Can you be honest enough with yourself to answer that one
simple question?
With a blog titled Ask the SEO Guru, you could
assume I believe I know what SEO means. Well, you’d be wrong. I called it the Ask
the SEO Guru not because I know what it means but rather because I know the
rest of the world seems to “THINK” they know what it means. As a marketing
vehicle it works! As for putting me in a position to define the term, it fails.
It fails not because I don’t provide SEO services. I’m
actually one of the best. It fails to enable me to define it because the
meaning of the acronym SEO is not objective,
it is completely subjective.
It means whatever you think it means and if I happen to think it means something
different and tell you so as a consultant to a prospective client, I lose.
Web
Definitions for Subjective
taking
place within the mind and modified by individual bias; "a subjective
judgment"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Web Definitions for Objective
undistorted by emotion or personal bias; based
on observable phenomena; "an objective appraisal"; "objective
evidence"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
old fart wisdom
With the dominate discussions regarding seo within
the seo community being about links, the perception becomes that the definition
of seo is building links. If I knew what SEO really meant even I might agree
but after over a decade as an online business development specialist, I’ve
learned to believe it is whatever you believe it is IF I want your trust.
Experience has taught me I can argue with you and
even get you to agree with my bias but I’m then left in a situation of winning
the battle and losing the war. No one likes to be convinced that they are wrong
or laboring under a misconception due to lack of understanding or practical
application.
I offer this little tidbit of old fart wisdom.
Respect is the ultimate human validation. We all
want respect and should demand it.
While we can not force others to respect us, we certainly have the option of not
giving our money to those who don’t.
Your prospects have the same option and telling
someone their opinion is wrong is invalidating them and showing a lack of
respect for their beliefs. Bad juju I assure you.
My biggest challenge in providing a service that
exceeds the clients expectations has been over clients telling me to do their
link building but they only want GOOD links. The single word “good” may the
MOST subjective term of all and getting them to tell me their definition or to
accept mine without me knowing what theirs is, has been a huge challenge.
Is a GOOD link one that moves you up in the serps?
Is a GOOD link one that has a high PR? Is a GOOD link one that doesn’t link to
a BAD neighborhood? How many sites make up a BAD neighborhood? Is a GOOD link one that matches your
theme? What is a THEME and why would
someone targeting the same customers as you with the same keywords you want
give you a link and invite his visitors to go to you?? Believe me - they don’t
yet every seo forum has someone telling you to only get on THEME links without
telling you what that is.
See what I mean? We all think we KNOW what a good
and a bad link is ----- until we’re asked to define it. You give me any set of
criteria and I will instruct my staff to get you EXACTLY what you wanted IF we can
both agree on what good and bad is. If you don’t tell me what YOU think it is,
I’m going to take my fee and get the links that I think are good.
To me a good link is one that improves your visibility
for targeted terms the most with the least
risk.
In other words, if not instructed otherwise, iI ALWAYS go for the links that I am most sure will get those first page placements with no risk! That may or may not have anything to do
with PR, authority, or even theme. It has to do with research and MANUALLY
adding value to the link hosting target site.
So if I can’t get you to define good and
bad how do I tell you what I think it is without invalidating you? If you don't tell me what you want, I'm going to move the site but there are simply too many people who don't understand the process or how the engines really work and they have unrealistic expectations. They seem to expect me to "know" how to get pr 7 authority links from direct competitors for free. I can get number 1's for target terms all day long and really fast too, but I can't get pr 7 authority links from direct competitors for free.
After many
trials and errors, I have finally found a way that seems to solve the problem.
The
Insertion Order
We’ve used an in-house form for years
called an Insertion Order. It’s purpose was to let the prospect know what to expect
from us and to protect the company and the client.
Even with the insertion order we were
still having too many conflicts over the
ambiguous definition of good/bad links so this past couple of months I added
some specifics telling the client EXACTLY what we would do, where, when and
how.
This forces the client to either give me
his definition or accept mine. It has helped to resolve issues so much that I
feel I can’t be the only one having these kinds of issues and that there is no
good reason I shouldn’t share the content of my insertion order with the
community.
