SEO Scams: 7 Warning Signs of a Scammer

Doug Williams @ 4:54 am

This blog entry was posted on December 17, 2010.

Search engine optimization itself is not a scam. There are many talented professionals out there that have mastered the art and that can truly help you get top rankings and bring you interested visitors. Unfortunately there are also scam artists out who will just take your money.

7 warning signs of an SEO scammer

Promise #1 Rankings: Do not do business with anyone that promises a guaranteed ranking or fast results. No one can manipulate rankings and Google warns against using the services of any company that makes these kinds of promises. Instead have them show you actual SEO results they have obtained and then call these companies and check their references.
“No-traffic” Keyword Phrases: They will offer to optimize your site for your company name or a string of 5-word phrases. These worthless phrases have no real competition and are very easy to get rankings for. Have them show you the daily search volume of each phrase they plan on optimizing for.
Insider information: Beware of someone that insists they have insider information to the Google algorithm because they know someone at Google. These people generally suggest that they have super secret methods. Don’t fall for this.
Copyright: Some will want you to sign a contract that states that they own all copyrights for your META data and all SEO work that they may do for you. If you ever stop using their services, they can legally force you to remove all META tags and SEO work from your website.
Unsolicited SEO Offers: You receive an email that states “We noticed that you are not at the top of the search engines for a number of your key terms.” Don’t believe this. They send out tens of thousands of these spam emails to domain name owners. I get emails like this several times a week for my top ranked site. They have not looked at your site; they are trying to scare you into doing business with them.
Evasive Answers: They will either purposely talk over your head making you feel dumb or tell you what they do is brand new and it is a trade secret. Either way, they are working hard not engage you in a meaningful conversation about your site. They are trying to create a cloud of secrecy that will keep you guessing.
Search Engine Submissions: “we will submit your site to 1500 search engine.” How many search engines do you use? Besides submitting your site may have worked 8 years ago, but definitely not today.

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7 Popular Twitter Myths

Doug Williams @ 5:58 am

This blog entry was posted on October 16, 2009.

Some call it micro-blogging, others call it social networking, others call it a form of text messaging. What ever you call it, Twitter allows you to publish sort, succinct thoughts, messages and witticisms all in 140 characters or less. This can be done from a mobile phone, computer or via instant messaging. Most people misunderstand the real power in Twitter.

140 characters are not enough to say something meaningful. The real beauty in Twitter is that it forces you to be short and to the point. 140 characters. This gives you 25-30 words to say what you have to say. Many “Tweets” are summaries that point to other blogs or websites.
Your “Tweets” should answer the question “What are you doing?” Although this is the question everyone sees on Twitter.com, it really has turned into “What do you want to share with the world?” In this way it really has turned into a micro-blogging platform.
Twitter is now used for shameless self-promotion. There are some who try to use it this way, but spamming Twitter to generate traffic and sell your products doesn’t work. Think of it this way, If you tried this at a social gathering, people would just excuse themselves and walk away.
Twitter offers too much information. In some ways this is true. But you have control over whom and how many that you follow. Keep your network focused on those that you find meaningful and quickly unfollow those that you find to have meaningless babble.
People don’t care what you are eating right now. This is true, but they do care if you found a new great place to eat. Keep your tweets confined to interesting topics that are helpful or you will lose your followers.
You should follow everyone who follows you. No, you should follow those that you find interesting. It’s about quality rather than quantity. Use Twitter to foster relationships and selectively listen to those that you want. It is not about getting as many mutual connections as possible.
Everyone who follows you will read your tweets. No this might happen if your followers are only following just a few people. Many people are following hundreds or even a thousand people. You can only get a sampling of the activity and tweets that are occurring.

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8 Popular Blogging Myths

Doug Williams @ 4:10 am

This blog entry was posted on October 8, 2009.

Over the past 10 years blogging has moved from early adopter experimentation to a tried and true marketing tool. Blog marketing is a core tool in social media marketing. Yet there are many misconceptions about what blogging is and who should be using it.

