I caught an interesting article over at MarketingPilgrim about some reports following the rates of abandonment from online shopping carts. This is of interest to anyone who wants to do business online, and it certainly raises questions about the value of online sales.

So let’s have a look at two studies quoted. The data was drawn from eConsultantcy Reports and came from a wide range of sources, but the article focused on two studies specifically.

One study by Forrester was quoted as stating that 88% of consumers had left shopping carts in the dust before, and they gave the top 5 reasons customers often abandoned a website shopping cart. Here’s the data presented:

1. High shipping costs – 44%
2. Not ready to purchase – 41%
3. Price checking – 27%
4. Price too high – 25%
5. Wanted to save products for later – 24%

A second survey by Webcredible gave another picture.

1. Hidden Charges at Checkout – 41%
2. Having to Register to Buy – 29%

Other reasons in the Webcredible study included a long process for checking out, unclear delivery details, and no phone number provided, but each of these reasons constituted only about 10% of the abandon rate.

So let’s have a look at these different data.

First off, it comes to no surprise as me that high shipping costs or hidden charges led to abandonment. In fact, I find it extremely annoying that so many internet marketers make you wait until you check out to see a price – does that even make any sense at all?

That phenomenon also leads to the “not ready to purchase”, the “price checking” crowd, and the “prices too high” in the Forrester study. Not to mention the 41% responding to hidden charges in Study 2.

So the real question is, why are marketers continuing to do this? Well, the ones who do must be convinced that getting more people to their shopping cart will mean more sales, regardless of why they are there. The thinking here is understandable, but I think flawed.

For one thing, by building up a sense of distrust with your customer, you make it much less likely they’ll buy. Think about how you feel when you click all the way through just to find out how much a product is and find out it is exceptionally high, or you click through just to be surprised with an extra charge, almost as if it were being “snuck in” there? Do you feel like buying from that person?

I think it’s best to just get it out in the open immediately. Make it clear how much your product costs and all charges involved so there are no surprises. Your customers won’t feel like they’re trying to dupe them, and you’ll get a much better idea of where your losing the prospect’s interest and why because if it’s out of their price range they won’t go clicking away just to find out.

Not to mention that I can personally confirm having left web pages simply because I saw no price…sometimes because I assumed the worse and other times because I didn’t feel like wading through a shopping cart for possibly no reason at all.

How about the other reasons given? Well the first study mentioned that consumers’ wanted to save the product for later, which makes it that much more essential to get their email address and stay in contact with them; however, if we look at Study 2, we can see that a lot of people detested the thought that they were being forced to register before a purchase.

It’s a bit of a contradiction of interests. Obviously, if you were in a store, you would say, “Great, you’re ready to buy – don’t worry about the registration for now then, and if you want to sign up for updates later, here are our details.”

But an online site is a bit too static to make those decisions for us. Still, you can make up for it by not forcing anything on your customers. They’ve got so many passwords and accounts spread across the Internet, the last thing they want is more – but if you make a COMPELLING enough reason for them to register, they will.
But don’t make that reason be the right to buy your product or you just might lose a sale. Make it optional, and make it attractive whether they buy or not.

Studies Show Shopping Cart Abandonment Rates Still High – But Why? is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

After defining your target audience and doing keyword research, you need to evaluate your competition. You need to figure out what makes your company different and market accordingly. The only way you can do this effectively is by “spying” on your competitors to learn all you can about them and their strategies.

Now, you can’t just trash your rivals and brag about why your company is “so much better”. This will only turn consumers away from you. Instead, focus on finding their flaws and exposing them without making yourself appear to be the bad guy. You also need to learn why your competitors have the consumers they have and how they attract them.

So, what steps do you need to take in learning all about your competitors?

This research goes beyond comparing websites and tags. We’re talking about everything from product features to social media marketing strategies. What do your competitors do for linkbait? How do they respond to questions asked by consumers on forums and networking sites? What are the pros and cons of your rival’s products? What information can you gleam from reading reviews?

You need to not only research the details, but the overall picture as well. Visit their Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, and other social networking accounts and look over everything. Read user comments to find out why people are following them. Once you gain an idea of why rival companies are so popular, you can begin to create your own strategy.

All Internet businesses have pros and cons. Once you find out what consumers like about other companies, you can begin researching what they don’t like. Once again, you don’t want to outright trash your competitors. But what you can do is take their failures and use them as inspiration for your own products.