You are free to
use any part or all of the form if you like but remember I am not an attorney
and while this can be used as a legally binding document, I am not representing
it as such.
All I can tell you
is when I did take it to an attorney, they came back with a 6 page contract
that anyone would be crazy to sign without taking it to their attorney and
starting a lengthy, (and expensive), negotiations process. Mine is easy to
understand and it’s purpose is clear. BUT IT IS NOT REPRESENTED AS A LEGAL DOCUMENT
AS I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY.
If
you use all or any part of the insertion order, you do so at your own risk and if
you have questions about the legality in your location, you should seek the
advice of an attorney.
Insertion Order
Thank you for
choosing us as your SEO services provider. Please find below and outline of the
activities and procedures we intend to perform to increase your visibility in
the organic results of internet search engines and related websites.
1. Key word research
We will utilize a variety of internet tools
and software to perform research to identify which keywords are most suitable
as well as most likely to secure targeted visitors to your site.
Once
our research is completed, we will provide you the list and allow you to
approve all or any part of the list you would like us to promote.
I Agree / Disagree ________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
2. On page Optimization
We
will review and make suggestions of changes to titles, tags and optimize
content for proper H tag headings, bolded or italicized text, keyword density
and grammar.
I
Agree / Disagree ____________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
3. Internal linking structure.
We will carefully review the website and optimize internal
linking structure to increase the flow of link popularity, ease of navigation
and to increase conversion percentages.
I
Agree / Disagree _________________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
4. Directory submission
By
doing keyword research, we locate, review and target directories where it would
make sense to an end user for your site to be there. We will carefully select
the appropriate categories and always submit your site manually focusing on the
visible details such as your title, description and most appropriate url.
I Agree / Disagree
__________________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
5. Article distribution
We
will research, identify and review article distribution sites that we feel give
us the most chance of increased visibility and link popularity. Select the ones
we feel are most suitable and manually submit your article. We will also seek
to establish ongoing relationships with the ones that we feel offer the most
benefit.
I
Agree / Disagree _______________________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
6. Press Release Service
We
will take your press releases, (we have on staff journalists who can create
them for you), and distribute them to internet services for the purposes of
establishing you as an industry authority and increasing your visibility and link
popularity.
I
Agree / Disagree ______________________________________
Comments
__________________________________________________________
7. Blog Creation
We
will create tightly focused and keyword targeted content using a combination of
on staff writers and our custom-made software. We will then circulate that
content through our network to post.
I
Agree / Disagree _________________________________________________
Comments
__________________________________________________________
8. Link building
We
will use different methods of link building on an on-going basis. These methods
will include
·
One
way link building
·
Two
way link building
·
Three-way
link building
·
a report will be sent to each week detailing
the methods and the results.
·
Some
link building techniques such as paid directory reviews may incur additional
fees. These fees will NOT be paid until we submit a proposal and it is accepted
and the fees paid by you to Techndu to pay on your behalf.
I Agree / Disagree ________________________________________
Comments
_____________________________________________________________
9. Specialty Link Building
At
your request, we will research and locate unique linking opportunities. These
may include things commonly known as link bait as well as finding available
link opportunities on a one time basis. We will notify you of these
opportunities and discuss the advantages and any additional costs involved.
I
Agree / Disagree _________________________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
10. Social bookmarking
We
will circulate your site among our network of users and encourage them to book
mark your site/s. we will then provide reports for your review.
I
Agree / Disagree ________________________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________
We
can also provide a wide range of design and scripting services at your request.
We specialize in .asp, php, perl and c++. We can also provide specialty
services in the areas of blog creation, joomla and drupal installations, ajax,
most cms systems, custom forums, wordpress templates, and any open source
script modification or installation.
Typically,
these services are beyond the scope of standard SEO services and may involve
additional fees. However you may specify any special request now and we can
include the selected services in the original insertion order.
