Beware SEO and SEM Experts Who Claim The Following…
If you’ve been reading this site for a while you will know I advise clients on various forms of internet marketing including SEO and SEM. And from time to time I cross paths with self-proclaimed SEO/SEM experts who make no bones about the fact they don’t like my approach to this subject. Why is this? Mostly because I am open about the industry, have no secrets and tell people the facts about the current state of SEO and SEM.
So how do you tell if you are dealing with an unethical SEO/SEM expert? According to Google there are few clear signs, and these are as follows:
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. [THIS IS THE BIGGY...]
In fact, if the self-proclaimed expert alleges a “special relationship” with Google, or claims “we work with Google” or states they receive advice from Google, or claims to have a “priority submit to Google” … heed my advice. RUN! Google does not do this. See their policy document below.
Be careful if a company is secretive or won’t clearly explain what they intend to do.
Again, SEM/SEO has gotten a bad name because of so-called ‘experts’ because there really are no secrets. Google lays it all out in their directives to webmasters about what is good and what is not. Basically, if the ‘expert’ is vague - RUN! Their actions may harm you, your site, and your business.
And the list goes on. In fact for Google’s own word on the subject read this:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
And lastly, here are a few more ‘warning’ signs the SEO/SEM Expert is questionable:
- They own and use shadow domains
- They put links to their other clients on doorway pages
- They offer to sell keywords in the address bar
- They don’t distinguish between actual search results and ads that appear in search results
- They guarantee ranking, but only on obscure, long keyword phrases you would get anyway
- They operate with multiple aliases or falsified WHOIS info
- They get traffic from “fake” search engines, spyware, or scumware
- They have had domains removed from Google’s index or is not itself listed in Google!
http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
Remember, if in doubt - don’t…
Back to the “Deadly Sins of Advertising” tomorrow 
10 Deadly Sins of Advertising (Part 1)
So recently I promised to explain the 10 deadly sins of advertising, here is a quick reminder of the first 3 which I’ll cover today.
- Failing to test
- Running institutional adverts
- Not stressing uniqueness
#1 - Failing to test: This one is just plain laziness. You might have a winning advert on your hands but you can always find ways to improve and you should be doing this through tests. Test the headline, the copy, the offer, the graphics, the layout and design - test one piece a time and compare to your control (the successful advert). Your cost to publish your advert is likely fixed - your conversion is variable and open to improvement with new advert variations. When you look at ROI, testing becomes a no-brainer.
#2 - Running institutional ads: This one makes me soooo mad when I see it. “But James we need to brand ourselves like Nike and other recognizable companies.” Come on! If and when you have millions of dollars to invest in a long term branding strategy we can talk again, until then you need sales. You need customers and you need adverts that achieve this. Direct response advertising is often considered somewhat ‘cheesy’ by high-brow types, but the data speaks for itself - the approach works and has done so for over 80 years. Branding works too… but it often takes 80 years 
#3 - Not stressing uniqueness: Can you place your competitors name in your adverts and no one would likely tell the difference? Not good… You need to find your uniqueness and ensure it is included in your marketing messages. Without something “special” you are like all the others - a commodity. When you become a commodity you are then chosen based often on price. If you live by price… you die by price. Find your uniqueness: do you offer 24 hour service, is your guarantee twice as long as everyone elses, do you offer your widget in 37 colours, give this some thought - it pays dividends every time.
More soon…
The 10 Deadly Sins of Advertising
Over the next few entries I’m going to explain in more detail each of the following 10 deadly sins of advertising. In the mean time, here’s the list - enjoy!
- Failing to test
- Running institutional adverts
- Not stressing uniqueness
- Not having back end sales
- Failing to address customer needs
- Failing to educate
- Making customers work too hard
- Failing to explain why
- Giving up too soon what works
- Forgetting who your customer is
A Million Reasons Bell Makes Me Want to Yak!
Sneaky advertising annoys me, and I have issues with bullying - even commercial bullying. And when you are one of the biggest players in the telecommunications market I definitely take issue with what I consider the equivalent of filching.
“Picking my pocket” for a couple of bucks might not seem like a big deal, but multiply this by a few million customers and this is significant money we’re talking about - millions of dollars actually.
A Million Dollar Windfall
On Jan 21, 2008 Bell is ‘changing its long distance rates’ and will also begin charging a new monthly fee of $1.25 for the first long distance call you make when you do not have one of their LD plans. Accidentally dial a long distance number from your land line and you’ll incur a charge of $1.25 the first time, plus the new charges for the call. Other LD calls that month simply incur the new rates. The next month, Bell will charge you $1.25 again for the first LD call you make.
I don’t use Bell for my LD calls, I dial 1010-YAK before my LD number and pay only $0.05 a minute for LD calls in North America. Incidentally, to get 5 cents a minute from Bell you need to pay $5 a month for this level of LD Plan.
Oops! I Did It Again…
And I checked… every so often, I mess up and dial a long distance number without using 1010-925 (YAK) to get the lower rate, and with this new change from Bell, you’re going to get billed an additional couple of bucks for nothing new.
