Beware of SEO Snake-Oil Salesmen
Posted by Stickyweb in Consulting, Rants, SEO | 0 comments
The ‘Snake-oil Salesman’ is frequently featured in the old westerns – peddling a supposed cure-all with a scripted banter hyping a myriad of benefits – all completely untrue … Until the townspeople run them out of town!
Well beware …
A new salesman is in town preying on businesses who just want to have their sites appear at the top of Google Searches.
“With this new amazing technique I can guarantee your listing will appear at the top & on maps as well … look at this lovely site I have already built for you (simply a wordpress template with a few minor changes). We only work with Australian businesses (But our company is registered in New Delhi) & besides … we already have signed up your competitors – so don’t miss out!!!”
Just like the snake-oil salesman’s pitch, there’s not a word of truth in the above & it’s about time someone started forming a posse to run this thieving lot out of town.
Think about it …
How many top places do you suppose Google has to sell?
And do you think they outsource the selling to a New Delhi based outfit called “aussieseoexperts.online”?
Social Media MUST be truthful
Posted by Stickyweb in Consulting, Rants | 0 comments
Social Media is an important weapon in any business promotion arsenal … But it MUST be wielded carefully – the truth is always out there!
When Australian Bank ‘ING Direct‘ chose to dispose of their most popular ‘Paywave Rebate’ their Facebook page was inundated with ANGRY customers lamenting that the ‘cash back’ was the only thing that had made them join & recommend the ‘Orange Everyday’ account. Staff responses included statements like “The decision to remove the 2% cashback promotion came after some extensive research about what matters most to our customers”. Clearly this is not the case & if Market Research revealed this, it was clearly manipulated!
Such a response is Social Suicide
Why would anyone choose to give up a benefit that put money back in their pockets & was the only real difference that ING offered. All of the posts to their page reflected this view, indicating that either their Market Research was incredibly inaccurate OR the PR division was spinning a blatant lie. Frantic replies from ING staff spruiked “24/7 customer service & fee free ATM access” as reasons to stay and also alluded to future “promotions and incentives for our customers to enjoy” – but the flow of angry posts continued.
Then began accusations of censorship & posts being deleted – another Social must not! Open yourself to Social Media & you have to take the good with the bad.
Tell it like it is.
Which brings up the absolute necessity of open disclosure in everything you post on your company’s Social pages.
If you have bad news, deliver it succinctly and without any attempt to obfuscate the facts …
Without a doubt there will be readers far more intelligent than any of your ‘spin doctors’ and your marketing jargon will be ripped to shreds!
If you allow your readers to contribute to your page be sure to delete nothing (unless of course it is generally offensive) – once posted on the internet a comment, image – in fact anything – is there forever!