SEO – There can be only one…

To use the worn-out quote from the 1986 classic Highlander… “There can be only one.”
But, like so many of my posts, the point may not be immediately obvious, so please bear with me a moment.

It’s been a hell of a month work-wise, so the blog posts have been sadly neglected, but… I guess if you have too much time for blogging, you’re not spending any time working.

Anyway… What does this SEO post have to do with a film about immortals battling through time?

A few days ago, I ran across an old colleague of mine (now sadly lost to ‘The Dark Side’) and we got talking for a couple of minutes in the street. Until a couple of years ago, she was at the forefront of the SEO industry, 100% ethical, strictly playing by the rules of major search engines and the World Wide Web Consortium and forever experimenting with new developments in her field of expertise.

During past eighteen months or so however, her work ethics do seem to have undergone a fundamental change, at least where her approach towards clients is concerned. In fact, like so many rock stars (err… Phil Collins, Paul McCartney or Robbie Williams for instance), the dollar sign seems to have triumphed over talent or work-ethics.

Whilst I could spend the rest of this post preaching about how the practices employed by this professional may produce results with the likes of Google at present, but are most likely to be punished by algorithm updates in the near future, this post is not actually about the mechanics of SEO; it is about the number of client web sites taken on by a search engine optimiser in any one industry.

As any SEO in his or her right mind would have to agree, there are only ever ten places on the first search engine results page for any particular keyword or phrase*.

Therefore, even if you are the world’s most competent search engine optimisation professional, you would have to be utterly insane to take on more than the above number of ‘directly competing’ clients in the same market sector.

*Unless the user has specified more results per page of course.

So when my ex-colleague told me she had just signed thirty-six (yes, you read that right… 36) clients in the same market niche, I questioned her motivation behind this particular business gambit.

The response I received was, to say the least, astounding: “Well I don’t give any guarantees, and I can always blame algorithm changes for lack of performance. And of course, the ones that do make it will be used as case-studies for prospective clients.”

I blackballed the conversation at this stage and walked away in disgust. In fact, I’m still fuming about the whole thing.

Don’t get me wrong, an SEO I am not… I barely have enough time to keep my own sites at the head of search engine rankings, whilst still doing the work I’m contracted to do, to worry about promoting other people’s sites.
I do however have staff who can do the job more than adequately.

The point is that IceGiant, along with many (many) other professionals in the web site promotion industry, will only take on one client (two in exceptional circumstances) in any particular market sector.

How the hell can you promise top-ten placements for the same keyword range to thirty-six different web sites?

Time to reach for some blood-pressure medication, or at least a large Scotch…

In conclusion; although I was fully aware of unethical SEOs and Black Hat promotion tactics, this incident took me somewhat by surprise.
I would advise anyone looking for SEO services to ask potential providers for the exact number of direct competitors being promoted by them; in writing.

With true professionals, ‘there can be only one‘… or maybe two at the outside.

Food for thought?
Not if your budget is bigger than your common sense.