Small Business SEM Marketing and SEO Advertising: Caveat Emptor
My Pandamonium™ Presents:
Simply SEO and Social Media Marketing
“The ‘Xyz Company Evaluator’ just phoned me,
and for $500.00 they are offering to give me a website.
Of course I will also have their logo etc. What does My Pandamonium™ recommend?”
My Pandamonium™ Recommends:
Just Say ‘NO!’ to high pressure sales pitches during unexpected phone calls or emails.
Never Agree to Buy Advertising From a Telemarketer or Email Sales Pitch. See SEO Scams
What ‘Xyz Company Evaluator’ is actually selling is a Recommended Merchant Ad that pops up during a Category Search only on that one Directory website.
This is not the same as owning your own company website! You get one page (at best) on an internet directory site. You will not an entire website with a domain name that you own. [NOTE: All businesses get the same listing FREE on the vast majority of internet directory sites.]
Having a Recommended Merchant Ad may be valuable to you – but it is not the same as having your own website. As a consumer, you need to know the difference. Caveat Emptor. Then you can make an informed choice regarding what gives the best ROI (return on investment) for your company. Small businesses usually do not have deep pockets for buying unlimited advertising. In fact, FREE is usually best!
- Each internet Free Directory listing that you list with – also has a Paid Advertising division. Once you create a free listing, the Paid Ads Dept will be calling you:)
- Xxx.com called a My Pandamonium™ client last week and offered him a Recommended Merchant Ad on xxx.com. The rate? ‘Only’ $800/month. And he was reassured by the high pressure salesperson that it’s a deal; since many companies pay up to $3000/mo for a similar listing!
- Xxx.com is only one of literally hundreds of online directory sites offering free listings and paid Recommended Merchant ads. They all solicit to small business owners for paid ads. Some of these solicitors are high pressure and do not follow Best Practices regarding truth in advertising.
- A Sample Regular Member Listing from the BBB website: Blue Ribbon AC, The Colony, TX. All BBB members have a listing just like this at no extra charge.
Key Point To Remember:
All ‘Recommended Merchant’ Ad solutions on directory sites have one main premise in common:
They all assume that someone is searching on their website for your business category.
In a Google Search, free online directory listings have the same Search ‘weight’ as a Premium listing on any directory site.
Also, it’s unclear how much SEO is received from paying big bucks for a Premium Recommended Merchant Ad. Recent research indicates that paid ads on search engines and directory sites are rapidly losing effectiveness.
The Lower-Cost Alternative: Create ‘Organic’ Search Ranking using your own website as a marketing and communications hub.
Next Article on this Series: Creating Organic Search Ranking.
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