- 10,276
Yep. And with Don Saleski as one of my partners, nobody messes with us!
I do that for a living. PM me if you like. No charge for bit of friendly advice.
Richard
EDIT: I'm not an SEO guy, per se. Most professional SEO services are scams. What I can do is look at a site and tell you why it's invisible to Google or ranking poorly. Sometimes the issues are structural, as when someone uses a canned framework that search engines have a hard time crawling; other times, the problem is content-related; and still other times, it's the result of laziness on the developer (missing tags, poor descriptions and page titles, etc.).
The best SEO is good, original, compelling content that is frequently updated and coded in accordance with industry best practices so search engine robots can read it. Other things that help a lot are a sitemap (along with a reference to its location in the robots.txt file) and links to your page(s) on social networking and public review sites.
Paying someone to do SEO only makes sense if the person is, first and foremost, a good web developer. This person will need full access to your site to make structural or content changes to make it rank more highly. SEO specialists who say that they don't need to touch your site are frauds 99 percent of the time. More than likely they'll just buy a bunch or links, which will wind up hurting you in the end.
Richard
EDIT: I'm not an SEO guy, per se. Most professional SEO services are scams. What I can do is look at a site and tell you why it's invisible to Google or ranking poorly. Sometimes the issues are structural, as when someone uses a canned framework that search engines have a hard time crawling; other times, the problem is content-related; and still other times, it's the result of laziness on the developer (missing tags, poor descriptions and page titles, etc.).
The best SEO is good, original, compelling content that is frequently updated and coded in accordance with industry best practices so search engine robots can read it. Other things that help a lot are a sitemap (along with a reference to its location in the robots.txt file) and links to your page(s) on social networking and public review sites.
Paying someone to do SEO only makes sense if the person is, first and foremost, a good web developer. This person will need full access to your site to make structural or content changes to make it rank more highly. SEO specialists who say that they don't need to touch your site are frauds 99 percent of the time. More than likely they'll just buy a bunch or links, which will wind up hurting you in the end.
Last edited:
stangfloss
Expert
- 32
This sounds good to me.
This couldn't be more true.
- 10,276
Yes, most are.
Mine isn't. And there's no better time to make a special Holiday offer!
For $699 and $75 per month, I guarantee the following:
Page 5 or better for three key phrases
Inclusion in 50 article directories. I hire someone in Pakistan to write the content and he is very good.
2,000 likes on your Facebook page. I also hire someone to take care of this.
If not satisfied after one year, you only have to keep the monthly subscription for another 12 months.
Hundreds of people on this Forum are satisfied customers. Maybe not my customers, but it makes no difference.
Contact me on Skype - BestWebsiteGuyInUniverse
Mine isn't. And there's no better time to make a special Holiday offer!
For $699 and $75 per month, I guarantee the following:
Page 5 or better for three key phrases
Inclusion in 50 article directories. I hire someone in Pakistan to write the content and he is very good.
2,000 likes on your Facebook page. I also hire someone to take care of this.
If not satisfied after one year, you only have to keep the monthly subscription for another 12 months.
Hundreds of people on this Forum are satisfied customers. Maybe not my customers, but it makes no difference.
Contact me on Skype - BestWebsiteGuyInUniverse
So basically, if after spending $1,599.00, your clients are not happy with the results after a year, they will only be on the hook for another $900.00?
Seriously?
Richard
----------
Here's my formula (from the client's perspective):
1. Find a good Web developer who actually knows how to code, rather than using a canned CMS. Canned platforms don't optimize as well as hand-coded sites, for a variety of reasons. One is that search engines treasure uniqueness. Another is that developers who don't know how to code tend not to know how to optimize, either.
2. Provide your developer with great content, and expect it to be re-written by the developer or his/her contracted re-writers in order to search-optimize it. This is delicate work and may not look like it, but sometimes simple things like changing word orders or emphasizing certain words and phrases can make a big difference.
3. Have your developer minimize the use of JavaScript, especially for content-rendering and navigation. It confuses search engines, no matter what they may say to the contrary.
4. Update your content frequently with unique content. This can be done easily with a server-side script that allows you to post your own special messages to the site daily, or at least a few times a week. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare, and it doesn't have to be long. It needs to be keyword-rich and original. Or you can provide your content to the developer to tweak and post. Expect to pay for this service.
5. Open a Google+ business account, update it frequently, and have your developer put links to it on your site (and vice-versa). Yeah, Google+ sucks. But Google likes it.
6. Do the same with FB and other social networks. You can delegate this to a staff person, but don't delegate it to overseas ghost writers unless you've seen their work and have found it to be excellent. That eliminates about 99.9 percent of them. But there are a few.
8. Ask your happy clients to post their happiness to your social networks, and very publicly and humbly thank them on the pages when they do so. Show the world how appreciative you are of your clients' trust.
9. When your unhappy clients post to the pages, try to make them happy, publicly, right there are on the pages. Don't delete the negative comments. Users are smart enough to know that there are some people you simply can't please. But try your best to do so -- and do it quite publicly.
10. Expect to pay a lot more for a site that's built and maintained by hand by a developer who knows how to do more than fill in a canned CMS and buy links and likes by third-world ghost writers. But also expect to grow your business and build your reputation over time.
With specific regard to your industry, post safety-related and risk-mitigation articles frequently, including real-world examples and stories (redacted for confidentiality, of course). Also post articles and pictures of your reliable self responding to disasters and other casualties. Promote yourself with actions, not just words. As with all good writing, don't tell the world that you're the best agents around. Show them that you're the best agents around.
Look, when all is said and done, all you you guys and gals sell peace of mind. That's your product. So project that in your sites using every avenue possible. That's how you make a good site great.
Richard
Last edited:
Thanks.
The same principle goes for public review boards like Yelp, by the way. Claim your business and use the service to try to make people happy. Consumers who are evaluating the reviews will notice how hard you try, and some will be won over.
Richard
