When I drive, I get to thinking. And then I usually record what I’m thinking in a way other people can benefit from. So I created a video for you- I’ll talk about it in a minute.
I was driving a few weeks ago, thinking about
- How many people have approached me about offering search engine optimization and pay per click for local businesses at about $500 per month… (four)
- How one of those big direct marketing dudes (like Frank Kern, but not Frank Kern) just had all their friends email about 64,793 people about a course that teaches anyone how to start a business supplying local businesses with SEO and PPC.
The upshot?
We’re about to be hit by a tsunami of local SEO and PPC salespeople.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A lot of business websites still need basic SEO. And there are situations where PPC can provide immense ROI immediately.
But where the “unethical” can happen, where I felt like I needed to blare the Magic Conch Shell of Warning is:
- What happens in Month #3 or Month #6 of your contract?
- Was enough SEO done by then?
- Was anything done to your PPC accounts at all after set-up?
- Is there more SEO that can be done for you without majorly expanding your site’s focus and number of webpages?
- Or do you already rank for all the keywords you can expect to rank for?
The answers to these questions will determine whether you have a quality SEO/PPC provider, or just another Yellow Pages salesperson.
The Glass Ceiling (The Point of Diminishing Returns)
I believe there’s a glass ceiling in local SEO and PPC – a point beyond which you’ll get diminishing or no returns. But some providers will try to keep making money off you.
Watch this video I created for you to understand more:
The Glass Ceiling of Local Search Marketing
Last week, I was shown an SEO/PPC proposal that came from a local newspaper. Yes, a local South Carolina newspaper wants to provide SEO and PPC services.
And yes, they’re outsourcing it.
The people that told me about this couldn’t get their questions answered by the newspaper salespeople, because didn’t know what they were talking about.
That’s what I mean…. Here come the salespeople.
Questions For Screening SEO/PPC Salespeople
- Who performs your services? Are they outsourced?
- What do you do for SEO?
- What SEO do you do in month 3? Month 6?
- How do I track my SEO progress? Keywords? Rankings? Traffic?
- What do you do with my PPC accounts?
- How often do you test new PPC ads?
- How will I know what my PPC ROI is?
- How will I know that my PPC performance is improving?
Those questions should make them squirm a little and help you find the provider with your best interests at heart.
Don’t get me wrong- if you’re only going to pay $500 a month for SEO, there’s only so much they can do. But I want to make sure you don’t end up with the company that’s selling a big bag of nothing- or the company that will do some work in the first couple of months but thereafter keep collecting revenue from you for doing nothing at all.
Those are the bad guys.
