Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a lovely little tourist destination … blah blah FAIL!
Do they wonder why people make fun of Arkansas, or do they even hear it? Maybe they just figure people make fun of every state that way. You know, like the way people make fun of all those barefoot inbred hillbillies playing the banjo and smoking corn cob pipes over in Colorado’s tourist destinations.
Sure, for all the jokes, there is charm in Eureka Springs. Sometimes it is the kind of charm of looking at an ugly baby. You get a good laugh after the parents are out of earshot and wonder how you held it together without spewing your drink out of your nose. There is still charm to that ugly baby.
Enough Eureka Springs Jokes, This is Business
Seriously though, there really is some charm to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and I am not just saying that to avoid being buried out by the woodshed or cut up for catfish bait. I said I would stop joking, so here you have it … the real deal.
Eureka Springs, Arkansas has been a nice little tourist destination, and perhaps still even has much of its original charm … for now. Sadly, it seems that they slipped behind the eight ball as other communities have embraced their would-be tourists and are poised to take Eureka Springs right off the map given time. It appears as if this little town has elected to roll over and die instead of taking steps to regain their reputation as a tourist destination that wants visitors. It is a case of survival of the fittest, and this tired old animal seems to have given up.
To show how serious their problem is, just have a look at this Eureka Springs social media analytics report. If this was funny it would be a great submission to Fail Blog. Instead, it is a sad fact of utter social media failure and business failure. It is something I see often, and worth a good strong warning to anybody who thinks an empty Facebook Page or following a bunch of people on Twitter without any interaction is how to see benefit from social media. It is also a warning to anybody who still doubts social media’s importance to a business or to a community.
It really does matter, and it really does drive real business. Otherwise, why in the heck did Pepsi spend $20,000,000 (yes, twenty million dollars) in social media outreach instead of Super Bowl commercials? Sure, you can say that is crazy, but it was a huge success for Pepsi. Read “Social Media Marketing: How Pepsi Got It Right“.
How Eureka Springs, Arkansas Tourism Failed
Is it really a failure? Yes! When you lose market share you fail, and when social media barely even knows you exist, it is a pretty good picture of your business health. This is especially true of a geographically-bound institution such as a city. They cannot just move to a better location, so instead, they count on people to come to them. This does not mean waiting for people to search Google for things to do in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It means telling people about its charm and cultivating a market of potential visitors. It means creating an awareness of the community instead of just rolling over to die. It means having the highest waving arm and saying “pick me” when somebody is looking for a nice day trip or a romantic getaway. It means generating a fan base of people who will tell all their friends how incredible the place is and that everything from the food, the people, the scenery, the shopping, and even the bed sheets at the bed and breakfast were amazing. Yes, it is just like old fashioned word of mouth, except that it spreads further, farther, faster, and with much greater longevity than the blurb from somebody at the water cooler of days past.
Here is a video I was presented with that illustrates a very troubling fact that some people seem to believe just putting something on the Internet will make people come begging to do business. It is worth a laugh.
Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism
I will tell you how Eureka Springs was recently brought to my attention. What prompted me to write this was not a recent trip or a good experience. It was a message on Facebook about a blog post. The blog addressed Eureka Springs’ failure to make people aware of an upcoming event that is important to the community. Ironically, it is the “Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism“. Yes, seriously … Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism is coming, and if left to the Internet to discover it, you might think it would be hosted by their new Governor Bill Clinton.
Do you see how nicely that spreads? A friend told some friends, who told some friends … and the story goes on. This is how social media works. This is the power of people communicating with people. This is what Eureka Springs and a sad too many hard luck stories out there wondering why all the customers disappeared should know.
I think it is both funny and sad that a word I made up only yesterday on another blog where I write has more presence in social media than an entire town that relies on tourism to pay the bills. It is sad indeed! I think Eureka Springs may need a “social media dubeshag“.
Here are answers to some of the most pressing questions about SEO that are asked of SEO professionals. I am not ranking these questions in the order of urgency or frequency, but these are some of the most common things I hear when people call me, search the Internet and find me, or meet me and ask what I do.
SEO Question One: What is SEO?
Answer: I suppose I should start with answering the big question of “What is SEO?”
SEO is both a noun and a verb, kind of like Google. It can mean search engine optimization or search engine optimizer. You can usually tell the difference based on the usage.
