Crap SEO gets you everywhere

[franchiseshop]

OK so I'm not going to name the site but a franchise company, and not a direct competitor to me in anything but keyphrases, is gradually screaming up the rankings for multiple phrases. Their site is awful but keyword rich, they have multiple keyword rich articles but nothing of substance, only crapola for the search engines to read. Yet they jog on, slowly increasing day by day,

My google alerts and siteexplorer are showing me article based link building, blog based link building, and not much more to be honest. No relevant links from authority sites, after all, omg who would link to this crap? Yet they still rise regardless.

I cannot see them rising too much more but... Will they? I'm not so sure and i'm getting paranoid/worried, they have done better than I could have expected in 12 months for a simple seo site which has nought but crapola for content. However they persist. Daily articles, daily links... I'm guessing they have hired someone to work, work and do a lil more work.

But it's rubbish. They offer little of value and their offering is poor at best, perhaps not even viable. (they are offering an SEO franchise)

Rise they do though - and they are starting to compete with me despite our different platforms. Me #1 they #2 me #2 they #3 and so on.

Not sour grapes, just thinking that volume is the key and not great content, especially when working in niche markets, not that mine is all that niche but it certainly aint i-am-bored.com or youtube or 4chan. Yannow, buzz stuff.

The title may be misleading, maybe they are not crap at all (at seo). Maybe they got it figured out to a fine T. Chuck all you got at it with no thought to service, content or "value" and enough mud sticks.

 

[tomsk]

I have seen many sites rank well despite all the supposed do's and dont's of google guidelines.

Frustrating

 

[QVA - Emma]

I bet if they stopped doing the article marketing etc it would slowly drop back down again, not much staying power in them!

I'd only use them as part of a strategy tbh not as a sole aspect.

But hey I like to be proved wrong...it's what I have seen some sites do!

Emma

 

[herodigital]

you've answered your own question - their daily activities are what is causing the rankings to increase.

think about it - if a site is constantly being tended to both onsite and off, Google is going to take notice and consider this of higher value than others. also, like you said, their content may lack substance but Google, unfortunately, does not read like a human, so anything with enough keyword content will be regarded as quality (as long as it's not duped all over the show).

if they've been performing intensive SEO for 12 months or more, and continue to do so, Google will give this site a LOT of weight. i would be worried, and try to match their efforts but out-perform them on content.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Mathew,

what are you asking/trying to say?

If that's what they are doing and they are getting good results - well done to them!
If they are getting exposure, but have a crap site or poor offering, they will not get sales and are wasting their money building the exposure!

Look at what other people do, but do not get hung up on it - concentrate on what you are doing!

 

[sherbert]

No thy enemy. It's easy to find out what they are doing, do the same but better and you stay ahead. They probably have an army of outworkers posting to blogs and forums creating relevant backlinks.

 

Its not about crap sites,crap content e.t.c

Its about ticking all the boxes that makes google buzz.

Very few SEO's are going to go to the bother of getting a site highly ranked and then not delivering what the visitor wants,

So without seeing the site in question we only have the OP's opinion that it is crap.

Earl

 

[harryboon]

This is why you can never sleep once you have good rankings - someone else will always pop up - The sites I manage are all #1 sites, but we still spend a few hours on each one a week gaining more links and adding fresh content -

Gotta keep ahead of competition You snooze you, you lose!

 

This is why you can never sleep once you have good rankings - someone else will always pop up - The sites I manage are all #1 sites, but we still spend a few hours on each one a week gaining more links and adding fresh content -

Gotta keep ahead of competition You snooze you, you lose!

That in my experience is not the case.


apart from a watching brief ,there is little to do generally once a good ranking has been obtained.

Apart from developing in other areas if you so wish.

Earl

 

[Tin]

apart from a watching brief ,there is little to do generally once a good ranking has been obtained.Earl

Earl, how is it we're the only ones saying this?

 

[harryboon]

How would you keep your rankings if another company is pushing for your position?

I have seen many sites knocked off pole position because they appear to have just sat back once they have reached #1 etc

That in my experience is not the case.


apart from a watching brief ,there is little to do generally once a good ranking has been obtained.

Apart from developing in other areas if you so wish.

Earl

 

Earl, how is it we're the only ones saying this?

well probably as we both have had high competition sites at the top of google for many years and our experience is that in the main they stay put.

Not going to say that this situation would be the same if the keywords were "insurance" or mortgage broker" as we know big money is chasing these ultra terms,?

Plus I guess a lot of people like an ongoing fee for twiddling there fingers and quite right to in my opinion,as if they have created a sucessfull business why should they not share in its long term prosperity.?

But like myself it should be made clear at the start of a project.

