Long Lasting SEO

I’ve had a few conversations with other people in the SEO business lately and they all have one thing in common…they don’t agree with me on seo timelines.  They are looking at SEO as a race to the top instead of building the company brand so that it stays at the top.  This is a key difference in SEO strategy that can actually ruin a company.

For instance, let’s say SEO company A focuses solely on getting a clients website (let’s call them Speedy)ranked as high and as fast as possible.  Sounds great, huh?  Well, it can be great for a few months or a few weeks.  There are a few things you can do to make this happen (and no i’m not going to give that info away for free) but the effects are not sustainable.  You will fall and you will fall a lot.  Now, some say that it doesn’t matter because you will make so much money during that time that it will make up for the fall.  In theory yes.  But in actuality it’s not going to happen that way.  Let’s say the Speedy company has increased sales 500% as a direct result of being ranked at the top of the search engines but this is only going to last for 2 months. 

Now Speedy doesn’t know this is not sustainable, the SEO company probably knows this but won’t tell them because they want to look great and justify their fees.  So what if Speedy decides to expand their business based on these new sales numbers and then 3 months later sales are down 40%.  What do you think happens to the Speedy company?  They tank. 

Don’t be fooled by the “I guarantee you top 10 rankings” people.  Ask them how long that ranking will last?  If you ask that specific question then most of them will move on to the next sucker.   They know the only way to make it last is to do it right which takes a long time and a lot of work.  Not something any sane person does for free.

Don’t believe the SEO hype

I get a lot of questions from readers who want “free advice” on seo.  I rarely give any out and there’s a few reasons.  First, I can’t tell people everything I know about SEO because then the value of my work will decrease.  It’s just not a smart business decision.  A pointer here and there is no big deal but I’m not going to give out exact instructions on how to do SEO. 

I’ve had some people tell me that this isn’t smart because the information is being offered out there by someone else so why not be the one to offer the advice.  Well, let me tell all of you out there one thing…”Do not believe the SEO hype that you read”.  Most of it is wrong and is written to mislead you away from the things that really matter in getting rankings.  Yes, I know that no one is else is saying this but those of us who do SEO everyday in a variety of industries know exactly what works and what is just hype.  And my experience has told me that most of the things out there on SEO are just misleading.  They are designed to steer you away from the important factors in SEO. 

And I will just leave it at that. 

SEO: Image Alt Tag Keyword Stuffing

Gotta love image alt tag stuffing.  How did this ever sound like a good idea to these cheaters?

And if you take the time to read some of the text, they not only stuff every sentence with keywords but it’s impossible to read through without taking a knife to your wrist.  How can you put up crap like that and be happy?  I hope these guys are raking in the dough because that’s the only way you could possibly justify crap like that.

Tell Google what you think of them.

SEO Cheater of the Day

Yes, it’s been awhile since my last cheater…had an associate send me a cheater today.    Note, that Google is not able to detect this cheating…again and again we find this to be true.   There will come a time where the public will demand better results from Google but where is Google’s motivation without competition?

Hidden text across the top of the page and note the bottom section.  The bottom section is borderline cheating and only there for the search engines.  Do us all a favor and Report the bastards. 

Report an SEO Cheater to Google
http://www.google.com/search?q=web+site+design+san+diego&hl=en&start=40&sa=N

Having an SEO Business

or something to that effect.  I’ve talked to a few other people who do SEO and I have to say some people in this industry just don’t get it.  If you are good at SEO and are only making say…30K a year…then you need to shake up what you are doing. 

Your Own Projects:

If you can design websites and get them ranked high…then you should be putting up websites and making money off of Google Adsense or other online marketing.  Also, why not take advantage of some affiliate programs?  You won’t become rich off these ideas but you will be able to supplement your income very nicely. 

Another untapped market is direct sales.  Yes, you will have to buy some sort of membership package but the commission is much higher than normal affiliate sales.  Sometimes it can be 40% off each product you sell.  Well, why not sign up and develop a website to sell those products? 

Selling Your Rates:

What to do when someone says you are “too expensive”?  Explain to them the value of your services.  You are putting customers in their online storefront.  That should be worth a lot to them and if it isn’t…don’t waste your time.  Move on.  Go to their competitor’s and offer your services and don’t be afraid to play them off one another.  One of them will see the value. 