Increasing prices is fine, it’s a requirement in many cases. However, the way this change has been presented read in a very underhanded fashion and forces you closer to picking an LD Plan from Bell. And don’t get me started on the ’spin’ they applied to their presentation of the new rates! “50% discount” my foot… [Clever copywriting I must say]
Well I’m not playing along. Bell offers a $0 a month LD Plan where you are charged $0.15 minute for your calls. Since I use another provider for mine (1010-YAK) when I mess up and dial an LD call through Bell all I’ll get dinged for per minute is 15 cents… no $1.25 monthly LD access fee
Silly Rabbit, Tricks Are For Kids
Perhaps you think I’m being petty, but I don’t like being silently ‘encouraged’ into parting with money for nothing. And although Bell’s plans don’t affect me financially, I know of plenty who will feel the few extra dollars missing from their purse with the arrival of the new Bell billing charges.
My 2-Step Plan to Avoid Giving Bell a Million Dollar Windfall
- Call Bell and ask to be put on the (FREE) 15 cents a minute LD Plan. [You won't get any $1.25 access charges when you make a call through their service with this plan.]
- Always dial 1010-925 before your LD calls and pay only pennies per minute. [Instead of 15 cents a minute through Bell, you'll pay more likely 5 cents.]
Yes, I Want to YAK
And NO, I’m not a sales rep for YAK. Use any free 1010 provider you like. I just use YAK because it has a funny memorable name, they give me what they promise and I don’t have to pay silly money for something I consider a commodity - a phone call.
Metasearch, The New Super Search Tool
Googling is synonymous with searching. Google’s reach is just over 60% of the online world, Yahoo (about 20%) and MSN (near 10%) make up the bulk of the remaining two major players.
But did you know that all search is not created equal? In fact if you conduct the same search on these “big 3″ you are unlikely to see similar results. In fact, a recent study showed you are essentially getting “hosed” if you only search on one. But searching 3 times and combining the results is a royal pain in the …. er, mouse.
Introducing METASEARCHING… This is a perfect solution to the multi search problem and basically it’s a search engine search engine. Yup, that was twice. The two main players in the field of metasearch are www.dogpile.com and www.jux2.com
Both are great metasearch tools and both will search across multiple search engines providing you with a much richer and more appropriate set of choices. But don’t take my word for it… try it for yourself and see the difference metasearching makes.
GrandCentral Is to Phone Numbers What Gmail Was to Email
Today I simply wanted to share with you an exciting new technology: GrandCentral is to phone numbers what Gmail was to email! I pre-registered for GC many moons ago and currently am part of the beta test. If you’d like a special invite to get in before the rest of the world (yes I have a few insider passes left) - just ask. Here’s the official GC info, check this out…
GrandCentral gives you “One Number…for Life” - a phone number that is not tied to a device or a location, but is tied to you. Use GrandCentral to centralize your communication, customize how your callers are treated, and make sure you never miss a call you want to take (or take a call you want to miss).
GrandCentral will let you define which phones ring, based on who’s calling, and even let you ListenInTM on voicemail before answering the call.
You can also block calls from certain numbers, route different groups of callers to ring different phones (Friends, Family, Work or Others), switch calls between phones on the fly, record your calls, customize voicemail greetings for different callers, change ringback tone, and save all of your voicemail messages for life.
Visit www.GrandCentral.com
Because of Google, I Know What You Did Last Summer…
In fact with more and people journalling their experiences, recording their lives and generally sharing their pictures, videos and thoughts online, it should come as no surprise to find your life mentioned in this new super-rich-media history of the world.
The lines between the real world and the virtual are blurred more each day, and the collective pool of information is becoming more of an ocean - deep and murky and very capable of drowning the unwary.
In some cases the information available dates back to the early 1990’s when bulletin boards and news groups were popular. But now storage is dirt-cheap, academia is digitizing the past and making that information available too.
And Web2.0 (and then 3, 4 and so on…) are only going to make matters worse - or is that better? A richer more social online experience, more openness, more sharing…
Ahh, just makes you want to run out and give the world a great big hug doesn’t it.
So, when I say I know what you did last summer, I wasn’t kidding. In short order as technology records the passing moments in more and more detail, the past will become a blink behind us and I’ll be able to know what you did almost as fast as you do it.
How’s that for freaking you out about personal branding, online reputation management, career marketing and let’s not forget … online dating.
7 Ways To Accidently Get an Online Brand
Filed under: Business Development, Internet Marketing, Strategic Content
Lately, I’ve been promoting using strategic content to develop and actively protect your online brand and reputation. I’m finding people have little or no knowledge about their personal brand and how it is often created for them - whether they like it or not.
I’m advising people to actively create their own Personal Branding & Online Reputation Strategy and then implement it ASAP! The objective is to pre-empt any bad news or negative content. Be proactive not reactive. Dominate the basic search results in advance so as to assure a suitable reaction from anyone surfing for You.
I point out that “being Googled” is now a part of the hiring/buying process and it often reveals more about you than peeing in a cup or a cursory background security check! Think office party antics, camera/video phones, and ’shared’ email.
The head in the sand tactic is no longer working (did it ever?) Create your online brand before it gets created for you. And if you don’t think it can happen to you, double-dog-dare me to prove it to you…
7 Ways To ‘Accidently’ Get an Online Brand:
- Someone mentions your name in a blog posting
- Someone mentions your name in a social networking site
- Someone mentions you in a press release
- Your kids list their parents on their MySpace/FaceBook/BeBo page
- Your family shares pictures of you on a shared photo server
- Your home videos end up on YouTube
- And there are more (disgruntled employees, an “ex” and so on…)
Think it can’t happen to you… THINK AGAIN.
If you’d like to know more about developing your own Personal Brand & Online Reputation Strategy or you’d like help developing it, contact my office for a no obligation review.