It involves many aspects of improving a website’s ranking in search engines, and thus increasing website exposure. However, it goes a lot deeper than that. Being listed at the top of search results does not always mean a visitor to your website, especially if you are not listed for the right search terms. Finding the right search terms (keyword phrases) is very important, and often involves many lateral keywords.
SEO has a lot to do with converting more searches into clicks, but clicks alone do not always mean profit. So it also has a whole lot to do with converting those clicks into an action, such as a purchase or a new business lead.
SEO Question Two: How Much Does SEO Cost, and Why?
Answer: I get this question more than perhaps any other, and it comes in many variations. I get it in person, on the phone, and I get it in searches for “SEO hourly rates“. If you Google that term or a number of others like it, you will understand why I know this is a common question. You will find an article I wrote a while back titled “SEO and Web Development Hourly Rates”The funny part is that really great SEO is not done based on an hourly rate, and simply asking “how much does SEO cost“ is not a well-qualified question.
I know it is a scary thing to imagine waving goodbye to money. If a person can look at this without the hair on the back of their neck standing up and consider it for a moment, the better question is actually “how much will a lack of SEO cost?“ Sure, that just sounds like a guy trying to sell you stuff, but I am serious. What happens when you do it wrong? Doing SEO wrong or not doing it at all is what becomes really costly.
I realize that the real question people want to know about SEO is how much they will have to invest in order to get the results they want. The problem is that at the same time, they often do not really have a finger on what results they are after. “More business” is not a good enough answer to the question. The best answer for your individual case requires planning, and planning means developing better questions with better answers.
If you just want three more sales, it will probably not require a large upfront investment. On the other hand, if you are selling custom purple pajamas for botfly larvae, all the SEO in the world may not help you much. Neither of these represent a good plan, and if you start without a plan, you will end without a plan. Here is an article to help you consider your planning, and why you don’t just want to be along for the ride: “Business Evolution and Crash Test Dummies“.
What is needed and how much you should spend will be different for each individual business case. The answer that will provide the best results will usually be uncomfortable. My short answer is usually “bring your lunch money” because if the SEO is done well, every additional dollar you invest will produce a greater return.
Does it cost, really? I thought it was supposed to pay money, not cost money. I wonder what the cost is if you don’t do it? My really super smart-ass answer to the number one most important factor in your business success (your marketing) would be “how well do you want the job done?”
In answer to the last part of the cost question (why), I would like to refer you to an article I wrote only yesterday titled “Where Does Marketing Talent Come From?”
SEO Question Three: Can You Reduce the Upfront Cost?
Answer: Yes, there are ways to minimize the upfront cost of SEO, and the best one is with a contingency SEOcontract which allows the provider to earn money based on performance. Be mindful that there is generally still an upfront cost involved. After all, there is often a lot of risk mitigation for the SEO in making sure your company and your products are market-ready and something they want to partner with.
When you contact a good SEO, you should be ready to afford the cost. Again, this is an investment in your business and you are seeking a professional service to build your business. If you ever wonder why a good SEO’s phone keeps breaking up and the call drops, consider this: If you are asking them to deliver you the moon but to do it “cheap”, this could very well be the reason.
SEO Question Four: Can SEO Help a Small Local Company?
Answer: Yes, it can also help a small local company stop being small and local if they choose. Can it help a small and broke company? Well, I like to remember a term I learned in grammar school: survival of the fittest. If your company is already too broke to sustain the basic essentials of marketing, it may be too late. I said it may be too late. I think it is still better to go down fighting than to just roll over. SEO is likely the best chance you have.
SEO Question Five: How Long Does SEO Take?
Answer: This is another one of those sticky questions with a whole lot of answers. I generally expect to see results the moment I click “publish”. Once you have a site that is worthwhile to users, a squillion good incoming links, and a good reputation with Google, things can happen very quickly. A better answer may be how long it will take you to make the decision to take action. It is like planting a tree. If you want shade, it is best that you did it a long time ago. In lieu of that, I will let you answer the best time to plant it.
SEO Question Six: How Long Does SEO Last?
Answer: I have written articles for competitive keyword phrases that are still at the top of searches since nearly a decade ago. Things change, but the search listing aspects of SEO are generally designed to last. Other areas of SEO work are also designed with longevity, such as an emphasized call to action and other matters of Website usability. If you really want an understanding of how long SEO can last, I invite you to read “Can You Value Each Blog Post at $10,000?” where I explain it more clearly.