Earl

 

[franchiseshop]

you've answered your own question - their daily activities are what is causing the rankings to increase.

think about it - if a site is constantly being tended to both onsite and off, Google is going to take notice and consider this of higher value than others. also, like you said, their content may lack substance but Google, unfortunately, does not read like a human, so anything with enough keyword content will be regarded as quality (as long as it's not duped all over the show).

if they've been performing intensive SEO for 12 months or more, and continue to do so, Google will give this site a LOT of weight. i would be worried, and try to match their efforts but out-perform them on content.

I'm certainly impressed with their rankings, although with such low traffic keyphrases they need #1 in Google to get their slice of the cake and I wonder if they will manage to achieve that with just article and blog post links. I do both of these types of link building and more on a daily basis but I also gain relevant links from similar sites and a whole lot more which is very time consuming, articles and blogs take an hour a day maybe and is the least time consuming part of SEO I find. They are concentrating on a small handful of keyphrases so it is a lot easier for them and their seo team to rank well than myself as I need to work on hundreds of keyphrases to bring in traffic and not just 4 or 5. I've also got a company to run and no team which makes things tricky of course.

Really my point was that with article and blog link building alone it is possible to achieve good rankings. All the "expert" seo information out their points to authority sites and relevance being the key but in this case it seems good old fashioned links by bulk works on it's own to good effect

 

[franchiseshop]

Mathew,

what are you asking/trying to say?

If that's what they are doing and they are getting good results - well done to them!
If they are getting exposure, but have a crap site or poor offering, they will not get sales and are wasting their money building the exposure!

Look at what other people do, but do not get hung up on it - concentrate on what you are doing!

Oh i'm not hung up on it, i'm just posting a blog to spread some links. Just joking ;-) I would never do that!

Well done to them? Yeah, i'm impressed.. It's a new competitor in my midst, all be it one that does not compete directly. My industry keyphrases are all very low traffic ones so I need to keep on top and any interference from other sites needs to be dealt with pronto so as they rise it causes me more work. Such is life though and they are not the only competitor, just another one in the market however one that is rising far faster than any other.

 

[franchiseshop]

Its not about crap sites,crap content e.t.c

Its about ticking all the boxes that makes google buzz.

Very few SEO's are going to go to the bother of getting a site highly ranked and then not delivering what the visitor wants,

So without seeing the site in question we only have the OP's opinion that it is crap.

Earl

Well the site aint all that bad, it's an offering of an SEO franchise. 1 product.

Their SEO aint crap really, but it's very one dimensional and it's working.

www. a low cost franchise .co.uk

 

[franchiseshop]

This is why you can never sleep once you have good rankings - someone else will always pop up - The sites I manage are all #1 sites, but we still spend a few hours on each one a week gaining more links and adding fresh content -

Gotta keep ahead of competition You snooze you, you lose!

Not a better word said Harry Easy to sit on your hands once you have achieved something, many of my competitors did and do so. I was once the new boy too and now when I place a link somewhere I see them following fast behind me with their own! Damn siteexplorer ;-)

 

[franchiseshop]

That in my experience is not the case.


apart from a watching brief ,there is little to do generally once a good ranking has been obtained.

Apart from developing in other areas if you so wish.

Earl

You have a fair point Earl, but a top up is most def required on occasion. If you are #1 and the 9 people behind you are doing daily SEO, that #1 is only going to stay there for so long. My main keyphrase, the best in my industry and the one that earns me the most dollah, was #1 for 2 years. In february it dropped to #2 and speaking of crap, yes I did! Regained within a week but scared the pants off me and taught me never to just leave things be, top ups are good me thinks

 

[harryboon]

Earl has a good point - but I believe in competitive industries you have to keep on top on basic SEO - otherwise someone will take your positions.

As an SEO that's what we aim to do everyday

 

Well the site aint all that bad, it's an offering of an SEO franchise. 1 product.

Their SEO aint crap really, but it's very one dimensional and it's working.

www. a low cost franchise .co.uk

Hysterical a site offering SEO franchises that does not understand SEO.

Earl

 

[bdw]

apart from a watching brief ,there is little to do generally once a good ranking has been obtained.

That has been my experience on all of my own websites. I probably spend about an hour a month on SEO and that is all.

Regarding crap websites, did you know that the scientific definition of a crap website is one that is above you in the SERPs?

 

Regarding crap websites, did you know that the scientific definition of a crap website is one that is above you in the SERPs?

Got to agree on that one.

Earl

 

[Vacman2000]

When you are no1 google there is one way you can go that is down, but to stay there requires work. I have proved this with one of my sites. Or you will drop down. I am chasing no1 position for leaflet distribution After google crawled the site we came in at 88
3 weeks we are at 44. Now when we get no1 the other
company is not going to take it lying down. We have to do battle and the one with the most enegy and money will win

But hey I am going for it

 

[davek17]

I like the fact Google changes the rules once in a while. Yes I get caught out form time to time but I can react and take advanateg far better than the big "Money Spenders!!"

