Avoiding a Bad SEO Experience

There are many pitfalls associated with search engine optimization. There is the decision of whether you should do it in-house or outsource it. There is the process of finding a vendor that will be right for you and your business. Feel free to discuss this on our blog ‘Insights into search for Business’.

Avoiding a Bad Search Engine Optimization Experience

As a provider of search marketing services we have many enquiries from companies that have had a bad search engine optimization (SEO) experience in the past and are looking for a reputable company to work with. Often these clients have been banned from search engines because the companies that they have hired to improve their search rankings use quick fix, unethical SEO techniques.

What can you do to ensure that this does not happen to your business? Or if you have had problems in the past how can you be sure that these experiences will never happen again?

It is essential that you take care in choosing who you work with as this company will be responsible for representing you and your business. Would you hire a new employee, a lawyer or an accountant without doing any research? There is a lot at stake here so it is essential that you do the groundwork and be as informed as possible.

These companies may be representing you – but it will still be your site and your business. It is your responsibility to know what the SEO company is doing and if it is using unethical techniques. It is your site so you should be aware of the techniques being used to promote your business and that search engine guidelines are being followed.

Often these unscrupulous companies offer a guaranteed meteoric rise in ranking and the lure of quick profits. Remember if it seems to be too good to be true then it usually is. Avoid companies that email you their services – or even worse - the ones that send out a fake invoice for their services. If they are presenting their services in this manner you probably have a good insight into their general business principles.

What should you do when evaluating a search engine optimization company?

 

Determine your business goals and your goals for search marketing. Find out what your SEO expectations are. Are you in a competitive marketplace? What is your search marketing budget? 

 

You should ask around. Which companies are people you know recommending? A successful SEO will get a high percentage of their clients from referrals. 

 

Do they communicate clearly with you? Are they interested in your business? Are they trying to inform you about the industry and not just selling? 

 

Where is their site in the search engine results? If the company is good at SEO then their site should be ranked well, if their site is not listed in the rankings you need to wonder why. 

 

Ask for step by step information on what they will do to promote your site. If there is any area which your gut tells doesn’t sound right do your research. There is plenty of information available for you to research. Type “ethical SEO” and ‘search engine spam” into Google and you will find lots of data to compare. 

 

What is their Page Rank? A PR of 3 is relatively easy to get with a small site, while a PR of 6 is harder, and above that is extremely difficult. If you’re approached by a SEO company (or any marketing company for that matter) with a PR of 0 or an unranked site ask why. 

 

What is their customer support like? When you first approached them did you receive a form email in reply? Did they even look at your website? Did you receive a detailed proposal along with testimonials and other backup material? Ask for references and follow up on them. 

 

Do they know SEO or is it just a sideline to their main business (web design, web hosting, advertising agency). If you speak to anyone in this industry you will find out that keeping up to date on the latest SEO information is a full time job 

 

How much experience do they have? Are they new to the industry in which case do you want them experimenting on your site? 

 

Has the company ever turned down a site because it could not be successfully optimized? e.g. sites built with frames or flash sites. Or turned them down because they were involved in unethical business practices e.g. link farms. 

 

Make comparisons with other companies. Some SEO companies rely on one aspect of SEO (e.g. linking campaigns), others offer a complete package. Remember to compare like with like. There is no point in comparing a proposal which is just going to cover meta tags and keywords to a proposal which is a full service SEO package including optimization, content creation, and a links campaign. 

 

Does the company provide ongoing maintenance to maintain your rankings? Search engines change their algorithms constantly and without regular monitoring and maintenance rankings will eventually slip. What is good today may not be good tomorrow. 

There are a growing number of excellent and ethical search engine optimization companies out there. Do your research and find out who they are. Also develop an understanding of what is involved in developing a search marketing program. Take an assertive stance and become informed. Also, use your common sense. Developing a search marketing plan should be as involved as developing a traditional marketing plan. It requires hard work and dedication. Find out the costs involved and put together a search marketing budget. Shop around and be aware of other business factors being offered by the SEO company such as customer service and payment terms.

If you look upon the process of choosing an SEO company as you would in choosing a business partner then you are headed in the right direction. It could be that a large part of the success of your business is reliant on search marketing - so you should do the groundwork and find out what is involved. Then you can make an informed decision and feel confidant that you have chosen a quality business partner who is dedicated towards helping your business grow.

