SEO Lies Exposed
I was taught that it is not nice to call somebody a liar, but if you hear these things from a search engine optimizer, there is a good chance they are lying to you. They are either lying about the facts, or lying that they know the job of SEO. In either case, it is unreliable information that can cost companies a lot of money and can have some disastrous results.
Let’s have some fun and review these common lies told by SEO. If you have stories to tell, please add your experience in the comments of this blog post.
SEO Lie Number One: Meta Tags
One of the most common lies I have ever heard is when the SEO says, “You just need some keyword meta tags to improve your ranking.” The truth is that meta descriptions are important, but the keywords tag is mostly meaningless. Meta tags are a minor part of SEO and if somebody tells you that adding meta tags is your answer, they are lying to you. Here is some more information on the topic: “SEO Meta Tags: Oh, You Must Be Another SEO Expert!”
SEO Lie Number Two: Search Engine Submissions
Here is one of my favorite SEO lies. The SEO says something like “We will submit your website to 40,000 search engines and directories.” This is not only an ineffective thing to do, it can also be very damaging when your website links are in a bunch of penalized websites called “link farms”. The same thing goes for other methods of reciprocal link exchange.
If you just must submit your website somewhere to make you feel productive, submit it to DMOZ. Otherwise, leave it to the search engines. They will find you if you have something that other people believe is worth linking to.
SEO Lie Number Three: Guaranteed Search Engine Ranking
Here is a lie I see a lot, and I often wonder how many people actually fall for it. The SEO lie sounds like this: “We guarantee number one results in Google.” The big problems here are often twofold. First, the “top ranking” they offer is for weak search phrases which do not convert to more business. Secondly, the guarantee is worthless because it came from a liar.
Inexperienced search engine optimizers will often tell this lie: “Sure, we can get you ranked high in search engines for under $300.” This one is absurd, because if it was true, don’t you think every one of your competitors would have done it, too? This is a sign of the SEO who really does not want a long-term relationship with you, but rather prefers to just agree with you and take your $300 instead of telling you the truth.
SEO Lie Number Five: Technology vs. Marketing
One of the worst lies is when the SEO will lead you to believe that SEO is mostly about a bunch of high-tech stuff that you would not understand. Yes, there are a lot of technical and mathematical aspects to SEO, but that is far from the whole truth. The truth is that if you give people what they are looking for, you will be found. Delivering something awesome is what really matters. You must stop trying to sell jumbo jets to jelly bean customers. Good SEO requires good marketing, and not just good technology. If they told you otherwise, I strongly suggest reading “Search Engine Optimization is Not a Technology Job!”
SEO Lie Number Six: The SEO Doesn’t Rank
Any SEO who does not have a highly ranked website of their very own is almost surely lying. There is no good excuse that a qualified SEO can provide that their own website is not ranked highly and receives a substantial amount of traffic. I have heard them try to lie their way around this and say, “Oh, but we have a whole bunch of websites, and our traffic does not all just come from one or two websites.” My question is this: With all of those websites, why are none of them ranking in search engines? The answer is that they actually do not know how to do the job without being penalized in search engines. Count on it!
There are some reliable ways to know the difference between a good SEO and a bad SEO. Their website is a big indicator. I suggest reading this article: “Good SEO vs. Bad SEO: How to Tell the Difference”
SEO Lie Number Seven: Cold Calling / Emailing SEO
If the SEO is cold calling you on the phone or emailing you offers to provide you with top listings, look out for the worst. Doesn’t it make sense that if the SEO was good at what they do, they would catch your eye in the same way they propose to help people find you? I do not mean to knock every SEO who ever called a prospect for business, but if they are doing their job well, plenty of people are finding them every day. I wrote more about this in the article titled “Find Good SEO: Why Good SEO Don’t Seek Your Business”
Note: If you want to avoid the lies of an SEO, you should spend some time reading and researching. I’ll give you a good head start on your higher education. If you think I’m lying, just search Google for “SEO lessons” and see where you find the link I just gave you about avoiding lies. 😉
For your enjoyment, I have included a video to better understand the SEO liar.
What do you think? Have you heard any interesting lies from search engine optimizers / Internet marketers?
Many companies will face the question of whether to outsource SEO (search engine optimization) or to hire in-house SEO professionals to improve, manage, and monitor search engine optimization and other Internet marketing efforts. Of course, some companies will overlook the need for search engine optimization, branding, and online reputation management altogether, but don’t worry about them. They will not likely steal away any of your market share, so whichever of these options works best for your company, it is better than overlooking the question.
