I took a look at Alan’s post and decide to dive in and see just how good these guys are since Pandia is touting their sponsor. I looked at one client they have listed in their studies. Site looks ok?¢‚Ǩ¬¶oh wait, the title tag reads Send Flowers & Gifts to South Africa, Corporate, Wedding & Baby Gifts Store, South Africa Flower Deliver, Buy Gifts Online, Carol Boyes, Florists Cape Town & Johannesburg SA
Hmm… long. Amateur mistake trying to optimize one page for so many terms. How are the keyword tags you ask?
“buy flowers online, buy gifts online, baby gifts south africa, wedding gifts south africa, corporate gifts south africa, gift store south africa, baby gifts, gift baskets, food gift baskets, corporate gifts, gifts for him, gifts for her, gift certificates, anniversary gifts, wedding gifts, birthday gifts, baby gift baskets, baby shower gifts, personalized baby gifts, flower gifts, unique gifts, gift cards, business gifts”
Wow.. this is SEO 101. You don’t repeat the same phrase more than 3 times at best.
But who cares about the means, right? It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s the end that matters, and in the SEO business, the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìend?¢‚Ǩ¬ù is rankings that lead to traffic that leads to sales. With the rankings they post on their case studies, I can see the great quality they offer:
Google Baby Gifts south africa # 4 Wedding gifts south africa # 5 Send Flowers to south africa # 13 Send Gifts to South Africa # 13 send flower and gifts to south africa # 42 buy flower gifts online south africa # 44 Baby Gifts Store south africa # 51 Online flower gifts south africa # 52 corporate gifts online south africa # 57 wine hampers south africa # 60 gift hampers south africa # 65 Pamper Gift Baskets south africa # 65 christmas hampers south africa # 66 Pewter Gifts South Africa # 66 Corporate gifts south africa # 67
Is it me, or does a term on page 2 even count as a ranking? I consider anything after position 5 as ?¢‚Ǩ?ìroom for improvement?¢‚Ǩ¬ù. I didn’t go through all of these but I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m sure most of them go to the homepage. I also didn’t go through any of the links, coding etc. Just taking a look at one page to try and determine what they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re offering to their clients.
Yes, outsourcing is cheap, but you get what you pay for. Just because the client doesn’t really understand the value of the services doesn’t mean you’re doing a good job. If they see a slight increase in traffic and you show them a boatload of terms on page 6, does that mean you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re giving them value for their money? Hell no, not at $50 an hour or $15. I don’t mean to single out this one company but people who know me well know that I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve taken over many jobs from many incompetent SEO’s, especially from overseas. This is the reason I started the podcast, to warn people about this type of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìservice?¢‚Ǩ¬ù. I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m not really looking to bash anyone, but Pandia supporting a company without checking to see exactly what they do and how they do it. Frankly, it looks bad on them.
Business owners need to look past simple ?¢‚Ǩ?ìresults?¢‚Ǩ¬ù and focus on viable results. Educate yourself! Your business depends on it.
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#1 by WebOptimist on September 17, 2007 - 3:14 pm
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SEO is near and dear to my heart, of course, but the same can be said for all businesses considering farming out services to a foreign company. A perfect example would be high tech companies like HP sending all tech support calls to India. My experience has been that I can’t understand the tech on the other end 90% of the time due to heavy accents. I now find myself researching computer and peripheral equipment companies to see what kind of support they offer. If I’m sent off to India or some foreign country, I look for another option.
Businesses should do the same. Imagine a non-native English speaker trying to optimize a site in, say, Mississippi. Would they have a clue about local lingo? Hardly.
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