Posted in Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

Blogs and your Business

Many businesses are blind to the possibilities that emerging online trends such as blogs can offer them. The challenge lies into how you use them and integrate them into your business. Someone once said that blog stands for Better Listings On Google! However there are many other business advantages which we will look at. The challenge is in determining how a blog best fits your business goals. Your goals may be marketing focused, or they may be about project management, or they may be about customer relationships. Whatever your business goals are you should determine whether a blog can help you meet them. Visit our blog to provide feedback

Blogs and Your Business

There are 600+ corporate bloggers at Microsoft. They use blogging as one of their greatest marketing assets, generating an astonishing amount of online and offline word of mouth interaction. Microsoft takes blogging seriously and these blogs are all linked to the corporate site. They help put a human face on the corporation by injecting individual’s passion for the company. What they are really involved in is building relationships on behalf of Microsoft.

A blogs or ‘weblog’ is a regularly updated internet journal of organized personal thoughts made usually by an individual. In the business world this may be either as an official corporate blog or in an unofficial capacity. Business blogs usually incorporate news, issues, and ideas and speak to customers, vendors and employees. What makes blogs unique is that they link with other blogs and websites and solicit comments making them the ideal platform for an ongoing dialogue. Blogs are inexpensive, easy to set up and use, and require no technical skills such as HTML. The collective term for blogs is the blogosphere.

The blogosphere continues to grow. Technorati the leading web search engine is currently tracking 19.6 million blogs. About 70,000 new blogs are tracked every day. The total number of blogs continues to double every 5 months or so. There are between 700,000 and 1.3 million blog posts made every day. Both Google and Yahoo are introducing blogs search engines. Yahoo is currently showing a beta version of blog search results alongside their news results.

News travels fast through the blogosphere. In times of disaster such as Hurricane Katrina or the London terrorist attacks, blogs were instrumental in getting news, photos and opinions out at a remarkably fast rate. They often beat journalists for the scoop on news or scandals. In fact you can be sure that these days’ journalists keep a close eye on blogs and use them as a source for stories.

What does this growth in blogging mean for your business? It means that you should give serious consideration to adding a blog to your business. However you should also consider whether a blog would fit in with your business objectives. Because of the different tactics that blogs can be used for you may want to weigh up the options as to what benefits it can offer you and your business.

Increase your Web Presence

If you have an established online business you can add another vehicle to communicate your message and pass information on to your clients. Because blogs continually have new content they are indexed regularly by the search engines. It is another way to get your name and your products out into the search engine space. You can also use your blog to target additional keyword phrases.

Interactions with Customers

Your blog can be used to build stronger ties with your customer base. The opportunity to exchange information and expertise is one of the main reasons that explain why corporate blogs have grown in popularity in recent years. Corporations have recognized their customers are using blogs to self publish their opinions about products and services. This has led to customers getting actively involved in business situations such as product development.

Branding Tool

Use your blog as a branding tool for your business. It’s an effective way to get your brand message out there. Your brand represents an exchange of ideas between you and your audience. It is a relationship. Brands exist in the mind of your customer therefore brands that aren’t in touch with their customers miss out on innovation opportunities.

Corporate Communications

You can use your blog to speak directly with the media. There has been an ongoing debate as to whether blogs should replace the press release as the main corporate communications vehicle. As far as I am concerned both will do a good job and each has their own unique value.

Business Marketing

Blogs are being utilized more and more as a business marketing tool. And this is creeping into more and more business areas. Word of mouth advertising and independent testimonials are two major benefits of running a marketing focused blog. This is a great alternative to advertising. Blogs can also attract and develop a regular audience for your message and foster an atmosphere of trust.

CEO Blogs

A CEO blog is a way to speak directly to customers and vendors. And it can be used to advance industry issues. There are pitfalls of course. Saying something controversial may be picked up and reproduced in many locations. However some controversy is good as it gets people engaged.

A blog does require a commitment from you. Remember that writing and maintaining a blog take time. You should really have an interest in writing and communicating with your readers. A blog also requires an injection of personality.

Blogs are a increasingly common way to communicate about your business. As Businessweek magazine said in their article on business blogs – ‘catch up…or catch you later’.

Posted in Blogs, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | No Comments »