I have witnessed many arguments on each side of this topic, but most do not give fair and unbiased consideration to each viewpoint. I intend for this to be useful to companies seeking to hire SEO services, freelance and agency search engine optimizers, and in-house SEO who may not be getting what they are worth. My goal is to remain as objective as possible and to discuss something of a potential trend in the online marketing industry.
First Consideration: Who Needs SEO, and How Much?
I want to address one very important consideration right upfront, and that is the question of “who needs search engine optimization?” I do not want to carry on with this part too long, because it should be obvious, and otherwise you would probably not be reading this. There is scarcely a company in existence that will not benefit from proper search engine optimization and Internet marketing. The benefits are measurable, and the factual data proves the importance. A challenging part of the question is in how the SEO efforts you put forth will most greatly increase the bottom line of your company. You would probably not pay a sales representative more money than they return for the company, and SEO is not so different in this respect. You should expect more profit.
In an unbiased fashion, I want to make it really clear that success mostly depends on the skill level implemented and dedication to the campaign. Even very small companies can benefit from either a full-time in-house SEO (search engine optimizer) or outsourced SEO if it is a skilled effort with the company’s interests at task. Believe me or don’t, but the real numbers bear it out that a well executed long-term online marketing campaign has the potential to make nearly any size or type of company very successful. The list of case studies and stories of success is longer than you will ever be able to read, because the list grows each day. I have witnessed it in my own corporation, and we turned a tiny company into a phenomenal multi-million dollar industry success. Proper online marketing should not be viewed as wasted cost, but rather as an investment. It is a very important investment which should not be taken lightly, because the list of failures grows even faster than the list of successes.
Why This SEO View is Unbiased
I have a sincere cause to pose questions about outsourcing SEO vs. hiring in-house SEO and base it on minimal bias. First, I will explain why my comparison is unbiased, and I hope you can see that it is provided for maximum value and not serving the agenda of one side over the other.
I have been a company president and/or CEO for a long time (over 20 years), and not just a CEO. For over a decade, I have been the CEO of a successful Internet company which offers SEO services. I look at this from the perspective of a corporate executive who seeks SEO talent, and also as somebody who has regularly been approached by “headhunters” seeking to bring me into their in-house staff. I was approached recently, and it was enticing enough to really make me consider the two sides of this topic and try to weigh them carefully.
I want to address the topic of hiring internal SEO versus outsourcing freelance or agency SEO consultants in a way that is as cost-aware and benefit-aware as I can determine from my viewpoint. I would also appreciate any input you may provide on the topic, because although I may wish to know everything, I still need people to help me prove it.
I will focus on eight segments plus a summary, and address the company needs and the employee or outsourced search engine optimizer (SEO) independently because I want to make a purposeful case for each. This format should help me to make these high-level pros and cons of each option as unbiased as possible. I will not touch on every point, because this could get very long, but I will address some of the top advantages and disadvantages. My arguments for and against outsourced SEO or in-house SEO will be categorized as follows:
Outsource SEO: Advantage to Company
Outsource SEO: Disadvantage to Company
In-House SEO: Advantage to Company
In-House SEO: Disadvantage to Company
Outsource SEO: Advantage to SEO
Outsource SEO: Disadvantage to SEO
In-House SEO: Advantage to SEO
In-House SEO: Disadvantage to SEO
Summary
So let’s begin to look at this from the standpoint of a company who wants to be more visible in the Internet marketplace, with a more effective message, increased profits … and to do this with the highest effectiveness and the least amount of failure.
Outsource SEO: Advantage to Company
The most advantageous aspect of outsourcing SEO is not what most people may think. It is not a way to save money, because let’s face it, the outsourced SEO has to eat just as much as an in-house SEO. The good ones eat much better. In fact, the expense to outsource comparable results is generally significantly higher than in-house SEO. I see what in-house SEO people are paid by many companies and I wonder how they can do it for more than a couple months without seeking a different field. Then I remember that the lower pay scale usually equates to experience, regardless of the level of talent. Fair or not, that is often the way it is. The underpaid SEO with significant talent should always be seeking more opportunity, because they deserve it. You cannot expect them to earn success for a company without enjoying some success of their own. It just doesn’t work that way.
The greater advantage of outsourcing is that companies can pull from a greater talent base of people who are more highly specialized in the field of marketing and SEO. They are often people who were previously in-house SEO and developed enough talent to fire their boss and go freelance or with an agency. With greater specialization, experience, and overall industry skill, it should be no surprise that the cost is higher (although it actually is a surprise to some). More skill equals more cost … just like it should be. When hunting success, it is best to seek success where it lives. If the SEO has a success record, they are not likely to put themselves in the pool of eligible employees to work for small earnings and punch a time clock. The real benefit here is in the selection, and being able to purchase talent that a company cannot otherwise afford. They may even be able to afford it, but they lack the means to justify SEO to other decision makers.
