SEO in Crisis.

by

SEO in Crisis.

First:

This is what I heard coming out of my car speakers on the way to a client today:

  • “Google is going to penalize sites that use backlinks…. It’s apparently bad”
  • “If you’re really good at SEO I’m not going to hire you because you’re too good…it’s not going to work.” (relating SEO to spam and manipulation)
  • “We can look at a site that’s SEO optimized and go “C’mon, please” or a site that is genuinely trying to make good content.”

That was on a This Week in Google netcast (netcasts you love from people you trust).

A few days ago:

Two days ago that same client, who I’m training to optimize with a focus on audiences over keywords, emailed me this Mashable article which, among other disjointed facts, states “When you search now, Google gives you results based solely on the text and the keywords that you put in that search.”

A few weeks ago:

And about a month ago a friend of mine who is starting a mobile game trailer business in the UK sent me the quotes he received for SEO services asking who he should go with. Word-for-word, here is some of the stuff in proposal #1:

  • typically a website will retain it rank for 12-36 months
  • We will take your website onto the 1st page of Google for your selected key-phrases, using “white-hat” optimisation techniques, where it should maintain its position for many years to come.
  • Due to the level of on-site optimisation your website system already possesses, I believe you will not require an on-site optimisation package. (LL note – did you see that website?)

This proposal was more than $7,000 to optimize off-site only (build links) for 6 keywords, none of which even mention games.

The other proposal is sadly typical of what most low-brow SEO “agencies” offer: Plop a few keywords on the page, build links from crap directories and bogus blogs, and provide a “report” of a few metrics that don’t mean a thing, like the report in the proposal #2:

  • Number of external links
  • Number of indexed pages
  • Site PageRank
  • Robots.txt file exists or not
  • HTML site map exists or not
  • XML sitemap exists or not)

Jesus, at least run some SEOmoz reports.

The problem: (Lots of) bad SEOs fuel (lots of) haters

The reason I point these things out is because it is all wrong. Very, very wrong. This SEO blasphemy is not new. But it’s not getting better.

And it’s not limited to newbie SEOs. I often work with clients who have lost faith and/or trust with their current SEO consultant/employee/agency, some of whom are long-time SEO experts I’ve been seeing at conferences for a decade.

Some of you may have heard of the JCPenney debacle.

Amazingly, even way outdated tactics are still being employed in droves, like companies who guarantee first page search results which (impossible) is a sad and desperate lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie (< seriously?!)

Here’s the thing. It’s not just the guys at TWIT talking about SEO in complete congruency with spam (side note: spam is spam, SEO is not spam).

I plugged SEO and SEO companies/agencies/consultants as topics into NetBase to see what kind of sentiment is out there. Luckily for us, there is still a lot of good stuff being said about SEO (although I’d guess a lot of that is coming from SEOs).

But then there’s the haters, the disbelievers, the misinformed and the generally jaded. Here’s a chart of the top 10 dislikes around SEO. I didnt scrub the data, so there is some stuff that might look a little weird like three pie chart pieces for time consuming. True, the time consuming part is kind of a drag sometimes, but is SEO really a waste of time? A lot of people think so.

seo sentiment: search engine optimization is a waste of time

SEO sentiment: I have come to the conclusion that SEO is a waaste of time

SEO sentiment: SEO is a waste of time if you dig deep into its advanced techniques

SEO companies/agencies/consultants also have their fair share of haters:

Top dislikes around SEO providers

Funny enough, a lot of those haters are SEOs saying not to trust other SEOs (hey, wait a minute)… But there are also plenty of legitimate remnants of SEO scorn:

And then of course there’s this:

1,180,000 search results for SEO + snake oil

 So… what?

Maybe we (SEOs) get lucky and just take the heat and end up like lawyers – highly in need, expensive, relatively hated, but still in business. Maybe the droves of imposter SEOs get forced out of business by an eventually better-informed public that stops hiring these thieves. Maybe SEO actually (you knew this was coming, right?) dies.

But right now, when business big and small are being burned, everyone is getting misinfomed/outdated/simply wrong information and no one knows who or what to believe, and even those with good intentions are still doing it wrong, the SEO industry is in a crisis.

SEOs are less often the heroes of the web increasing site traffic and making lots of money for clients, but instead are increasingly seen in the mainstream as crooks, tricks, spammers and snake oil salesmen. The many who really are full of shit are ruining it for the fewer who really aren’t. And then people like Michael Arrington say Google search results are “a shit show of layer upon layer of SEO madness vying for my click.” and people like Jeff Jarvis say things like “If you’re really good at SEO I’m not going to hire you because you’re too good…it’s not going to work.” And then people believe that and the problem multiplies.

What can we do about this? Those of us who get it have been trying to spread the word rampantly, but is it working? Are we getting through to the masses who are being sprinkled with the dirty little secrets of SEO published in the New York Times, the neverending SEO horror stories and the bad SEO companies that seem to multiply like gremlins?

I can tell you that this is why How’s Your Pony exists. But can that ever be enough?

This entry was posted in Search Marketing + SEO by Laura Lippay. Bookmark the permalink.

About Laura Lippay

President, How's Your Pony? With an eye for the big picture and a history in increasing online visibility for some of the largest brands on the internet, Laura has focused on content marketing strategy, online marketing, social media and SEO for Fortune 500 & 1000, enterprise and mid-sized businesses for over 10 years.
  • http://www.facebook.com/Kristidavis Kristi Morrison Davis

    You laid everything out so well. I just don’t think that the people who DO get it can afford to spend so much time worrying about the other idiots out there. We have to continue doing the best job we can do, help out people when we can, and show our own integrity and knowledge.

