Recently a friend that sells supplements passed me along an email recently about companies that are calling numerous reps in her business showing them how to get their sites in high positions in Google and other search engines. It was a very smooth phone presentation - which ended with them asking for a check FedEx’d to them so they could make it happen nearly immediately.
These business owners are not the only entrepreneurs being targeted - I have had several clients tell me they have received e-mails telling them how “XYZ Company” can get them great positioning in all the major search engines.
I can’t share the emails/calls with you - as I wouldn’t want to be sued by the offending companies for libel (even if it is true they can sue!) but I would like to share some pointers - things to look out for when you are solicited by a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) company.
1. Being #1 costs money.
The companies that are #1 in a search probably spent a lot of money to get there - are you competing against them? Do you have their budgets? Where are your target markets and what are they worth? Do not blow your whole budget on reaching people who aren’t your customers.
2. Anybody can type in a group of words and make you #1.
They just have to choose the right words to type, i.e. if you type in “Veronika Freeman” every entry on the page is about me - however, if you type in “stress free design” only two of the ten links are about dotcalm. Watch out for smoke and mirror salesmen!
3. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Search engines are “spiders” that need to “crawl” the web and record info from new pages - you don’t need to know the techie stuff - but you do need to understand it can take two weeks to two months for a search engine to find your site, depending on when they update.
4. Get it in writing.
Do not conduct business over the phone with someone you don’t know, you have no record of their promises and nothing to refer back to; paperwork = accountability.
5. There may be less costly or better options.
Ever wonder why blogs, message boards, and forums come up at the top of the list so often? Frequent updates to those sites (especially the home page) show search engines that it’s a real & active site, which is what SE’s like! So, consider regular updates, perhaps starting a blog to support your site, and promoting your site by posting on others’ blogs - all those things may cost less than SEO packages.
There are companies that can greatly benefit from Search Engine Optimization. The key to success is to not enter into the process blindly. Define your goals for the process, know who you’re working with and what you’re paying for, and you can get a better ranking without getting ripped off.
Don’t Get Noticed By Losing Your Shirt! - To learn more about this author, visit Veronika Freeman's Website.
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Recently on The Apprentice, I had to ask a member of the winning team Kinetic to volunteer to go to the losing team, Arrow.