Another advantage to companies by outsourcing is the typically obvious concerns surrounding human resources issues (payroll, benefits, liability, and etcetera). However, it is quite clear from everything I have read and witnessed that those considerations, especially where they relate to a scale of cost for talent still leave the company with a higher expenditure for outsourcing SEO … but also a higher return on their investment.
Outsource SEO: Disadvantage to Company
Aside from the common disadvantage of budgetary concerns and how very hard it is to free up necessary marketing capital, the company has less perceived control. Much is perception rather than reality, but there is some basis to this. For a marketing director or business owner with a need for immediate action and accountability, an in-house SEO is an easier neck to strangle when something is urgent or if goals are falling short. Most outsourced SEO, if vetted properly and found to be reputable, will care very much to serve their clients. However, they also have their own company interests to address. In instances where resources are pooled and the top-level resources are shifted to another project or otherwise short-handed, a client may not have the level of immediate recourse they like, as they may have with an employee. This often comes down to the level of client you have placed yourself as, and if another client is more profitable and needs urgent attention, it should be no surprise how business decisions are made.
In-House SEO: Advantage to Company
I have not been an employee in decades. I have always been the employer, so I can see the advantages of outsourcing SEO from the company standpoint. A commonly perceived advantage to the company focuses on greater control over the SEO and their marketing message.
This is generally more a myth than reality, but many companies will see an employment contract as more enforceable than an independent contractor agreement. The greater control is not in the enforceability but rather the requirements. If somebody is your employee, you can require them to be in a specific place at a specific time. This can make it easier for some companies to feel relatively secure that their SEO is working a specific amount of hours per day, and help to assure that they are working hard on the company’s projects. To my notion, the most valued benefit of in-house SEO to the company is far more human in nature, and it includes pride in a job done well.
The greatest benefit of in-house SEO to a company will really rely on a much more human aspect of business. If employees are happy with their job and they have a passion for making the company successful, many other obstacles are averted. When they can share in a feeling of pride, their effectiveness is likely to reflect that pride. I saw this most profoundly when I was recently contacted to meet with a company in Chicago. I felt a real connection with the company objectives and I can say for certain that I would accept a much smaller contract with that company than I would accept from other companies which have reached out to me. This is not to say that I would work for any company without dramatically stretching out their SEO budget. What I can say is that the right company could offer me $100,000 lower salary than the wrong one and still capture much more of my interest. I know, some people will think it is crazy that I would take $100,000 less to do something I love and work with people I enjoy. This is far less than the huge number of prospective clients I turn away each year because I would rather choke them than make them successful. Oh yes, SEO with a heart and soul … that must seem silly, right? Having a passion for something always makes a difference in success. Overlooking or doubting this fact is a huge mistake! If you doubt it, read this article: “Where Does Marketing Talent Come From and What is the Cost?”
In-House SEO: Disadvantage to Company
The biggest disadvantage that I can see to a company with in-house SEO is if the well eventually runs dry. Creativity can diminish over time if the in-house SEO does not discover new challenges to meet. This can be assisted with maintaining good relationships and keeping open communication with others in the SEO field, but it is often well-augmented by an outside consultant. For companies unwilling or unprepared to provide their SEO staff with the necessary resources, they can often find a dead-end of sorts. It is mitigated by finding the best SEO for the job, but on limited budgets, companies are frequently required to settle for what they can afford. That can mean having an in-house SEO that is a shallower well, and that well may require a refill from time to time. The tragic disadvantage to many companies is that rather than to bring in additional inspiration, they will assume that their in-house SEO has just run out of value. This is often not the case, but rather that they have just not been granted enough resource. Hiring replacement talent is a tragic end to this scenario, which can set a company back a lot of time and money. I guess the disadvantage here is how to properly discover and provide the degree of trust and artistic freedom which will benefit their SEO staff and the company at the optimal level.
Outsource SEO: Advantage to SEO
This should be no surprise that the biggest gain to the outsourced SEO is financial. Although there are a lot of starving people calling themselves search engine optimizers, the big reward comes in the form of money. Most freelance SEO will have multiple business interests, and have multiple income streams. A good SEO knows how to be more visible with a better marketing message. They do not reserve this only for their clients. I like the way Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz described why good SEO is expensive as relating to the cost of the search engine optimizer’s lost opportunities elsewhere. I have said this before, and it is very true that if I spend more of my time working on clients’ projects, it means less time I am spending on my own.