Blogging is easy. False, blogging regularly is real work. It is also fun and rewarding as you develop a following that is interested in what you have to say. Writing original and interesting material takes research and helps the writer to learn and increase their expertise.
Blogging isn’t for everyone. True, but most everyone has subjects that if they wrote about, others would find interesting. This could be your industry, hobbies or real life experiences. What blogging takes is commitment and discipline to write regularly.
Blogs are not suitable for business websites. False, blogs are a powerful way to communicate your expertise and are given a high importance by the search engines. Blogs allow you to listen to what your customers are saying, their needs and ideas through their comments.
My customers don’t read blogs. False, blogs are so common place today that anyone using Google or Bing will find blogs scattered through the search results. Many read blogs to find new and current information about their industry,
Blogs get companies into trouble. False, particularly in small businesses where owners or senior managers are blogging. In larger organizations, guidelines, policies and training must be put in place to safeguard a company.
Negative Comments will ruin my company’s reputation. Discussions about your brand or company will take place online with or without your blog. A blog allows you to respond to and address issues. How you respond to criticism is what will affect your reputation.
You must post on your blog every day. Most bloggers will post 1-3 times per week. Posting everyday is not a bad thing, but not required. Posting less that once a week does not allow you to develop a group of interested followers.
No one will read it anyways. It really depends on what and how your write. You will develop a regular readership (no matter what your topic) if you keep it interesting, original and focused. Start with deciding who you are writing to and write about what they are interested in.

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Do over 90% of all Websites Fail?

Doug Williams @ 4:42 am

This blog entry was posted on September 30, 2009.

I frequently read statements that over 90% of all websites fail. What do they mean by that? Are there any studies to support this or are these just opinions? I set out searching the web to find data to support or disprove these statements.

70% of websites don’t last 3 years without optimization. This is a 2007 study of 420 websites, some with SEO and some without. In this study group, after 3 years, 70% of the non-optimized sites were no longer live on the Internet while only 31% of the optimized websites had disappeared.
97% of websites still inaccessible. In 2006 the United Nations commissioned a study of 100 popular websites from 20 countries. Only 3% of the sites analyzed met Single-A accessibility for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 1.0 (WCAG 1.0). This was deemed important because it showed there is a global failure to provide the most basic level of web accessibility for people with disabilities.
Only 4.1% of websites have valid code. A study of 3.5 million web pages showed the vast majority have error filled code. This affects website usability and cross browser compatibility for websites.
80% of websites vulnerable to hacker attacks. A Cenzic trend report checking for website security vulnerabilities is showing an increase in the percent of websites being vulnerable to hacker attacks.
2%-3% of ecommerce visitors are converted from visitors into buyers. This is from a 2007 study from the e-tailing group. This means 97-98% of ecommerce visitors do not buy. Is this considered a failure?
“Around 80 percent of websites are terribly flawed,” says Finley… This is an opinion from someone who helps businesses plan and develop website strategies. This is probably a pretty accurate educated opinion.

I found hundreds of articles about website failure, but very few had any statistics to back them up. In other words people were expressing opinions. What they really seem to be saying is that very few websites seem to get good results (sales, leads or phone calls). There just are not measurements or studies to back up these observations.

I know that as we talk to new prospects, most have had bad website experiences where their previous websites had poor results for their business. Usually this is caused by a lack of up front planning and strategy. I believe this 90% website failure statement is pretty accurate… but difficult to prove.

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8 Popular Link Building Myths

Doug Williams @ 5:23 am

This blog entry was posted on September 4, 2009.

Today, all major search engines measure and give credit for the number and quality of inbound links a website has in place. Each link is viewed as a popularity “vote.” The more “votes,” the higher the website will rank. Link building is now a key part of organic SEO.

Myth #1: Link Popularity is all about the numbers. Link building is not about getting the maximum number of inbound links. It is about developing a wide variety of links from many source. Top quality links from authority websites, from a relevant (topic) website or links from social media give the best results.

