Humility can be an important character trait to have when it comes to marketing your business, and especially search engine optimization (SEO). Having a realistic view of your product, and website will go a long way in dictating where you stand in your niche, who your competition really is, and what is possible through search engine optimization.

Often times, in the excitement of starting a business, or an earnest attempt at Internet marketing for an existing business, the reality of what is possible is overlooked in favor of rosy pictures painted by marketing firms. So it is very important to establish a website’s realistic place in the Internet landscape, and specifically in the niche that the business/website serves.

An example of failing to realize the proper context in which your website/business finds itself in is illustrated by a potential client who approached us after having launched a new auction site. During the first conversation the client started speaking about the competition, ebay. Unfortunately, this is often the case where entrepreneurs fail to realize their place in the scheme of things. Having big dreams is not a fault, but operating on a reality clouded by those very dreams is a sure way to meet unfavorable results.

So if you are looking to use any type of Internet marketing service, especially SEO, do yourself a favor and make sure you have a realistic view of where you fall in the hierarchy of your niche. If you do, then you are less likely to invest money in services that are not going to produce results.

1. Guaranteed Results: Guaranteed search engine rankings are simply a sales ploy. It is impossible to guarantee a particular set of results since the search engines constantly evolve and change the way they rank websites. At best, a search engine optimization company can make an educated guess as to what type of results they might be able to achieve based on existing factors (e.g. current rankings, competition level, etc). If an SEO company offers a guarantee, it should serve as a warning.

2. No Graduated Approach: A graduated approach means having a plan to gradually grow the ranking potential and the rankings of a given website. If you have a brand new website and the SEO company you are considering offers to rank you for your industry’s top terms in their first stage of work, then this should serve as a warning. Just like no one can earn an advanced college degree before paying their dues at the undergraduate level, a new website cannot (in overwhelming majority of cases) rank for top industry terms before it can rank for low and mid-level keywords.

3. Quick to Change Pricing: If the salesperson is too quick to change pricing (without changing service parameters) in order to close the sale, then it is highly likely that they were overcharging for their services from the beginning. If this is the case then the SEO company has taken no initiative to determine the value of their services, and simply tries to get the highest fee possible from each client. This is not the type of company you want to work with.

4. Provides a Quote without Detailed Discussions: If you receive a price quote or proposal after a brief phone call or soon after sending in a quote request, you should be weary. One of the most important parts of doing search engine optimization is finding out what the client wants and needs. That information should then be used to determine whether the website in question is capable of achieving those goals. If you receive a written price quote or proposal soon after you have submitted a quote request then the sales person could not have done enough research to be able to price the proposal correctly and simply went for the highest price she thinks he can get from you.

5. Claims Authority Based On Own Rankings: Some SEO companies will claim that they can get you results just because of the fact that they themselves have good rankings in the search engines. What they fail to mention is that the ranking is due to the age of their site and the massive number of incoming links, which they are not going to be able to provide for you (in most cases). So this is a false argument on their part. There is no logical correlation between the rankings of an SEO company’s website and their ability to attain the same type of ranking for their clients.

Some SEO companies base the claim of their service’s superiority on the fact that they have high rankings in the search engines. This argument is crippled by more than one logical fallacy. So let’s examine each.

Argumentum ad populum (appeal to the people): This fallacy arises from the notion that simply because most people believe something to be true, that in fact it is. This is an easy mistake to fall prey to because human nature is such that we will usually follow the most popular belief rather than question its validity. The claim that just because the website of an SEO company ranks well then their services must be good or at least better than the companies whose sites don’t rank as highly. With this logic Wikipedia and SEO Chat can provide the best search engine optimization services (Google ‘search engine optimization’ to see the results).

Even though just one falacy is enough to debunk this claim of quality based on rankings, let’s continue with this analysis. The next fallacy that applies is Affirming the Consequent.

