An interesting thread regarding SEO companies developed last week on Google Webmaster Central which I feel is worth commenting on.
The raw thread is here:
http://umktg.com/BetterPlacement
I was first alerted to the thread from this post at SERoundtable: Don’t Force Google’s Hand, Especially If You’re Sketchy
A Short Synopsis
A potential client of an SEO firm called BetterPlacements posted on GWC asking if any one had heard of this company. The firm had offered to “guarantee” a #1 ranking within a 50 mile radius of the client company’s offices. They also claimed to have a partnership relationship with Google, with exclusive access to this new program. The potential client, rightfully skeptical of the claim, posted on the forum asking for advice.
After some responses by Google Rep John Mu stating that no SEO company can “guarantee” rankings and that Google does not partner with SEO companies (and pointing to official Google guidelines stating the same), the user ‘bruben25′ joined the conversation, ostensibly to play devil’s advocate concerning the wording of the guarantee.
After several more (increasingly hostile) responses from bruben25, Google Spam Team leader Matt Cutts responded, asking bruben25 if he had any affiliation with BetterPlacements. bruben25 denied any direct involvement with the company as a client, employee or executive member. Cutts then laid his cards on the table: the business filings of BetterPlacements in Ohio, with the managing agent’s name listed as ‘B. Ruben’ and pointed out that the contact email for the company was listed as [email protected], and his handle also contained a ’25′.
I felt there were a couple of items I could add to the discussion surrounding this company’s (possibly temporary) public implosion:
As a potential client of an SEO firm you need to realize that there is no difference between an SEO business and any other business. You need to look at the situation, and not just what the company is offering. One of the first things the potential client in this case posted was the company’s contact info:
5763 Talmadge Rd Ste B1 – B2, Toledo, OH 43623
www.betterplacement.info
[email protected]
Physical Address
You can see from Google Maps that the address listed appears to be an office building of some kind: http://umktg.com/sgsd so score one point for BetterPlacements.
Be wary of anyone who works from home unless they are explicitly billing themselves as an individual consultant or contractor. Office leases show commitment to being in business for the longer term.
Web Address
The domain betterplacement.info is the first warning sign. .info sites are much cheaper to come by than .coms, .nets, or .orgs. Unless the .info is a highly desirable keyword combination (like seo.info) there’s no other reason to select a .info over a more traditional TLD.
.infos can indicate a high rate of burn or turnover on domains as a company changes its identity. They are also popular among scammers outside of the US, where US$8 can be quite a difference in budget (.infos are typically $2-$3 per year in registration fees, with .coms being closer to the $8-$9 range).
Email Address
The second warning sign is the gmail.com address. I work with a few professionals who use their gmail.com address successfully as their business email, however, I am always wary when I see a free email account on a business card.
The first reason is that, like the .info domain or using a home address, it doesn’t indicate a commitment to longevity. Again, this doesn’t mean that someone is un-trustowrthy or un-dedicated (I used a home address when Untouchable first started out), but in light of claiming to be “Google’s partner” it should raise red flags. Google has $33 billion dollars in cash assets. If they really found an interesting company in Ohio with a .info domain and a Gmail contact address, working out of a small office building, why wouldn’t they buy them outright instead of “partnering”?
The second reason is more specific to the industry. You may know that Google offers their “apps” to companies to be white-labeled. Untouchable Marketing’s email system runs on the gmail platform, and although the setup might be beyond the everyday user, anyone who can set up a domain and hosting should be able to run a gmail interface for their domain emails. The excuse “We use gmail because we like the spam filter and interface,” doesn’t fly. The setup takes 20 minutes and you can have the interface and spam features of Gmail, and the branding power of sending and receiving at your own domain.
Due Diligence
If you ever receive offers from companies like this, remember that due diligence is the same in any industry. How would you feel if someone told you they were an authorized Toyota dealer, and had a top-secret new Prius that got 100mpg and went 0-60 in 2.3 seconds, but when you arrived for the test drive they just had a few pickups parked in their front yard?
Look at the business behind the promise, evaluate the claims, and ask for references or case studies. Any legitimate company should be able to provide any of these in no time. Asking a forum for their opinion might help (As in this case) but imagine if the Googlers had not been there monitoring the conversation? bruben25 may have convinced the client that his company is in fact a partner of Google.
Tags for This Post: partnership relationship, managing agent, cards on the table, matt cutts, mile radius, business filings
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Let’s assume you’re building a website to be more than just a business card with your phone number on it. Users should be able to take some kind of action directly on your website. Shouldn’t you know how many people are actually taking that action?
If I told you the number of websites I have seen without a clear call to action on the homepage you would be astounded. If you are building your website with a purpose, then make that purpose clear. Should I submit my contact information for a free estimate? Then tell me to do that. Should I view your pricing sheet? Give me a big fat ‘Download Now’ link.
I find myself explaining this quite a bit since working with
The arguments against bulk submission of your website to hundreds of general directories can be summarized in the following way: