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Went Hot: August 6, 2008 - 8:38 am
Posted By: Jill 117 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://searchenginewatch.com)
Category: SEM Industry
14 Comments
Went Hot: August 6, 2008 - 8:38 am
Posted By: Jill 117 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://searchenginewatch.com)
Category: SEM Industry
14 Comments
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Comments
I saw this first in the HR industry when competitors were getting all these "awards" that I was missing! Come to find out you had to pay thousands to even be looked at! Hell no. I'll take my top-notch software and sell it the old fashioned way. Sad to see this is moving into the SEO industry. You'll never catch me paying for an award.
It's in every industry.. Our small local airport paid $5,000 to be one of the top 5 airports in the US instead of using the money to rebuild a couple of hangers..
US News & World Report publishes "Top Docs" every year. The best doctors, picked for you by other doctors...who would they go to or send their loved ones to for medical care?
I know a guy voted Top Doc who never sees patients, has always been an administratr (not a care giver), but also happens to be very powerful politically in the medical licensing area for his state.
Did the doctors vote him "Top Doc" because they would send their loved ones to him for medical care? Yeah right.
Perhaps most pathetic is the way he ordered several wood-mounted copies of this "achievement" for display outside his office, inside his office, in the hallway...
This is why awards don't mean squat Jill!! The important thing is that we need to educate all people that these awards are often BULL, being in SEMPO doesn't mean anything more than you paid right? Not to pick on SEMPO, but I think the perception of many people is oh if you company is:
Sempo
Google certified
TopSEOs rated
award
award
award
That you are good, that is just flat wrong, so how can we educate people to not over hype the importance of these things?
So let me get this straight - I, an up and coming SEO with still so much to learn, can shell out a few thousand dollars to suddenly appear as a "TOP SEO" or a "Most Dependable SEO" to Mr. and Mrs. Unsuspecting Consumer without having to worry about references, a proven success record, case studies, etc.?
Hey, I'd do that.... if I were a douche bag!
I'm glad to see that this is one community that tries to police itself. Having been burned in the past by quacks, SEO had a bad rap around several of the companies I've worked for. It makes it really hard to sell yourself, but it also means you have to be better than most.
Thanks for calling this out!
Great article! I always thought the categories at TopSEO was paid. But it makes me wonder why do people pay for an award? Why not prefer to actually be awarded the award by someone instead of paying for it?
And if you pay for the award are you actually just sponsoring the award instead of being the recipent of the award?
Because they have the money in their marketing budget to do so. It's not bad marketing for those that do believe those things, and there are many out there. I imagine the companies willing to shell out the bucks get a good return on their investment or they wouldn't keep doing those things.
It's unfortunate, that it gives the perception that those companies with the biggest marketing budget are truly the best, but I guess that's what marketing is all about. Making your company appear to be the best.
Even if I had the budget to do something like that, I'm not sure I would becuase it does leave a bad taste in my mouth. Yet, if the ROI was there I can certainly understand why companies do it.
You have to pay for a JD Powers award too - cars, banks, etc.
Wow... Few things - as CEO of "Top SEO Consultants" (our company name) I will go on record and say that we have NEVER - EVER, nor would we ever, Pay for an award. We are not listed at TopSEO or any other 'paid' placement / buy yourself an award site. In fact we were called 'neo1seo' because of the domain name for our first year or so... Then one day looking at my log files I noticed that I had a bunch of organic hits to the site for the term 'top seo consultancy' all coming from the UK.
That was about the time we were getting all of our paperwork done for the business and settled on the more US sounding 'Top SEO Consultants' (consultancy is a UK term in my book) We're not a huge company 3-5 clients at a time... 99% referral business from existing clients...
So with all of that being said... I don't want to be lumped in with the crowd that is 'buying fake fame' It's our company name we rank #1 for the term... so while I agree w/ the article, as to the fact that no firm can be right for every client... There's no harm in letting Google decide that you are #1 for Top SEO Consultants.
David Brown
You pay to enter these competitions the same way you pay to enter OMMA, the Webbies or anything else.
It's easy for folks to cast aspersions when you part of the A List. Some of us actually have to do marketing, though, and we'll take any legitimate attention we can get.
As a firm that's #8 out of the 2500 or so companies that pay Top SEOs, I don't over-estimate the value of the ranking.
But I find all this indignation particularly funny from an entire INDUSTRY that gets paid to help people get a higher ranking. Pot, meet kettle. Call it black.
"Award" has a specific meaning in my dictionary. It doesn't involve payment.
We signed up for one of those type of websites very early on when no one knew who they were and less was going on. They added us for free including our info and a link to help fill up the website and that was that. Still is the same, never paid for the listing but we're still listed and get traffic from our listing periodically. The ranking of top companies when it is paid for is pretty lame, just state its a paid avert. Sometimes getting in on the ground floor gets you listed for free in those cases.
topseos.com is an opportunist business playing on SEO firm egos and naive companies looking for help with internet marketing. You must pay to play. It's NOT editorial, it's advertising.
More proof that there is often more than meets the eye when it comes to "awards." Years ago (actually nearly two decades ago) when I sold real estate, I used to marvel at how every company could claim to be "#1". The fine print would say things like "we are #1 in selling single family homes listed by our own agents in the county."