A pay-per-click campaign will last until you stop paying for it.
SEO Question Seven: How Can I Measure SEO Success?
Answer: The short and sweet answer should be “in your wallet” but it is a bit more than that. You can measure success of specific traffic results and user actions very easily with statistics from tools like Google Analyticss and Clicky Web Analytics. If you can get beyond the big task of planting the seedling of good SEO, the results can mean a whole lot more than just how much more money you have. It can mean that your business is on a path to a sustainable marketing platform where every time you have something to say, your content will rank much more easily in search engines. So your measurement should extend beyond today alone, but also include a longer term look at where your business will be down the road.
SEO Question Eight: Isn’t SEO Mostly Just Title Tags, H1 Tags, and Meta Tags?
Answer: I want to be nice about this one, because I know that the SEO industry has talked a lot about these things and it may seem there is a lot of emphasis on these items. I will touch on each item individually, but just for a moment. Then I will explain how little they do in the big picture.
Title tags are important to SEO, because they are the top-level on-page item to tell a search engine what the page is about. If the content matches the title, and all other things are perfect, you may have a win. There are clearly a lot of other factors. Otherwise, some of those pages titled “Home” (and sadly there are millions titled just “Home”, because somebody got lazy) would show up somewhere. Instead, when you search for “Home”, you find “The Home Depot”, and “Lowe’s Home Improvement”.
H1 tags hold importance due to the proper structure of a page. They are like a headline on a newspaper and they are the starting point of an article. The H1 tag tells the overall subject of the page, and ideally the rest of the page matches the subject. There are a lot of SEO who will argue until they are blue in the face about the subject of H1, and sometimes rightfully so, but if you want to know more just Google it. You will find an article I wrote years ago right on top. Here is my article titled “H1 Tags Improve Search Engine Placement” and here is the Google Search for H1 tags. You be the judge, but please do not assume it is there just because I used the H1 tag.
Meta tags?Don’t even get me started about meta tags. This is like a joke that spread widely back in the 1990’s to make SEO sound smart. Kidding! Actually, they once had some bearing on SEO, but many search engines do not look at meta tags as a factor any more than the haircut of your pet chihuahua.
The Big Picture: If these simple items of title tags, H1 tags and meta tags did the trick, don’t you think the Internet would get pretty messed up with totally irrelevant things in the way every time you search for something? It takes a whole lot more. I mean, wouldn’t you rank yourself a lot higher for “2010 Olympics” or “Brittany Spears” if that was the case?
SEO Question Nine: Are There Any Guarantees to SEO?
Answer: Yes, there are a few guarantees with SEO, and they are not all lies, either. First, I can guarantee you that if you do nothing, you will get nothing. Some SEO will provide outrageous guarantees, and I hope you do not fall for it. One type of reasonable guarantee is based on additional work until a set objective is met. The most reasonable SEO guarantee is one that the professional you hired will work hard and work smart to meet your objectives. If you ask for guarantees, you will usually pay for guarantees. In many cases the customers pay for them the hard way … by believing something that is not true.
SEO Question Ten: Can’t I Just Do My Own Google Adwords?
Answer: Yes, absolutely! You can do it all yourself. Just be aware that you have another job to do … running your business. If you think you can do the job as well as the professional who makes it their career, I just hope you don’t make the same kind of decision about professional football or dentistry. You are likely to get hurt.
SEO Question Eleven: Can’t I Just Read Your Blog and Do It Myself?
Answer: Sure. Subscribe here. If you need more help, don’t be too proud to ask.
Backlinks are massively important to SEO because they reflect a consensus that your Website is either great, or it is not. Most people know that it is important to have a lot of links pointing back to their site, and some even know why … but few really understand how. I will draw this out for you and explain just why most SEO really stink at backlinks. Unless you settle in for a good read, right now, you will miss a huge lesson in SEO that you should know before you spend another cent. Get comfortable, because this is information that will benefit your business.
Most SEO Are Clueless About Backlinks
Most SEO fail at link building, and there are a few good reasons. Yes, I said most, and I mean it. Most SEO are failing at this one singular most measurable task that will make the difference in everything from customers finding your Website, to your Website conversion. The troubling thing to note is that they will often not tell you about it, and worse yet, they don’t even have a clue why they are so awful at it.
