When at the doctor's office we feel more confident seeing that diploma on the wall. It doesn't hurt to know some of his/or her living, breathing walking patience, many of whom have reached to ripe old ages. We feel like we are in good hands.
When it is time to buy a vehicle, we do a little more than kick the tires. We test drive it, and often take it to our own mechanic to check the entire car or truck.
But way too often, we hire an S.E.M. (Search Engine Manager), the person who does our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) simply because we saw an attractive website that maybe had some nice testimonials on it. Did you know that the majority of people who call themselves SEM's read an E-book or two and figured they learned all they needed to know and are off to the races, charging hundreds and even thousands of dollars to tweak a few keywords or phrases and maybe get a few articles placed for you?
Next time, before hiring, ask the SEM how many websites he's moved to rank top on Google with a longtail keyword or phrase. 99% of them out there never have. Try it next time you intend to hire someone to facilitate your web marketing. What is his/her own Google Ranking. What does Alexa.com think about the site. Is it at least in the top one million? Not many place there out of the billion or so sites on the net. Mine does. And it is the number one ranking Google cartoon site for "offbeat cartoon". Check it and see. Londons Times Cartoons by Rick London.
I accidentally became and SEM in my late forties. I don't even pretend to know it all, or even bet the best, but I do know how it works. I started my cartoon website in 1997. It had no ranking with anyone, and Google didn't even exist then. Yahoo wouldn't even index it because I could not afford my own domain and had to have it sub-hosted. It was a very pretty site but a ?floating island?. Nobody could find us, and I hadn't a clue how to fix that.
So I looked in the yellow pages, and found Internet Marketing? and called the guy. Surely he would know what to do. Maybe I could afford to pay him even on my thin budget. He came out, looked at the computer, changed up a few keywords, and my web design, created some banners, charged me a few hundred dollars and left. This would be the ?shape of things to come?. I would run into many SEM's (Search Engine Managers), who would take my money and run.
Later, I made the decision to go back to college at age 46 and learn business information management. I shopped around to see who had the very best classes (online) in this type of technology and found the best. I was surprised when they accepted me. I was later even given a scholarship. I was actually learning some new valuable skills, which made me very happy, but with mixed emotions of the dozens of so called ?search engine managers? who took me to the cleaners. I could only look back and say this will not every again happen to me. And I hope not you.
My cartoon site has been the number 1 ranked Google for the past three years under the key phrase "offbeat cartoons". Before my education, it was not even ranked. It ranks in Alexa at about 800,000 and that number can be volatile. But on Google, it remains at number 1.
It all happened accidentally, because I decided to learn how to do it. Next time you hire an Internet marketer, you might ask him/or her ?How many search engines have you marketed that has made it to the very top of Google?? Or even better yet, ?How many have you marketed that not only got to the top, but stayed there for awhile?? If they are honest with you, they will have to tell you not many if any. Ask them how their own site ranks. That too can be a ?deal-killer? question. Did you know that the majority of SEM's have no college training and simply take information from outdated E-books written by so-called gurus,and hang out a shingle. Chances are, you may just know more than they do after a day of researching SEO on Google.
When it is time to buy a vehicle, we do a little more than kick the tires. We test drive it, and often take it to our own mechanic to check the entire car or truck.
But way too often, we hire an S.E.M. (Search Engine Manager), the person who does our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) simply because we saw an attractive website that maybe had some nice testimonials on it. Did you know that the majority of people who call themselves SEM's read an E-book or two and figured they learned all they needed to know and are off to the races, charging hundreds and even thousands of dollars to tweak a few keywords or phrases and maybe get a few articles placed for you?
Next time, before hiring, ask the SEM how many websites he's moved to rank top on Google with a longtail keyword or phrase. 99% of them out there never have. Try it next time you intend to hire someone to facilitate your web marketing. What is his/her own Google Ranking. What does Alexa.com think about the site. Is it at least in the top one million? Not many place there out of the billion or so sites on the net. Mine does. And it is the number one ranking Google cartoon site for "offbeat cartoon". Check it and see. Londons Times Cartoons by Rick London.
I accidentally became and SEM in my late forties. I don't even pretend to know it all, or even bet the best, but I do know how it works. I started my cartoon website in 1997. It had no ranking with anyone, and Google didn't even exist then. Yahoo wouldn't even index it because I could not afford my own domain and had to have it sub-hosted. It was a very pretty site but a ?floating island?. Nobody could find us, and I hadn't a clue how to fix that.
So I looked in the yellow pages, and found Internet Marketing? and called the guy. Surely he would know what to do. Maybe I could afford to pay him even on my thin budget. He came out, looked at the computer, changed up a few keywords, and my web design, created some banners, charged me a few hundred dollars and left. This would be the ?shape of things to come?. I would run into many SEM's (Search Engine Managers), who would take my money and run.
Later, I made the decision to go back to college at age 46 and learn business information management. I shopped around to see who had the very best classes (online) in this type of technology and found the best. I was surprised when they accepted me. I was later even given a scholarship. I was actually learning some new valuable skills, which made me very happy, but with mixed emotions of the dozens of so called ?search engine managers? who took me to the cleaners. I could only look back and say this will not every again happen to me. And I hope not you.
My cartoon site has been the number 1 ranked Google for the past three years under the key phrase "offbeat cartoons". Before my education, it was not even ranked. It ranks in Alexa at about 800,000 and that number can be volatile. But on Google, it remains at number 1.
It all happened accidentally, because I decided to learn how to do it. Next time you hire an Internet marketer, you might ask him/or her ?How many search engines have you marketed that has made it to the very top of Google?? Or even better yet, ?How many have you marketed that not only got to the top, but stayed there for awhile?? If they are honest with you, they will have to tell you not many if any. Ask them how their own site ranks. That too can be a ?deal-killer? question. Did you know that the majority of SEM's have no college training and simply take information from outdated E-books written by so-called gurus,and hang out a shingle. Chances are, you may just know more than they do after a day of researching SEO on Google.
About the Author:
Cartoonist Rick London Launched Critically Acclaimed Londons Times Weird Cartoons and Funny Tees & Gifts
This article has been republished with the author's permission by Top Left Designs providing balanced information to business owners in how they can improve their website design, Internet marketing campaigns and search engine optimisation techniques for overall website effectiveness improvement.
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