Outsource SEO: Disadvantage to SEO
I described what I see as the greatest disadvantage of being an outsourced SEO in a recent article, and I think this sums it up pretty well. The article is titled “When I Go to Hell, They Will Have Me Selling SEO” and it discusses the challenges we face from people simply not understanding that there is a huge difference between good and bad SEO. When people see marketing as a commodity, it is hard to help them, even when you have factual data to make a good case.
I see a potential shift in corporate thinking about SEO as the market is flooded by bad SEO. The cream rises to the top, and the best SEO are in even higher demand. Before that happens, a lot of people are hurt by the fringe of the SEO industry bastardizing the market and causing confusion among companies in need of the service. This makes it more acceptable than ever for the higher level SEO to consider leaving the rat race and doing what they love on behalf of an employer. Battling for scraps in a market that people strongly want to believe is a commodity and can be bought cheap is not appealing to me in the least. As that trend continues, search engine optimizers who really do know their work and can achieve results have every reason to be frustrated. Good SEO can compete just fine, but there is a point when it is just not fun to explain something to people only to have them learn it the hard way by hiring a cheap SEO and then come back to repair the mess it caused them.
In-House SEO: Advantage to SEO
I think most good search engine optimizers love their work. That is what makes them good at it. An advantage to the in-house SEO which also benefits the company is that they get to do the job they love and develop a full-scale marketing effort rather than the bits and pieces that many clients will opt for. Instead of working on projects that are shaved down by clients trying to save money, the SEO can do more of the work they know works. It allows for a better focus on both long-term and short-term objectives. Any SEO should love that.
In-House SEO: Disadvantage to SEO
An obvious downside to working in-house is that companies often only budget for low-level SEO positions. Yes, the money is a big disadvantage, but there is one thing perhaps even worse. A battle for many in-house search engine optimizers is that they receive friction from multiple departments. This can happen to the outsourced SEO as well, but the in-house employee is often caught in the middle. SEO involves marketing, information technology, and other departments who often do not see eye-to-eye. Depending on the company’s receptiveness and understood importance of online marketing, it can require extreme patience.
If a company wants the best from their online marketing efforts, they must listen to the SEO and be open to good ideas. When this is not the case, the SEO may have to take on a role which is not just SEO, but also office politician. Such is the life of the underrepresented in-house SEO.
Summary of Outsourced or In-House SEO
In summary, I must say that the worst answer is to look away and ignore the importance of the role of SEO in any company. In many instances, it is most logical and effective to make use of both outsourced and in-house SEO as a united effort.
I believe that as online competition for business increases among hiring companies, the importance of the in-house SEO will cause companies to increase their budgets and bring in higher level SEO talent to achieve their goals. This will provide opportunities for independent SEO, agencies, and employment alike.
For the freelance SEO, I see a continued battle of smaller and “uninitiated” companies viewing SEO as a commodity. This is a common challenge. With more people offering ineffective services it is not likely to fade soon, but it will. Companies who want to remain competitive will see greater value for highly skilled professional SEO in both capacities.
The most pronounced trend I see coming is that high-quality SEO has an ever-increasing demand, including all areas of the field. Filtering out the good and the bad SEO has become more challenging for many companies, but when they find good marketing talent, I expect them to take it more seriously than ever.
Have you ever wondered how there came to be so many Internet marketing experts and search engine optimizers in the world? My guess is because it is so darn easy a caveman could do it. At least it seems that is what they were told back at marketing school.
I love marketing. It is the only reason I watch the Super Bowl. I love to see great marketing, and to watch companies take off like an eagle. The unfortunate reality is that unskilled marketing flies with all the grace of the dodo bird.
I want to share two extreme examples of marketing failure I have recently been assaulted by. I received each of these in just the last few hours, and they come in great abundance each and every day. I think these examples explain a lot about why I encounter so many people skeptical about their marketing efforts. It is this kind of marketing that damages my whole industry.
Marketing Fail One: “Mould Providing”?
I will start with an email message I received only a few hours ago offering to sell me molds. Molds? Yes, molds! Why somebody would try to sell me molds is way over my head. This marketing failure was not only way off the target audience, but they even spelled the product name differently (language variance) in the subject line and body of the email. Then they went on to write the email as if they were the SEO just out of search engine optimization school trying to make the most of their keywords. I guess they needed to search engine optimize their email for some reason. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing any molds (or moulds either), so don’t even go there!
This goes well beyond just a language or cultural barrier, so before you give this “Marketing Engineer” a break, consider how he and millions of other spammers like him damage the marketplace for others. They collectively hinder the attention span and trust of each of us and make us more stubborn about our marketing expectations.
