Thanks for stopping by! Hey, why don't you do what all the cool kids are doing and subscribe to my RSS feed? You know you want to, so go ahead, be bad, be very very bad... :) Thanks.
Them fighting words to many people I know, but that is what Anthony Fallon, CEO of Warrington Web Works, a UK Web Publishing company said in a recent article. His article discusses how a friend of his was quoted a price of $29,000 from an SEO firm which they guaranteed top 10 results on Google. He believes no-one can guarantee top 10 results on Google, not even Google itself.
“She should not be considering search engines as the only way to get traffic to her site. All the big high traffic sites have links from other sites and social bookmarking sites where the content has been considered of value and/or interest to visitors.”
He wanted to prove his point by asking people to do a Google search for the term, “SEO Mind Crime” which was the title of his article. He posted it on February 21st and his article is presently number 2 in Google for that term.
We have seen several debates in the blogosphere whether SEO is the holy grail or a total waste of time. In my opinion, I think it is somewhere in between. I believe SEO is not a marketing tool that by itself can make a companies web site money like it once could. I believe SEO is a structure or a foundation that every web site should plan for before even one line of code is written. In today’s world, I believe SEO is important to ensure that the pages on your web site can be read and indexed easily by the search engines. The days of the high importance of meta tags and keyword stuffing are over.
Simply put as it has been said time and time again, content is king. The success or failure of a site begins and ends with its content.
What do you think?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Good call Cord. Every time I hear someone ask for an SEO expert or even an SEM manager I cringe. SEO is most deffinelty dead and SEM is on it way out.
Finally, people are starting to realize that all we are talking about here is standards. SEO is a standard of practice that at a minimum should be adhered to when you build a website. SEO is not a marketing campaign.
(steps on soap box)
Even SEM is a marketing channel at best, and if people talk about SEM as part of a larger on-line or off line marketing strategy, I’m golden.
It’s the people who think that SEO/SEM is a strategy for online marketing that need a gut check. That mentality is so 2 years ago.
Anyway, if you work in online marketing, you still tell people you are an SEO or SEM, and I were to meet you at a conference, I would know straight away that you had no value for me.
Now if you were a blog marketer, link builder, link baiter, ppc manager, copywriter, paid reviwer, social media marketer or on-line strategist, then we are all good. Even if you are all those things and think that that is what an SEO is, stop calling your self an SEO. Please.
(steps off soapbox)
(waits for applause)
(still waiting)
(hangs head and walks away)
(Stands up and applauds) I could not agree more Adam. You are right on. Thanks for the comment and you are your soap box are always welcome here!!
Amen Cord. As a former ‘keyword stuffer’ turned legit copywriter I have to believe that the web and its users are finally starting to mature. They’re no longer satisfied with tricks that get them to a web site only to provide them with garbage.
It’s the Internet equivalent of bait and switch.
Content on the net is going to have to be treated like content in the real world. Regardless of how well a book is promoted - if it sucks - it’s going to flop. And even if a bunch of people are somehow ‘tricked’ into buying it, you can bet they’ll never get anything by that author again.
Cheers!
Mike,
You’re absolutely right. I think that is what is happening with a lot of the more “cutting edge” marketing efforts being tried right now. When it comes to viral, buzz, word of mouth, social, it works the same exact way. You can create killer “buzz”, but if your product or service does not deliver the goods, no campaign will be successful. Thanks for your comments as always!
I wish I could upload the sound of hands clapping here, Cord.
Finally. Sound advice in a world gone crazy for SEO. Prepare for your site to be searchable and focus on the content and your audience.
Now if we could just get more people out there to read this article. Maybe we should hire an expensive SEO consultant to get it ranking higher for us? Wait! I can do it just as good as they can!
…
sex, girl on girl, sexy boys, hot girls, sex sex sex, hookers, titties, anime, dirty girls, hot hot cuddling, teddy bear sex, horny toads
…
Hmmm. I can’t figure out how to make the above text go white on a white backgroun. Damn.
P.S. If you never hear from me again its because your blog service has blackballed me for this post.
;)
While I agree with your conclusions (SEO is not a marketing tool), I think that “SEO Mind Crime” post is total BS. A nice piece of link bait perhaps, though not even terribly original in that regard.
As proof of how easy SEO is, the author attempts to rank for an uncommon 3 word phrase, which is no challenge at all. He also discounts the role played by his choice of Wordpress as a blogging platform. Sure, he didn’t have to do any SEO, because the Wordpress developers have already done it for him.
His indictment of SEO is based on a single incident of an “SEO” company that contacted his client and guaranteed first page rankings for a hefty price. I think anyone would agree that’s a pretty shady offer, but it’s hardly indicative of an entire industry.
But the real tip-off that he’s full of sh** is the alternative to SEO that he recommends: “To save her a shed full of money I referred her to the Authority sites centre”.
Did anyone follow that link? It’s for a service that costs $197 a month, and comes with a “customized” version of Wordpress and such features as “pulling in stories from up to 3 different feeds, combining them randomly into one post”. It promises “Search engine rankings for more keywords than you’ve ever had before” and “$1,000,000.00 worth of cutting-edge “Post and Rank†technology available nowhere else”.
It sounds like the author is slamming all SEO based on one outrageous example, all while pushing a service that’s even more shady (albeit cheaper).
Sean,
LOL! Thank you so much, I cannot wait for the kind of traffic I get when I start ranking high for teddy bear sex! No worries about you being banned from the spam filter, I could not live without your commentary on here. Thanks!
Kevin,
I totally agree with you that his credibility dropped after recommending an obvious total spam site as well. Though some of his points I believe to be right on point. I think with everything else, you need to filter out the BS to get to some of the truths. Thanks for your thoughts.
Have we seen a spike yet???
Hmmm. I left off the nastier festishes… that was likely my big mistake.
Search is a shell game for agencies to rake it in off of unsuspecting brand/clients and SEO is the new Amway.
But hey, I’m not bitter.
Sean - I am meeting the most interesting people since your post. LOL, thanks.
Make - Search is not the shell game, it is certain agencies who have turned it into a shell game through dishonesty. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Cord,
Thanks for your balanced view of the post I made. I just wanted to respond to some of Kevin’s comments if I may.
First of all I never said SEO was easy, irrelevant or anything else. What I did say was it was a waste of time and money for various reasons with posts that I followed up with.
WordPress has been optimised by the developers and I didn’t have to waste time or money on it.
My indictment is based on many businesses telling me the same thing not just one.
The Authority Sites Centre is not a shady organisation and provides education on building good content rich websites without having to worry about SEO.
Yes it does provide a program called ContentPress used for bringing in articles relevant to the site. Personally I don’t use it as I prefer unique content.
Yes it is an affiliate link and I have no hesitation in recommending the service to businesses.
I know there are some very good marketing companies out there and it is unfair to tar everyone with the same brush. but if it raises awareness and gets people to question the charlatans…
The article I wrote may have been shit linkbait and my approach too simplistic but hey, I’m learning all the time.
Anthony Fallon
Cord, I agree and should clarify. There are a lot of great agencies in the interactive space where this isn’t the case, but I know a few where it is having just come off a stint at an SEO firm. Sadly, it’s also not limited to interactive. Many so-called traditional agencies have taken advantage of clients over the years as well.
Anthony, thanks for coming on and commenting. I agree with many of your points. It is a discussion that I can guarantee we have not heard the last off. Thanks again.