SEO Snake Oil
I was reading an article on ‘SEO Snake Oil‘ recently posted to Search Engine Watch, and recall that isn’t the first time I’ve heard of Search Engine Optimisation being referred to as ‘Snake Oil’ , a derogatory term used by Chinese medicine practitioners for medicines or potions that make false promises, or in more modern times, the idea that the product being sold simply doesn’t do what it claims to.
The article from SearchEngineWatch defends the industry, and deals with the bad publicity and issues that Search Engine Optimisation Companies are facing in trying to promote their business, and build or retain confidence and good-will in their business.
Unfortunately there are SEO Practitioners in the market who either make false claims, or overestimate what they’re capable of delivering, or take your money and do very minimal work with very little impact on increasing traffic (the very goal of SEO). Given the price tag on some SEO Campaigns, it is understandable that some companies would have a hard time parting with their advertising dollars without assurances.
Search Engine News believes that Education is the key to building consumer confidence in SEO. Just as anyone can mow their own lawn themselves, or choose to pay for a mowing company to do it for them, a business owner can choose to do some research on SEO and online marketing and attempt to implement it themselves, or they can pay a professional to do it for them.
A few important things to remember about SEO and Online Marketing:
A good SEO Campaign may take 6 months to mature and show positive signs of success, but SEO can often be a long-term and evolving project which should be maintained and revisited regularly.
SEO is not a silver bullet. SEO is only one part of your online marketing campaign, and may take a while before you start seeing results. Ultimately, SEO is a preferred method of attracting customers through the web, because once you have a high-ranking site, visitors clicking on your link are free.
SEO is a bit more than having a few links pointed at your site, adjusting your link structure and adding content.
PPC can offer instant return on investment, but can be quite expensive, and requires close attention to ensure you aren’t bleeding your whole budget into a campaign that might be delivering very little return. You can extend your PPC Campaign through to the Google Content Network to have your adverts featured on Content-Rich websites that deal with your subject matter, product or service, and these Content Network ads are then directly targeted at your audience, with a much higher number of impressions, and often a much lower cost per click than traditional PPC displayed in the SERPs.
Online Marketing isn’t just SEO and PPC. Online Marketing may involve engaging with your audience through Social Networking, Newsletters, Viral Marketing and much more.
SEO is never guaranteed. Search Engine Optimisation can be considered a smart, but risky strategy for your business. Google and other Search Engines may change their algorithm, resulting in your rank being wiped overnight.
There is also the age-old saying “if you build a bigger mouse-trap, they’ll build a bigger mouse”, and in this I’m highlighting that you can spend months on an SEO project getting your site to the top, but if you sit on it and do little work beyond that project, changes in algorithm and other companies “out-seo’ing” your campaign may result in you losing your rank.
To protect yourself from bad SEO, be sure to follow Google Webmaster Guidelines, or check that your Search Engine Provider uses ethical search engine optimisation techniques.
To help retain your high rank in the SERPs, remember that new content is the key, so a daily or weekly blog update will keep Google and your visitors coming back to the site again and again, and as long as you spend an hour or so each week doing minor updates to content on your site, and focus on a little on-site and off-site SEO, that should help you retain your high rank.
For more info on the SEO Snake Oil article, and a very good defense for the SEO Industry, check SearchEngineWatch.com
