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February 22, 2022 by Bill Treloar Leave a Comment

10 Signs That Your SEO Consultant Is a Quack

On February 22, 2022 / SEO companies / Leave a Comment

10 Signs your SEO Consultant is a QuackJill Whalen is an internationally recognized SEO consultant and host of the High Rankings® Advisor search engine marketing newsletter. Since Jill has retired and that newsletter is no longer available online, I’m preserving the following excerpt which explores how to tell if your potential SEO consultant is on the up & up or not.

Caveat: this was originally published in 2006 and a lot has changed since then. I’ll annotate that below.

10 Signs That Your SEO Is a Quack

There are so many SEO/SEM firms cropping up that talk a good game but don’t deliver results. [This is sadly still true today] This is in part because there’s so much information that is freely available about search engine optimization. On the surface, SEO sounds easy — and it really is — once you’ve had a number of sites to experiment with. What’s even easier than SEO, however, is discussing SEO as if you know what you’re actually doing (when you don’t)!

Here are 10 signs to watch out for that may very well indicate that your potential SEO is a quack. Please note that one of these individually may not be bad, but if you notice more than 2 or 3 of these when speaking with any SEO company, you may just want to head for the hills!

1. Your SEO company talks about meta tags and Google PageRank (PR) as if they are the magic bullet to high rankings.

Hoiw to tell if that SEO consultasnt you're considering is a quack.For the most part, there’s no reason to even bring up the keyword Meta tag nor toolbar PR in a discussion about what needs to be done to get better search engine exposure for your site. Both of them are issues that quack SEO companies will talk about because they actually believe they are the key to SEO success. They are not. I’ve discussed in previous articles the Meta keyword tag’s lack of importance, so I won’t go into that again here. In regards to PageRank, increasing the little green bar graph’s number should never be the ultimate goal of a professional SEO campaign.

A good campaign will automatically increase your real and true PageRank (as measured by Google) without your specifically setting out to increasing it on your own. Since PR doesn’t bring you traffic and sales (nor rankings), increasing it should not ever be the main goal of your campaign. This fact is of course lost on SEO quacks.

[Google’s PageRank hasn’t been publicly revealed for many years now, nor has the Google Toolbar. But other organizations have measures of authority that can be helpful in competitor comparisons. Regardless of that, the ultimate goal of an SEO campaign should be either direct revenue or having visitors take other actions that are the purpose of your website.]

2. Your SEO company’s site (or those of their clients) has the same title tags on every page. Sounds crazy I know, but I’ve seen this more than once!

I once got a client who had previously used a very major SEO company that most people have heard of. They had been with this firm for a whole year, and yet the title tags on every page of their site were all the same (the name of the company). Since title tags are probably the most important (and easiest) thing to change on a site, any SEO company that can’t do this one basic thing for their own site or their clients’ is most definitely a quack!

3. Your SEO company talks only about optimizing for the “long tail.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with long-tail keyword phrases, as they can bring a lot of traffic when all is said and done. But you don’t need an SEO company if those are the only phrases you’re interested in — you can do it yourself just by writing articles. Your SEO company should not be afraid to optimize for the actual keyword phrases that most people would use at the engines to find your site. Yeah, it’s gonna take time and money to go after the most competitive keyphrases, but there’s usually a happy medium. Most sites have plenty of phrases that are somewhere between long tail and highly competitive. Those are the ones you definitely want to target.

4. Your SEO company tells you it’s ALL about links (or ALL about content).

SEO isn’t ALL about anything. It’s about lots of things all added together to make the perfect combination for your site. A linking campaign alone will never be as effective if you neglect your on-page content, and vice versa. Be sure that your SEO company looks at your site from all angles and makes sure all your bases are covered. Otherwise, they’re probably a quack!

5. Your SEO company tells you that you need a linking campaign even though you already have tons of links and are a well-established popular site in your niche

Not every site needs every SEO service out there. Just because your SEO company likes to sell link-building doesn’t mean you actually need it for your site. Why should you pay for something you don’t need? The same thing goes for sites that already have great, well-written, optimized content. If you’ve got that, perhaps you just need a linking campaign to help boost your traffic and sales. Don’t allow an SEO quack to fix what isn’t actually broken.

