64% Of Search Advertisers Fail To Follow SEO Recommendations

[Chris]

The following was written by Jim Hedger

For those who make best use of it, the Net provides such a versatile communications environment; a virtual storefront can easily out-perform a traditional brick-and-mortar storefront.

In reality, most businesses doing commerce over the Web are not yet prepared to use the medium to its fullest potential. While most new and previously established businesses have some form of web presence, many don't have trained staff dedicated to maintaining it, much less enhancing or evolving it. From search marketing opportunities to cost cutting technologies such as VOIP to social and business networking tools, the Internet environment provides a virtually unlimited multi-leveled communications capacity at relatively reduced rates. Unfortunately, realizing the potential is far easier than adapting to take advantage of it.

That point was proven in a recent survey commissioned by Boston-based SEO firm iProspect that showed approximately 64% of businesses outsourcing search marketing,"... encounter obstacles that prevent them from implementing their vendor's SEO recommendations." (click here for an Adobe Acrobat version of the study)

Conducted by JupiterResearch in August 2005, the study surveyed 626 people involved in search marketing and 224 search marketing firms. Its findings attach tangible numbers to experiences shared by several professional SEOs. In short, SEOs have reason to feel a trifle under-appreciated. Their informed and often pre-paid advice is overlooked or neglected more often than not. At the same time, the survey also shows that the SEO industry itself needs to assume more responsibility around helping clients make informed decisions.

According to the results of the survey, the reasons most cited by search advertisers for not implementing outsourced SEO advice are; a lack of human resources, no budget set aside for outsourced IT services, and timing issues surrounding site or document updates. For many of the respondents, much of the responsibility rests with SEO vendors who seem to shy away from setting achievable goals and articulating realistic expectations.

The initial expectations set by the SEO or SEM vendor set the tone and thinking for the search advertising client. Quite often, respondents reported a key obstacle was their SEO vendor establishing unrealistic expectations as to "...how much time and effort will be involved in implementing the recommended SEO changes", based on the vendor's level of experience as opposed to the resources available to the client. In other words, SEO vendors often base time and cost estimates on their level of experience, not the client's.

Search advertising clients are generally less informed about the search medium than an established SEO is. SEO exists as an industry because professional search engine optimizers know how to work with search engines. More importantly, good SEOs know how to work with any number of websites and are highly proficient webmasters. Chances are, the person speaking with the SEO vendor knows less about the fundamental architecture of their firm's website than the SEO does. That conclusion is as natural and logical as the one that states the client should know his or her business sector better than a third-party vendor does. When SEO vendors set unrealistic expectations for their clients, a chain of events unfolds.

Frequently, clients do not set aside sufficient time or financial resources to optimize and maintain their sites. While their SEO consultant or vendor has given them an estimate that says X# of hours are required for initial optimization and Y# of hours will be needed for maintenance, the estimate was based on how long it would take the SEO to do the work. Not only does the professional SEO have established work-habits that speed the job, they are likely able to spot and correct critical issues as they go along, thus saving even more time beyond that outlined in the estimate.

For larger firms that employ highly skilled IT staff, the initial experience working with a professional SEO firm can be a difficult one. From basic territory, overwrite and task-responsibility issues to the typical designed-by-committee corporate website, there can be numerous points for friction between SEOs and their clients' IT staffs. It should also be noted that most IT divisions have full workloads already. If their employer has outsourced organic search marketing to a good SEO firm, that workload often gets much larger very quickly with a new set of legacy tasks that need to be performed at least once per month.

The second reason many search advertisers neglect to implement outsourced SEO recommendations is they had no idea it could cost so much in staff time and resources. Even today, many advertisers see their website as a billboard for their brick-and-mortar business, even those running online stores. Billboards are an example of static media. Once set, billboard content doesn't change until another advertiser rents the space. Setting aside the valuable time of an already hard-working staff member for SEO work is often a lower priority than getting the daily jobs done.

There are a number of firms that outsource all aspects of the optimization process to a third party vendor. In these cases, the work gets implemented more often than not but nearly half, 48% of advertisers stated that they or their SEO firm underestimated the cost of optimization and the amount of time it would take to implement changes and see results. In some cases, the failure of the SEO firm to offer realistic goals and timelines was cited as the reason long-term SEO recommendations never get implemented.

