eTraffic Jams Blog

What’s good for the Goose isn’t Good for Google?

There has been a lot of opinions being bantered around online regarding the recent post Matt Cutts did about “How to report Paid Links”. The majority of the opinions fall into one of three categories: those for it (the ability to tattle tell), those vehemently against it (probably from those that over abuse it…just my opinion) and those that worry that their competitors will sabotage them by buying a bunch of blogs, reviews etc…

But what I am not seeing anyone write about is the fact that Google seems to be “pouting” a little bit and basically threatening to “take its bat and ball and go home”. 

As the current owner (more on that comment in the coming weeks) of a search engine optimization company, I certainly do not want our client’s sites having to compete with other websites that have no business ranking in the top 10 organic spots. But if the sites that are ranking in the top 10 are relevant, and as long as they are not using black hat SEO tactics, why would Google want to possible “penalize” or in anyway take away that particular sites top 10 listing?

What’s that you say? Paid links is now considered “Black Hat”? Well, I would agree that some paid text links should be considered black hat…Having run of site text links where one website that has 3,000 pages and offers links for sale in the footer and is not on topic should not be an acceptable tactic and I think Google has done the right thing by modifying their algorithm to detect and then ignore (meaning the link is neither good or bad for the site…it’s just a waste of money for the site owner unless of course they are getting quality traffic out of it).

However, now that just about everybody in the world knows that anchor text links are an important part to Google’s ranking algorithm, and being that most business websites do not freely (or very visibly) link to other websites (how many other websites do you link to or promote on your business site? Didn’t think so) site owners are going to push the envelope as much as possible and with good reason. They have a lot to gain by getting top rankings for quality (relevant) keywords to promote their business.

Google needs to understand (and I think they do or they would not allow the Matt Cutt’s of the Googlesphere to blog like they do) that businesses every day count on the search engines to produce revenue. Google is no different. $465.26 per share at the time of this writing for 1 Google Share? And where does 90% or more of the money Google generates that makes the stock worth that much? A form of a text link ad.

Ok so let me for a moment a self appointed mediator between Google and the Website owners…

First let’s understand Google’s position. Google, the webmasters of the world understand that you can not afford to have your top 10 results be cluttered with non relevant websites. Doing so would only lead to your demise as your own search volume would rapidly decrease, leading to less money made through your primary business model.

Webmaster’s position: Our very existence seems to be connected to how well our search placement is on Google (and Yahoo and MSN) and not having top rankings for relevant keywords seriously effects our bottom line in a bad way.

Mediator:

Webmasters: Agree to follow the webmasters guidelines and understand that getting top placement is more often a marathon and not a sprint. If you truly deserve to be in the top 10 and your company is one of the best companies for your industry, stay at it and do all you can with in the guidelines. Hire outside help if you need to that has the experience to help you.

Google: Keep up the great work of making sure those that are not playing fair, get the boot so that those that are playing by the rules have an equal chance. But please do not punish those who find out a “secret ingredient” to your algorithm and then use that ingredient to benefit their ranking. If the results in the top 10 are relevant, who cares? I don’t ever remember Google crying “foul!” when title tags or h1 tags were discovered as being important.

Getting quality links is hard to do. And maybe that is why it is such an important part to your algorithm. But considering it “spam” when a webmaster or seo or owner of a website pays a blogger to post about their business in order to try and rank better for keywords that are relevant to their site? They are just doing everything they can to make sure they can put food on the table for their families. Instead, if you sense a threat to having this “ingredient” well known, improve the recipe. Chances are you will come out with a better meal for everyone.

This is a question pondered by the Search Engine Optimization elite and new SEO start-up companies. It is entirely possible to get reasonably good rankings for SEO clients- or else Search Engine Optimizers would be out of business in a hurry.