10 Signs That Your SEO Consultant Is a Quack

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6. Your SEO company is almost surely 99% quackish if they tell you that they can rank your brand-new site in Google for keywords that will bring you traffic within a few months.

In fact, if they claim they can do it in less than 9 months, they’re either inexperienced or lying. Google has an aging delay that is most certainly related to the age of the site, as well as a certain trust factor. It is only the very rare and wonderful site that can get around this delay. But if your site is like most, you’re going to have to look to the long term for your Google results, regardless of what the quacks might try to convince you of.

[Google’s aging delay has been severely reduced since 2006 as Google’s ability to understand a website has improved. There are many variables, but for existing websites I’ve found we can often see an improvement in visibility within three or four months — depending an several factors.]

7. Your SEO company never mentions that they may very well need to redo your site architecture so that your important pages are prominently featured within your site navigation.

In this case it’s very possible you’re dealing with an inexperienced, quack SEO. This is usually something that is not a quick fix, so most quacks are reluctant to discuss it with you (if they even know it’s important). But if your site architecture is not search-engine-ready, everything else you do will have much less impact.

8. Your SEO company can’t provide you with any quality references.

This one pretty much goes without saying, but do be sure to get references, and do be sure to actually call them. Yeah, a reference may very well turn out to be their cousin, but you should be able to get some feel for the company you’re choosing if you can at least talk to some references.

9. Your SEO company tells you that you have to have a DMOZ listing or your site will never be able to get high rankings.

Sure, a DMOZ listing is great, but it’s a link just like any other. Submit and forget about it. If you don’t get in, it’s no big deal — there are plenty of other links you can get instead.

[Sadly, DMOZ. also know as The Open Directory, no longer exists.]

10. Your SEO company’s site mentions that they’ll get you high rankings in AltaVista, Fast, Inktomi, Lycos, Excite, HotBot and the like.

If it does, you are 100% positively dealing with a quack! ‘Nuff said!

[Well, this one’s really showing its age. But the point Jill wanted to make is that it’s quackery to ignore Google and focus only on less relevant search engines where rankings may be more easily obtained but where usage is too low to drive significant traffic to your site.]

Hungry for more?

I compiled a list of 10 questions to ask an SEO consultant you’re thinking of hiring. Where the items above are focused on weeding out the quacks, these 10 questions will help you select the best match among the good ones. I’m actually rather pleased how well they’ve held up over the years since it was written.
10 Questions To Ask Before Hiring an SEO Consultant

We welcome you to put us to the Quack Test. Reach out and hold our feet to the fire!

If you found this helpful, please share it with the buttons on the left or the Click-To-Tweet above.

Your thoughts and opinions are welcome. Join the discussion in comments below.

February 3, 2020 by Bill Treloar Leave a Comment

Do You Need an SEO?

On February 3, 2020 / SEO companies / Leave a Comment

Maybe. Probably.

Google has an excellent post that answers this question and more. Here’s how they start:

SEO is an acronym for “search engine optimization” or “search engine optimizer.” Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time, but you can also risk damage to your site and reputation. Make sure to research the potential advantages as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to your site.

So how do you tell an “irresponsible SEO”?

Here are the main points Google stresses:

  • Avoid Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that send you email out of the blue.
  • No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
  • Be careful if a company is secretive or won’t clearly explain what they intend to do.
  • You should never have to link to an SEO.
  • Choose wisely (our posts can help).
  • Be sure to understand where the money goes (organic or PPC?).
  • What are the most common abuses a website owner is likely to encounter?

Like this post? Please say so with the Like button above or the +1 button below. Or tweet it with the button up top. Thanks for sharing.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.

We encourage you, after reading what Google has to say, to put us to the test.

March 30, 2012 by Bill Treloar Leave a Comment

6 Ways to Get More From Your SEO

On March 30, 2012 / SEO companies, SEO practices / Leave a Comment

Small Business Owners Need to Be Involved

To get more from SEO you need to be involved.To get more from your SEO you don’t have to become a full-on SEO expert. But you should do your homework and try to understand the basics of what’s happening to your website.