Affirming the Consequent: This fallacy arises from the reasoning that:

1. If P, then Q (if an SEO company website ranks well, then it must provide superior service)
2. Q (an SEO company provides superior service)
3. Therefore P (therefore it must rank highly in the search engines)

This is a fallacy because it was never asserted that P was the only cause of Q, so any number of other factors could have caused Q. With this in mind, just because an SEO company doesn’t have high rankings, it doesn’t mean that they offer (and provide) an inferior service. Odd, the claim that high rankings is equivalent to high quality is taking a serious beating from logic. Let’s continue.

Correlation Does Not Imply Causation: Correlation between two variables does not necessarily imply causation. So in this particular case, just because sometimes high quality service providers rank highly in the search engines, does not necessarily mean that all service providers who rank highly in the search engines provide a high quality service.

Finally! We have logically debunked the claim “We are the best–just check our rankings in Google!”

If you are looking for SEO services, don’t be tricked by fallacious claims. There are many companies and individuals who provide high quality marketing services without having rankings that rival the first page results of other firms.

To learn more about the above fallacies use the links below:

- Argumentum ad populum (appeal to the people)
- Affirming the Consequent
- Correlation does not imply causation

The importance of recognizing and admitting one’s weakness(es) is one of the fundamentals of success. Often times we fail to recognize our shortcomings and even when we do the natural inclination is to explain it away, instead of dealing with it head-on. This is not only detrimental but also very dangerous to both professional success and personal relationships.

Admit you are wrong (even if it is privately to yourself), and then work on figuring out how to overcome that weakness. Can you do it by yourself or do you need someone’s help? So what does this all have to do with search engine optimization and Internet marketing? A lot!

Every site (online business) has its strengths and weaknesses. What are yours? Can you even recognize them? Did you just set up a jewelry site and are wondering why you are not selling anything or even ranking well? What makes your site better (or at least different) from the thousands of other jewelry sites that are out there? In this particular case one of your weaknesses would be that you are not offering anything different than Blue Nile or Zales, for example; in fact, you are offering something less—the lack of creditability and history behind your business.

The same concept applies to SEO and rankings. Not every site can rank well. Think long, and ask a lot of questions before you plunge into a search engine optimization contract that may drain your coffers of valuable capital that could be better used elsewhere.

Not sure if SEO is for you? Ask us. We’ll give you an honest opinion, even if it means turning away your business.

Search engine optimization and site rankings are not magic. There are very specific things you can do to help improve the chances of your site’s rankings. Here are some of the most egregious offenses.

5. No or Bad Internal Link Structure Design: Most site owners and designers are allergic to links in their content. But that is one of the most important ways of utilizing your own website in order to improve its ranking ability. So don’t be afraid to do some linking and get the link-juice flowing through your site.

4. No Customized Title Tags: Yes, it’s wonderful to have your company name emblazoned at the beginning of every title tag on your site, but by doing that you are wasting precious real estate. The title tag is one of the most important on-site elements when it comes to search engine optimization, so don’t waste it by slapping ‘Joe Bob’s Junk Emporium’ In front of every title.

3. No Original or Interesting Content: Have something interesting to say, or at least an interesting way to say it in. People are not going to flock to your site just because you reworded some content that was copied from another site and reused. Stop ‘spinning’ articles, and come up with something original. If you can’t or simply won’t then you don’t deserve good rankings and traffic.

2. No or Not Enough Good and Relevant Incoming Links: This goes back to #3 in this list. If you have no interesting content (content can be anything from text to video to a web comic) then no one is going to link to you, no matter how much you beg. The only links you’ll get are from other sorry websites who are doing the same horrible job you are doing.

1. The Website Is Simply Bad: This is an issue that often comes up, and the question that is asked by the owner of the ‘bad’ site is that “How come my site is not ranking and the guy who started his business 5 months ago is?” And the answer (almost) inevitably is that “it’s because your site is just a terrible website.”

If your site is just simply not a good site, it will have an impossible time to develop natural links, and that is going to be a very difficult hurdle to overcome when a competitor is raking in links by offering great content presented in a nice format.