Are Search Engines Worth It
Any More?
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The “Number One” Question - the question that I (and probably
every other Internet marketing expert on the planet) am most
frequently asked:
“How do I get to be Number One in the search engines
for widgets? After all, my company is the world’s leading
provider of widgets - it’s ridiculous that these other nobody
companies are coming up in search engines ahead of us . .
. ”
My response is almost always along the lines of:
“Forget that right now, and
get a life!”
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OK, so I am a little more tactful than that - and I do occasionally
encourage an in-depth search engine optimization strategy,
but usually I’ll encourage clients to spend their website
promotional budget in other ways.
Here are the main reasons why
I’m not generally enthusiastic about free search engines:
1.
You have to be really careful in choosing keywords
Many people make the mistake of focusing on very generic
keywords. Not only are these even more difficult to get top
placement in, but they also won’t generate you targeted traffic.
A prospect approached me recently for help with a coaching
site. This site promotes teleseminars to help clients implement
life changes described in various motivational books. This
prospect initially said that he wanted to be “Number One”
on a search for “books”.
I’d
suggest this would be a virtually impossible challenge for
any search engine optimizer. But in addition, someone searching
for “books” is probably really looking for Amazon,
or Barnes & Noble, and not my client’s teleclasses. He
could spend a lot of money for very few qualified leads.
2.
You need to speak the language of your visitors
We all talk “geekspeak” - it’s often second nature to us
within our industry or area of expertise. And it’s easy to
forget that our prospects don’t always use the same terminology.
One of the most difficult areas in copywriting that I see
is when technology sales people are trying to describe their
products to a non-technical market - the result is usually
incomprehensible!
But there’s also the jargon that we use as a matter of pride,
or because we’ve lost touch with how our markets think of
us.
I worked recently with an association of plastic surgeons.
They had their member database on their Web site, and wanted
to attract visitors there to find a local practitioner.
Their “Number One” target keyword for the search engines
was “rhinoplasty”. Well, I can only spell this
because I just looked it up for this article - but usually
you and I in the general public would never think of that
- of course, we’d be searching for . . . “nose jobs”!
The
surgeons didn’t like this at all from an academic standpoint.
But they had to concede the point when I presented evidence
on most common searches from Overture’s very handy Search
Engine Submission Tool.
3.
It’s very passive marketing . . .
My
most pressing argument for not spending too much time on free
search engines is that it’s a very passive form of marketing.
You’re relying on a prospective visitor waking up in the morning,
and realizing that they need something that you might provide.
Then, you’re relying on them choosing the precise keywords
that you’ve targeted for search engine optimization. It’s
a fairly hit or miss business.
When
do I disagree with myself?
There are some exceptions to all this. I do believe that
search engines are well worth it when you have a niche product
or service with extremely unambiguous and well-defined keywords.
For
example, an audience member in one of my recent programs was
working on a Web site to sell some incredibly advanced yoyos.
I did recommend a search engine strategy to him - after all,
if someone puts in “yoyo” as a search term, they’d
almost certainly be a qualified lead!
What
do I do instead?
That’s the subject of numerous other articles.
To get you started, you can find twenty-three of my favourite
techniques in my free tipsheet.
But
in short, I much prefer aggressively seeking out sites where
your target markets are likely to be reading, or searching
for information. That way, you can proactively bring your
ideas, products and services to them, in places where they
are much more likely to be receptive and interested. And there
are so many options for different budgets and campaign sizes,
both online and offline.
So,
are search engines worth it any more?
I’m not advocating ignoring search engines. And I do like
the better paid models, such as Overture.
But I do suggest that you should be very clear about how
much passive marketing you want to undertake, and whether
the product or service that you’re offering lends itself to
this.
And if you do decide to optimize your site for search engines,
pick the keywords that will be in the mindset of your customers
. . . and be willing to settle for “Number Two” sometimes!
© Philippa Gamse. All rights reserved.
Byline
Philippa Gamse, "CyberSpeakerSM",
is a Web strategy consultant and professional speaker. Check
out her free tipsheet for 23 great ideas to promote your Website:
http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html
Philippa can be reached at (831) 465-0317 or mailto:pgamse@CyberSpeaker.com
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