First, I will explain the couple of terms I use here and how they work for you, since I know everybody is not totally into SEO the way I am. SEO stands for search engine optimization (interchangeable with search engine optimizer, like me).
SEO is a whole lot more than just making sure you are at the top of the list when people search for what you offer. It goes much deeper, and it has a whole lot to do with another important and misunderstood term. Conversion! Oh, you’ve heard the term, right? In my most simple way of explaining conversion, it means converting searchers into clickers, clickers into buyers, and buyers into raving fans who will take your business to a totally different playing field. Conversion does not mean you conned another sucker into buying your stuff! Conversion could be said to mean that you are converting your business from an “also-ran” to the lead in the race.
Link building, as I am discussing it here, does not mean asking your cousin Sally to add a link to your site about insurance from her site about landscaping. When I say link building, I mean valuable, sustainable proof that you are serious about your business and that other people recognize this fact.
SEO Often Lie About Backlinks!
Now for backlinks; a backlink is what you have when somebody links to your site. It seems simple, right? Every joker who sends you an email offering to sell you backlinks for $49 knows that term. It means a squillion people will come flocking to your Website and enter their credit card number to snatch up your massively important stuff before you change your mind and raise the price. Yeah? Well … NO! This is the way a lot of SEO will explain it, but then, people lie … even on the Internet. By the way, why are they emailing, and why do their Websites never have more than a couple backlinks? I actually think it is not always just a mean-spirited lie, but more because they see this huge market and they are desperate to grab their piece but not willing to learn before they sell it to you. They are trying to earn as they learn, and the customer is often a victim.
Build Backlinks With Talent and Trust
When you have quality backlinks it tells Google and other search engines that others place a trust in you and they like your site. It is a democratic process. It is often faked, just like any other democratic process, but what sets you apart is that you are up for re-election today, tomorrow, and every day. Your business cannot afford to mess this up, and a bad fake in this democratic process can get you banned from search engines and waste a whole lot of your money. The biggest portion of the cost is the money you didn’t earn because you were wasting time with what did not work and your competition got the business.
If you take a creative and well-considered approach to your business and your Website, backlinks are simple. I never asked anybody to link to this site … not even once. I did not have to. I provide information that people want and can use to their benefit. People link here because they trust the content and they believe that others can benefit from it, too. This is the mentality it takes to build backlinks that matter. This is the kind of backlink that is relevant to those people looking for you, and a whole lot more likely to give you that conversion you are seeking. It is the kind of backlink that the SEO who sees you as a meal ticket will never create, because their mind simply does not work that way.
Trust and familiarity can build a whole lot of backlinks. Branding takes time and it takes purpose. When you do it right, you build great relationships. Here is an article that explains the difference that trusting relationships make in SEO and social media marketing: “How the Big Dogs Get Paid”. Have a little faith. I would not link to it if I didn’t think it would benefit you.
How SEO Sucker People: A Simple Explanation!
How does this happen that SEO sucker people out of their money? It is another blog post all together, but it is too commonly because the nature of need, greed, and fear tells people that they should seek the lowest cost in their business. They are out to make money without spending money. They want what sounds great, but for the lowest upfront expenditure. The first SEO to claim that they can do all that those other guys do for a fraction of the cost gets the money. What you should consider is that old saying that you get what you pay for. I would add that sometimes you don’t even get that.
If you are needy, greedy, and scared, do not cry to me or the other SEO who take the job of marketing your business seriously. Until you can get over the anxiety for grabbing fast money from the Internet, you are probably not ready for SEO performed correctly. If you take your business seriously and consider the importance of doing it right, the backlinks will come effortlessly.
Summary of SEO Backlinks
This little observation of backlinks explains a lot of reasons that when somebody asks me (as they often do) “What is your hourly rate for SEO?” I explain that they are asking the wrong question. The cost of SEO does not boil down to hourly rates for SEO or even how much money you wave goodbye to upfront. It comes down to how you look at your business and whether you only plan for tomorrow or plan to take your business to the head of the race. If you want to know my hourly rates, just Google it. If you want some free SEO lessons, go ahead and Google SEO lessons and find out if those backlinks I write about really matter.
If you want it done well, stop and think about these things and bring your lunch money. Doing SEO well does not mean doing it cheap. Real SEO means that you are in business and that you can swim with the sharks, and not that you are just willing to test the water.
