Search Engine Optimization rip offs -- (and how to avoid them.)

I see almost every web designer and marketer advertising search engine optimization services. For many their "portfolio" of customer results is both disappointing and misleading.

There are lots of search engine optimization firms out there. Right now over 40 advertise with Google Adwords alone (Which begs the question, if you can't optimize yourself to the top for your own keywords how are you going to deliver fantastic results for your own customers?)

Better odds than the lottery

The horrible truth is there are only 10 positions available on the first page. Most companies will never rank on the first page, second page, or even third page for their target market's keywords.

Being in the top three listings on Google for certain keywords can mean tens of thousands of dollars in revenue every single month. Being on even the second or third page means only you are receiving only a small fraction ( .5% - 2% ) of those potential sales.

Business owners who understand this are ready, willing, and able to invest that amount of time & money to get a good ranking on Google.

The problem occurs when they try to choose a search engine optimization company that won't tell them the truth.

Honestly, I can not recommend a single search engine optimization company to anyone. I know two internet entrepreneurs who are extremely good at what they do -- these guys have pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for themselves based off of their own skills.

Want to hire them? They charge $300-$500 for a one hour phone consultation.

I have done search engine optimization consulting for clients in the past. I clearly lay out to them what they can and can not expect. At the same time I show them what their alternatives are -- often they are far more cost effective by hundreds, or even thousands of dollars.

No guarantees

Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms.

Google's goal is to deliver the most relevant search results. Ideally, if you search for "search engine optimization" informative websites about SEO will show up -- not websites selling SEO services.

When you use a search engine are you looking for marketing sales letters? Probably not.

Search engines live and die by returning relevant results. Google is where it is today because it's creators developed an algorithm better than all of their competitors.

Yahoo and AltaVista's users figured out Google gave better results. Instead of visiting yahoo.com they were now heading to google.com.

Getting a top ranking on Google means making a lot of money. It didn't take long for people to figure out how valuable top rankings were. Today it is a constant battle between the search engines and the optimizers.

When Google delivers the most relevant search results they win & their users win. When Google gives an optimized site a top ranking then the owner of that site wins.

The truth is there is a search engine war going on. This isn't a war of Google verse Yahoo, it is a war of Google, Yahoo, and MSN against search engine optimizers.

In a war there are no guarantees. Battles are won and lost.

The bottom line here is even the best of the best can not promise a continual top ranking.

If your success rests on search engine rankings you could be out of business overnight

How much does your business rely on search engines sending you traffic?

If your business rests on ranking for a single search term then you are in a very risky position. If you lose that ranking you could literally be out of business overnight -- it can and does happen.

Take a look at your website's stats (talk to your webmaster.) Specifically, look at the search engine referrals and the keywords you are getting traffic from.

Is one keyword sending you 90% or more of your traffic?

What will happen to your business if 90% of your traffic dissapears?

I strongly recommend that you use Google Adwords and Overture pay-per-click advertising and ensure that you can still turn a profit by paying for your traffic.

On the positive side, if your traffic is spread out over hundreds or thousands of different keywords then your risk level is significantly lower.

There is a whole other side to this. There are certain keywords that will result in more sales.

Lets imagine you run an online steak business. People reaching your site by searching "mail order steaks" or "buy steaks online" will probably be more likely to purchase a steak from you than someone searching "how to cook a steak."

As you can see here search engine optimization means a lot more than being on the front page of Google for a specific keyword.

Picking out the winners and the losers

After all that I have shared with you, do you still want to hire a search engine optimization firm?

If the answer is yes, then read on. If the answer is no then I recommend you read my article on cheap internet advertising with pay-per-click programs.

The first step is to find out if the firm you want to hire has any credibility at all.

When you search the company's name on Google what shows up? If you see "(company name) SCAM" then it is a good choice to move on immediately

The best way to judge SEO firms is by through their customers. The company may list their customer's websites in a portfolio.