Subject: Mould Providing
Dear Sir/Madam,
Our company, King Mold Limited is located in Shenzhen City Guangdong province of China. We are middle size of mold maker company and about 100 machines in house. We made about 500 molds last year and 90% molds were exported to Europe, North American and other oversea areas.We are able to make small and simple molds, big and complex molds, we have made some insert molds, overmolds, two shot molds, gas assistant molds, unscrewing molds, hot runner molds and complex molds with many sliders drived by hydraulic cylinder.
Thank you for your time in advance. Your prompt attention will be highly appreciated!
Sincerely yours,
Tony /Marketing Engineer
You may be curious how Tony the Marketing Engineer targeted me for this brilliant marketing campaign. Yes, I was curious, too. You know, I love tracking things, because I am a marketer. This particular marketing failure came by way of email addressed to “thebigcheese@veryimportantguy.com” which is an address that I used in only one place … ever. That was in a blog article I wrote at “Mobile – Local – Social” titled “Cc: How Social Media Killed Email“, and I knew at the time some email spiders would come and scoop up the email address.
Marketing Fail Two: First Page Google Listing
First, I want to explain that this email came from my contact page here at aWebGuy.com and the sender had to pass a Captcha form to send it. What makes me want to reach out and ring the collective neck of this form of marketing “expert” is that it has lead a lot of people to really think of search engine optimization (SEO) as a joke. Here is the email I received:
Want more clients and customers? We will help them find you by putting you on the 1st page of Google. Email us back to get a full proposal
I wonder what, exactly they would like to get me ranked on the first page of Google with. Maybe the term “how to sell SEO“? Oh yeah, but I am already ranked in the top two for that search, and it has nothing to do with spamming people. I am already there for about a squillion competitive industry terms. I mean, it is what I do professionally. Maybe they can get me on the Google home page just under the logo … how much does that cost?
What really drives me nuts about this is that although it separates the good SEO and bad SEO, it still gives a lot of companies a real reason to hate people in my industry. It makes it even harder to overcome that disgusting image of some fat un-bathed guy in a pair of filthy nylon boxers sending out email and tweeting some crap about his new “earn money fast online” scheme and how he is the real deal and he can make your company successful overnight.
Screw it … I think I’ll go back to bed. My head hurts from thinking about it. If you leave me a comment, that is fine, but I am not buying any damn SEO or molds, so put it out of your mind right now!
When I think of all the things I do to improve client’s search engine ranking, it is enough to make a non-SEO and non-geek’s head spin. It all gets so complicated and geeky that there should be no wonder why many SEO will not shake your hand unless there is money in it.
Today I want to offer you a fast, free, and easy to understand list of actions you can take right now to improve your search engine ranking in under one hour. I don’t mean an hour per day, an hour per week, or an hour per month … one hour, and that’s it. Then you can go back to doing things you enjoy. I even broke these steps down for you in maximum increments of ten to twenty minutes, but none of them should take you that long to complete. That is, unless you don’t want to take my word for it and you need to do a whole bunch of extra research to see if I just made this all up to trick you.
This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of SEO tricks and tips to put the SEO industry out of business (I still want to earn a living, after all). This is just sixty minutes we are talking about here. Sixty minutes that will count! So, here it is … a list of six ways to improve your search engine ranking in under one hour. Better yet, it will only take you a few minutes to read this.
Add a link to your website on LinkedIn. LinkedIn can provide valuable link relevance for your website that search engines will recognize. If you do not have a LinkedIn profile, set one up right now. It will take less than ten minutes, and it will be worth it. It is simple, and even if a squillion people do not see it, search engines will, and they will follow the link to your website, thus improving your authority with search engines. This goes for many other social networking sites as well, but the clock is ticking and we only have an hour to get through this list.
If you already have a LinkedIn profile and you have your link on your profile, that is great. You are not off the hook, though. Update your LinkedIn status with a link to a compelling page of your website that others maybe have not already seen, and that search engines may not have not already seen. You can automate this process with a service such as Ping.fm or others, which offer updating of multiple services. Update each of your social networks with the latest content from your website, unless you are ashamed of it and you want to keep it a secret.
Improve Search Engine Ranking, Minutes 11-20: Google Profile Links
Add a link to your website from your Google Profile. If you do not already have one, it is very simple to set up, and the value of the links on a Google Profile are fantastic. They may not look very fancy, but Google Profiles are a good place to be sure your links are present. You may add multiple links, and I suggest adding some of your top priority links that you want people or search engines to notice.
In case you are not familiar, here is my Google Profile and you can create your Google Profile here. If you do not already have a Google account, the setup is simple, and it offers many other tools, but we are keeping this under one hour.