I Agree / Disagree
__________________________________
Comments
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The internet business is an unusual business and sometimes
not easily understood by our clients, we have put together this information for
your protection as well as our own. Please review carefully and send your
comments by email to info@techndu.com, OR
you may sign and fax back to Techndu at 0091-79-3002 8672. Give us your fax
number and we will sign and fax back to you. Whether you
choose fax or email, we recommend you print and file a copy for your records.
We want to make it very clear to all concerned parties that you are fully aware
that you are authorizing *Techndu* to charge your credit card or online payment
services account once a month for the sole purpose of providing you with
Software development/custom coding/SEO/Link building services.
Please be aware that the first 30 days your account is
active will be considered a test period. If we do not perform to your
expectations within the initial test period, you may cancel all service and get
a full refund.*AFTER THE INITIAL TEST
PERIOD* not to exceed 30 days from the day
Techndu receives your approval, you may cancel at anytime with a 30 day notice
in writing prior to your due date but you will not be entitled to a full or partial refund after your due date has passed.
Our intent is to show you how we work and establish trust as a service provider
to you and not to provide free services.
*Please note: Charges on your credit card statement or online payment account
will appear as Techndu*
Furthermore, it is understood that neither Techndu nor any of its resellers,
partners or affiliates make any guarantee of any level of success or income. We
only guarantee to perform our work as per your directions and requirements and
to notify you of such performance. Your first report will be generated within
28 business days of you placing this order and then each week thereafter.
After the initial test period, your payments will be due at the time of
approval and due the same day each month on the same date for each following
month until written notice of cancellation from either party.
Your due date is determined by the date of which we receive funding and your
signed Insertion Order and/or written approval in writing from you or your
authorized agent.
All orders placed on the 29th, 30th or 31st of any month, will be automatically
moved to the first day of the following month.
We have no control over what Google,(or any third party), may or may not do with
any software or service Google offers including, but not limited to the Google
toolbar with it’s Page Rank reporting. If they make a PR 5 drop to a PR 3, it
doesn't mean that the site has any less link popularity, less traffic or less
quality, it only means they are counting things differently. Also we can’t
determine value for you. It is your responsibility to notify us of any linking,
text or graphic ad placement or procedure on third party sites that you are not
happy with. We will do our best to comply with your wishes but we accept no
responsibility for any actions of any third party.
You may cancel your order for any reason by sending a cancellation notice 30
days before the due date and not be charged for the following month, but it is
understood that you are NOT entitled to a refund or chargeback after the due
date for any month once the due date has passed.
Payments are due on the due date and there is no grace period. Any payment due
not received within 5 days from due date will be in default. Any account in
default will have all on-going and/or scheduled work stopped until account is
paid in full and re-instated. There will be a $50 or 5% re-instatement fee,
whichever is greater, assessed to any renewed account that is in default and
must be paid in full before work can be resumed.
We want to make it clear that you are ordering Techndu services on a trial
basis not to exceed 30 days to evaluate our performance. It is understood that
you will be invoiced for the work we will perform in advance and we will expect
payment for each month we provide service. Once we have your approval and
payment is made, you may be entitled to a refund for some reasons, but you are
not entitled to a chargeback for any reason.
If you are emailing this agreement then please fill out the
information below and email this to our office at info@trechndu.com. Then you will need to turn
in an order and fund the account by going to http://outsource.techndu.com/order.asp?d=1
If you are faxing your order, you must sign your name in the fields below as it
appears on your credit card along with the other details and fax it to our
office BEFORE we can process your order.
Our fax # in India 0091-79-3002 8672
Our fax number in the USA 1-405-231-2130
You are agreeing with us that we have the right to refuse your order or any
specific instruction at any time and for any reason.
We reserve the right to cancel this order at any time and for any reason without
notice.
Thank You. If you have any question or comment please contact our office BEFORE
you return or sign and fax this agreement.
Please print your name -------------------------
Date -------------------------------------
********************************************************************************************************************
That’s it. I hope it does some good.
Peace Y’all
G
Don’t sit so dang close to that television. Don’t you know
it’ll make you go blind?