The timing of site or document updates presents two problems for search advertising clients. The first is that all websites need to be redesigned periodically, especially if there is an upswing in traffic after an initial SEO project. An increase in traffic can point out previously unknown flaws, necessitating changes and can also spur increased interest from site owners, which can also necessitate site changes. When a site gets overhauled, the optimization is often thrown away with the old site. This happens because the site designers are often other third party vendors and generally not the ones who optimized the website.

Secondly, in order to maintain strong rankings, one of the tasks SEOs recommend is updating documents and generally adding fresh content to the site. For many search advertising clients, the added time commitment falls low on the list of daily tasks for the staff member charged with making those updates.

The results of this survey fall in line with stories heard by webmasters and SEOs in forums and from clients. The knowledge and skill gap between the professional SEO sector and advertising clients has not shrunk as much as SEOs might have previously expected. Though basic search engine optimization can be described as common sense web design, a number of critical knowledge factors remain that set SEOs aside from other webmasters, at least in relation to proficiency with search engines. The study does serve to support the thinking that outsourcing SEO is still the best way to achieve natural or organic placements quickly however this fact is small consolation for an SEO industry that obviously still needs to mature in order to represent itself and, in turn, be treated more professionally.

[dharrison]

Hear, hear, Jim (and Chris)

SEO is still a pretty new industry and as a result it is very easy for online shops who aren't very much in the know to get seduced by bold claims, for example the old chestnut: "Get to #1 in Google"

Sadly one of my (now ex) customers fell for the claims of one of these "companies" that engages in keyword stuffing at every given opportunity. They also added text links one shade darker than their navy background (my customer defended their actions in his naivety).

I have since severed all links from their site as it is almost like a ticking time bomb.

The amount of times I've been asked "Can we get to the top of Google?" .... well I've given up counting.

Sure, I have some magic bullets you know.

[Chris]

i'm just a conduit. ;)

[dharrison]

Originally Posted by CRich

i'm just a conduit. ;)

Nevertheless.

Anyway, I have just typed "Black Hat SEO" into a well-known search engine. Do you think the two CPC's that show up know that their results come up for the said phrase? LOL.

[Ira_Weiss]

What does SEM stand for? Can't find anything that fits online.

Thanks!

[Chris]

Ira:

SEM = Search Engine Marketing.

and thanks debbie. we's tries to please. :)

[Ira_Weiss]

Should have guessed. With that explained, SEM sounds more to the point since marketing is what it's all about.

Thanks for the reply.

[GaryBradshaw]

I would guess that most of the time the items that are not implemented are "little" and really don't matter that much in SEO.

This is also a tactic used by SEO firms to explain away why customers do not get results. Which in most cases mean the SEO firm thought they could get results with a certain mix but where wrong.

[willthegeek]

It would seem to me that the two must go together. Successful SEM would also appear to depend on quality SEO. I often analyze my competition's websites to see what I can learn and to move up further. Many times I have seen that one site on page two could easily be midpoint on page one by simply tuning their landing pages with a few 'little' tweaks.

[incrediblehelp]

This is why pre-sale education is so important. To many times the urgency is to get the client to sign on with the SEO company that letting them know the exact process of implementing SEO techniques is not discussed in full details. I think this is a two-way problem and not all on the client itself.

[khurramali]

A good point made in this article is that businesses do not have the man power for promoting and marketing of their brick and mortar business.

Most businesses only want a web presence. They do not have the faintiest idea of SEM / SEO.

To them the idea is still the age old parody.

If I build, they will come.

Then most of the times, even we fail to realize the time and effort needed to properly optimize a website.

[espectations]

I have an interesting case. For two years I pitched to do a holding company's web sites - the company consist of 4 divisions and then the Corporate site.

I had a great co-branding strategy as well but only 1/5 divisions wanted to go with my proposal. 4/5 web sites were done by another local company and I did the site for the 1 division that was impressed with my presentation and proposal.