The “Remains of the Day,” part however is the ‘results guarantee’. How many SEOers are willing to put their money where their mouth is? There is a well-known “gremlin” component in the search engine world that sometimes shoots your ranking results in the foot. How can you guarantee the client the product they paid for in the face of this “uncertainty principal”… and maintain your integrity as a Professional SEO Company?

The answer is easy when you start thinking about it. The components of high ranking from an SEO Company are these:

1) How experienced is this SEO Team?
2) How much past success have they enjoyed?
3) How is this SEO Company motivated for getting and maintaining high rankings for their clients? 

Motivating SEO Results

Flagging results for your client’s campaign may stem from the fact that, with most SEO models, your SEO Team just isn’t that motivated to ethically push for great client results. For most SEO Companies, client campaigns are prioritized as they come in the door. Many are forgotten after their initial optimization motions are in place. How can an SEO company with this type of modus operandi guarantee results? The answer is THEY CAN NOT. There is no incentive for guaranteed results.

Like any other sales business, how do you motivate great results? The answer is money.

Guaranteed SEO Results are Possible

With the model of SEO from eTrafficJams there is motivation. It’s called Pay-for Performance. eTrafficJams provides organic SEO service in two steps. 1) An affordable set-up fee. 2) After the initial setup fee, the Monthly Pay-for-Performance model kicks in. The guarantee is this: If eTrafficJams.com doesn’t provide 10 top-ten rankings for the client’s approved keywords that month, the client gets that month free. The monthly fee is actually based on the performance of eTrafficJams.com. That’s motivation!

The client pays for high rankings. eTrafficJams.com gets paid for that performance. This just may be the closest thing to a win-win situation in the SEO Industry.

If you are a website owner, how should you spend your SEO earmarked cash? What SEO model works best? What’s the best SEO value? Most importantly, what kind of SEO results should your company expect for the future of your e-commerce business?

Search Engine Optimization is a consumer-based service. SEO companies serve as professional advocates for their clients by working to obtaining high website rankings in the wake of changing and complex search engine algorithms. The fight for your search engine rankings begins before your ink is dry on your SEO contract. But which battle-plans have you chosen?
 
A Critical Look at Two Search Engine Optimization Models

1. One Large Payment for One-Time SEO

Definition: Pay a large upfront fee. The company optimizes your site once.
 
Pros: One payment means little or no bookkeeping. Results are not promised so you don’t have to expect them. Because your expectations are low, you’re probably not going to be disappointed. Little emotional risk.

Cons:  Initial results aren’t promised. Future results are not promised. Basically the bird in your hand flew into a window pane and you’re paying for the two birds in the bush. Your money is gone and you signed the contract. Maybe things will get better? (Tell that to the boss.) (If you’re the boss, tell it to yourself.)

2.  Pay-for-Performance SEO Model

Definition: Initial affordable flat fee spent on optimizing your site. A team focused solely on your account. The Pay-for-Performance Monthly Maintenance Plan starts from $500 / month. Your monthly fee is based on your number of top-ten placements. If a minimum of 10 top 10 organic placements on Google, Yahoo!, and/or MSN are not met, that month is free.                                    

Pros: The initial set-up fee is affordable. Top rankings are the goal. Your monthly fee depends on your number of top-ten placements. If a minimum 10 top 10 organic placements on Google, Yahoo!, and/or MSN are not met, that month is free. You lower your financial risk because you only pay monthly for ten top-ten organic rankings. Your SEO team is motivated to keep your rankings high, every month. Three more: more traffic, more visitors, more sales.

Cons: If too many top-ten rankings overwhelm your sales department, you may want a less success-oriented plan. Alternatively, you may have to expand your business and invest in faster hard drives.

Which Plan Benefits the SEO Consumer the Most?

As you consider these two plans in terms of value, results, your results over time and the overall future of your business, a shortsighted plan isn’t viable for the success-driven e-commerce entrepreneur. You are optimizing your site in the first place because you want it to rank high in the search engines. Pay-for-Performance gets the results you want. If getting results is important to you and your business, Pay-for-Performance is best.