A StomperNet Featured Faculty Newsletter
By Jerry West
While I have not verified any of this information (as I never
used the product that is referenced here), the point isn't that
the story is true or not, but that trust must be deep and you
must be sharp.
While attending Webmaster World in Las Vegas in 2006 I finally
got to speak uninterrupted to a top affiliate that I had been
chasing down the last few years. He shared something that he
did, that while extremely unethical, is a strong reminder that
trust goes beyond your words. It is verifying the information
you are given.
He is an affiliate, a good one. He markets a product that is
highly competitive. He wouldn't tell me which product but that
it was on the same level as Viagra in terms of payout and
competition.
There was a software application which I will refer to as
"PRODUCT A". Now, "PRODUCT A" was real good at generating a
massive number of web pages, including AdSense code, and
getting the pages spidered by Google. The result? Lots of five
figure AdSense checks for nearly any webmaster who used the
software correctly.
Google's response?
They systematically banned any site using the system (due to a
"footprint" code left by PRODUCT A on every page it generated).
Because of this sweeping ban, the affiliate and his partners
had an idea.
They set up multiple "dummy" SEO companies around the country.
Ordered cell phones in the local area and put up web sites.
They then contacted their main competitors and posed as "SEOs"
and offered to do SEO on the unsuspecting owner's site without
a setup cost, just a piece of the increase in sales. They
shared their research of the market, dazzled them with
analysis, and gained trust by showing areas in the market that
had not been exploited. Each major competitor signed on, and
gave them full FTP access.
No background check. No verification on how long they had been
in business. No reference check. Nothing.
What did they do with their new found trust? They went into
each site and uploaded the "footprint" code from PRODUCT A into
the main pages. It took about a month or so, and one by one,
each competitor's entire site was de-indexed and banned by
Google. As soon as the first site dropped, they shut down their
fictitious websites, cancelled the cell phones and just
disappeared.
The result? Even a year after this was done, the competitor's
sites are still banned and the "offenders" are enjoying top
listings for their major keyword phrases. The competitors are
regulated to using AdWords, and spending thousands per day to
keep their businesses running.
His reaction? No remorse. And lots of gloating.
Don't let this happen to you or your client.
Right now, sit down and make a list of everyone who has FTP
access to your servers. Who inside your company and who
outside? Write them down. All of them. If there are individuals
that you question their trust, you might be best served
restricting their access. State there has been an "elevated
threat level" on the server … hey, it works at the airport.
If you are the owner of your business, your first
responsibility is to the data to ensure it is safe. If your
business counts on Google for the bulk of your traffic, you
better have full trust of all the people who have access to
your server. You don't want to suffer the fate of those
companies mentioned above.
If you do SEO work for clients, call them one by one, and ask
them the same. This would also be a good time to remind them of
the business relationship that you have together, the trust,
the bond, etc. Thank them for their business and their trust
and reemphasize that you will never violate that sacred trust
because you value their business. Make an appointment to
discuss with them their goals for the next six months so you
can make sure the SEO strategy that was put into place months
or years ago can fulfill those goals.
Here are other areas you can hit to ensure you are meeting your
client's expectations. If you don't take clients, look to see
if you are meeting these areas too.
Do you prefer to work with Organic Search or Paid Search?
With the massive changes in the way that the SERPs are
displayed, if you are an "organic only" shop and you service
clients, you could be out of business in the near future. With
more paid search results displaying at the top of the results,
local results and Google Desktop results, is forcing the
organic listings further down the page. Because of this, the
demand for top organic listings is dropping quickly based on
survey results.
So, ensure that you are offering both services, as doing paid
search is really an extension of organic search. Remember, if
you have a #1 ranking in the organic listings, it is still a
smart plan to also have a listing in the paid results area.
Even if the client resists, the test results that I have show
that a top listing in the organic area as well as the paid area
increases the click through rate AND the conversion rate. The
reason is that the "recognizability" of the domain is
heightened and trust is built before they even getting to your
site. The thought is, "Wow, this company is here multiple
times, they must be good."
Bam. Click and conversion.
Both Google and Yahoo! offer services to "certify" you in their
Paid Search programs, which will greatly enhance your trust
with your current clients and prospects. Get them.
How extensively do you sharpen your skills as a keyword
researcher?
Many SEOs have lost their ability to focus on the RIGHT keyword
phrases for their client's campaigns. Do you first test your
keywords in PPC to ensure they will convert before starting
that big organic campaign? If you don't, you could end up with
a #1 ranking for a keyword that doesn't convert. The happiness
your client has will be short-lived with a worthless #1 listing
when they ask why no one is buying their product.
Focus on the keywords that will drive buyers, not just traffic.
You can ask your client what they would prefer: a ton of
traffic with a few sales, or average traffic and a lot of
sales. It is clear what they want. Make that cash register ring
and you will be the "Rainmaker" for your client.
