Search Engine
Management: Truth or Fiction?
Search engine management is a
confusing and constantly changing experience.
We've listed here the 'Top
14' most common misconceptions about
SEM/SEO and
clarifications.
Our 'Top 14' List
 In-House Optimization
Is Cheaper
Research shows that less than 1 percent
of marketing budgets go to SEM; Web
sites are simply not properly
optimized. Yet SEM sites get
better rankings faster because they're
being managed by people that are always
studying the complex, technical, frustrating,
and ever-changing submission
process.
- It's a One-Shot
Deal With Submission Software
Submission software promises
you everything. But how can
software get the same kind of results
reputable vendors provide for a fraction
of the cost? There's no way software
can identify keywords and phrases automatically
or optimize your content, and HTML
coding. All the search engines and
indexes have specific submission guidelines
that change constantly. It's not one-size-fits-all,
and no software program can
customize and update effectively.
- SEM Leads Are
Inferior to Traditional Leads
SEM leads are the most qualified leads
you can get, because people
searching for products and
services on search engines are ready
to buy. Search engine traffic is qualified
because the users have initiated the
search, making these leads targeted and
more valuable than those from traditional
media.
- SEM Traffic Isn't
High Quality
Ideally, it'd be
nice to have an integrated marketing
campaign with TV ads, direct mail,
e-mail, banner ads, and search engine
marketing, but no one I know (including
myself) can do this. When your marketing
budget is limited, the place
to start is with SEM. A properly
optimized and regularly updated site can
produce leads and sales within a
reasonable time period.
- "Guaranteed
Top Rankings or Your Money Back"
Money-back guarantees are worthless in
search engine positioning because outcomes
are always unpredictable and ever
changing. New submissions
are always being added to databases
changing rankings continuously. The
truth is technicians simply cannot
control the search engines. We need
to revise that last statement to say:
technicians simply cannot control the
search engines legally or ethically.
 You Need Listings
in Thousands of Search Engines
Submission software claiming to "Submit
to 1,500 directories and search engines" will
get you listed in many FFA (Free For
All) engines. FFA listings
are worthless and don't begin
to compare to directories and engines
like Google. What you will
get is your name on email
spam lists. Besides which
only four major engines/indexes feed
all the others.
- Once You Achieve
Good Rankings, You're All Set
Search engine positioning requires
trial and error, and success is ephemeral.
Today's top listings will change
tomorrow; sometimes, listings
change on an hourly basis. Maintaining
positioning requires constant
monitoring and tweaking. It
can't be guaranteed, and results aren't
permanent once achieved. If you think
you're frustrated...
- Professional
SEM is Too Expensive
SEM has proven cost-effective compared
to banner ads, direct mail, e-mail
marketing, and print advertising. Anyone
priced print advertising lately? Besides,
as with every thing else, you must
compare companies and services
first.
- All SEM Services
Are Alike
The truth is services and pricing vary
widely. SEM is striving
for ethics and standards, although
there will always be questionable providers.
As much as we hate to admit it, there
are many companies out there that will
say anything to get you to trust
them, then they over-charge and submit
meaningless reports showing what a
great job they're doing. It makes us
very mad.
- Page Ranking
is Vital
Page ranking is hooey. So-called
page ranking changes on a daily
basis. Do you really think
people use the search engines asking
for Web sites with specific page
rankings? No they do not. They ask
for a product, or information - and
having that correctly optimized on
your site for inclusion is what matters,
not page
ranking.
 I
Have to Link My Web Site Everywhere
Is everywhere relevant?
1000's of links to sites that have
nothing to
do with your business will bring you
1000's of nothing. These links might
eventually generate click-thru's, but
do they generate sales? Are they pumping
up the number of hits to your site,
but not producing any income? You want
quality inbound links,
not necessarily reciprocal links. Our
clients receive emails every day expounding
on the benefits of reciprocal links
to sites that are non-relevant, amateur
looking, and link farms. Worse though,
is that these emails are coming from
companies that were hired to mass-market
useless linking.
- I Have to Pay
For Regular Search Engine Click-Thru's
If you've been told this, demand
your money back immediately! A
search engine-index does not
charge when your URL shows
up on a search. If you are running
a separate ad campaign such as AdWords on
Google you
will be paying for visual results based
on the keywords you've submitted for
the program. You budget a certain amount
of money per day for your ad, and when
that money is used up, your ad doesn't
show any more for that day. Depending
on how common, or uncommon your keyword
search terms are (you bid on these)
will determine how
much you spend. Companies can spend
as little as $30 - up to several thousand
a day.
- All Search Engines
and Indexes Are Free to List On
Many years ago this was true, alas
that is no longer the
case. If you have a personal site,
you can still secure many listings
for free - but not a business Web site.
The biggest player Google,
is free! Places such as Yahoo,
Ask.com, and many others now charge. The
last time we checked Yahoo was charging
$299 to accept your business site.
Ouch. And remember the game
is always changing - you can't
even submit to directly to AOL anymore.
Many of the open directory indexes
require either registration, a volunteer
to help run sections, or a fee to list.
- Single Page Web
Sites Are As Effective and Multi-page
Sites
Think of it this way: you're handed
a rolled-up scroll with lots of information
on it. You have to look up and down
- rolling and unrolling it find what
you're looking for. Annoying isn't
it? (Just like scrolling this page)
You will also lose out on
the multiple Page
Titles that the search
engines/indexes rely on strongly. Each
of your pages needs to be Titled according
to it's content. The multi-page break
out allows much better customizations
of title tags, keywords and key phrases,
which in turn caused more indexing,
possible listings on the engines.
SEO Promotions | Fact
or Fiction? | Terminology | SEO
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Client
Testimonials
"My
apologies for being so tardy in writing
to let you know how satisfied I am
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Money Assets web site; it looks
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ChFC
"What can I say besides WOW! The
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Klein, Stitch 'Em Up™
Wayback Machine
Ever wondered
how a Web site looked before the current
version? What were some of the originators
doing back in the mid 90's? How have
things changed over time?
There's a way
to easily view the past. Just point your
browser to: Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Browse through
55 billion web pages archived from 1996
to a few months ago.
"The
Internet Archive is working to prevent the Internet
a new medium with major historical significance
and other "born-digital" materials
from disappearing into the past. Collaborating
with institutions including the Library
of Congress and the Smithsonian, we are
working to preserve a record for generations
to come."
-- Internet Archive
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