Focus Internet Services' Reply To A Recent Request For An Explanation Of Organic SEO vs. Pay Per Click

Recently, a client received the sales pitch below in an attempt to solicit business by a company selling "Pay Per Click" services. We think this is a good example to use to illustrate the difference between "Pay Per Click" and "Organic Search Placement." Keep in mind that we have wanted tht client to use a "Pay Per Click" campaign to target certain keyterms for some time now, but the client has yet to move forward on this aspect of the strategy.

Hi Dr. _________________________,,

I was looking for Pinpointe Laser/nail fungus treatment on Google and noticed that even though you have a great website, I could not locate your business.  With summer around the corner, more people are going to go online to resolve this issue (I had toenail fungus about 8 years ago and treated it with Lamisil, so I know how it feels to not want to wear sandals!).  I am with ReachLocal, and we specialize in working with local businesses to utilize Google and Yahoo to make the phone ring, I would love to stop by one of your office and meet with you for about 10 minutes.  I am in San Francisco tomorrow, Wed and the East Bay on Thursday, do either days work for you? 

Here is what I am seeing online:

While this is a good sales pitch that many of you might have received versions of, an accurate definition of "Pay Per Click" vs. Organic SEO is necessary in order to understand what is being sold here. Below is our response to the client:

Hi Dr. _________,,

I want to answer this question as thoroughly as possible as it is crucial that you understand how all this stuff works, so as not to be driven crazy by the continual sales pitches of companies each offering a different product that will “get you on to the first page of Google, Yahoo, etc.” I constantly field questions like these, from both clients and potential clients, and I have found that you completely understanding what is being discussed is the best way for you to make an accurate choice, instead of who has the best sales pitch….and blindly following anyone’s advice as to the best way to go without you understanding what is being discussed is a sure way to get ripped off.

We launched the website on October 18 of last year. This was a completely new website on a completely newly registered URL….essentially a completely new project without any track record on any search engine at all. When we take a project, we can generally predict about how long it will take for us to see fully developed placements on search engines based on the age of the site address (how many years it has existed vs. how many years the competition has had their address.) This is one of the factors that Google considers with regards to ranking your site, and you must develop a track record of trust and good information in order for Google to begin placing you above other websites that have existed longer…..among other factors of course. When a brand new site is launched, we estimate that it will take about 12 months of ongoing work before we start to lock in the positions we are shooting for…until then we are still bouncing around as Google weighs our site against others. A site that has been around a few years and is redesigned for SEO usually gets more of a six month prediction, as site age is really the one aspect we cannot manipulate, but it is very important. Our website has grown very quickly in organic placements for our targeted keywords because the quality of the content is superior, as well as the site structure and code is solid. We went almost immediately into good positions for many of our targeted keywords, and we continually analyze the site to make minor tweaks that will further advance us for those terms….this is an ongoing process. Additionally, organic placement is determined by the amount and quality of inbound links to our website from other websites, and the process of gaining those inbound links is a long and ongoing process of developing good content and contacting other websites manually through emails or social media like blogs and forums to let them know our content is there and why they should link to it. Because this process takes time to build a good link base, the amount of hours we dedicate to it is pretty much the determining factor in how many quality links we can generate. The more time we spend, the more links get generated. It is very dangerous to try and automate the inbound link process as paying for links or link farming/dumping is a no-no to Google and your site can get damaged or banned in the rankings as a result. Anyone who cares about your business would never try to sell you a program that dumps a lot of inbound links to your site automatically for a flat fee, as getting banned by Google can basically kill your business entirely.

There are only so many keywords you can target per page of your website, if you are going to have any effect at all. These keywords are determined by how many estimated searches are done monthly on each search engine, along with how targeted for our product line the search is. We could target a very niche keyword that is very specific, and basically if there is nobody out there searching for that specific phrase then we have done no real good for our business….only secured a #1 placement on Google for something that nobody is looking for. This is one way that SEO companies pitch for business. They send emails to the business owner talking about why the website isn’t showing for something that seems logical, yet it isn’t when you compare the traffic levels against the keyword or phrase that the page on the site is shooting for. The only way to effectively target more words is to create more pages on the site, and more content for those pages….content geared toward that keyword. If that keyword does not have any traffic against it in search, then the company is wasting your money.