Improve Search Engine Ranking, Minutes 21-30: Link to Social Media Profiles
Create links to your social media profiles from your website. This not only allows others to communicate with you more closely, it will add link relevance to your social media profiles, which already link back to you. You may think that social media profiles all come pre-built with link authority, but it is not entirely true. Some seem to be valuable almost from the beginning, but others can use a little help. Linking to them will boost their link relevance (which you should want anyway), and when they link back to you the wonderful circle is complete. Don’t worry, it does not need to be as elaborate as my list of social networks, but your website should link to some of your most used social networks.
Your social media profiles already receive link relevance from outside sources, and you probably already made certain that your profiles are relevant to your business. Whether your business appears in searches by way of a social network or to your site directly, you still win. You win even bigger if they are cross-linked, sharing and boosting authority for the same topics. This is making sense now, right?
Improve Search Engine Ranking, Minutes 31-50: XML Sitemaps
Create or update your XML sitemap. Since I want to keep non-geeks from going googley-eyed and falling asleep, I want to explain that this is easier than it sounds, and is important to help search engines index the contents of your website. XML sitemaps are not the kind of sitemap that people use to find their way on your site. They are a kind of sitemap which is used only by search engines.
If you have a WordPress blog (as many millions of people do), simply add the massively popular Google XML Sitemaps plugin to your blog. It is a free plugin, but it is definitely worth a donation to Arne Brachhold for his efforts and your time saved. Roughly 3.8 million people have downloaded this plugin, so don’t be silly and say that it is way too hard to use.
If you do not have an XML sitemap because your antiquated website does not generate sitemaps automatically for you, then use an online sitemap generator to crawl your site and create one for you. Once it is created, simply upload it to your website and then add it to your Google Webmaster Tools. Yes, you already have this, because you have a Google account. You were paying attention to minutes 11-20 above, right? Great, then you already have a Google account, and you can follow the simple directions from Google about creating and submitting XML sitemaps.
I gave you 20 minutes for this one, just in case you need it. The clock it ticking, and you can do this!
This assumes that you have an existing RSS feed, but even if you do not, you can create RSS feeds and still get a lot done within this hour. Create a Feedburner Feed, and do not skip this part, because it is a big one. It will only take a tiny little bit of your time, but it is extremely valuable. You can create a Feedburner feed here. Just look for “Burn a feed right this instant” and enter the link to your feed (usually something like http://awebguy.com/feed).
The links from a Feedburner feed are quite valuable, and since it is suggested that you link to your RSS feed from every page anyway, it only makes sense that you should link to a feed with all the SEO usefulness of Feedburner. Plus, if you have great information to share, odds are good that you will also benefit by having people subscribe to your feed, which is the more obvious reason for Feedburner. See my Feedburner feed for aWebGuy.com to see what the feed looks like. It allows users to subscribe by email or RSS, and there are many Feedburner options that you may tweak later. In fact, the email subscription forms on my blog are Feedburner subscription forms. We are going to keep this under an hour, so for now let’s just be excited that you will have those awesome links pointing back to your website from Feedburner.
Improve Search Engine Ranking, Minutes 56-60: Blog Comments
You now have just four minutes left, so let’s make these count in a big way! I want to preface this by saying that you should never, under any circumstances spam a blog comment form. It is a huge point of contention among bloggers and it is very rude to the blog owner. At the same time, it is not only very acceptable, but also very appreciated by bloggers (me included) when readers leave their productive or considerate comments. It does not have to be a perfectly crafted work of art, but it should be relevant to the article.
You may be shocked to know the value of your comments on a reputable and popular blog. When you add your URL (web address) where it is asked for in a blog comment form, it creates a link. Somehow between absurd rumors that “nofollow” links do not provide great value in search engines and people’s hurry-up, scan-and-click way of Internet life, the tremendous link value of a blog comment is often overlooked.
Although I would discourage focusing on blog commenting as a cornerstone tactic in your SEO efforts, adding your comment to a blog post can greatly increase your website link authority over time. Doubt me if you like, but you read this far, and there is surely a good reason you found this article. This blog has significant link authority (see SEOmoz mozRank), and if you comment with courtesy to my blog and my readers, your link will be right here for search engines and people alike to follow.
If you finished the list early, the next big step would be to create some website content that is worth sharing with others on social media and social bookmarking sites. When people share a link to your website because you provided something useful to them or that they think will be useful to others, it is extremely valuable to your search engine ranking. (Hint: Something like this article. ;-))
SEO Guarantees You Can MeasureThe search engine optimization (SEO) industry has attracted a lot of bad search engine optimizers. For a good SEO, there is a lot of money involved. Wherever there is a lot of money, there is usually a lot of fraud, too. It can be really hard for the average person to know the difference between good seo and bad seo.