Whatever it is that consumers don’t like about your competitors’ products, you can create something more positive as an alternative. Consumers like knowing that there are other options available to them.

Other things you need to consider when doing your research on a competitor include:

• The owner’s name and background
• The history of the company
• The names and histories of the products
• The company’s business philosophy
• Financial status
• How popular the company is with certain keywords
• Search engine rankings
• Tags, content, and on page optimization
• Backlinks and off page optimization
• The quality of the customer service
• Whether or not the company has a mailing list and, if so, the number of subscribers
• Whether or not the company has ever been accused of spamming

If your Internet business is brand new, and your competitors have been around for years, it’s going to be a huge challenge for you to gain momentum. If nothing else, you can study their history and learn about the mistakes they’ve made in the past. You can learn which mistakes to avoid and which marketing tactics to follow.

You can also become a customer yourself and buy your competitors’ products. What do *you* like about them? What don’t you like about them? This is a great way to gain invaluable information about their pricing, strengths, and customer service. This is a free market we’re living in, after all, so take advantage of that fact and learn how to outdo your business rivals.

Study Your Competition and Improve Your Own Company in the Process is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

Adwords has had its ups and downs in the last decade, but as more and more offline companies look to advertise online, it seems more relevant now than ever. And of course, Google sees that relevance better than anyone. One way they’ve sought to capitalize is their six-year old Google Advertising Professionals program, which works with marketing firms. Google recently announced that some new changes are being made to better meet the needs of everyone involved.

Here are the 6 main points covered.

1. A Name Change and Revamp

First off, the Google Advertising Professionals program has undergone a renovation, re-emerging as the Google Adwords Certification Program. The goal is to ensure those who sell Google services are qualified to represent their advertising clients. New criteria are being introduced into the certification process, including a much greater amount of material to be covered.

2. More Difficult Exams

In addition, the exams will not be as easy and will be more comprehensive of related skills than they were in the past. Tests in the past may have been lacking, as they consisted of lot information regurgitation. The newer tests will involve a greater emphasis on problem-solving and actual skill.

3. A Better Way to Search

In an effort to overcome the frustration expressed by many companies looking for a reliable marketing firm to represent their company, Google is also re-introducing Google Partner Search under the new name Adwords Professional Search. Advertisers can search through a wide range of criteria, including location, experience, and budget, allowing them to find the best fit for the campaign they have in mind.

4. Preferred Pricing for Marketing Firms

The Adwords API pricing has undergone some changes as well. A preferred pricing process will walk you through to find out if you are eligible, and development companies bringing in more clients, and thus responsible for more dollars, will receive a certain amount of free API units. This means certified professionals can continue bringing in more business without worrying too much about their increasing expenditures.

5. A Higher Bar for Previous Partners

If you were a Google Adwords Professional already, you will maintain your status, BUT now you have to step up and meet the newest requirements as well. You have half a year to get it taken care of.

Every firm that wants to be recognized must put a minimum of one employee through the certification process and they must pass the fundamentals exam as well as one of the four advanced exams offered. The firm in question is also required to spend $10,000 within the first 90 days in order to maintain their status.

6. A Linkable Badge

A redesigned certified partner badge and a linked profile page where advertisers can find out more about the marketing firm will provide even more transparency to the end advertising clients. This will also immediately add credibility to a provider’s website while giving the information to advertisers.

I have to say I like the changes Google has made in this case, and it seems they are really getting the program in shape to make some things happen. Hopefully, this time around we’ll see less abuse from marketing providers and a little more room for trust for those who want to put Adwords to use but lack the expertise.

New Changes for Adwords Pros Stress Increased Responsibility is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

Google has been bracing itself, trying to find the best strategies for profiting for the dramatic shift of local companies coming to the Internet to find streams of customers who are no longer walking though their doors. Meanwhile, a lot of people online have been discussing the decline of Adwords, and just in the last couple weeks, it seemed that the conversation got a little louder, with talk rising about the possibility of Google cancelling their local Adwords reseller program.

On initial impression, this seems to go against the other moves we’ve seen Google make in regards to local search, but the truth of the matter is that the local Google Adwords program never really amounted to much. Still, cancel it? Seems a little drastic.