Ask them how much they make off of an average deal?  Take a look at the traffic numbers and you will be able to guess at how many deals you can bring in someone by increasing their rankings.  This number will give you the “real worth” of your services.  Then try comparing that number with what you are charging and the customer will clearly see they are getting a deal. 

Profit Sharing:

Don’t be afraid to take some gambles here.  I know everyone wants to get paid the big bucks up front but if you are struggling then maybe you should go for these types of deals.  Agree to do SEO in exchange for 5% or whatever number seems fair.  It’s not always going to work out because you are at the mercy of that business.  The success of the business will not be solely in your hands.  You wil just be bringing the customers in the store.  The quality of the products and services…well that’s out of your hands.

It goes back to the old “diversification”.  Don’t be afraid to branch out from the SEO norm.  And do not hesitate getting advice from other small business owners and reading up on various business models. 

SEO Cheater of the Day

 These guys almost got away with it.   They just have a little hidden text on the top of their website.  Someone might say “it’s only 3 words.”  But, it’s the principle…you are cheating on purpose and now all my readers and Google know as well. 

As always, report these cheaters to Google.

search phrase is boston real estate and the search page is:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=boston+real+estate

unfortunately, google has these cheaters at #3 in the results.  let’s all applaud Google for a job well done.

SEO Cheater of the Day

Wow.  These bastards are blatantly cheating with little regard for the rules.  Of course, I figured they were cheating right away with all that extra space at the bottom of the page.  But, i had no idea it was this bad.  There is tons of hidden text on that page. 

It is surprising how many sites still employ this technique to achieve rankings…and the biggest problem is that Google isn’t catching them.  For all of Google’s scare tactics, it’s becoming obvious to me that they can’t catch websites cheating.  Yeah..  Yeah.  I have read all of the warnings from Google and the other so called SEO experts out there but the reality is that websites who cheat consistently get high rankings. 

Time and time again, I find websites ranked very high who are using simple cheating tactics.  Google it’s time to clean up your search results or perhaps people will turn to a search engine who can. 

As always, report these cheaters to Google.

http://www.google.com/search?q=new+york+mortgage&hl=en&start=20&sa=N

new york mortgage

SEO Cheater of the Day

I know it’s been awhile since I did one of these but here you go people.  Check out the cheaters!

Whenever I see a dark background on a website that clearly has some type of optimization going on, I immediately look for hidden text…and about 25% of the time it’s there.  Case in point. 

First the text at the top of the page is very questionable and that in itself might set off Google at some point.  Second, look at the bottom of the page.  You will find hidden text and key phrases between the sitemap link and their copyright.  That’s enough to report to Google. 

Report the Cheaters:

To Google

Search phrase is “denver web design”

and here is the link http://www.google.com/search?q=denver+web+design&hl=en&start=10&sa=N

Amazingly, these idiots are on the top of the 2nd page of results…if this keeps up it’s going to be very hard to convince people not to cheat.

Be careful how you use your Description Tag

Don’t do what these morons are doing.  You can view the source and see there description tag…but it’s even worse when you look at the search result page.

Use some common sense in trying to achieve rankings.

Spammers and Grammar

Notice to all unemployed college grads with English Degrees:  This might actually work.

 I wonder if there is a company out there who offers grammatical advice to spammers.  We all get these emails from Nigeria or the UK or the Congo or wherever and they all are easy to spot as spam because the english is terrible.  There are usually spelling mistakes or made up words or words way out of place.  So, why doesn’t someone offer to help the spammers out? 

Take this recent Spam that I got.

Good day,

I sincerely write to seek your co-operation and trust in respect to a business opportunity in our Company.We are a corporation that deal on chemical fixing systems and export into America, Canada & Europe.We are presently in search of Partners/Liaison Officers with Good working experience and Credible Character.

Now what if that was written better?  It might fool a few more people.  Heck, maybe there is a company out there that is doing this.  Of course, the average Nigerian Spammer may not have 10 bucks to pay anyone an hour or who would actually trust them to pay but still someone could make it work. 

Whitelisting companies should offer this as an upcharge.  Is there a craigslist for Nigeria?  Run some ads people.  So I never have to read something this poorly written:

Obtain the_degree you deserve, based on your present knowledge and life experience.

A prosperous future, money earning power, and the Admiration of all.

Degrees from an Established, Prestigious, Leading Institution.

Your Degree will show exactly what you really can do.