It seems in todays fast paced business world all you need to call yourself a SEO, Internet Marketing Guru, and or Local Lead Specialist is knowledge of BUZZ WORDS. I recently spoke at a networking meeting on Blogging, and one of these “Local Search Experts” was there and after the meeting even emailed everyone offering his services. “How nice.”
So I did some research about this company, being that my competition used a lecture I was doing as a chance to prospect and get qualified leads (since they came to learn about Internet Marketing). And guess what I found!!!
REASON #1 They guarantee PPC ranks not Organic
If they refuse to answer Direct questions by avoiding the question and acting like it is complicated. This is NOT complicated. Its like the story of the engineer billing out $1000 for 30 sec of work and the owner wanted a detailed bill. A week later the bill showed up as follows.
$0.50 — Time on Site / Use of Hammer
$999.50 — Knowing where to use the Hammer
You see these guys are so afraid if you see what they know that you won’t do business with them, and they would be right.
They specialize in Marketing Hype not Search Engines. So ask them SPECIFIC Questions like these.
-
Do you guarantee front page listings ORGANICLY?
-
This is important because so many GUARANTEE Front page, but not with organic results.
-
Organic Results get MUCH more traffic and have a much higher value than paid ads.
-
Many claim they are doing SEO / SEM but all they are really doing is PAID advertising. This will get you leads but only a small portion of what you could get if your ranked organicly.
Check out the HEATMAP to see where the majority of the traffic is going. -
Who picks the search phrases?
-
As a consultant They should be the expert on search results and search competition. They should know if a phrase has commercial intent and if it is even worth trying to rank.
-
If these people want YOU to pick the keyword phrases without any coaching or help.. FIRE THEM NOW.
-
Do you do ON-Site SEO?
-
This is more about Conversion than traffic.
-
If they are only concerned about sending you traffic and not sales then you should question the quality of the Traffic.
-
Which brings me to #2
REASON #2 They OWN your Marketing
If they build you a “Landing Page” that they keep and control. Some times this is useful but not for a continual marketing system that will benefit you long term. This is a tactic used to get companies to pay high dollars and then hold them hostage in most cases. (It can be legitimate but usually isn’t if it is the ENTIRE system). This type of system locks you into the “Consultants” system for traffic. You leave they turn it off, and your money is gone.
REASON #3 Sales Rep. or Actual Consultant
Who are you dealing with throughout the process? Is it a sales person or do you have your own personal consultant. Why is it that if you have questions you should have to go through someone who isn’t educated on the topic. If you goto the doctor because your sick do you only deal with the receptionist? Or is the receptionist just the gateway to get to talk to your doctor? It should be the same with your Internet marketing, a Sales person signs you up, but you have your own consultant. They might get a little geeky from time to time, but they can give you REAL answers and advice on what to do next.
REASON #4 What’s their weak points?
I love asking people I do business with what their weak spot is. This will give you TONS of insight on the person your dealing with. Many of these PPC Only “But shhh don’t tell them” companies claim there is “NO Downside” to the way they market. We all know there is ALWAYS a downside. Even in my own company we have weak spots and down sides. The goal is to be honest with yourself and strengthen the weak spots, not ignore them. An example…
With the PPC model being the only traffic strategy.
- Your missing 70% of traffic
- You pay for EVERY Click
- You stop paying you stop earning.
There are positives but the point I am making here is EVERYTHING has a down side.
REASON #5 They are giving your competition business over you.
Go back to the heat map. Look at where the traffic goes. If your “Consultant” ONLY does PPC, they are allowing your competition have clients. Even if your earning more because of the PPC your losing money by not having organic results also.
I hope that my ramblings of things I see other companies doing help you make wise business decision, and if you would like to talk about Internet Marketing Services in Atlanta, please contact us.