It appears the rumors are getting louder. Greg Sterling of SearchEngineland.com spoke about this in a blog post March 29th, mentioning that he had “two separate confirmations” from “credible sources” that the shut-down was going through after all and that it was due to happen by the end of “this month.” The fact that Sterling says the end of this month at the end of the month leaves a little doubt about whether this is happening at the end of March or April, but I digress.
The local reseller program was a way to make it easier for local media to sell internet marketing services to local bizzes via Adwords, setting up the potential for a relationship that would bring help local businesses, provide media incentive, and bring Google more profits. Given the rising demand for online marketing for small businesses in today’s economy, you would think it have gone over well, but instead it sort of tanked.

Not so fast though. It doesn’t look like Google has given up on the program altogether, and they claim it will be available again sometime before the year is out, but with some substantial changes. According to Sterling’s sources, the problem for Google is that the independent advertisers were taking advantage of the deal they had with Google and taking too much of a cut from their local clients, thus making the services less affordable and less effective in relation to small business budgets. In other words, the greedy marketers were diluting the effectiveness of the service, thus making it a less attractive option, which could explain why it hasn’t been more successful.

Sterling goes on to talk about how Google is leaning more towards a focus on working directly with the small businesses rather than working with the middlemen. From what I’ve seen, this does appear to be true, but at the same time, I am skeptical about whether Google would be willing to take too strong of a stance on this approach. After all, I’m a marketing guy myself and I can tell you right now that local businesses do not want to bother with a lot of even the simplest online marketing stuff.

Google can surely pick up a good chunk of bold do-it-yourselfers, but the fact of the matter is most business will likely come from marketing guys working on the behalf of SMB’s, especially as the recession pinches entrepreneurs even tighter, and the marketers, recognizing opportunity, pitch their services even more.

I really don’t see the reseller program going away for good. If there is any hope for Adwords at all, it is with local businesses. And the best way to get to those local businesses is dealing with those middle-men who speak their language. Google knows that, they just want to dig their heels in a little bit, harness a little more control over a program that is getting away from them, and re-launch it in a way that serves their better interest. And I don’t blame them.

Rumor Has it Local Adwords Reseller is to be Terminated is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

One rapidly evolving spectrum of search engine optimization is the emerging trend of offline businesses to claim their stake in the online market, a stake that grows more valuable as the internet grows from its infancy. One characteristic of this trend is the use of Google Maps, and like every other aspect of the internet marketing world, it is a platform that is rapidly changing.

Just recently, a Google Maps addition emerged on the Australian homefront as Google put a coming feature to the test. Known as Google Sponsored Map Icons, this is an interesting new way to let businesses pay for additional coverage for their business.

Currently, listings get a simple icon depending on the type of business, and then certain landmarks have special icons that you can click to access to photos or additional information. The purpose of the special landmark icons is easy navigating in the real world when using the map, whether on a laptop or cell-phone. It helps users to acclimate to the surrounding area.

But there was no icon available to make your website stand out more when looking at the map or give more information about your business, unless the viewer used your listing to get direct access to your web page. With the Google Sponsored Map Icons being implemented in The Land of Oz, this is now starting to change.

The icons are typically based on the company logos, though it is not quite clear yet what kind of guidelines are given for icon creation. This can serve two purposes. For one, you will see when you start to notice these, should they be successful in Australia (I think they will be), that they definitely stand out, giving instant visibility on the actual maps.

The second benefit is that it also gives your business the opportunity to get a little brand recognition to viewers immediately, and if that brand directly correlates with your storefront on the street, it makes it easier for people who find you via maps to find you in the real world.

More businesses are realizing just how valuable, if not imperative, it can be to have a map position now, and this is simply another way to stand apart from the crowd as having that position becomes the status quo rather than a savvy business move. How else with this trend evolve?

I envision the Google Maps platform to increase in creativity in the future, with increasingly more exotic and outrageous icons in order to generate attention. Of course, Google tends to put a cap on things before they get too out of control, but I think it is definitely bound to be yet another interesting SEO frontier, as well as another reflection of how much our world is changing.

Pimp Your Icon: Google Maps Experiments With Sponsored Listings is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

Everyone is an expert on the Internet, right? Nowadays no matter what your interest is you can pretty much guarantee you are going to find a community of people and blogs that cater to it. In fact, niche blogs and sites can yield far better links and traffic than trying to get a link with some of the big guys. Let’s face it, it would be next to impossible to get a mention on the front page of CNN.com, but you’d probably get far better quality traffic by getting a mention on the front page of a niche blog that ties directly to your target audience.