I know it is not only me who gets the offers in my email each day offering guaranteed top ten results at Google. I manage a lot of websites, and nearly each of them will receive offers for guaranteed SEO results. I even get these offers for sites that I intentionally exclude from search engine indexing, which makes it pretty clear these guys don’t know much about targeting their market … they just have an email address. They claim to guarantee top ten results, but top ten for what search? I guess that would be pretty easy for keyword phrases like “unicorn hunting expedition”, but what about the stuff that really pays off? What about the things that create more business for the client, and not just a buck for the SEO?
SEO Guarantees Should Be Objective
A guarantee without an objective measurement, that is reasonably guaranteed to be achievable, and is guaranteed to be of value, is no guarantee at all. However, that is the type of guarantee people get suckered into all the time with SEO. It is a good reminder that it is really easy for people without integrity to make false claims. It is a constant challenge for me to try and understand why people so often believe lies more than they believe the truth about Internet marketing. They only see the bold print with great claims, but their eyes glaze over when it comes to the fine print or when common sense is necessary. You know, like the common sense that kicks in and tells you “it sounds too good to be true.”
I want to share seven legitimate SEO guarantees that are based on objective third party measurements that are very achievable by any SEO worth the water their body is made of. These are guarantees that actually have meaning, because they are measurable and not subject to individual interpretation, and they place specific responsibility on the SEO.
SEO Guarantee Number One: Website SEO Readiness
Measuring website readiness for SEO can be performed in many ways. It seems that a lot of non-SEO people do not realize how objective this can be. There are a lot of very specific deal-breakers that can preclude a website from high search ranking, and they can be measured very objectively. I will give you just a couple of examples.
Website Grader by HubSpot: HubSpot is a company that provides tools to help companies measure and improve their website and social media reach. As a side note, it is actually kind of funny that if you search Google for HubSpot SEO or HubSpot social media, or a bunch of other terms related to their services, you can find my thorn in their side. I have given HubSpot a hard time in the past, but they really do have some good products to measure a website’s preparedness for SEO.
Website Grader analyzes a website based on preparedness for SEO mixed with its traffic level. A legitimate SEO guarantee based on a set ranking on Website Grader is something achievable to the SEO, because it will provide details of what to improve, and it is objective data from a third party. If the SEO guarantees a HubSpot Website Grader score of 98 within 60 days, it is something that is both measurable and readily achievable to even an average SEO. Try it for yourself and see where your site ranks. If you want to improve it to 98+ within 60 days, your SEO should be able to make a legitimate guarantee. This particular site is presently ranked at 99.7, and it did not require any rocket surgery. Click the badge to see a sample report for my blog.
Google Webmaster Tools: I have previously pointed out that Google wants to index your website. Providing relevant listings for searches has everything to do with how Google makes money. They provide a lot of help for making websites more search engine ready, because it helps them meet their business objectives.
Google Webmaster Tools provides objective information to help website owners measure and maintain the SEO preparedness of their website. This provides a measurement that any SEO should be able to guarantee, legitimately. I will include a couple screenshots to show SEO standards that any SEO should be able to achieve, maintain, and guarantee.
The appropriate SEO guarantee in the instance of Google Webmaster Tools is clear and very simple to track. It is also very achievable to any SEO that has been in the business more than three weeks.
SEO Guarantee Number Two: Traffic Measurement
There are a lot of ways to measure website traffic. There are many different value metrics such as number of unique visitors, time on page, bounce rate, traffic sources (keywords, referring websites, etcetera), new vs. returning website visitors, and more. If a guarantee is to count, it must be well defined and based on historical data compared to new data.
A legitimate guarantee that the SEO can make in traffic measurement could include ongoing work in specific increments until certain goals have been met. For example, if the goal was to increase search traffic by 300 percent and keep the time on page above four minutes, the SEO will provide (and log) no less than ten hours per week in services until that goal is reached. That would be a reasonable guarantee. If the SEO wants to get to work on other projects, he or she will probably work pretty hard to be sure the goal is met without delay.
SEO Guarantee Number Three: Alexa, Quantcast, Etc.
Ranking at Alexa, Quantcast, Nielsen, and etcetera is another form of traffic measurement that is more important to websites focused on selling advertising than their own products or services. These rankings have often been contentious, and many people will argue their validity due to possibilities for falsified or fraudulent results. However, it is hard to argue that the SEO has not done a good job if a website’s ranking in two or more of these services has made significant improvements, especially if they each produce results that are in agreement.
If the SEO chooses to guarantee increases in these rankings, it can be beneficial to measure more than one of them simultaneously. A guarantee of ranking in the top “X” sites on each of these services could mean the SEO will provide the amount of increase at a specific cost and continually log efforts until the goals are reached. If the SEO priced it too low, their guarantee is to keep providing work, and proof of that work, until your objective is reached. An incentive to the SEO for higher than promised results is often an additional guarantee of another sort. It guarantees the SEO will be excited to work on your project.
