Search Engine Optimisation

[Geraldine O'Reilly]

I had a phone call from http://www.firstsearchconsultancy.co.uk/ this morning and almost was talked in to going with them. Having a problem with my visa card prevented the sale. The power of the sales person on the phone was so strong and the pressure to let them take over word optimisation and have me up there on the first page of Google for a fee of 175 sterling. I am not usually easily talked into something like this but the sales person was so good, he had me convinced. I believe they are a genuine company and would help optimise your website but I just do not like their approach and was wondering has anyone else out there had a phone call from them? :confused:

[csmith]

Yes Geraldine, I had a call from him with the same idea as he put to you. If you Google B&B in Cavan the first one that comes up is with them, so I am in the process of checking them out. I have put him on hold by saying my accountant has to give me the OK on any money I spend in the business. I am wondering what the rest of you think.:confused:

[thewicklowway]

Hi geraldine,
This is a common tactic with companies and our response to them is always: well, how did you find me? on the web? hmm, guess I dont need seo (search engine optimisation) so!
to be honest with you there are lots of ways to optimise your business online that you can do for free with a bit of research . and time ( for the time!!!).

Otherwise always ask around for personal recommendations and go with someone who you feel you can trust and whom preferably has an actual office and landline so that they will be there in a years time to help you!

I run www.thewicklowway.ie (http://www.thewicklowway.ie) and www.wicklowtourism.ie (http://www.wicklowtourism.ie) as hobbies but my main line of work is in web marketing which includes seo. If your looking for tips our blog has lots plus we always write up scam warnings etc as soon as we hear of them! see http://blog.cadamedia.ie

and I am not looking for work as we are full till autumn anyway! lol
:)

roz
Living life the wicklow way.

[thewicklowway]

Yes Geraldine, I had a call from him with the same idea as he put to you. If you Google B&B in Cavan the first one that comes up is with them, so I am in the process of checking them out. I have put him on hold by saying my accountant has to give me the OK on any money I spend in the business. I am wondering what the rest of you think.:confused:

Oh dear! Please ladies, I urge you not to jump into this. Whilst he may be able to get you top of google rest assure dthe only 100% way is to pay for it! see our ref to same last october!!
http://blog.cadamedia.ie/2008/10/how-do-i-get-to-number-1-in-google/
if i google b&b in cavan as you suggest the first site I get is expedia.ie ( a paid for listing ) and then the first organic listing ( actually there coz its what google wants to see etc.. ) is ebookireland whether searching all web or just from ireland.

Is one of these theirs?
:confused:

roz

[thewicklowway]

did you know for eg that what you get in google depends on where you search from? and for one thing dont people go to cavan from southern ireland too? most likely more people search from further away.

he could have an adsendse campaign going where he is targeting cavan ads, which is great for his sales and what he says will be true if you look for it his way. But what way do your visitors look for you? where do they look for you from? do they even use google ( or you tube, yahoo, msn etc)

basically just research what you need and what will really!! benefit your business,. There is a lot you can do these days online for very little money - so invest wisely!
thats all from me.
:cool:

roz

[c0mpass]

Hi,

as well as being involved in self catering in Kilkenny (http://www.croancottages.com), I also own a website design (http://www.croan.ie) and website optimisation company.

This offer from the UK company is a SCAM!

Anyone can appear in the number one position for sponsored links if they bid enough money. These companies bid a high amount for your term, show you your site at no. 1 and then charge you for their services.

Needless to say, after payment has been processed they remove the high bid and your site is no where to be seen.

You cannot fool the search engines (for long) there is no substitute for a good website and ethical Search Engine Optimisation (http://www.croan.ie/search_engine_optimisation.htm).

[smoody]

Geraldine and Catherine, thankfully you called me before spending any money, you made the right choice by not going with them but unfortunately not everyone has been so lucky. Read just one example of how these scams can see you out of pocket http://blog.sitestogo.biz/2009/04/23/web-marketing-emails-are-they-scams/

If you get contacted by anyone telling you they will get you no. 1 position in Google they are lying (unless they plan to use AdWords). Also a good tip is to type the company name into Google with " before and " after (this means that you will get results about this company only) and see what others are saying about their experiences. I found 3 negative blog posts on page 1 in Google about this particular company.

Sandra
SitesToGo
www.sitestogo.biz
046 9730147

[MahonFarmhouse]

Looks like these guys are still trying it on. Got a call from them about a month ago and almost went for it. The sales guy was very convincing. The call started as not even been about a sale at all, but he gradually got round to it. We were ranking not too bad on google at the time, so decided not to go for it. Just as well!

[Ronanob]

Hi Geraldine,

Please don't give these Thieves your money! It's a scam.

I run several big internet business here in Ireland (Selling Fancy Dress Costumes (http://www.TheCostumeShop.ie), Bikinis and Swimwear (http://www.TheBikiniShop.ie), Pet Clothes (http://www.mollys.ie) etc) and i can assure you that no company can sell you a first place position in Google's organic search. We spend a small fortune on advertising in Google and even more on getting to number one for our desired key phrases. Also they claim to be associated to Google which is a complete lie!

This company that rang you have been changing their name every week and conning people out of their hard earned cash. I won't go into how they do it but trust me, its neither complicated or honest.

Yesterday they were calling themselves Storm Media (http://www.ronanobrien.info/selling-first-place-on-google-scam/) and i've written a blog post about the No1 position in google scam (http://www.ronanobrien.info/selling-first-place-on-google-scam/) that they are doing as they have basically started on every directory at A and conned their way through. Obviously lots of people are falling for it since they continue to do it.

I hope by posting, this might save some people form making the same mistake.

Regards,
Ronan

[AlicesLoft]

Another one to watch for is Force Travel Ageny where for a £ amount they will recommend your accommodation to its client base of UK Police and Army personel.They say that your accommodation will be the only one listed for County Monaghan or which every County your from .As soon as you pay you will discover their phone stops ringing !!!!!Very convincing but as soon as you stall they drop the price ,a sure giveaway.

[Pamela]

We run serviced apartments (http://www.apartments-liverpool.co.uk)in Liverpool and under take SEO work on a range of websites. £175 is as cheap as chips but what can anyone really do for that sort of money. The thing to remember is that getting into Google, getting to the top and staying there is about have good relevant information and up to date. The recent change of social media and real time results re-enforces this. Build up content and news about whats going on in your business yourself and then get in smeone to optimise the site. Content come first!

Isabel
Apartments Liverpool (http://www.apartments-liverpool.co.uk)

[Hotelsinone]

Hi,

I would agree with all of the above, in the land of SEO companies there is alot of promises and buzz words but very few results, I would suggest try and take the time to do a little research into SEO and pick up tips and techniques and try and implement them yourself!