SEO Misconceptions

[JournoNick]

SEO means a variety of things to different people and because this is the case, there is no true definition on what SEO's actually do; you know, besides rank shit. This will often lead to unhappy clients or bosses.

Situation 1

Client A confronts an SEO 6 months down the track after viewing the reports, and they're not happy. They thought that because traffic and clicks are up, their leads would double.

Situation 2

Client B hires an SEO consultant and wants to be #1 for a particular keyword and will not budge on the issue. The SEO ranks it #1 in just a few months, but the client is still not happy.

Misconception 1

This is more common than you think. Many clients get an idea of keyword research and aim for the highest volume keyword, even through it's a brand name of another company. For example, if you're selling Louis Vuitton shoes and you see Louis Vuitton as the highest keyword, you would want to target that. Right? WRONG! You should be targeting something much more specific, even though it has lower search volume. Just because you think a keyword will be popular, doesn't mean it will be a buying keyword, or will even convert.

Situation 3

Client C hires an SEO and puts them to work on everything to do with online marketing. This includes development, lead generation, content writing, social media, ecommerce analytics and advertising. When the SEO can't handle the work load, the client gets upset.

Misconception 2

SEO's are not magical creatures from the land of cyberspace. There are specific roles for specific purposes and SEO does not mean an online marketing kingpin. An SEO is someone that performs a series of test to find out what Google wants, then assists marketing teams by providing insight information and assisting on building strategies.

Situation 4

Unexpected changes to the algorithm, ranking and traffic. Client D experienced that the website drops a few spots on page 1. He then confronts the SEO and asks why this has happened.

Misconception 3

Google has a large number of algorithm updates and quite often that will be a reason your website has dropped dramatically. However, if your website drops a few spots, it's quite commonly the case that a competitor as had a long term SEO strategy in place and they overtook you in the SERPS. Another possibility is that someone spammed their way to the top. Yet another possibility is that some links dropped off, which happens organically. The truth is that nobody will stay in one spot, and results will shift. Deal with it the best way you can.

Before hiring an SEO, or doing it yourself, just keep in mind that if SEO's were magical cash generating gurus that could guarantee a return, they wouldn't work for you.

 

[Zwielicht]

I've found myself in Situation 3 before. In fact, one of my first clients who signed an SEO and template design contract had me working on her: local SEO, website design, image design, logo design, email management, branding, and content writing by the time the contract ended. While I was able to do all of the work, it was still amazing that she had just assumed I could all of that.

As for the clients who are unhappy about rank changes due to algorithm updates, I specify in my SEO contract that Google is volatile and any changes in their ranking due to algorithm updates or competition are not my fault. I also do not guarantee first page results in any search engine. This doesn't mean I don't try to get them on the first page, but you cannot make guarantees in SEO.

 

[JournoNick]

I specify in my SEO contract that Google is volatile and any changes in their ranking due to algorithm updates or competition are not my fault. I also do not guarantee first page results in any search engine. This doesn't mean I don't try to get them on the first page, but you cannot make guarantees in SEO.

Yes we all need to have some kind of disclaimers in place.

For anyone reading this and about to go on a hunt for sample disclaimers, I found this which should give you an idea on what to write in your terms and conditions.

 http://www.optimizesmart.com/disclaimers-that-can-give-you-nine-lives-as-a-seo/

 

[stharthjw6j]

I've found myself in Situation 3 before. In fact, one of my first clients who signed an SEO and template design contract had me working on her: local SEO, website design, image design, logo design, email management, branding, and content writing by the time the contract ended. While I was able to do all of the work, it was still amazing that she had just assumed I could all of that.

As for the clients who are unhappy about rank changes due to algorithm updates, I specify in my SEO contract that Google is volatile and any changes in their ranking due to algorithm updates or competition are not my fault. I also do not guarantee first page results in any search engine. This doesn't mean I don't try to get them on the first page, but you cannot make guarantees in SEO.

And you know, that's why I stopped doing SEO, it really did become like I was pissing in the wind, I'm much happier making slower gains doing PPC in a nice & predicable way, because I can just scale it up. Plus I don't know if you chew numbers on Market Samurai and have GSA SER and Scrapebox, but that was just brain explosion territory, definitely a left-brained thing that makes one lose the will to live. But back to SEO, it was fun ranking videos 2 years ago for 4 weeks til it gets hit, but it really doesn't appeal these days. Each to their own and all that, but still gives me mares.

 

[Hinkys]

What if instead of promising the world to a client, you actually manage their expectations?

Just some food for thought.

 

[JournoNick]

What if instead of promising the world to a client, you actually manage their expectations?

Just some food for thought.

Every honest SEO consultant is going to run into an over-demanding, unsatisfied client. I'm simply outlining common misconception I've experienced. I don't over sell my services, nor do I promise the world, so pull your head back in your ass. Although, in business a certain amount of o"puffery" is expected, it's called selling.