Never hire an SEO consultant and let them make changes to your website. You need to maintain control of your site, in conjunction with your webmaster. That’s because too many SEOs have hurt their clients by using black hat SEO tactics that violate Google’s rules about cheating. So you need to be part of the process  — the  more involved you are the easier the process will be and you’ll get more from your SEO.

Here are six ways small business owners can get more value from their SEO efforts.

  1. You don’t need to become a full-fledged SEO expert, but you should develop an overall understanding of the process.

    Too many small business owners know just enough to be dangerous, and focus on the meta keywords tag or look for ways to “game” the search engines. Some of those things (the keywords meta tag) are useless and others (like trying to trick the search engines) will bite you in the tail sooner or later.You need to listen to your SEO consultant and, above all, ask questions. The more you and your SEO talk, the more you’ll get out of your SEO.

  2. You need to remain in control.

    Never hire an SEO company that’s going to go and make changes to your website. Not all of us in this business are competent, and not all of us follow the guidelines of the search engines in terms of ethical SEO.

    You and your webmaster need to retain control of your website. That way, any SEO recommendations have to pass two sets of critical eyes: yours and your webmaster’s. If anything looks suspicious or if there’s anything you don’t really understand, you can ask about it before it’s applied to your website.

  3. You need to be involved.
    You need to be involved to get more from your SEO
    Involvement is critical.

    You can’t just hire an SEO consultant and think that paying them is all you have to do. For example, you need to be the one to decide what keywords or search terms you need to be optimized for.  Selecting the keywords that will give you the bets ROI requires more than number crunching  — it requires an understanding of your business and your customers.You also need to be involved in any changes to the content on your website. SEO consultants and webmasters don’t understand your business well enough to rewrite your website copy. You need to be in charge of what it says on your site.  |

    SEO consultants are not, by and large, effective marketing copywriters, and neither are webmasters. You may chose to hire a copywriter to hone the marketing message while ensuring the proper keyword placement on your pages, but you need to work with them so your site says what you need it to say in an engaging way that projects your personality. You can’t just turn copywriting over to anyone and expect not to be involved.

    How to get more from your SEO

    Click To Tweet

  4. You have to participate in the boring stuff up front.

    Make sure all the contact information on your site is correct and up to date. Participate in keyword selection. Start or maintain your blog and listings in social media like Facebook and LinkedIn. Work on honing the copy on your site in accordance with SEO recommendations. Your level of participation in all this translates directly into the level of success you achieve with your SEO.

  5. You need to understand SEO success comes from the sum of all the parts.

    There’s no single magic bullet. Google has more than 200 factors that govern where you rank when someone searches for what you do. Here are just a few:

    • You need to have a clean website that search engines can understand.
    • You need to have “authority” gained by having other good websites link to yours.
    • You need to have appropriate keyword placement on your site, both visibly an din the code.
    • You need keywords in the links that point to your site.
    • You need exposure from directories.
    • You need social media exposure to help establish your brand.
    • You need effective and engaging copy on your site to convert visitors into paying customers.
    • You should have an active blog with helpful information for your customer base.
    • If you’re a face-to-face business, you need local search optimization.
    • You need positive customer reviews and testimonials.
  6. Don’t try to rush it. Don’t expect results overnight.

    Some patience required.Depending on where you start, expect it to take three or four months before you start seeing results. Trying to rush doesn’t help. SEO is not a sprint but a marathon.

    I’ve seen many people start a blog to improve their online visibility (a very good idea!) and write six or seven posts the first month, three the next, and then nothing ever after.

    A blog needs regular feedings. It would have been better to spread those same posts out, even only once a month, than be a flash in the pan blog. Ongoing link building at a steady rate is far more effective than getting a  blitz of new links all at once and the no new links for a long time.

Follow these simple principles and
you’ll get much more from your SEO.

Want professional help and a friendly hand along the way? We can help.

April 22, 2011 by Bill Treloar Leave a Comment

You Can’t Completely Delegate Your SEO

On April 22, 2011 / SEO companies, SEO practices / Leave a Comment

If you think you can delegate your SEO and your SEO consultant can work independently and work magic on your rankings without your help, you’re mistaken.

