Description
When I first got involved in search optimization it was all about placing favorably for certain terms. That's what clients wanted and that's what competent search optimizers delivered. Injury lawyer in Chicago, no problem you'll be in the top 3 for your handful of target terms in a few weeks, 2 - 3 months tops. Selling cars in Madison...same as above. Furniture in Detroit...we've got you covered. That's all changed over the past 6 or 7 years but unfortunately there are still some business owners/managers that think where they place in the search results for a handful of terms is the best form of measurement of the overall successfulness of a search optimization campaign. I don't fault the business owners or managers, after all, odds are search marketing is only a small segment of what they are responsible for and as anyone in the industry will tell you you can't be a part time search optimizer and be on the top of the search game, it's just not possible. Search is arguably one of the most dynamic, fast changing fields in existence today and it's not reasonable to expect the average business owner or manager to have the time to dedicate to search they would need to in order to keep up with what's working and what's not. Case in point, I had the pleasure of speaking with a friend (George) last week that runs his own business and for the past 5 years has been working with a search optimization company. He got in touch with me to ask if I could take a look at his agreement with them as it is coming up for renewal in March. He sent me a copy of his contract and 10 minutes in I already knew it was time for him to sever his relationship with them and find someone new to work with. The contract was obviously written 5 years ago and hasn't been touched since. I won't go into every last detail but when I see things like "monthly submission to 300 search engines" I don't even need to read further, it's time to cancel. The basic outline of the contract was this company would "do a bunch of stuff" that would cause the client to place in the top 10 for 15 "strategic" terms. Before I jumped to conclusions I called my George with a few questions. I thought maybe the contract was just old and maybe the actual work/relationship had progressed with the times and was broader in nature than what was in the contract. I asked the following... Me - Are you on page one in Google for these terms? George - On the reports they send we are but I don't always see our site when I look myself. Me -Who chose the 15 terms? George - The vendor. When the contract started we paid them to do keyword research. Me - Has the agreement always been for the same terms? George - The terms changed once 3 years ago. They said some of our initial terms were more competitive and we would have to pay more to keep our spot. We said no so they did some research and replaced 5 of the terms with longer phrases. Me - How's the traffic from these terms been over the years? George - I'm not sure. Me - Are these terms still generating sales / providing positive ROI? George - Our Internet sales gross more than we pay the vendor so yes.