Re: Search engine marketing

From: David Erickson <info_at_e-strategy.com>
Date: Tue 23 Sep 2003 08:49:12 -0500

Hi, Maya:

You asked about SearchClimbers.com:

I do search engine marketing and, as such, pay attention to such things as
browser search tools and I hadn't heard of this company. That doesn't, of
course, mean that they are not legit but some things in your query raise
some red flags for me:

>This company is only 3 years old but claims they are bigger than AOL
>(I'm guessing in terms of their PowerSearch).

Bigger than AOL? That's an awfully bold claim. Bigger specifically in what
way?

>Similar to Google, they just implemented a PowerSearch toolbar so
>visitors can have the
>toolbar at all times to perform any search.

Keep in mind that these toolbars require the user to download and install
them. Even if they are bundling the software in other freeware, that doesn't
mean they've got widespread adoption. What freeware are they bundling the
software with? Is it anything anyone's using? Often, such bundles are
spyware that you may not want your clients to be associated with.

>On their site they state, "Reach 28 million installed users!" but the
>representative said they just forward
>people their to SearchClimbers.net and didn't have statistics on how many
>people have downloaded their toolbar.

Really?!? Just forward people to their site and they don't have any
statistics, huh? I'd be skeptical.

>They have been listed as "Top 50 downloads" on Computer Shopper.

Who is Computer Shopper? A Google search on "Computer Shopper"
(http://www.google.com/search?hl&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&qmputer+Shopper&btnG=Google+Search)
returns one domain in the UK, a CNET-owned domain but the
CNET site is for hardware, not software. So is Computer Shopper any of
these?

Consider that most search results come in a page of ten links each and that
the vast majority of search engine users do not click past the first page of
search results. If you assume that "Top 50 downloads" means that they are on
the fifth page of results for this alleged Computer Shopper, even if true,
that would mean that virtually no-one was visiting the page they are listed
on. So how many downloads is that? As far as I can see from their site, they
never justify the "28 million installed users" claim with anything that can
back it up.

The "press" section of their web site
(http://www.searchclimbers.net/jobspress.htm) lists absolutely ZERO press
clippings. If they were as fantastic as they claim, surely they would have
some positive press to tout. Indeed, a Google search for "Common Names
Navigation & Search" comes up with no hits
(http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22Common+Names+Navigation+%26+Search%22),
nor does the same search get any hits in Google's News
search section
(http://news.google.com/news?hl&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Common+Names+Navigation+%26+Search%22&sa=N&tab=wn).
So, where's the beef?

Finally, the technology basically hijacks search traffic from the major
search engines, something I'm sure Google, AOL, and MSN would not be pleased
with. As a search engine marketer, I'm very aware of how the search engines
are constantly battling against unscrupulous search engine marketers who are
trying to "spam" the search engines through deceptive practices. These
practices fail in the long-run because the search engines find ways to
prohibit, or even ban, such techniques and those who practice them. If
SearchClimber.com is one of these, they won't be very effective for very
long, in my opinion.

I'm not alone in my skepticism. JimWorld's search engine marketing forum
has a discussion about such schemes in general and SearchClimbers.com
in particular at
http://keywordwizard.com/apps/searchengine.forums/action::thread/thread::1051040114/forum::seo-101/.

Finally, if you need a short-term solution, I'd suggest looking at
pay-per-click text ad programs from Google (http://www.google.com/ads/) or
Overture (http://www.overture.com) because they are reputable and a known
commodity. Even so, a recent Consumer Web Watch study
(http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/searchengines/index.html) showed that
when people found out about paid search engine results, they became angry
because they felt they were decieved and those emotions can rub off on the
advertiser as well as the search engine.

Some of the participants did not even "see" the paid search results because
they were set off to the side or color-coded, and so the users just figured
it wasn't what they were looking for. If you're looking for a long-term
approach, then, I'd suggest, depending upon the needs of the client,
"natural" search engine marketing so that the links to the site in question
rank well in the "non-paid" results, or some combination of natural search
results and pay-per-click search advertising.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

David Erickson, President
http://e-strategy.com
748 grand avenue, suite 200
st paul, minnesota 55105
vox 651.221.1999





Received on Tue Sep 23 2003 - 08:49:12 CDT