As SEO professionals sometimes we forget that bigger is no always better. Niche blogs are excellent sources for links because the traffic coming from these links tend to be more focused (interested in your product or service) and more likely to convert to sales (people who are visiting a niche site are generally looking for specific information on that particular field – so you automatically clear out all the clutter that many links tend to bring). Sure, you might only get 10% of the traffic, but the conversion rate for that 10% may be far higher than the other 90% of the traffic you’d get from more general links!

Of course the big question is how do you find niche blogs and sites that you can form a relationship with? Generally speaking the best way to find them is to be involved in the community they are in. If you are an avid knitter, no doubt you already know where some of the best knitting sites area. When you start to develop content and sites that fit into a niche it’s a good idea to go out there and see what others are doing. Search engines are a good way to find content, of course, but be sure to narrow it down. For example, don’t just search for knitting, but rather search for the specific type of knitting you might be interested in – such as “knitting sweaters with 100% cotton”.

Niche sites also tend to stick around longer than other more general sites. The reason is that for many niche sites it is their passion – or at least their hobby. Anyone can talk about tech, but it takes someone with a real, genuine interest to talk about collecting old railroad memorabilia or discussing alternative educational models for science and math.

When you find sites that you’d like to strike up a relationship with, make sure you adhere to rule #1 on the SEO world: don’t spam. Strike up a conversation, get to know the site owner and make sure you spell out the reason for your contact in the email. If they are interested, they will follow-up with you. If not, then move on. Some niche blog owners are passionate about their topics and don’t accept advertisements or link exchanges from anyone no matter how good your content or product is.

By finding your niche you may find that you deliver less traffic, but the traffic you do get converts into meaningful dollars and cents. It’s a great way for SEO firms large and small can work to help promote their clients by focusing in on the areas and subject matters that will generate the best return on investment and not just eyes and clicks.

Finding Your SEO Niche in Niche Blogs is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

Microsoft’s Bing will soon be powering the search results behind Yahoo – a move that is expected to give Bing roughly 23% of the search market. As an SEO professional you are probably wondering what this means for the SEO marketplace and how it will affect both you and your clients. The good news is that those of you that practice standard SEO techniques should be fine. The rest of you… well, you might want to read on.

The most immediate impact of the Bing/Yahoo announcement on July 29th is that the playing field for search engines just got a lot smaller. We will now be left with two major players in the marketplace: Google (the leader) and Yahoo/Bing (the up and coming). The other search engines, while out there, really don’t show up on the radar screen at this point. So is this a big deal? It really is, and it does mean that content is going to reign supreme for a long time to come. When you only have two major players in the marketplace, you really have only one way to differentiate yourself from the other 1 billion+ web sites in your niche – content.

Of course, SEO professionals were already aware that content was an important part of any search engine placement strategy. So this one won’t come as a surprise to many – just a gentle reminder to keep the content relevant and fresh.

The bigger concern is of course what happens over the long haul. Right now most of us apply techniques that favor Google, which makes sense since they hold 60% plus of the market. However the newly combined Bing/Yahoo represents an opportunity to start exploring this up and coming ‘niche’ if you will. After all, 20% of the market is pretty big. You might not be #1 on Google, but what if you could get to be #1 on Bing. That’s a lot of clicks!

It’s no secret that Bing has been getting good press as well – even the critics seem to like it. It could be possible that Bing starts being a real challenge to Google. If it continues to erode market share from them then more and more of your clicks could be arriving from Bing. SEM strategies that worked with Google may not work as well with Bing – after all, every search engine is different.

So what can you do to prepare for the Bing/Yahoo merger and prepare for the “what might be” of the future? Simple – keep practicing good SEO strategies.

As long as you practice the tried and true techniques many of you won’t have anything to worry about. It wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and join Bing’s webmaster program just so you know what is going on – but for the most part, its business as usual.

Nothing is as certain as change – and someday instead of telling people to “Go Google It” we may saying “Just Bing It!”

Bing, Yahoo and You: What Every SEO Professional Needs to Know About the Partnership is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

If I were to ask you what Kmart sells you would know instantly that they are a discount retailer – in fact, many of you would probably mention the famous bluelight specials that so many of us know and love and remember from our childhoods. So when Kmart went online it was only natural that they chose Kmart.com as their domain name. Simple, huh?