Also aren't you really just saying the same thing, that managing a clients expectations by having the proper disclaimers in place?

 

[Zwielicht]

What if instead of promising the world to a client, you actually manage their expectations?

Just some food for thought.

The search engine optimisers who "promise the world" are typically scammers who are looking for a quick buck. A good search engine optimisers understands that there are no promises in SEO and they will make an endeavour to explain SEO to their client by teaching them the basics and helping them understand what is realistic in the world of SEO. Once your client seems to be able to grasp the fundamentals, it becomes much easier to manage their expectations and keep them happy

 

[JournoNick]

The search engine optimisers who "promise the world" are typically scammers who are looking for a quick buck. A good search engine optimisers understands that there are no promises in SEO and they will make an endeavour to explain SEO to their client by teaching them the basics and helping them understand what is realistic in the world of SEO. Once your client seems to be able to grasp the fundamentals, it becomes much easier to manage their expectations and keep them happy

To extend from this, it is the SEO's that promise the world that give us honest SEO's headaches. Only yesterday I had a new inquiry which turned into a sale, all because I gave him the most detailed and honest answers to his questions. He called big agencies like Dejan SEO and WME, where they all give him the runaround, being quite secretive/generic with what they offer.

I have another guy that has been my client for 17 months now. The guy was directed "back in the day" to outsource his SEO through freelancer platforms, with little to no results. After some time he came to me and explained his situation, I quickly took a look at his domain and explained that he's been hiring shit. I showed him why it's shit then showed him some of my work. As I said, he's been with me for 17 months.

Yet another example is a client that is a writer and sells his books online. I went out of my way to teach him the basic fundamentals of onsite SEO so he can do it himself, manage his own posts and pages. I maintain the mentality that you can teach all clients how it works, but do they have the time?

So on that note, it is better to have things cleared up from start. People learn through experience, and you get what you pay for.

 

[casemurder]

I still don't understand how highly educated individuals holding master degrees from top universities can talk about "SEO" without laughing their asses off. SEO is probably the biggest scam industry in the world since it came to a state where one honestly has to consider it gambling to a large extent...

 

[Zwielicht]

I still don't understand how highly educated individuals holding master degrees from top universities can talk about "SEO" without laughing their asses off. SEO is probably the biggest scam industry in the world since it came to a state where one honestly has to consider it gambling to a large extent...

I still don't know how psychiatrists holding PhDs can diagnose their patients using a book called the DSM where nearly everyone would fit the criteria for a mental disorder without laughing. I still don't understand how people spend thousands of dollars each year to attend a University only to go into debt and be awarded a piece of paper that doesn't guarantee a thing. Many businesses involve "gambling", and just like how not every psychiatrist isn't a scammer, not every SEO specialist is a scammer either.

 

[JournoNick]

I still don't understand how highly educated individuals holding master degrees from top universities can talk about "SEO" without laughing their asses off. SEO is probably the biggest scam industry in the world since it came to a state where one honestly has to consider it gambling to a large extent...

I have a uni degree in Marketing, but I know that SEO is one section from online marketing, which is part of Marketing as a whole.

I only laugh my ass off at the people that buy GSA and think they're Youtube Video ranking experts, then buy a blackhat community membership, make a Facebook page and website using a theme from Theme Forest then change their work status on Facebook as CEO of *********** Company}. That shit cracks me up hard!

 

[Zwielicht]

I have a uni degree in Marketing, but I know that SEO is one section from online marketing, which is part of Marketing as a whole.

I only laugh my ass off at the people that buy GSA and think they're Youtube Video ranking experts, then buy a blackhat community membership, make a Facebook page and website using a theme from Theme Forest then change their work status on Facebook as CEO of *********** Company}. That shit cracks me up hard!

Reminds me of this fellow right here.

 

[JournoNick]

Reminds me of this fellow right here.

It always comes back to CEOSam.

 

[casemurder]

I still don't know how psychiatrists holding PhDs can diagnose their patients using a book called the DSM where nearly everyone would fit the criteria for a mental disorder without laughing. I still don't understand how people spend thousands of dollars each year to attend a University only to go into debt and be awarded a piece of paper that doesn't guarantee a thing. Many businesses involve "gambling", and just like how not every psychiatrist isn't a scammer, not every SEO specialist is a scammer either.

I agree. And I never claimed that every "SEO" was a scammer.
However, Erich Fromm and Matt Cutts will always play in a different liga.
At the end of the day, swallowing the prescribed roofies will sooner or later do the trick while offering "seo services" that (a little training required) a skilled monkey could probably do most of the time simply won't.

