The Constant Woes of Internet Marketing: The Never Ending Battle Between Search Engines and Marketers.
Can I just say how much I hate Google! Yes, that’s right, I loathe the blasted company. They’re the big bully that keeps changing the rules on us little guys. Many of you may have my same feelings and if you don’t, you soon will. Google is the mean kid on the playground who makes up all the rules. Its funny how we consider ourselves lucky if they allow us to play on the swings. We gain momentum and start pumping our legs back and forth until we hit the height we desire. It is at that point when Google pushes us out and we are sent flying head first into the sandbox. That is a great metaphor, if I might say so. You are all welcome to use it and claim it as your own. Ok, so maybe I am being a little harsh towards Google. The reality is, as a company, Google is amazing. Let’s just say my feelings are better explained as a love/hate relationship. Same with Facebook, I am currently testing facebook ads and retargeting ads to see what kinds of results they produce.
Without Google my companies would never have started and you would not be reading this post at all. But at the same time, if Google did not exist I would be outside working with nature. The likelihood of me being a farmer is slim to none, but I would like to think that I am a gentleman’s farmer at heart ☺. Google has changed the world and their ambition knows no bounds. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next, but at the same time I fear that they are going to wipe out the little guy. So here is my battle with the giant.
Without Google I wouldn’t be up right now at 4:00 am checking out my Adwords campaign, webmaster tools and all the other stuff that comes with internet marketing. It is constantly changing and you have to keep up with it… all…the… time! I am starting to question my loyalty and I think a lot of other people are starting to look for different options. If the rules can always be changed and money is the end game for Public Companies, you can expect that Google will eventually own the whole first page. Meaning it will be full of paid ads or it will be dominated by Google owned businesses. Think about it, they have already taken over the top 3 or 4 spots and the whole right side. It’s just a matter of time. A perfect example of them going after more money is the change to enhanced management. Why do you think they made the change? It is about the Money. Is it any coincidence that their earnings and revenue shoots through the roof a couple months after they make changes? Google is ambitious, but it costs a lot of money to take over the world.
I guess for me the biggest eye opener came this last week at Pubcon. Jason Calacanis was a guest speaker and he basically warned us about Google. If you think I don’t like them, you should talk with that guy. He basically called them crooks on a stage in front of hundreds of people, knowing full well the word would probably get back to Matt Cutts. But despite the war between Google and Jason Calacanis, the whole ordeal really got me thinking. What if Google is the enemy? What if Google has a different agenda than I think they have? (I can almost guarantee that this is the case). What if Google turns out to be the evil empire and Matt Cutts is Darth Vader? Ok, I would not go that far because I still love their company and I do think they have done amazing things. I also think Matt Cuts is a nice guy that is trying to fight spam. But with that being said I still think we have to be very, very careful.
My conclusion over these last few weeks of struggle is that we, as business owners, need to be very careful about putting all our eggs in one basket. Being on page one of Google cannot be our whole marketing plan. Jason Calacanis was making a huge amount of money and Google basically shut it all down in one day. They have the power to do that same thing to millions of other companies too. Think about it. If your company is getting huge amounts of traffic and your growth is dependent upon that traffic for survival, what happens when Google decides to change their rules? They’ve done this over and over again, so is there really any mystery? Of course they’ll make changes again.
You see, 3 weeks ago the Hummingbird update came upon us without warning just like Panda, Penguin, Rattle Snake and Sloth. Do not go searching for those updates because two of them are just made up. Matt Cutts, our “supposed friend” comes out with his little smile and says, “very few people will be affected by the search results.” Maybe 2% will notice the effects but the reality is 2% of websites get all the traffic. Meaning the only people who will even notice a change are those people actively working on Optimization. Although Matt says it only affects a small number, the small number is huge because it affects a lot of people who are working on SEO. I hope that makes sense.
Optimizing Your Site According To Google.
The Ydraw site is optimized perfectly. We created a perfect site along with the perfect product. Nobody comes close to our quality in the Whiteboard Animation Video Space. Here is what our site has going for it.
