SEO Agency - Are search engines worth it anymore?

The "number one" question - the question that I (and probably all Internet marketers on the planet) am most frequently:

"How I can become the number one search engine players, after all, my company is the leading global players - it's ridiculous that these companies would otherwise be no closer to the search engines ahead of us ... "

My answer is almost always along the lines of:

"Forget about it now, and have a life!"

OK, so I'm a little more discreet than that - and I do occasionally encourage an in-depth search engine optimization strategy, but usually I'll encourage customers to spend their budget web promotion in other ways.

These are the main reasons I'm not generally enthusiastic about free search engines:

1. You have to be very careful in choosing keywords

Many people make the mistake of focusing on very generic keywords. Not only are more difficult to get the first position, but that is not going to generate targeted traffic.

A prospect approached me recently to help with a training site. This site promotes teleseminars to help clients implement life changes are described in various motivational books. This prospect initially said he wanted to be "number one" in the search for "books".

I suggest that this would be an almost impossible challenge for any search engine optimizer. But in addition, someone searching for "books" is probably really looking for Amazon and Barnes & Noble, telecasters and my client. I could spend a lot of money for very few potential customers.

2. It is necessary to speak the language of your visitors

We all talk about "geekspeak" - is often second nature to us within our industry or area of expertise. And it's easy to forget that our prospects do not always use the same terminology. One of the most difficult areas in copywriting that I see is when technology sales people are trying to describe their products to a non-technical market - the result is usually incomprehensible!

But there is the jargon that is used as a matter of pride, or because we have lost touch with how we think our markets.

I recently worked with an association of plastic surgeons. They had their member database on their website and wanted to attract visitors to find a local doctor.

His "number one" target keywords for search engines was "rhinoplasty". Well, I can only write this because I searched for this article - but in general and the general public would never think of that - of course, we had been searching for. . . "Nose"!

The surgeons did not like at all from the academic point of view. But he had to recognize when he presented evidence in most common searches from Overture Tool Tip old search term.

3. It's very passive marketing. . .

My argument more compelling to not spend too much time on free search engines is that it is a very passive marketing. You are relying on a future visitor to awaken in the morning and realize you need something you could provide. So you are relying on them choosing the precise word that has focused on search engine optimization. It's a pretty hit or miss business.

When they disagree with myself?

There are some exceptions to this. I think the search engines are well worth it when you have a niche product or service keywords very clear and well defined.

For example, an audience member at one of my recent programs was working on a Web site to sell some incredibly advanced yoyos. I recommend a search engine strategy to him - after all, if someone puts in "yoyo" as a search term, which had almost certainly a professional edge!

What should I do?

That is the subject of many other items. For starters, you can find twenty-three of my favorite techniques in my free tip sheet.

But anyway, I much prefer the aggressive pursuit of the sites where your target markets can be read or search for information. Thus, in a proactive way can take your ideas, products and services for them in places where they are much more likely to be receptive and interested. And there are many options for different budgets and campaign sizes, both online and offline.