A man locked in a steel box for 30 days with cameras showing his every move to the Internet public will give away 30k GBP / 50k USD if you can find him. He does not even know where he is, but he is given periodic clues to help you determine his location.
The appeal seems massive so far. Viral, even! What do you think? Is it total madness or is it creative social media marketing genius?
A part of me wants to say that he is totally nuts, but that is coming from the guy who Webcasted a live stream crossing 6,000 miles in nine days during the 25th Cannonball One Lap of America from the confines of a Corvette with huge stickers that said CopMagnet.com all over it.
I say “Bravo!” to the Man in Box. I hope he survives the 30 days with his mind intact.
View the live video stream below. Just click the play button to see what he is up to now.
In a recent release by the Washington D.C. Centers for Unemployment Research, a study of unemployed Web developers revealed that over 68 percent were able to directly attribute their job loss to the widespread use of Internet Explorer. It concluded that adoption of Internet Explorer factors heavily in job loss within other industries outside of only technology during the years from 2007 through 2009, but particularly hard-hit was the ecommerce programming sector with up to 73 percent. Further, the study revealed that in nearly each instance, they had also failed to flog, berate, and publicly out their friends and family members who were known to use Internet Explorer.
In a more extensive study, the recently released Institute of Computer User Studies, United Kingdom Report (ICUSUKR) showed that the cost of Internet Explorer usage to business has reached an all-time high. The ICUSUKR concluded that even if you spell it out carefully, Internet Explorer users were up to 78 percent less likely to grasp basic computing concepts, including the “Any” key and other Internet-related tasks.
Does Internet Explorer Really Cause Job Loss?
Well, maybe, but I made that all that stuff up. It is a joke, but let us just look at this Internet Explorer for a moment. Internet Explorer creates such an excessive burden to the Internet public in areas of security, functionality, and design that if Toyota was to launch the next Internet Explorer, it would likely take all the heat off for their stuck throttle cables. I think General Motors and Bank of America should have rolled with something like this ages ago.
If you doubt me on the importance that you stop using Internet Explorer, please see the article on BBC News: “German government warns against using MS Explorer”. Seriously, watch the video on that article!
In any case, you probably wonder how Internet Explorer could contribute to unemployment. After all, that is why you clicked, right? I will break a couple things down for you. Let us first examine these geeky factors of cost to business. Yes, business … the ones you count on to put food on your table, and the ones you buy your stuff from. They all suffer from this Internet ailment.
We all understand that the Internet is where marketing and business takes place, right? If you deny that, get off my blog straight away. You do not belong here. Did you see what I write about?
Excessive Cost of Internet Explorer to Business
Programming Cost of Internet Explorer – When you hire a programmer to handle all of those tedious tasks of making your Website work just how you like, programmers and designers have this little calculator in their head counting all of the episodes of 24 they will have backed up on their DVR because they are busy making your site work with complete cross-platform compatibility. In simple terms, they have to count up how much extra time it will take them to fix all of the little buggy stuff Internet Explorer will do to their Web-Standards-Perfect masterpiece. Maybe you thought we use Microsoft Word to make Websites, but if you just click here, you can see what programming code it takes to make just this one measly page you are looking at. A few screwups there and you have yourself a broken Website that will not perform in Google, or get you those massive orders you were hoping for. Internet Explorer makes it a huge pain in our asses, and guess who pays for that? Yeah, companies. Companies that are already stretching every dime to put bloated junk code out there instead of doing things right … the way companies should strive to do business.
SPAM Cost of Internet Explorer – In comes the SPAM. Yep, SPAM! Since you did not flog, berate, and publicly out your friends and family members for using IE, they picked up a little something for you. They sent it in their email. It was the cutest thing, and you just had to pass it along.
You just sent your Website programmer and designer (along with all of your pals) 84 pieces of email about getting a diploma without going to school, 127 pieces of email offering cheap luxury watch replicas, and 363 offers for Viagra and Cialis. This is because when your friend’s computer was hacked, it spread like a virus. Exactly like a virus!
Yep, viral marketing at its best! You didn’t even have to participate, really. They had your email address in their infected computer and that was enough to make you even more popular. Just not in the “panties on your head singing the school fight song” way you used to seek popularity. All the same, you are popular now … be happy!
I know you may still be sore about all the time it took you to download that last AOL update, but please take the time to download a more secure and faster browser that uses Web Standards such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a lovely little tourist destination … blah blah FAIL!