1. Simple design – with very targeted key words.
2. History – we were one of the first to start a video scribing company so we do have domain authority.
3. Google page speed – Our site is optimized and our load speed is faster than the rest.
4. Updated Content – We are constantly adding new content. (some of our competitors have not updated there site in a year.)
5. Title Tags and Description Tags
6. Backlinks
7. Video Sitemaps
8. All the other stuff like schema, webmaster, social media and more.
This site is exactly what Google is telling us they want so what the crap Google? Nobody should be beating me on certain keywords yet they are. How does a site that was launched 6 months ago, with zero optimization and zero content find its way to the top? Oh and by the way Google, Negative SEO is happening to companies. Our backlink profile is a problem because we do have negative SEO happening to our site, which I am going to show you in a bit. It is also important to note that we do not have a Penalty so I have no idea if the Negative SEO is hurting our site. I listened to Matt Cutts say that negative SEO is very rare, but I think they are extremely naïve or they do not want to tell us the truth. The number one spot is too valuable and people are willing to do what it takes to hit that spot. In one day I had 1200 backlinks added to my profile. They were junk and I am now trying to get rid of them. When I started to follow the trail I found a couple of other explainer video companies getting the same treatment. Someone was doing Negative SEO to me and a few other companies. You will find that companies will need staff on hand that can combat bad links. Just another industry that Google has created.
The History Of Internet Marketing According To Jace
I came into the field of Internet marketing back when I had a small little financial company. I wanted to learn about it so I did what I always do. I read a few books, watched some YouTube videos and jumped in with two feet. I launched a simple website so that our investors had some place to go and that was my first experience. It was so easy to put up a website and I couldn’t believe how much website design companies were charging for such a simple task. That just goes to show you the power of knowledge. It costs a lot to be ignorant!
I started to blog on the site and before you new it I was ranking on certain keywords. This later came back to haunt me and cost $142,000. Like I said, it costs a lot to be stupid. The website was great for a while until the company closed its doors and I moved onto other things. Take note that all of this happened during the financial crisis when everything was collapsing. The whole investment world became too risky and I hadn’t slept in 3 years so I figured it was time to make my departure. I left the financial field in peace, but the website stayed up. A couple years passed and the Dodd Frank Bill was put into Law and guess who’s website was still popping up long after the company was gone? Yep mine was. I will not go into how corrupt our Government is. I will save that for another day, so lets just say they were out looking for blood everywhere and anywhere. You could not have certain words on a site so I got a letter in the mail that said according to the “Dodd Frank Bill that was just passed the rules are changed and you are now fined.”
Obviously I paraphrased all that, because the reality was I got a 10-page document that was written by some overpaid lawyer. Plus you couldn’t understand anything because they have no Idea how to use the English language. It was baffling and I got a lot of education out of the whole ordeal, education that every 30-year should learn sooner rather than later. The problem was my site was visible on some main keywords long after the company was shut down. The website had not been updated in about 16 months and for some reason it was on page one for some important keywords. Go figure!
So what does this have to do with Google and Internet Marketing? Everything! It goes to show that websites that should be on the first page are not and the sites that should be are somehow below those that magically appear. It is a frustrating battle that most of us have to deal with whether we want to or not. I do not see Internet marketing getting any easier so I would highly suggest the following:
1. Create Great Content
Creating great content costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. You either spend the time or the money. Do not neglect the power of great content and make sure you produce it consistently. This includes blogs, apps, video, infographs etc. use it all because you never know what is going to stick
2. Have multiple lead generating activities
Do not put all your eggs with Google because I can guarantee your business does not keep them up at night. They could turn off everything with the flip of a switch. Think of them like Darth Vader and protect your business. Diversify! Online, offline… the works!
Now get out there and get to work. If you do not know how to get started. Pick up the phone and call us or set up a free consultation. We would love to help your marketing team.
Thanks for reading.
The Constant Woes of Internet Marketing, The Never Ending Battle Between Search Engines and Marketers.
