertjohn
3. Ask each service provider to show you at least 3 examples of work they’ve done… then, tell them you’d like to call one of those 3 businesses to see what they thought of your services. Don’t pre warn them you’re going to ask this. Just ask for their portfolio or for satisfied clients, and then ask for a phone number.
4. Obtain numerous quotes, talk to at least 3 different service providers and get quotes/hourly rates. If one business charges you $2,000 a month for a particular (well defined) service, and the next charges $300, you may want to investigate further.
As an example, some SEO services for large businesses might easily run into $4,000 a month for legitimate large scale link building campaigns (not 3rd world based spammers) and content creation. If you’re a SME getting quoted $4,000 a month for SEO, you better not be assigned to an account manager who works on your account, and 20 others… relegating you to getting 4 hours a month of SEO done on your site.
5. Don’t ever, EVER read & believe reviews of a product or service operator online unless you’re 99.99% sure this author is offering an unbiased opinion (no opinions are unbiased…). 99.99% of reviews online are written by someone putting a huge positive spin on something to get a cut of the sale.
Its called affiliate marketing.
Remember that whenever you type in “product/service name + review” into Google. Everything on the front page is written by an affiliate marketer looking for a cut. Seriously.
Finding something on Google doesn't make it trustworthy.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/
6. If you’re reading a sales letter in long form that has lots of big bright headlines and metaphors like “i unleashed a flood of business where before there was only a trickle” (vomit) then be wary. Of course, copywriters are probably going to have sales letters like this, but you shouldn’t read them, you should meet them in person, see their portfolio, and then call one of their clients and ask if the copywriter increased revenues. Then go and get 3 more quotes and repeat.
7. Lastly, be encouraged if you hear “I don’t know”. Or, “I’ll look into that for you”. If someone sounds like they have all the answers, they’re either the world’s best (get your wallet out), the world’s worst (they’re lying to you), or they’re trying to cover up a lack of knowledge. There’s nothing wrong with a service business that doesn’t have all the answers for you – take doctors for example. If a doctor consulted with another doctor on a particular case, you’d think it normal. Medicine is complex. The same is true for many disciplines – be encouraged if your provider tells you they will need to research something further or consult with a peer. At least you’ve found someone honest and willing to be upfront with you.
8. Learn more about the topic yourself if you can spare any time. For SEO I recommend reading Aaron Wall’s 7 day SEO primer (sign up on the right of the page), and SEOmoz.org’s beginner’s primer to SEO (you don’t need to join either to just get the basics down). For web development and design read w3schools.com and Smashing magazine. For PPC (pay per click advertising) Google’s own learning center is great. For copywriting I read copyblogger. I have never hired anyone from any of these websites, nor can I say they’re all 100% trustworthy, they’re just learning resources I recommend.
I hope some of my paranoia is rubbing off on you. Take it from an ex police officer turned marketer (could you possibly create a combination that makes someone more cynical?), the way to do business online today is to go local. Choose and meet with real (local!) people who have real clients who are open and happy to indulge your paranoia.
Meet your online geek locally.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leader_maximo/
On the other hand if you have completely trustworthy associates, mentors or friends who have had an excellent experience with someone from another country, go for it!
Disclaimer: I provide local SEO and web related services to local businesses and am highly biased.
Local SEO, No Time Like the Present
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Take the "Local Leap"
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sblackley/
If you’re a small business owner and you think the internet is only for businesses who want international reach or who want to export overseas, its time to reevaluate your thinking.
Every year Google, Yahoo and Bing (probably soon to be called “Ying” – just kidding) are expanding on and improving their local business search services.
People are searching more and more for local businesses and services online. They’re looking for mechanics, gyms, golf clubs, plumbers… any kind of business you can think of, online.
Local search is the new Yellow Pages
Now is better than later if you’re thinking about having an online presence of any kind. And if you don’t want an online presence, I’d be inclined to ask if you also don’t want a Yellow Pages entry. Almost 100% of businesses should be online. I struggle to think of a service or industry that shouldn’t be.
Depending on where you live and how big the local market is for your service, you’ll face varying amounts of competition locally in the online space.
You might find it difficult to rank for “Pizza” in Sydney, or “bed and breakfast” in heavily promoted tourist areas, but you can do it with some persistence and a commitment to a variety of local ranking factors.
Type your service, product, niche or industry into Google and include your city name. Does your business show up?
This is a screen capture from a search for “Adelaide Plumber”.
Results for "Adelaide Plumber". Note the map and local listings adjacent.
If you look closely you’ll see that 4 of the 7 listings are actually for plumbers without websites. You don’t necessarily need a website to appear for local searchers.
The listings immediately to the right of the map (as indicated) are all free. Simply click here to be taken to the Google local business center to add your own business.
The listings just above the map, and along the right edge of the page are all paid listings. Each time those listings are clicked Google will charge the advertiser around three dollars per click for plumbers (at a wild guess). If the listings were for lawyers… who knows. Maybe twenty dollars a click.
The point I’m trying to make in this post is, Google, Yahoo and Bing local listings are worth their weight in gold if you can get your business onto the front page of the local business listings for your particular search phrases. And right now, its relatively low competition in a lot of markets.
At the very least get your business onto Google local now, it’ll take you 30 minutes tops to get your listing on there.
After that?
I’ve submitted Google local listings that have generated thousands of dollars worth of leads with very little optimisation. Take the leap – list on Google local, assess any impact it has (ask callers where they found you), and go from there.
Desert Island SEO
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Oh no! Not another "what can I take with me?" exercise!
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Desert island situations. We all hate them, but I’m going to take a stab at one relating to SEO.
In this scenario you can only take 3 SEO techniques with you to the desert island to subsist off of until you’re “rescued”.
Practically speaking, you might not have enough time, enough expertise, or enough money to implement any other techniques.
What SEO techniques would I take with me?
Number one is back links. Everyone needs links. Without them search engines won’t find your business, and you’ll find it hard to rank your highly relevant, well researched keywords in your…
Title Tags. Number two is title tags. You’re a plumber that offers a service called… drain mass extraction. What do searchers use to find a plumber that unblocks drains? Answer that, make it your title tag, and then…
Write some useful content. Three is useful, or valuable content. If you don’t have any, search engines won’t index your content, and people won’t give you back links to it. They also likely won’t do anything once they reach your confusing, boring, or inaccurate web page.
Lets recap!
The three most important SEO factors you need to follow if you follow no others are:
1. Back links.
2. Title tags.
3. Useful content.
No matter how crappy your website otherwise, if you had a lot of back links, a lot of useful content, and correctly researched and written title tags, you could survive pretty much any desert island situation.
You might even survive a world without search engines, which funnily enough is a possibility (never say never).
Even if search engines didn’t exist, or perhaps you simply can’t rank for super competitive terms, then following this advice will get you traffic from other websites… that is of course, if you’re building “real” back links, and not just spamming low quality areas of the web.
If you’ve got your own desert island list, lets hear it.
