Warmest Greetings,

:: Thursday, October 10, 2002 ::

Don't let a SAMpire Risk Your Site (Beware of Search engine and Marketing Vampires)

Lately there's been references in SEO/SEM forums and news articles (that's search engine optimization and search engine marketing to those of you who landed on this blog from some distant planet), about SEO/SEM being the work of the devil, or at the very least, is nothing more than trickery to get a site ranked high.

Yes, it can be.

Like everything else on this Earth, something that was created with good intentions is also going to be abused by people who could care less about anything accept getting rich by any means available to them, including lying to customers. The main reason I became interested in SEO myself was because an SEO company scammed the company I was employed by and did nothing to improve the rank or traffic of our web sites. I was so furious about the waste of money, lack of results and excuses made by the SEO company that I spent my free time learning how to do it the right way, and then offered to apply what I learned to my employer's web sites. They agreed and my work showed instant, positive results.

How did I do it then? I was a hand coder, who understood the architecture of a web site. I had a journalism background so I understood the value of words and the influence the placement of those words can have on humans, and as I discovered, search engines. I learned the importance of these two things in 1996 and they remain the main thrust of any web site promotion campaign to this day. Hidden text does NOT make a web page rank high.

Tricks such as hidden text and keyword stuffing meta tags existed in 1996 too, but unlike some people, I wasn't about to take any risks with web sites I didn't own. I built my reputation on that one fact. This is not something you will hear from a large number of so-called SEO companies. They are the ones who want your money, will tell you things that sound technical and all-knowing, and they'll promptly proceed to do those things and get your web site banned from search engines. They are the companies that should be hung up by their thumbs in public. One cloaking company admitted, AFTER THE CUSTOMER PAID THEIR FEE AND SIGNED UP, the potential risks of cloaking. By then, the customer had no choice but to go along or fight to get their money back.

SEO professionals come from many backgrounds. The best ones are those who know a bit about marketing and promotion, web development, the Internet, copywriting and programming. Since knowing all this is difficult for one person, some SEO companies are made up of teams or have partnered up with other SEO professionals who specialize in certain areas, such as dynamic site optimization or pay per click promotions. I use my training in usability and human factors as another set of strengths in my SEO approach because for Directories, if the site just plain sucks, it's less likely to be included. This is important since Yahoo! charges $299 for their REVIEW. If they don't like your web site, you don't get your money back. Be very careful of any SEO company that doesn't actually study your web site before promoting it in search portals.

One woman is, in my opinion, an SEO/SEM dynamo. She does the work, and in her spare time (where she gets that I have no idea!), she bones up on technical areas such as PageRank, algorithm development, and programming. Her name is Jill Whalen. She's got a great reputation, but I like her because she speaks out on some of the things in the SEO industry that are hitting below the belt, such as when LookSmart suddenly changed their submission policy. When Jill agreed to help me run the Cre8asite Forums I didn't really believe it to be true. Again, where would she have the time? She already moderates in other forums, has a newsletter, speaks at conferences, has her own clients...Whatever possessed her to join my Team, I may never know, but I do think of her as a peer who can go places I can't go due to my work projects and home schedule. She does the same kind of honest, genuine, no-risk SEO that I do. When Jill's out there teaching and communicating to people, she's representing the REAL SEO/SEM DEAL. She is not talking about the SEO underworld and all the crap they've done to mislead the public about search engine optimization.

There's a nice interview with Jill here AchieveProfits.com Interview with Jill Whalen

Her web site is HighRankings.com

There are other SEO professionals like Jill who know their stuff and are worth hiring, at no risk to your site(s). They won't contact you via direct email and won't make any guarantees your site will hit the top 5 in rank. No legitimate SEO company ever did those things. And don't believe a thing they say in those SEO "We can submit your site and make it rank high" emails you get. They know nothing about you and did no research before emailing you. SEO professionals and SEO companies get these emails all the time too. I get them every week it seems. It amazes me how stupid these people are!! Even worse yet is that you, the unknowing customer clamoring for exposure and sales, will believe their junk and sign up. Hit the delete button, please.

I keep the Resources section of Cre8asite Forums up to date with the best of the best in terms of companies, tools, and information on SEO/SEM and Usability. For companies and sites you can trust, please click here Search Engine Marketing Resources

Choose wisely and may your web site experience be profitable, pleasurable, rewarding and fun!

Kim

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 10/10/2002 09:48:59 AM

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