Myth#2: There is automated software that builds your website’s Link Popularity. Absolutely false. People are always looking for the easy solution… the magic bullet. Link building is hard work. The natural solution is to add a blog to your website and write insightful original postings that others will want to link to.

Myth #3: Use the name of your website in the title of the link. False. You would like the keywords you want your site found for to be used in the link text or anchor text. The keywords that appear in the link is more important than the sheer number of inbound links. You may want to email sites that display your link and request they change the anchor text. Many will accommodate.

Myth #4: Link exchanges will get your website penalized. Although reciprocal links do not provide much authority any more, they still can provide valuable links. Don’t use reciprocal linking as your only source; they still help build link popularity. Remember, you want a diversified approach to link building.

Myth #5: Directories and article marketing are a waste of time. No both work. Choose directories that are relevant to your topic. Submitting articles to article syndication sites can produce good back links. Allow your article to be re-posted onto other websites (as long as the links in the resource box are left intact) and you can pick up a good number of links.

Myth #6: Google will penalize you if you use paid text links. No, the worst case is that Google will not count these links. Use these paid text links as paid advertisements to drive traffic to your website. If you get credit for the link, this is a bonus.

Myth #7: PageRank is a good measure of your website’s back links. False. PageRank information is about 3 months old and it has been at least 3 months since Google already gave you credit for the links. Second, it is affected by the quality of links and even the number of links on a particular page. Third, the PR info is frequently posted wrong by Google and doesn’t match the Link Popularity credit Google is actually giving you. The best advice… don’t obsess over PageRank.

Myth #8: Google shows how many back links your site has. False. Google deliberately reports only a small fraction of the links it detects on your website. Usually only 5-8% of the actual number they have found. Yahoo and MSN report a number much higher and closer to the real number.

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8 Popular Social Media Myths

Doug Williams @ 2:30 am

This blog entry was posted on August 27, 2009.

Many believe that social media is fast, cheap and easy. Social Media Marketing is the new frontier that businesses want to be a part of. With new frontiers comes misunderstandings and theories… many of which are just plain wrong.

Myth #1 Social media is free or at least cheap. Although the tools are free to use it is expensive to integrate these tools into an effective corporate Internet marketing campaign that gets real results. An effective campaign requires a team of professionals with skill and experience.

Myth #2 Social Media Marketing is easy. No, it takes lots of time and commitment. It takes a strategic plan to be successful. It takes work each day to make slow gains on many different social media platforms. Results need to be tracked and measured.

Myth #3 Content should all be charged for. No, the goal of social media marketing is to brand you as the expert, the go-to company when someone needs something done right. In the social media arena, “The more you give, the more you get.” It is about building your reputation and your brand as the authority.

Myth #4 Social media is for young people. No, young people may have been the original early adopters, but now social media is being used by all ages. Each Social media website develops its own community and its own demographic profile. A good tool for looking up these demographics is quantcast.com.

Myth #5 Blogging and social media are too risky. Many companies are afraid to blog or participate in social media for fear of a negative reaction or messing up. Online conversations will take place about your company or your brand with or without you. It is more risky to not be a part of this social media world.

Myth #6 Social Media Marketing is placing ads on Facebook. No, this is paid advertising. Social Media Marketing is interacting and engaging with your audience. Placing banner ads does not do this. The goal in social media is to inspire trust and show your business is credible and trustworthy.

Myth #7 Social Media Marketing gives nothing measurable. Although it may be tough to measure the intangibles such as reputation and brand awareness, social media is very effective in improving search engine optimization. Better organic search results bring more traffic, more leads and more sales.

Myth #8 There are no measurable statistics for Social Media. There are many good monitoring tools and methods to measure the impact of your campaign. This includes the number of mentions for your company name, comments on blog posts, number of friends or fans, followers on Twitter, trackbacks or the number of visitors to your website referred from social media sites.

