The Failure of the SEO System.I see people daily ... about how web site owners need to pay upwards of ... or more for a ... ... who also ... search engine ...
                    The Failure of the SEO System.
 I see people daily preaching about how web site owners need 
 to pay upwards of $7,500.00 or more for a marketing consultant 
 who also practices search engine optimization. The reason 
 given for this is that any SEO can get you top rankings, but 
 that will not help you sell your products. They preach that 
 searchers have no trust, they say that getting a #1 position 
 for your relevant keywords will only bring visitors, not sales.
 To an extent this is true. But the fact is, this is said so 
 you will pay the fee they ask. They know their service, they 
 know their prospect's mindset, and they do a fine job of 
 turning you into a new customer. 
 You know your products or services better than they possibly 
 could. You know your customers better than they ever could. 
 This stands true of any industry or business model. Make that 
 work for you! 
 Instead of shelling out the dinero, why not sit down and lay 
 out the groundwork for a plan of action based on what you know 
 about your business and it's customers. What do they want to 
 see, how much detail do they want to see, and above all, what 
 does it take to close the sale. 
 Once you know all of this, the rest is merely laying it all 
 out on the web site according to your plan. It sounds easy, and 
 it really is not, it takes hard work on your part. But you are 
 not relying on someone who claims that they will research your 
 business and be expert enough in a matter of days to sell your 
 product line.
 Do not fall for the hype.
 Once you have a web site that you are confident will convert 
 searchers into sales, it is time to make sure you have 
 searchers finding your web site. These same marketing 
 consultants will tell you that you need them for this also. 
 They will tell you that you need to concentrate on the lesser 
 search terms that will bring in lesser amounts of traffic. They 
 will tell you that this method will bring you better quality 
 traffic because it targets the visitor better. Bull! The fact 
 is these marketers know that they do not have the ability or 
 the means to target the more competitive search terms and 
 keywords. They use this method so that they can show you good 
 results using the lesser keywords, to keep you ignorant and 
 happy in your newfound traffic. I say ignorant, because they 
 will not tell you that you could in fact have twice to three 
 times the targeted traffic if you used someone who was a true 
 professional.
 Professionalism
 There are different definitions of a marketing professional, 
 but for this purpose we are talking about search engine 
 optimization professionals. There are many who call themselves 
 professionals, but who will not go after the competitive 
 keywords and phrases. They are the ones who will tell you it is 
 better to be happy with less traffic, and thus, less sales. 
 They do not practice search engine optimization, because they 
 do not know how, or are not willing to do that much work. The 
 true SEO will make sure that you get the absolute most that you 
 possibly can for your money spent. 
 There are some well published so called professional SEO's 
 out there that are excellent at promoting themselves. They can 
 make you think their way is God's way with an almost religious 
 zeal and grand speeches about what is 'ethical'. One SEO in 
 particular has so riled people that there is even a web site 
 devoted to showing people that they are not what they purport 
 to be, using only facts from their own site and email, and an 
 open challenge to them to dispute anything said there. To date 
 that challenge has not been accepted according to the site and 
 it's also well published author. Is this who you want doing 
 your marketing? 
 In summary, watch out for self hype, do not think you have 
 to pay someone $7,500.00 or more to get less than the best 
 rankings, and do some research on the marketer you choose to 
 use. Google searches are often an excellent way of seeing the 
 real story behind marketers.