It’s become almost impossible for businesses looking to outsource their internet marketing to identify the good companies from the bad, and I feel for them.
A lot of the blame can be attributed to the unprincipled and aggressive SEO and link building companies that are bombarding ordinary businesses every day with unsolicited calls and emails. Without doubt these dubious practices have given the internet marketing industry a serious shot in the foot.
If you’ve received unsolicited email about SEO – bin it!
My recommendation is that if you’ve been emailed or called by a company making wild promises about how they can boost your profits through SEO and link building, then either bin it immediately or report it as SPAM.
Why? Well any professional internet marketing company worth its salt gets business through word of mouth from satisfied customers or from new customers who have been impressed by what they have seen online.
Whereas any company that relies on sending out bulk emails or aggressive telemarketing campaigns to get SEO projects without taking time to find out a businesses actual requirements is, in my view, highly suspect!
Link building companies are missing the point
One of the emails I received today that offered bulk link building services was amazingly enough headed “Make your links appear Natural”.
I would acknowledge that inbound links to a website are one of the factors that affect ranking in Google. However, buying links in bulk is contrary to all best practices, it brings no usability benefits to your website users, and is likely to result in your site being blacklisted.
I urge any businesses that are looking for internet marketing support to check very carefully the background, experience, track record, and approach of potential providers before appointing them.
User goals should dictate internet marketing
When I started Fen Digital in 2005, I came from 20 years’ experience in user-centred planning and design. As a result I was determined that our approach should be based on identifying what information the customer needs and designing communications that met their requirements.
In 2009, the challenge for businesses wishing to promote themselves effectively on the web remains the same as in 2005. Put simply, how do you stand out from the competition in the face of such severe information overload?
With the advent of social media channels, the options for internet promotion are more wide ranging, but the key principle remains the same. Any information that you publish on the web, whether on a website, blog, forum, or social media channel, is only going to get the response you want if it is perceived as useful, relevant, and engaging by the target audience.
So if you want to separate the good from the bad in internet marketing, I suggest you start by seeing whether the potential consultancy bases their approach around what is best for the user rather than applying techniques that attempt to trick Google into ranking your website higher.
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