Business owners are swarmed with offers from SEO companies that can make them number 1 in Google. They also hear from companies that can build them the greatest site ever made for short money and really quick. But the truth of matter is: They can’t in either case.
The SEO companies that send out millions of spam emails promising the moon, are 99.9% bogus. They haven’t even reviewed your site, yet promise number one in days. Google uses an algorithm that no one can reverse engineer. Plus, Google is always updating their algorithm to get around the SEO tricks. Have you ever wondered (and you’ve heard me say this before) why emails from these SEO companies come from some nondescript GMail account? Simple, because if it came from their domain you would quickly do a search and find out they are not in the top 100 for SEO. If they can’t help themselves, they can’t help you. Look, we tell people all the time, we can improve your search rankings by old-fashioned work and quality content. Nothing beats quality content, period.
As for the companies who promised to build you the greatest website ever, and get it done really quickly and really cheaply. Well, you get what you pay for. You get a crappy template that they have used hundreds, and in some cases thousands of times. They plug in text, and your site is done. But it’s not original, doesn’t look good, and it’s not quality technology. Chances are you will be looking for new site within a year.
For example: I just had a client that we’ve done a lot of work for contact me. We have maintained a great relationship, but when time came to do over one of their sites, they chose a company promising speed, price and that the owner wouldn’t have to raise a finger. They sent me a link to look at the new site in development. I could not believe my eyes. They were using technology, that not only is outdated, the company that owns it is actually about to retire it and has been dead for years. I won’t mention the technology I’m talking about, I don’t want to embarrass the person, although you would get a good laugh out of it. This development firm has their own niche within a given industry. They do hundreds of these types of sites, very cookie cutter and nothing special from a UI standpoint. Unknowing site owners typically won’t look and see the technology, so it sounds good. Quick, cheap, and little effort. Again, within a year they will be looking for a new solution.
While it is an old expression, the title of this post holds true today. In fact, it is probably truer today then the day it was first uttered. Nothing beats hard work. Companies may make crazy promises, but use your common sense when entering into a new project. And be careful of any email from companies out of the blue, chances are they are spammers, or fly by night outfits.
If you need help with Web Development, or SEO, contact us today, we are glad to help.
It is amazing to me how companies want to succeed with social media, yet go years without posting. I was on the Twitter page of the well-known Boston marketing company. I saw they had a tweet about a July event. Great, they are current. Then I realized it was July 2010! What an absolute turn off. I would guess that anybody that came to their Twitter page, will not return. And I’m sure they will not go on to visit their website. (Which by the way is not up-to-date either).
Look, you don’t have to post every single day to your Twitter, Facebook, and other social media pages. But, if you don’t have the time to post ever, then take them down. I know, you’re shocked to hear me advise taking down your social media pages, right? But, you are better off not having someone come to page which will totally turn them off, and make sure they never use your services or buy your products.
If you feel however that social media is a part of your company’s marketing strategy, then I can help you. We can work with you to craft some posts, and then we can schedule them for you. So at the very least you are posting every day, every other day, or maybe once a week as you see fit. This strategy will help your business and you will see a bump in traffic to your website referred from you social media pages.
In Conclusion: Social Media can truly help drive traffic to your website and get people into your store. But neglected it can actually hurt your business. So be active, get help, or take down your social media.