If it only it were that easy for the rest of us.

When it comes to marketing your blog, product or idea online one of the first things you need to think about is your domain name. For many of us our domain name is also our brand name – so we need to make sure it represents not only our product, but also is easily recognizable. The problem is finding a good domain name is next to impossible – and if it’s in the dictionary, you can probably bet it has already been taken!

In the early days we only had to worry about .com, .org and .net – and it was the gold standard that you had to have a .com name, otherwise you were invisible. Today there are hundreds of extensions you can choose from around the world, .com still rules the world, but there are a lot of other domain extensions that have become a part of our “Internet vocabulary” such as .ly (bit.ly) and .url (tiny.url).

Now some of you may be wondering why you can’t just go register the first thing that is available and let your content push your domain to the top of the listings. There isn’t anything wrong with this approach if you have killer content – but, surprisingly enough, there is an SEO reason for having a good, branded domain name and not just a random collection of letters with any available suffix.

The search engines, particularly Google, place some weight on the fact that someone is searching for a brand and a domain name that matches the brand. So, for example, if I am searching for Kmart the fact that Kmart.com is out there is very favorable in the rankings. This effect is even more apparent when you start talking about proper names. A domain name that matches the name of the person you are searching for nearly always bubbles to the top in search. This is why many PR firms nowadays recommend that people register their names as a .com.

SEO aside for a moment, another reason you don’t want a jumble of letters is because it is hard to remember. If Kmart had named their online presence “kmartbluelightspecialdepartmentstore.com” not many people would remember that. You have to keep your domain name simple, reflective of your brand and easy to remember – something that isn’t always easy in today’s competitive domain name marketplace.

It’s also a good idea to stay with from hypens and numbers. It’s impossible for most people to remember a hyphen and if you use a number, such as “2site.com” people will not know if they are to type in the number or spell it out. It’s an SEO nightmare, especially when you are trying to get people to link to your site.

So what’s an SEO professional to do when trying to recommend the best domain strategy to their clients? Focus on the brand, the products and be creative. Depending on the client you may recommend they engage with a professional marketing firm to help them lock in a domain.

In the online world a domain is worth a million clicks, and then some. What does your domain say about you?

A Domain Name Is Worth a Million Clicks – Choosing the Right One is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

I’ve done it; you’ve done it; probably a lot of your friends have done it as well. We all know the risks involved, but when nobody is watching us we all engage in a little risky behavior. I’m talking about speeding of course – and as much as we all know what will happen if we get caught, our lead foots seem to keep pushing that pedal farther and farther down. Sure, we might get away with it for years going 10 or even 20 over the speed limit. Yet we all know that one day we might get caught.

It’s the same thing in the SEO world. Try as we might to get good rank using tried and tested methods, sometimes it’s tempting – perhaps even a bit necessary – to engage in risky SEO behavior to see if you can’t fool the big guys – namely Google. We know what will happen if we get caught buying links or buying placement, but it all comes down to a risk vs. reward structure: How much risk am I willing to take given the reward (placement, conversions, etc.) I get?

So we are adults here, so let’s be honest – we all engage in this risky behavior now and again in the SEO world. It’s just something that – well, it’s something every SEO professional does. The question is, how can we engage in this behavior with the least amount of risk?

Link buying, paying to have posts (especially negative) removed or altered and buying hosted content are the three things that rate high on the SEO risk meter. So let’s talk about how to put some distance between you and what you are trying to do.

First, when you engage in this type of activity keep in mind that some sites may turn around and report you directly. Lesson #1 is never reveal your domain or who you are until you’ve felt out the contact on the other end. Find out if they are interested first, then worry about the details (like who and what) later.

Second, don’t try this with the big guys – this type of behavior is better suited for niche markets, and not for the Internet Top 10. As you work in your market space over time you will get to know other players in the market, and can use that information to build relationships that help you push the envelope a little. Just remember, it has to be beneficial to both parties!

Finally, if they don’t respond to your request (you did use a generic e-mail right, such as a @gmail or @hotmail account?) or they turn you down, then cease communications there. Do not try and get other sites to change their minds or go back every few weeks and try again. This is a sure fire way to get them upset and for you to find yourself in hot water with the search engines if they report you and they can figure out what domains you are with.