2 Days after launch I got a call from the CEO that I must please join them for a meeting as he was not happy with the quality of work done by the other web development company that landed the other sites and he wanted me to take it all over.

There was no problem in doing that and after 3 years I am still awaiting patiently as ever the response from the 5th company.

Now here is the interesting thing. My counterpart told this Corporate that SEM is not needed as they only submit once and that the search engines will continue to find the sites. So no continued support.

The quality of the work was shocking - it looked like Word documents saved as html files.....

Anyway, I work on the basis with my clients that we sign a contract for 6 months - continued SEO, SEP and SEM. After 6 months, I do a complete report and we meet, then decide what needs to happen next. On a monthly basis, I provide feedback on stats etc. and make changes as we go along - SEO never ends as you very well know.

All 4 companies on board do not want to reveal their sales from the sites but they told me that from one sale they cover my 6 monthly fee. And they sell more than one item from their sites that is for sure.

A large part of what I do is customer education and we are now reaching the stage where the customer realize how important SEO and SEM is on an ongoing basis, but it took blood, sweat and tears to get there.

The interesting part of it all is that their suppliers also have individual sites as this company is merely a Southern African distributor of industrial equipment.

The other day, just out of interest, I looked up their positioning vs their suppliers' and it is frightening. The South African distributor in many cases outrank the actual manufacturer's web site on specific search terms. Search terms for which I would think the Manufacturer's site should rank highest! And these are well-known brands.

Anyway, taking a look at their competition in South Africa - well not being arrogant or complacent but it is clear that there is just no concept of SEO, SEP and SEM. It is really fascinating taking into account what is happening on the web.

I think companies with well known brands cannot afford to be complacent and this article just confirms my own experiences. I spend a lot of time on customer education and even though frustrating at times, it does pay off in the end.

I guess in short my client gave me the biggest compliment the other day when I told him our 6 month review is coming up in August - he replied and said "Your last month will be August 2010"......

That is quite a compliment - it is hard work for relatively little pay but worth its while in gold when you have a happy customer.

And there is no recipe - just bleeding figers on keyboards.....and many late nights.

[EJRS.COM]

Cost-cutting techniques hurt. While it seems like you save a lot, you end up forking out the dough through a different part of the business. So at the end of the day you end up with a worse deal. Seen it happen way too many times with companies. Tried to forewarn them but to no avail. In the they learn they have to learn the hard way.

[dharrison]

Originally Posted by willthegeek

Sorry about the double post. The original showed an error and no post, so I tried again.

Regards,

Will

Thats alright. Reading down the list it seems to be happening a lot. Either that or you all have the hiccups LOL.

[khurramali]

[quote="dharrison"]

Originally Posted by willthegeek

Sorry about the double post. The original showed an error and no post, so I tried again Will

same here, my post was posted 3 times, can someone clean it up. Actually I got this response.

General Error

Couldn't get mail server response codes

DEBUG MODE

Line : 164
File : smtp.php

[etechsupport]

EJRS.COM,

One can keep the cost low as possible by setting objectives, adopting few techniques, establishing your priorities, calculating and using usage value and your vendors value, time management and competing as player to player not from the big player. Few Researches shows that cost cutting can increase your profitability even 5 to 7% of the mark.

[greeneagle]

CRich,

Great catch. One of the better articles I have read in a long time. The SEO/SEM business is very difficult on many fronts.

Several of the issues struck home... Seems like everyone wants instant results and usually wait till late in the game to outsource.

Ken

[khurramali]

Originally Posted by greeneagle

Several of the issues struck home... Seems like everyone wants instant results and usually wait till late in the game to outsource.

SEO outsourcing will be next big thing.

Even the well established SEO companies are considering to outsource their SEO work to countries like India and Pakistan.

The reason being that they have too much work, and less employees to take care of it.

It is all obout cheap labour and SEO work requires many hours of work on each project.

[etechsupport]

Well, Google, Yahoo and MSN that contribute 85 % traffic on the internet, Google's recent announcement about setting up an R&D center in Bangalore, India reflects their new mindset for India. Most of the reliable & cheap low cost search engine optimization solutions and technical support are performed very well by those talented people backed by their friendly support through outsourcing from India as well pakistan now upcoming.