SEO Guarantee Number Four: Increased Incoming Links
Incoming links pointing to your website is the most desirable and effective way to achieve higher search engine rankings. Because of its importance, it is also one of the most abused areas of SEO. The most common scams I see are from crooked SEO selling useless links. Many SEO will promise you a squillion new incoming links to your website, but what they do not tell you is they are largely links from domains that are penalized by all major search engines for being “link farms” and can actually do more harm than good. It is why this kind of search engine optimizer will generally have their own website penalized and cannot produce a single example of a website where they have created a large number of useful incoming links.
If any SEO guarantees to produce “X” number of incoming links, you should see it as a big red flag. On the other hand, if they guarantee a given MozRank increase based on high quality links, it had better come with some pretty serious content production. That means producing the kind of website content that will attract people to share your article in social media, reference it in their blog, or submit it to Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, and others. Any SEO promising links simply by adding your web address to blog comments, forum posts, and link farms is likely to hurt your business in other ways, too. If you want to know how to create incoming links, read this article titled “SEO Backlinks: Why Most SEO Fail at Link Building“.
Links are not created equally, and some are not only worthless but even harmful. Any SEO guarantee including link building should be based on measurements of link value and not just link volume. A reputable measure of link value may be found using SEOmoz Linkscape or Open Site Explorer (example report). Of course, there is also Google PageRank, but a good SEO knows that PageRank is not a good measurement tool, and it is old and unreliable data.
A reasonable guarantee for the SEO to offer is to produce and promote useful content on your website and continue until it reaches your set goal. This is another example of an SEO guarantee that places responsibility on the SEO to work for their money.
SEO Guarantee Number Five: Increased Search Phrases
The number of unique search phrases that bring you traffic can be a useful measure of overall performance. I do not mean measuring the number of search phrases where you appear in results, but rather the number of search phrases that actually brought visitors to your website. It can indicate that your site is being more thoroughly indexed, and that its overall search engine health is improving. If your site was visited as a result of only 500 unique search terms in one month but then visited as a result of 5,000 search terms the next month and 10,000 the following month, it is a pretty good indicator that things are going well.
This is a very measurable metric that has meaning, but for the purpose of a solid guarantee, it should be measured alongside the number of unique visitors to your website. You know, for the skeptic to be sure the SEO is not running a script to falsify the results.
A good SEO guarantee based on the increase in search phrases could be something such as additional increments of services being logged by the SEO until “X” percent increase in unique search phrases and “Y” percent associated increase in unique visitors.
SEO Guarantee Number Six: Solid Marketing Plan
This is a preemptive guarantee that is a hard one for a lot of people to really grasp as a truly measurable guarantee … but it is! Many people will look at SEO as a commodity that is produced the same by every search engine optimizer, and is just a set of basic tasks we perform the same for each client. This is not how it actually works, but it is why I receive many visitors searching for SEO hourly rates (google it for yourself).
I recently wrote about the relationship of marketing cost vs. marketing value, and the truth is that if you want all the pieces to fit just right, you should plan to make a sizable investment. This is because a good SEO will be making a sizable investment of time and knowledge to help you achieve your business objectives. As you can perhaps see here and throughout my blog, there are a lot of tasks to perform in reaching good search engine results. The specific work of my industry is not the same for any two companies, which is why a properly outlined plan can be the greatest SEO guarantee of all.
The lack of a solid marketing plan is a guarantee to fail. If the SEO provides a well-formed contract outlining the discovery process, proposed execution of tasks, and reporting of outcomes, it is likely the best guarantee that you will get what you pay for. When it is carefully planned out, high quality SEO can become the greatest asset to a company, topping the chart for online success tools. It can take a company to a whole new level and send their profitability and market share through the roof.
SEO Guarantee Number Seven: Inaction Guarantee
Number seven is the SEO guarantee grandfather of them all. I guarantee that there are a lot of websites returned in a search for what you offer. If you do not take action to optimize your position, or you lack the proper actions, you will miss a lot of potential business. That is a guarantee worth betting on. If the SEO has a strong track record and will make specific guarantees like the ones suggested here, you will risk a lot more lost money by inaction than if the SEO took your money and split for a country without extradition.
Ranking at Alexa, Quantcast, Nielsen, and etcetera is another form of traffic measurement that is more important to websites focused on selling advertising than their own products or services. These rankings have often been contentious, and many people will argue their validity due to possibilities for falsified or fraudulent results. However, it is hard to argue that the SEO has not done a good job if a website’s ranking in two or more of these services has made significant improvements, especially if they each produce results that are in agreement.