If they do not list their customers on their site then send them an e-mail and ask for a list. If they can not provide any move on.

Contact their customers and ask them how much traffic they are recieving from search engine traffic. If they can't give you numbers proceed with caution.

Is anyone even searching these terms?

Case study #1:

Here is a clip from the search engine optimization portfolio from a SEO company:

The question I first ask is, is anyone searching for these search terms?

Lets check! Visit Overture's Keyword tool. This gives you a rough estimate of the number of searches that keywords are getting every month in Yahoo's search engine.

That is roughly 765 total searches. That is just searches, there is no guarantee that these people will even visit your site. If your ranking is on the first page but not in the top 3 then you will be lucky to get 10% of these 765 searches.

I would be surprised if those results deliver any more than 100 unique visitors to the site.

Wait, its not over yet! Lets see if those ranking still hold as of May 2005. Seeds for sale.. nope, #16. "hairy vetch seed for sale", yes! Too bad no one is searching for it! "Barley seed" and "barley seeds" are number one on Google, not bad. "Flax seed cookies" is still on the first page.

This demonstrates that rankings can change for the better and the worse.

Am I finished yet? No. Lets find out home much it would have cost this company to run a simple pay-per-click campaign.

I will be using Overture's Pay Per Click bid tool. This will tell me the top bids on Yahoo.

There are only 3 bidders on Overture. Google has more. With well written advertising copy you do not need to be the top bidder. In fact, it pays not to be.

Bidding 15 cents a click for "seeds for sale" on Overture would deliver 50 visitors for only $7.50. If your website converts your visitors into buyers thats a bargain!

Blatant Rip-offs

Here is a copy of an unsolicited spam e-mail I received:

"Our company will place qualified websites in the top positions of the major search engines immediately. This includes Yahoo!, MSN, Alta Vista, etc. If you are interested in being guaranteed top positioning in the major search engines at a promotional fee, reply to us today to find out if you qualify. PLEASE INCLUDE THE URL or WEBSITE ADDRESS you are interested in promoting. This is not pay per click. Examples can be provided.

Sincerely,
Search Engine Positioning"

If you receive an e-mail like this forget it. Don't waste your time or your money.

Temporary Results

There is a term used for search engine optimizers who get top listings through unethical means: blackhat.

They do so by writing special programs that trick the search engines, or even worse, they steal copyrighted content.

A word you may be more familiar with is SPAM.

Some search engine optimization firms have had their customers banned from Google. This is very bad. If your website relies on Google this will cost you a lot of money in lost sales.

How can you avoid these unethical SEO companies?

Look for credibility. This means asking questions in numerous webmaster and SEO message boards. An experienced search engine optimizer can usually tell if a company is using a blacklisted technique.

High rankings, poor conversions

Another downside of search engine optimization is that it may hurt the conversion rate of your website.

Websites are usually designed three ways:

• To be pretty
• To have high search engine rankings
• To convert visitors into customers

Rarely can all three be achieved -- but it certainly is not impossible.

Most web designers make sites they want to look at. The colors, graphics, and layout and set by their personal tastes.

The second is to have high search engine rankings. This means sacrificing how the site looks and reads in order to get to the top.

The third is to convert visitors into customers. Every commercial website has this goal yet few designers truly understand the concept.

Should I optimize?

Here is the bottom line: If pay-per-click advertising costs are greater than the cost of a search engine optimization firm, or your time, then yes.

But, the search engine optimization firm you choose must only use legitimate methods that will not get your site blacklisted from Google!

How we can help you

We do not do search engine optimization -- but we will help you do it for yourself.

We privately own several profitable websites ( that have nothing to do with web design or internet marketing.) Overall, we are driving thousands of very targeted visitors to these sites daily.

If we were advertising these sites with Google Adwords this would cost somewhere between $500 - $1000+ a day!

Right now several of these sites are getting front page rankings on Google, Yahoo, and MSN for search key phrases that get 10,000 -50,000 searches a month.