The best way to do this is to spend time each week expanding
your skills as a keyword researcher. Scrape the keywords from
competitors, analyze them, use new tools, use old tools in new
ways, etc. Shake things up and expand your knowledge. Do you
see a trend here? Most "seasoned" SEOs are "stuck in a rut"
when it comes to keyword research and they miss the best
keywords because of it. Don't let this happen to you.
Do you track conversions at the keyword level?
It is said that 50% of all advertising is wasted. The trouble
is, you don't know which 50% it was. That is until now. With
PPC, you can know that information, you just have to track at
the keyword level. All that means is inserting a tracking code
on the order page, so you know exactly which keywords are
driving sales. Knowing this allows you to make key changes to
the PPC / organic campaigns or to the landing pages themselves.
For example, if a keyword phrase gets 500 clicks a day, but is
only producing 2 sales, that is a keyword that should be
dropped. Conversely, a keyword that gets 70 clicks a day and
also produces 2 sales is one that should have its campaign
aggressively increased. By getting rid of the under performers
and pushing hard on the converting keywords, your overall spend
may be the same, but your conversions could go up as much as
50%. And that is something your client will smile over.
If your client tells you that their current eCommerce solution
does not have the ability to track at the keyword level, tell
them they need a new solution or get on the phone with their
provider and tell them what they need and why. There is no
reason that you can't track at the keyword level. By not doing
this your marketing campaign is just guess work, and that isn't
a smart way to do business.
How are you measuring results?
If you are measuring results based on ranking, you are living
in the dark ages. Results are unique visits, returning visits,
page views, and sales. Period. These are the results that your
client wants to see. Change your approach to one that they can
understand, and they will thank you for it. Here is an example:
"Anna, let me go over the figures for your site last month.
Your unique visits increased 13% over the previous month due to
better overall rankings that we achieved for you in Google
thanks to those links I suggested that you buy. Your returning
visits increased 27% in part to the autoresponder we helped you
install … and your sales increased by 12% over last month
based on our marketing plan and the great job of your staff.
Keep it up and we expect more of the same next month."
Each section you discuss the increase or decrease and the
reason for it. If it increases, usually the plan is "stick with
what we are doing" whereas if it goes down, state what you
propose, and make it clear and easy to understand with any
additional costs discussed and agreed to. If there are two
options, have them printed on paper - one per page with large
type and an action plan for each and let them choose. Honestly,
they will love this approach over the "keyword rank report"
(which you can still supply if you wish), but you review the
real numbers. The numbers that matter to them which is usually
the difference between profit and loss. And they will smile
each month when they write you your maintenance check.
Do you offer copy writing services?
Good PPC campaigns need good copy writing. I bet there is an
English major waiting tables in some local coffee shop that
would love to have a job as a writer. Not everyone is a good
copywriter, but you never know where you will find the next
great writer. A good copywriter is invaluable and your client
will love it if you offer this service, but don't try and do it
on your own. Your other parts of your business will greatly
suffer.
How much are you focused on link building that matters?
Are you after quantity or quality? Are the links you are
getting driving traffic? Are you not focused on paid links
because you are nervous about the "Wrath of Google"? Be smart
and be focused. Look at the recent article back in January on
the new linking strategy and make it a point to focus traffic
to your client's site with links and take PageRank increases as
"frosting" on the cake.
Seriously, here is a wake-up call.
SEO has become a game of adding content and getting links.
Master the rate, quality and quantity in your industry and your
job will be a breeze.
In this rapidly changing industry of Search Engine
Optimization, it is the shops that offer full-service to their
clients that seem to be growing, while the "specialized" shops
are shrinking.
Focus on Trust.
Focus on the Relationship.
Fire the clients who don't measure up. Raise the bar for
clients you will take. And watch your revenues climb while your
stress plummets.
Trust Yourself. Trust Your Judgment. But Change Your Passwords.
====
Thanks to esteemed StomperNet Faculty Member Jerry West! If
you want to leave a comment about this newsletter for us, visit
the StomperBlog and tell us what you think.
Before we end for today, I wanted to mention a resource that
you might like. We've been talking a lot last week about list-
building in today's marketplace.
Ryan Deiss has put together a cool little PDF document about
building lists using Pay-Per-Click advertisements for
information products.
Now there are plenty of reports like that out there, but I
thought this one would be particularly useful in demonstrating
how you can integrate list-building with an automated lead
generation and sales process.
It's not too long, and if you're unfamiliar with these topics
and want to learn more - or even if you ARE familiar but are
struggling to automate things and replicate your successes, go
to this site, opt-in, and check out the report. You're bound
to find something worthwhile.
Until Next Time,
Keep Stomping!
~Andy Jenkins
P.S. I almost forgot to mention that there's a video on Ryan
Deiss's site that's sort of a preview of the report, so don't
take my word for it. Go check out the video and decide if the
report is for you.