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8 Popular Pay-Per-Click Myths

Doug Williams @ 4:26 am

This blog entry was posted on August 21, 2009.

PPC or Pay per Click is an important method of search engine marketing (SEM). This paid advertising method is its own science to first attract a visitor to click on an ad and then designing a landing page that will convert this visitor into a lead or a sale.

Myth #1: You will see instant results when you launch PPC. You can’t just start PPC and then forget about it. You can get very poor results or burn through a lot of cash. PPC takes careful planning, keyword selection and development of landing pages to get proper results.

Myth #2: PPC will help your organic search engine rankings. PPC has no direct impact on your SEO rankings. You can spend as much as you want on PPC and it won’t change a thing in your organic results. Google does not apply bonus points to your organic rankings if you spend money on PPC. PPC ads use JavaScript and these ads do not count as anchor text links back to your website.

Myth #3: I don’t need paid listings if I have a top 10 result on organic listings. Having your listings in both the paid listings and natural search results will give you more credibility and website traffic. The two listings seem to reinforce your brand and the traffic volume multiplies.

Myth #4 PPC is the least expensive form of search marketing. No, PPC can easily be the most expensive form of search engine marketing. It is important to optimize a PPC campaign with keyword selection, the wording of ads and landing page design to maximize conversion rates and to lower the cost per conversion.

Myth #5 In PPC, the most expensive keywords are costly because they provide better returns. No, the pricing is based on the popularity and competition for a given phrase. PPC is a pure auction environment where higher demand creates higher pricing and has no relationship to your potential return on investment.

Myth #6: Google is the only search engine that matters in PPC. No, Google does have the highest traffic volume, but other search engines such as Bing/MSN can often yield better ROI. It is a good idea to diversify your advertising onto multiple search engines.

Myth #7 You need to be #1 to get good results. No, #2 and #3 will often cost much less per click and give a better ROI. Number one will get more traffic, but the cost per click is frequently much more expensive. Frequently a lower position will be your “best” most cost efficient solution.

Myth #8 PPC Geo targeting does not work. Local or regional businesses require local visitors for their PPC. Geo targeting in PPC is based on the user IP address. Some Internet providers have IP’s that inaccurately show the users location. It is much better to use location modified keyword phrases such as “denver dry cleaner” or “portland auto repair”.

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8 Popular Website Traffic Myths

Doug Williams @ 5:00 am

This blog entry was posted on August 17, 2009.

There is a lot of misinformation om ways of getting visitor traffic to your website. Many people are searching for the magic pill to achieve their traffic goals. Remember, SEO is a never ending practice with many facets and methods.

Myth #1: SEO is a collection of tricks designed to fool search engines. SEO done correctly brings targeted traffic to your website that is searching for what you offer. The object is not to fool the search engines, it is to communicate exactly what your web page and your site is about.

Myth #2: SEO just means putting keywords in the META tags. Almost every website owner has heard of META tags. They used an important part of SEO, but no longer. Of all the META tags, only the Title tag is given any importance by Google. The focus today is on selecting the correct keyword phrases and using these in the visible text on the web page and in the inbound links from other websites.

Myth #3: Do SEO once and you will get great results forever? In the “old days” of SEO, circa 2000, you used to be able to optimize a website and leave it alone. Even though the basics remain the same of using the keywords in the visible text, search engines are constantly changing and evolving what it takes to be in a top search position.

Myth #4: SEO requires 400-600 words of text on a web page. Although search engines use the text on the page to determine what a page is about, there is no magic number of how much text is required to be optimized. A web page needs enough text to communicate your marketing message, whether it is 250 words or 600 words.

Myth #5: Flash on your website hurts your search rankings. It is the absence of text that will hurt your rankings. Having Flash within your website does not hurt. Think of Flash much like any other graphic image; there is no text in Flash for the search engines to read.