I'm not trying to insult anyone from the industry as I'm in it for years as well.
Though sometimes I'd prefer telling my customers the very truth - they won't become rich with their bs little blog the world couldnt care less about since 99% of the webmasters I consult every day create websites for the pure reason of banking some easy bucks instead of showing some creativity and out of the box thinking.

 

[Zwielicht]

I agree. And I never claimed that every "SEO" was a scammer.
However, Erich Fromm and Matt Cutts will always play in a different liga.
At the end of the day, swallowing the prescribed roofies will sooner or later do the trick while offering "seo services" that (a little training required) a skilled monkey could probably do most of the time simply won't.

I'm not trying to insult anyone from the industry as I'm in it for years as well.
Though sometimes I'd prefer telling my customers the very truth - they won't become rich with their bs little blog the world couldnt care less about since 99% of the webmasters I consult every day create websites for the pure reason of banking some easy bucks instead of showing some creativity and out of the box thinking.

Oh ,my apologies then, I must have misconstrued your other post.

Green: I actually agree with you on this. I'm very picky about who I work with, and if someone asks if I can rank their affiliate website when they only want to make money off of it and not provide their visitors any real value, I refuse the work.

Cyan: I partially agree with this since there is a lot more to SEO than most people think. I'm not going to list everything here, but it also does require quite a bit of effort to learn and implement, something most people find as a deterrent. I actually like to think of the work like hiring someone to mow your lawn. Sure, you could do it yourself, but if you don't have the time then it's probably better for you to hire someone else to do it.

Red: I don't agree with this notion. The pills just cover up the symptoms or exacerbate them once the patient's supply runs out, so they may "do the trick" temporarily, although the person may just revert back to their former self once the supply runs out. You can say this statement is similar to SEO since once the optimiser stops optimising the website (because SEO work is continuous) the website will either get outranked or the new pages won't index properly.

 

[casemurder]

Oh ,my apologies then, I must have misconstrued your other post.

Green: I actually agree with you on this. I'm very picky about who I work with, and if someone asks if I can rank their affiliate website when they only want to make money off of it and not provide their visitors any real value, I refuse the work.

Cyan: I partially agree with this since there is a lot more to SEO than most people think. I'm not going to list everything here, but it also does require quite a bit of effort to learn and implement, something most people find as a deterrent. I actually like to think of the work like hiring someone to mow your lawn. Sure, you could do it yourself, but if you don't have the time then it's probably better for you to hire someone else to do it.

Red: I don't agree with this notion. The pills just cover up the symptoms or exacerbate them once the patient's supply runs out, so they may "do the trick" temporarily, although the person may just revert back to their former self once the supply runs out. You can say this statement is similar to SEO since once the optimiser stops optimising the website (because SEO work is continuous) the website will either get outranked or the new pages won't index properly.

That being said and mostly agreed by me, I'm confident our understanding of "legit" SEO boils down to pretty much the same.
Again, I don't want to insult any service providers or whatever kind of genius guru some players in here might consider themselves. But if an individual is not creative enough to come up with marketing strategies for his or her business on her own, rest assured the 40$-guestbook-spamming-services (panda penguin proof and aiming for long term results only of course) won't bring their dream of owning a goddamn yacht while surfing BHW all day to live any time soon

 

[Capo Dei Capi]

The reality is that the best SEO is just doing natural looking stuff and methods that are nearly 20 years old with a little updates. In fact the whole PBN's are probably trash compared to a proper webring such as what Ziff Davis does.

The Guru's ruin the industry with all the crazy strategies that they come up and saying you need to make sure you hide footprints of sites so that Google won't see they are connected, and that the content doesn't really matter.

 

[casemurder]

The reality is that the best SEO is just doing natural looking stuff and methods that are nearly 20 years old with a little updates. In fact the whole PBN's are probably trash compared to a proper webring such as what Ziff Davis does.

Problem is that any random moron nowadays might become lucky by spamming his BS 400 words articles with thousands of blog comments and... I dont know... stage dives feet first. Though odds are against your favour, considering the amount of cash one my bank on a very day simply by ranking for some lucrative term by either skill or mere purpose, IMers all over the world will prefer heading the easy way instead of coming up with more sophisticated ways and means than purchasing some already flagged shared proxies they continue to desperately rape hoping their free third party hosted blogspot.com "quality website" eventually ends up ranking for "payday loans" in Google picture search for a few days, finally making their dream of cashing 10,43$ per HOUR one day.

 

[JournoNick]

The reality is that the best SEO is just doing natural looking stuff and methods that are nearly 20 years old with a little updates. In fact the whole PBN's are probably trash compared to a proper webring such as what Ziff Davis does.

The Guru's ruin the industry with all the crazy strategies that they come up and saying you need to make sure you hide footprints of sites so that Google won't see they are connected, and that the content doesn't really matter.