Why SIMPLE

Because we will do our best to help you do well on the Internet so that you would be happy with our performance/service and as a result, will retain our services and keep us in business for a long time!

And isn’t that your motivation too as a business owner?

So let’s have a frank discussion from here on. Providers are naturally given to sugar coating their value propositions etc. We all do to a certain extent. But a line must be drawn somewhere when it gets irresponsible. But then again, there obviously must be a sizable market for these tactics to work time and time again. After you have read the following, you cannot claim you have not been forewarned.

So here goes:

1. We won’t be politically correct

As a starting point, we will tell you honestly what’s good or bad about your website. It always start with the website. Then we audit your existing Internet marketing initiatives (if there is one) etc. If you had been misled, we will tell you so. But if your existing service provider is doing a good job, we will tell you that you don’t need us. We won’t undercut price just to get your business. And please don’t squeeze them needlessly if they are indeed doing a good job for you.

2. We don’t give free gifts to entice you to sign on

If a self-respecting SEO company has to throw in a free iPad (yes free iPad2) to entice you to sign on, something is indeed quite wrong. In this instance, we were told, from the horse’s mouth, that although the other company was less impressive but more expensive, the free iPad was impossible to resist.

3. We don’t bundle our prices

You know what you are specifically paying for. Web works, SEO, Hosting etc. We had a case of a client demanding to know why they have to pay for their domain name renewal when it was free with their previous service provider. Well, don’t we all have to pay Domain Registrars for registration and yearly renewals like licenses? There is another common case of “free-ten-year-hosting” thrown in. Right, like we all believe in O% interest!

4. We don’t sell jewellery or carpets

Ridiculously high display prices with equally high discounts. This is an old hat gimmick but scarily, it still works.

5. We don’t do indiscriminate pricing

Our pricing is uniformly transparent based on scope of work and not size of client.

6. We won’t chase the low balling price game

Low-ball pricing has always been a key strategy used by the raft of players in the SEO field. As a business owner, you would have experienced it too in your field. Agreed, all business owners and managers want the best price possible. Me too. But when it gets down to an unrealistic level, alarm bells must sound. The low balling game will never end because there will always be someone who is prepared to go even lower. Some clients use this as a negotiating tool. Some time ago, we lost a potential account to an outfit that not only offered a ridiculously low price but also declared they would submit this company’s website to 600 search engines (yes, 600 search engines!). Six months on, I checked their rankings and sadly this company did not rank anywhere in the major search engines on the ten or so keywords tested. So, was it worth it? And we are talking about a big brand company here.

7. We won’t fill our quotations with mumbo jumbo to justify a hefty price

A quotation must list the scope of work clearly. It should not be ambiguous. It should not be stuffed with big sounding but meaningless things like video embedding platform etc Isn’t it like an “eat all you can buffet” with items you won’t ever eat but still pay a premium as a result?

8. We don’t talk search engine ranking with you first

Something is wrong isn’t if a SEO practitioner does not discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your website. Ranking high in the search engines is just part of the process towards deriving true benefits from the Internet. “A lousy restaurant in a great location does not do much business”. It’s just a waste of good location!

We need to know your business and target audience, your targeted markets etc first so that we can advice you properly. What’s the point of ranking high with keywords that your audiences don’t search with? Say we rank you in Google Page I with “weighing equipments” but in reality, less then ten searches are done per month with these keywords. “Weighing scales” would have been a lot better because it garnered 4,000 plus searches per month! Or what if you top priority market searches in a language different from your English worded website?

9. We don’t and won’t use an “unlimited keywords” gimmick to get your business

I mean, that is a very seductive proposition. Serious SEO means developing good contents to augment your important keywords. It is already a challenge for a handful of keywords. Imagine doing it for 40-50 keywords (as clients are apt to go for since it is unlimited) on a website that is around 7-8 pages at most. And here’s the catch. Buried somewhere in the “unlimited keywords” razzle-dazzle, is a line that says something to this effect, “ So long as 3 keywords make it to Page 1, the contractual obligation is considered fulfilled. And if more keywords somehow get to Page 1, consider it a bonus.

We came across this beauty. “celebrating being alive in Malaysia calendar” was ranked in Google Page 1. And this is one of 43 keywords, from hilarious to downright comical” undertaken by this outfit for a calendar company.

10. We won’t use a “money back guarantee” gimmick to get your business

Consider this. What’s the point if I choose a lazy shortcut and get you on Page 1 with unseemly keywords like the example illustrated above. Most “money back guarantee” gimmicks usually come with a minimum of ten to unlimited keywords rider. Sounds even more fantastic isn’t it? Then somewhere it says something to the effect that so long as three or five keywords of the ten or unlimited keywords made it to Page I, the contract is fulfilled which also mean no money back. Think about it. Three or even five out of ten keywords is 30% or 50% respectively. Why are you paying for this percentage? It gets worst if you go into the unlimited keyword territory. Then what happens if one or two or three of the keywords falls off Page 1? Can you invoke the “money back guarantee” again? This becomes a cynical shell game isn’t it? Your business is too important to be kidding with!

There are lots more examples to rival those above, like the keyword-in-domain farce, keyword stuffing etc etc. And we suspect the prevailing confusion will get worst.

As a business owner with a website fighting the competition out there, you have to ask yourself just one thing; if you believe that business opportunities abound on the Internet and that a good website coupled with proper SEO is the way to go, then take action immediately. Dispense with the gimmicks, roll up your sleeves and work with a good SEO company. The success you eventually attain will surprise you.

We don’t claim to be to only SEO company in town capable of decent work. But there are many outfits capable of wrecking your opportunities.

We are more than happy to provide you with our opinions, clear up a point that confuses you, etc. It’s really a true or false and why forum. You owe us obligations and we won’t sell you!