  • http://twitter.com/armondhammer Steve Hammer

    Excellent work. Personally I blame ShadySEO sales.

    I think that part of the problem with ShadySEO is the fact that the results are partially disjointed from the effort. It’s easy to over promise and under deliver, time and time again. When the sales effort is the real focus for many, and not the product and results, it invites crooks. People say what customers want to hear, take the money and run.

    Even excellent SEO agencies often talk about clients unwilling to implement their recommendations as reasons for imperfections. I’m in-house and have had wonderful link-worthy articles spiked by management because they were too edgy. There’s lots of reason’s that we can’t all be #1 all the time, and even the best of us will mention these excuses. The ShadySEO can then use that as part of their excuse set too.

    There’s plenty of evidence that says we’ll be saying the same thing about social media before long. There’s a firm in town that has moved from ShadySEO to Social Media Chop Shop.

  • http://www.devenia.com/ Bjorn Solstad

    Eevery time I read a post like yours, I’m sitting wondering “do I live on a different planet?”. I wonder because I don’t recognize the problem. I have untill this day never had any problems like what you describe. We get new clients from time to time and we keep them. Year in, year out.

    I believe the main reason we do that in our company is:

    We don’t sell. Ever.
    We don’t charge anything up front.
    We don’t require contracts.
    We invoice based on actual placements in the serps.
    No shady start up fees.

    SEO is like any other business. You either understand your clients needs. Or you don’t.

  • http://twitter.com/schachin Kristine Schachinger

    I think we can lay a lot of the blame on people who know they are not good at SEO, but can film flam and get a quick big buck because people do not understand it, but also at the business owners who do not want to pay for the legitimate services and are looking for cheap easy ways.

    How many times have I told someone what it really costs to do what they want to do, they leave, then they come back damaged site in hands. I think we are sadly in an industry were there is a lack of education and many who wish not to educate themselves.

    Where we go from there.. that is the hardest question…

    • http://twitter.com/lauralippay laura lippay

      As a person who switched from H&R block to a $1500 accountant I hear you on the value of paying for legitimate services. At the same time, sadly, so many businesses either cant afford to pay more or just don’t understand SEO well enough to know when they’re bring swindled. Sigh.

  • http://www.partsdr.com/ Ryan Anderson

    There are a lot of shady people in the SEO business and I think that gives everyone a bad name. Most people do not know much about SEO, and when they look for someone to help them with their website, they do not know how to tell who is telling the truth and who is lying to them.

    • http://twitter.com/lauralippay laura lippay

      It breaks my heart. :/

  • http://twitter.com/RossHudgens Ross Hudgens

    This is brilliant marketing. And I want to say it was deliberate.

  • Kaushalaminc

    I do not think that SEO is in crisis but I am sure it is – only for people involving the activities that concern with stuffing of keywords and link exchanges at all. Those who are offering SEO in line with using the ways of improving conversion, focusing more on UGC content, building relationship with their customers via social media activities – will definitely run long in a race of SEO.

  • Jenn

    Good post Laura!
    I stopped doing SEO for anyone (in-house or clients) for this very reason. Now I help people learn good SEO and push good SEO’s to be even better.

  • http://www.netsprinter.com Lyena Solomon

    Laura,
    Your post resinated with me on so many different levels! I do agree that a lot of people offer opinions and advice knowing very little about SEO. SEO is a hot topic now and everyone wants to chime in. Here are my points.

    1. I have been listening to many TWIT podcasts for years and often roll my eyes when they are talking about things they do not understand. Happens in all walks of life. People hear something from a friend, put a spin on it and offer an opinion because they have a forum. That does not make them an expert.

    2. People (including our clients and prospects) hear this opinion. They take it, make it fit their understanding and form a belief. Happens all the time. If you dislike SEO companies because they do not guarantee rankings, get a pill that will make you skinny overnight – you are their target market. Seriously… Our job is to educate, which requires a trusted relationship with a client.

    3. Shady companies exist in every industry. That’s why you need an SEO friend or a trusted vendor to run SEO proposals by them. We all ask friends for advice if they are experts.

    That said, companies need to at least understand what to look for when they are hiring an SEO agency. There are plenty of articles about red flags and what to look for. Do the research or don’t cry about money wasted.

    SEO discourse got away from us. But not all is lost. Best SEO practitioners always have their clients’ interests at heart. They keep educating their clients because only through education of our target audience are we able to set the standards high for our industry.

    • http://twitter.com/lauralippay laura lippay

      Amen!I love TWIT and the people behind it, and I know they dont always ‘get it’ when it comes to SEO. That is ok, but what irks me is that the sentiment is basically that its spam and you cant trust SEO. It’s understandable how/why people think that, and it’s disheartening and frustrating that this seems to be gaining popularity.

      That said I agree with you wholeheartedly that education is key. Let’s hope it continues to work on a larger scale. :)

  • http://scholarshipsngrants.com/scholarships-for-high-school-seniors/ Scholarship Man

    It does suck. SEO is getting a bad name and it’s going from bad to worse really fast. Just the other day someone in my church asked me what I do and when I told him I do SEO for clients, he gave me the usual brow-raise and I immediately knew what he was thinking. He then proceeded to tell me about an SEO company that ripped his firm off. Fun stuff.

    I actually sat down with him for over an hour and explained why SEO is not evil. Hopefully I got the point across, but I doubt it. It’s hard to change the public’s perception on something when they’ve already established an opinion.