While I certainly don’t encourage anyone to engage in risky SEO practices, I do realize that sometimes it is necessary for certain reasons. Just be sure to keep some distance between you and the other sites so you always have enough room to plausibly deny being involved. After all, it only takes one time for you to be exposed to send your domain into a nosedive with the search engines.

What’s Your SEO Risk Level? is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World

At conferences and meet-ups we are always being asked what the biggest no-no is when it comes to SEO optimization and services. Truth be told, there isn’t a #1 don’t, but rather a collection of don’ts that you should always be making sure you aren’t doing. With that in mind, I present my top 13 list of don’ts for SEO firms and professionals.

#1 – Don’t Play with Fire

We all know of the backdoor tricks and ways to “game” the search engines, especially Google. Some are legitimate, but some are like playing with fire. Sure, you may build rank today, but what happens tomorrow when Google wakes up and delists your site completely? Before you try something look around and see who else is doing it – if nobody else is chances are you shouldn’t be either!

#2 – Don’t Confuse SEO with Conversions

For some reason many firms confuse sales with SEO. Proper SEO is going to drive traffic to your site, but it’s up to you to complete the sale. If you don’t have good content and good sales material you aren’t going to generate sales. SEO can’t force people to buy your product.

#3 – Don’t Low Ball Yourself

SEO work is hard and the companies you are doing for will reap huge rewards when it is done right. Don’t sell yourself short and work for pennies. Being the cheapest SEO firm in town isn’t a blessing – unless you like working 3 times as hard for half the pay.

#4 – Start Paying Attention to Analytics

You don’t know how much your effort and work with SEO optimization has paid off without some metrics. Know where the site is starting from and then watch your metrics and third-party data collectors to know how you are doing. Sometimes even when we think we are doing something right, it can have the exact opposite effect on traffic!

#5 – Don’t Promise the World

Always undersell your abilities and then look like a miracle worker when you deliver results that blow them away. It’s a lot easier to deliver more than what they asked for (nobody complains about stellar results) then to be put in a situation where you have to make excuses for not delivering on what you said you could do. SEO is hard work, so make sure you aren’t promising your clients mountains before you climb up the molehill first.

#6 – No, You Don’t Know “That Guy”

Chances are that some of you know somebody that works at Google or Bing. However, don’t tell your clients that you can get them special treatment. That is setting yourself up for failure no matter how many people you might know. Do you think your “friend” at Google is going to risk his job just so your client can rank 2 places higher? I don’t think so.

#7 – Don’t Believe Everything You Read (Except This!)

Between the blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter and all the other social networks out there it’s a constant buzz of information flowing 24×7. Don’t believe every word of it. Even when things are 100% factual they may not apply to your client or your business model. Read often and share your ideas and thoughts with others, but also know how to apply what you read and be analytical about what you use in your business.

#8 – Tomorrow Isn’t Yesterday

You may be the #1 SEO firm out there today, but where will you be tomorrow? Never sit around and rest on your past successes. So many people get so involved in what they are doing they fail to notice the world around them changing. Can you believe that after a month some people in the SEO world still have no idea what Bing is? Yikes!

#9 – There is More to Marketing than the Web

Sure, you are an SEO firm and that is what you know best. However, traditional marketing is still alive and well. A good SEO firm knows how to talk with their clients about supplementing their SEO efforts with other marketing products – such as e-mail, PPC, etc. Don’t be a “one trick” pony.

#10 – Don’t Piss Off the Developers

Often times you are working with the backend developers on a site and it’s real easy to lose your temper and dismiss their work. These guys are doing their job and we all make mistakes. A few kind words to them can really make your life a lot easier, especially when you are fighting for development time to get your SEO changes in place!

#11 – Don’t Get Involved in Projects with Jerks

If you don’t like someone, then don’t work for them – you’ll end up not liking them even more and it could turn into a big disaster for you and your company.

#12 – Don’t Try To Know It All

None of us know everything about SEO. It changes on a daily basis. So don’t try to be a know-it-all. When making broad statements to clients be sure to let them know that there are risks as well as rewards and give them options. You’ll get a lot more satisfied clients that way.

#13 – Content. Content. Content.

You can apply SEO to all the crap you want, but in the end it will still be crap. Content is king – and if you aren’t talking to your client about their low quality content then you aren’t doing your job.

Baker´s Dozen of Don´ts for SEO Professionals is a post from: SEO Blog | SEO Marketing World