I know. You’re too busy running your business to spend time and effort on SEO. That’s why you hired an SEO consultant in the first place.

You can't completely delegate your SEO and expect good results.And we’d love to create an SEO strategy for you, choose keywords, make structural changes to make your website search engine friendly, write compelling marketing copy for your website and your blog, post updates to your Facebook Fan Page, tweet about your business, and earn you massive link popularity without you having to lift a finger.

You Can’t Completely Delegate Your SEO

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Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

  • You don’t want to delegate keyword selection. Sure, we can help. But selecting the best keywords requires an intimate knowledge of your business — something no SEO consultant has.
  • Your webmaster needs to be the one to make your site search engine friendly. We can advise and suggest, but you don’t want any SEO consultant getting in between you and your webmaster. First, coordination and synchronization issues are inevitable. Second, it was an SEO company  making changes to the client’s website that got Ricoh and BMW websites completely banned from Google for more than six months a few years ago. You need your webmaster’s eyes on any changes proposed by an SEO consultant to prevent just that sort of thing.
  • SEO consultants are almost never professional copywriters. We work with those folks all the time, and their skills are invaluable. Even if you don’t engage a copywriter, you can’t delegate your SEO content writing and marketing copy about your business to someone who isn’t intimately familiar with it. (That’s right — even with a professional copywriter, you’re going to have to be closely involved.)
  • Blog posts don’t have to be the size of a short story, but they do need to be posted at least once a month. SEO consultants don’t know what to write about your business; that’s your area of expertise.
  • We can do link building for you, but when a potential reciprocal link partner requests a link, you need to be the one to decide if that link is acceptable. Links from clients and vendors might make great links for you. But your SEO  consultant can’t know who those people are.

You can’t delegate your SEO completely

Expect to be involved with your SEO campaign. You need to stay in touch with your SEO consultant frequently.

If you can’t make the time to be closely involved with your SEO campaign, you’re probably dooming it to failure. Much as it pains me to say this, you might as well not hire that SEO consultant in the first place.

Share your experiences with us in the comments below.

April 9, 2011 by Bill Treloar Leave a Comment

Why Good Web Designers Make Bad SEOs

On April 9, 2011 / SEO companies, web design / Leave a Comment

It seems to be almost universally true that someone who is good at web design is lousy at SEO. And anyone (like us) who is good at SEO is a lousy web designer.

Why should that be?

Right and Left brain dominance of web designers and SEOs.Enter a little psychology to explain the difference between right-brain dominance and left-brain dominance. This is related (but not identical) to whether a person is right-handed or left-handed, but is far more pervasive than just handedness.

We all have, of course, two sides to our brain, but just as righties have much better fine control over their right hands than their left, we are each much stronger in either the right or the left hemisphere of our brains.

Left brain dominant people tend to:

  • be text-oriented rather than visually-oriented
  • be content focused rather than presentation focused
  • work from the details to the whole instead of the other way around
  • be sequential thinkers as opposed to conceptual thinkers.

Right brain dominated people are just the opposite in all those things.

The functionsd of left and right brain hemispheres influence different skills.Very few of us are equally dominant in both sides of the brain. It takes a strongly right-brained person to make an excellent web designer. That doesn’t mean they have to be left-handed, although you’ll probably find more lefties among web designers than you will among SEO consultants.

And it takes a strongly left-brained dominant person to be a good SEO consultant. Just review the characteristics listed above. You’ll see how strongly split they are between characteristics needed for visual design versus those needed for a disciplined, step by step approach to SEO.

Increasingly, web designers are beginning to appreciate the need for SEO to allow their websites to be most productive for their clients. That’s a good thing, but some of them decide to try and do the SEO on the websites they design.

That’s almost always a mistake. We see the results every day. Clients tell us their web designer has already “done their SEO” and wonder why they still have no visibility in the search engines.

You need to have different people do your web design and SEO.

You don’t necessarily need different companies to get the results you need. A web design company may employ both right-brained web designers and left-brained SEO consultants, and if they work well together that can be a terrific solution.

But if your web designer is in a small design-only company, you’ll find much greater success working with an independent SEO.

Check us out and see if we’re a better fit for what you need.

Or just drop us a question and we’ll be happy to talk with you.

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