With regards to the particular keyword phrase that was quoted in this email “nail fungus treatment san francisco” and the placement of the website in Google’s rankings, we are seeing a few very interesting things happening here. First of all, this phrase is on our targeted keywords list and we are working towards developing better placement for it. We are currently ranking at #24 for this search, and recently moved up three positions on Google due to our efforts of inbound linking and content developed in the blog. The reason that this phrase was not the main target of the majority of our work is that there are other words that are more easily secured at this beginning stage based on less competition for the phase, but still with the ability to convert into customers. For example, if you look up “toe fungus treatment san francisco” you will notice we are #4. This term has roughly ½ the amount of traffic that “nail fungus treatment” has, and we had a far greater advantage in getting a good placement on Google because less of the competition is targeting it. Another example is “foot fungus treatment san francisco” where we are in the #1 position. Once again, less traffic but an easier term to secure. We try to balance very specific terms that are completely targeted, like “laser fungal nail treatment san francisco” (we are currently #5) which are so specific that if someone is searching for them they are almost 100% going to be a customer….to more generic terms like “nail fungus” which will have a far lesser conversion rate but proportionally make sense because a certain percentage of those searches are potential customers (and there is a huge amount of traffic for the term comparatively…to the tune of about 800% more.) We blend a strategy based on both targeted conversion phrases and generic searches, the end goal being ongoing traffic that is built up in time over certain areas that we target….instead of focusing on a single huge term that will result in complete failure across all other terms until we achieve something for that term…which is a common SEO mistake. Our research shows over 100 terms that have good potential customers associated with it that we currently are tracking with regards to our website, and we are working on developing them based on how well they can convert, the traffic levels associated, and the competition for each term. This process takes time, and if approached systematically and strategically, will build good traffic to the site that becomes customers.

To address the meeting that ReachLocal has requested, let me start by saying that I think you should take the meeting and listen to what they say. The reason I say this is that they are offering a totally different product here, one that I have offered to manage as part of the retainer on multiple occasions. ReachLocal offers a “pay per click” solution that will get the site listed on the “sponsored link” sections of the major engines almost immediately. You can look at a term like “nail fungus treatment san francisco” and upon putting a “pay per click” campaign in place, begin to see the website ads on the first page of Google almost immediately. This strategy is usually used in combination with organic search development (where you rank in the actual Google results) because we need to get those viewers as well while our site is developing organically. The drawback to paid placement is that it costs money every time someone clicks the ad, and over time can be very expensive. As our website begins to place on the first page of Google organically, a good SEO reduces the “pay per click” placements for that term, saving you the expense, and managing the budget to capture other terms. I have suggested several times that we should put some money into a “pay per click” campaign to target the terms we have not achieved first page placement for, but at this point I have not heard a response from you. Possibly this is due to a lack of understanding as to what it is and how it works. Hopefully this email will explain it all.

The good news is that companies like ReachLocal are not necessary in order to manage a “pay per click” campaign, and all the major search engines have a system in place where anyone can do it on their own. It is suggested that it is managed professionally, as the amount that you pay per click is determined by factors that a professional probably understands better than you, and can do a better job with in regards to managing your money. We can do this on our own, with the only additional expense to you being paying Google, Yahoo, and Bing for the ads they are running (this is what ReachLocal does….then they mark up the service to make money.)

Please feel free to call me if you need any further explanation at all, my business was set up specifically to keep open communication between clients and myself ongoing, and thus allow you to make the best choices for your business. There are a ton of companies out there that will each sell you a product you don’t understand as the solution you have been needing. I talk to businesses every day who have been sold something the over time didn’t work, and as a result they are soured on the internet as a bunch of thieves and con artists selling smoke and mirrors. My business was set up not to sell a product, but to manage your campaigns to make the best decisions for your business. Everything that you have been presented with is available to us, there are no limits. The only thing to consider is if it is the right strategic choice for the business, and makes monetary sense. In this case, I would reiterate that we should move forward with our own, managed “pay per click” campaign….exactly like the one that they are trying to sell you.

By the way, I may be using portions of this email in public forums to assist people in understanding these types of situations. I will make sure your names and website names are not presented.

Ray

Raymond Santopietro President/Chief Strategist

Focus Internet Services

702-767-4637

www.focusinternetservices.com

Clear vision demands FOCUS. Our FOCUS is targeted online marketing, SEO and social media manipulation.

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