I can't see whats wrong with this tactic. Good hard honest work, getting articles out to the internet and then being rewarded by google for doing so, isn;t this the principle of how we all want search to be? I'm personally fed up of the larger companies who have been at the top for years because they have bought links and have 80000 links to their website. They contribute nothing to the knowledge we search for do they not?

How are you maintaining your #1 rankings then if you're not posting blogs/articles?

 

How are you maintaining your #1 rankings then if you're not posting blogs/articles?

Simple we do the SEO right in the first place.

Are you a vicar by any chance.?:|

Earl

 

[MASSEY]

Simple we do the SEO right in the first place.

Are you a vicar by any chance.?:|

Earl

i think you are telling porkies

 

i think you are telling porkies

Not at all ask Tin.

Good SEO reaches parts others can't.

Earl

 

[davek17]

Are you a sir by any chance!? ;-)

No the reason I ask is that we find that generating a lot of articles etc forms a really good stable nucleus to our whole marketing effort not just SEO. It positions us as experts in our field, we get good information out to customers and we are really addressing the "Perusers.." I was told by our SEO consultant that this way of doing things is the way to go so i'm wondering what the "Right" way is?

Spill the beans young Sir!

 

Spill the beans young Sir!

Blimey I ain't one of our american cousins who make there dough by flogging e-books and shouting from the tree tops.:|

Blood and stone come to mind as far as my divulgences go.

Earl

 

[davek17]

Well I don't see it that way really, as I feel they're really giving away a lot of their knowledge with these ebooks and articles. I think thats how you succeed these days and isn't that the point of these forums, to share our knowledge and expertise?

You didn't say in your last post, what do you do that keeps you up top?

 

You didn't say in your last post, what do you do that keeps you up top?

Of course I did "I do the SEO right in the first place"

Obviously the pack don't.

Earl

 

[harryboon]

The SEO business/world is split into two types of SEO's -

1. You have the companies which offer fast results, while banging out links, articles etc faster than the Americans can start wars. This way you may and will get short term results, but it won't last long. These are the £99 a month kind of outfits who promise #1 positions in 4 weeks.

2. You have the SEO's who right from the start take the business seriously and build long term, almost unbreakable SEO for a site, via simple but clever methods to get your site ranking but most importantly it will stay ranking.

If you are serious about ranking well, you need to put the hard work in at the beginning, forget short term leaps which will require a constant top up of more fast, weak SEO.

Feel free to shout......

 

[MASSEY]

tin wont know earl, he was askin me for help the other day. im gonna disagree with you harry, you fire yourself to page 1 then build the foundations. thats the way i look at it any way. but at the minute my foundations are made out of cardboard.

 

[harryboon]

lol at the end of the day if it works for you then that great, personal I like solid foundations first, then I will start to build up high but we are all different and different approaches work for different site's etc

 

[mobyme]

No SEO is going to tell you how he achieves his results, it would be financial suicide.
That does not mean he will not try to help you by steering you in a different direction than the one you may be contemplating.
Good SEO starts long before the designers and programmers even get a look in.
Good SEO will not only get you to the top for your search terms but will keep you there with the odd tweak now and again.
It's not rocket science (probably harder) but a lot of what good SEO's know come from experience. (in other words they have cocked it up a few times and learned lessons they will never forget)
That is what you are buying when you engage that very expensive SEO; loads of experience.

 

No SEO is going to tell you how he achieves his results, it would be financial suicide.
That does not mean he will not try to help you by steering you in a different direction than the one you may be contemplating.
Good SEO starts long before the designers and programmers even get a look in.
Good SEO will not only get you to the top for your search terms but will keep you there with the odd tweak now and again.
It's not rocket science (probably harder) but a lot of what good SEO's know come from experience. (in other words they have cocked it up a few times and learned lessons they will never forget)
That is what you are buying when you engage that very expensive SEO; loads of experience.

Thats about it .Loads of work at the start to get all the components in place ,so you can sit on the beach with your icecream latter.

Earl

 

[eventdomain]

Plus I guess a lot of people like an ongoing fee for twiddling there fingers and quite right to in my opinion, as if they have created a sucessfull business why should they not share in its long term prosperity.?

I'll tell you why - they don't own the company! Simples.

The arrogance of some SEO's in that they actually think they are responsible for the success of these businesses - too funny

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Lots of experience and good business sense.

 

The arrogance of some SEO's in that they actually think they are responsible for the success of these businesses - too funny

But I am for quite a few.

Earl