It was said that “British shoppers will beat the crunch with Internet prices this Christmas, spending more than a billion pounds each week in the run-up”įiled under: Blurbs about anything, Google, Search engines, Yahoo | Tagged: credit crunch, internet trends, online research, online shopping | Leave a comment » Researchers have suggested that the majority of online shopping will take place outside traditional shopping hours, either before 9am or after 6pm. Retailers and suppliers are under extreme pressure to keep their prices competitive. This is a 15% increase on the same period a year ago. It is forecast that UK online shoppers will spend £13.16 billion in the final quarter of 2008. Customers are tightening their belts and it is predicted that this knock on affect is going to get worse in the coming months. Christmas sales volumes have fallen for the seventh month in a row in October. The latest figures show that UK retailers will be hit the hardest in the run up to Christmas. Can’t it?įiled under: Blurbs about anything, Google, Reviews, Search engines, SEO, Yahoo | Tagged: optimisation, search engine optimisation misconceptions, seo top 5, SERP, what not to do | 1 Comment » If we’re open and transparent about our efforts, and tackle these misunderstandings head on, then the industry as a whole can benefit. Even though it is tempting to tell them that if they put into the code, their competition will be Doomed.Īs SEO professionals, it’s our job to educate and inform our clients about how what we do works.
It’s enticing to believe that there’s some magic button that can be pushed so they can reap rewards with minimal effort, but it’s important to let them know that there’s no cheat code. The number of people that think they can hit the top of the SERPs without making changes to their website is staggering. By showing them that time, effort and patience can get the underdog to top spot, you’re showing them the power of SEO and managing their expectations.ĥ) There’s a magic “Top of the SERPs” code. “I’m a 5* hotel, they’re a pokey b&b – so why are they top and I’m on page three?” Explaining that your word of mouth reputation isn’t automatically linked to your online reputation is crucial to helping newcomers to SEO understand how the process works. Making sure everyone knows the timescales involved in SEO is key to avoiding disappointment.Ĥ) Being a market leader automatically entitles you to the top spot. We’ve optimised the content, sourced some quality links and made sure the site’s as accessible as possible – “so why haven’t my listings changed? It’s been a week!” In a world of instant communication, instant gratification and instant coffee, it’s hard to explain to a client that the Search Engines might not even index the site for up to a month. Do any other complimentary industries have the same lack of direct communication that Search Engines and SEOs have? Explaining that we can’t call Yahoo head office is an important part of managing client expectations – especially when it comes to the next misconception.ģ) Results are instant. “Can’t you just call Google and get them to index my site today?” As ludicrous as this question seems, it actually makes some sense. The more people that understand the much-maligned meta keywords tag, the less opportunity there’ll be for unscrupulous and uninformed types to take them for a ride.Ģ) SEO companies have access to a Search Engine Hotline.
Any of you with even a basic understanding of SEO are about to type something along the lines of “1995 called – they want their search algorithms back.” The sad fact of the matter is that some clients have still told us that their last SEO company just filled their meta tags full of spam and pocketed the fee. But before we tackle these misconceptions, we need to identify them.ġ) Meta Keywords are the Holy Grail. It’s this lack of understanding that lets people call us “Snake Oil” salesmen, and to disparage the hard work that we do.
Therefore, it’ll probably come as no surprise to a great number of people that sometimes people just don’t get SEO. When that industry’s in constant flux, the knowledge gap can suddenly become a yawning chasm of misunderstandings and misconceptions. With any cutting edge or continually changing industry, there’s always going to be a gap between what the professionals and the clients know.