Local SEO Buyers – Beware of “1st Google Page” Promises
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Local businesses looking to increase their online visibility are easy target for hyped up success claims. You will often see companies listing “Google 1st Page” as one of their many promises. I will say that achieving results on local search listings is definitely easier than working the organic section of the search engines; and I will also say achieving 1st page ranking can also be predictable and in most cases achievable. However, anyone who promises 1st page on Google Maps may not be disclosing important information you MUST know:
- They will not guarantee ranking for the competitive keywords. Meaning, easy keywords which have little or no searches, as well as very little or no-competition. This means that your business may be the only one claiming this keyword which is good, but not when this keyword produces no traffic and therefore no potential business
- Their “proven” results (showing images of their clients on first placements) may precisely be for those non performing / non competitive keywords.
As a smart business owner, you should question your provider on the above. Basically what you need to know is how much and how targeted the traffic they are generating for their clients based on the keywords they so much claim “1st placement” achievement.
In general, keep in mind that your online marketing and search optimization must consider:
- Opportunity Research: what are people looking for?)
- Targeting: how exact, conversion prompt and relevant the keywords presented to you are?
- Competition: as a business you need to understand that the more competition there is, the higher your investment will be. Don’t be fooled into low priced packages when you are competing on “Criminal Law, New York, NY”. This is not realistic, and your provider needs to tell you this
- Tracking. How do they track and how much consultation time they give you to understand your traffic. A monthly traffic analysis is what you should be shooting for (at a minimum)
- Keyword re-analysis and revisions. If your initial keywords aren’t performing, they need to pick that up and reevaluate.
In general 1st page placement promises are often empty, particularly because no one can promise you this prior to a thorough analysis of your Opportunity and Competition. Keep this in mind.
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