Myth #6: Multiple copies of your website help rankings. Search engines reward original writings and discount duplicate content. Making multiple copies of your website will not help your rankings.

Myth #7: Blogs get preferential rankings on search engines. Including a blog in your website won’t magically give you a top ranking on Google. Blogs are a powerful SEO tool because they regularly add keyword rich content to your website, broadcast your message via RSS and attract links.

Myth #8: You need to optimize for the long tail. No, you optimize for the more competitive keyword phrases. This includes plenty of keyword rich content and attracting links from other websites. Long tail phrases will “optimize naturally” and your website will be found for many of these low-volume long-tail phrases as a byproduct of optimization.

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LSI SEO: Myth or Reality?

Doug Williams @ 6:52 am

This blog entry was posted on July 8, 2008.

I received an email yesterday from an SEO firm offering to use Google’s latest methodology called LSI to Rank High. They offered to optimize to the latest LSI standard. They touted affordable rates in broken English with a response only to a Gmail account. So what is this LSI analysis and LSI SEO they are selling? Is this a new technology or algorithm?

What Is LSI?
Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a way of indexing documents based on related words and phrases. Content that includes semantically related keywords will theoretically rank better than a site that includes only one keyword and no other related keywords. As an example, an article about “pasta” would be expected to contain related words such as spaghetti, macaroni and vermicelli.

Google today is making limited use of LSI based on Title tags and some content. If you do a Google search for “ww2 guns” you will pull up high ranking results for WWII Guns and World War 2 weapons.

LSI examines the words in a document as a whole, to see which other documents contain some of those same words. LSI considers documents that have many words in common to be semantically close, and ones with few words in common to be semantically distant. This is similar to how a human being looking at content might classify a document.

LSI Driven Algorithm?
Google has discussed LSI in their patents and has made limited use of it in their algorithm. Is it a major part of their search algorithm today?

The answer seams to be a clear “NO.” LSI driven algorithms are a myth… at least today. LSI today takes a tremendous amount of computing power and is a technology for the future.

There are a number of SEO companies touting LSI SEO as the answer for today. This is merely a marketing ploy. There is no LSI standard and is only in limited use by the search engines. But using contextually related words and phrases is a good idea. Most agree that LSI SEO will be a part of our future.

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Top 10 SEO Myths, Mistakes and Mayhem

Doug Williams @ 6:07 am

This blog entry was posted on June 24, 2008.

Search engine optimization has so many misconceptions and yet is so critical to the success of a business website. So what works and what doesn’t? What practices should you stay away from?

Myths

You have to submit your website URL to the search engines. This is no longer true. Spiders crawl through links as long as you have people linking to your site.
Your site must have a Google site map to rank well. This is not true. Most sites can be spidered the way they are.
A web page needs to have a minimum of 250 words to be indexed. There is no minimum requirement. Text content is important, but you should focus on writing good SEO text that tells a compelling marketing story.
You need to update your site often to rank well. Frequent updates will increase your crawl rate, but not your rankings. Some of the highest ranking websites haven’t been updated for years.

Mistakes

Don’t use the same META tags on every page. They should match the content on the page. The <title> tag is the most important for SEO. The first 65 characters are the most important.
Don’t ignore using the description tag <meta name=”description”>. It may be ignored by most search engines, but it may be used as the description of your site in the Google results.
Don’t produce your whole website in Flash. Flash will either be non-indexable or indexed poorly. Instead embed flash elements in HTML pages along with text that can be easily indexed.
Avoid using intro pages. Flash or graphic intro pages waste the most valuable SEO page on your website. Unless you want to be found for the keyword “skip intro”?

Mayhem

Beware of SEO firms that promise a #1 ranking. How can they claim this? They can’t control the search engines. You have to wonder what keywords they might be willing to do this for.
Beware of SEO firms that have secret methods that they won’t disclose. This is a warning sign that they are using black hat SEO methods. Remember, you are responsible for your website and your reputation.

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Filed under: Myth Busters,SEO Strategies