Are The Big Brands Doing Proper SEO?

Are The Big Brands Doing Proper SEO?

When developing a unique SEO campaign strategy, a competitive landscape analysis is one of the foundations for the final plan. A look at the competitors that are actively ranking/pursuing specific search terms provides valuable insight into the eventual development of the SEO campaign.

We’re not fixing the wheel here. If a data point on your competitor’s website is working for them, it’s likely it’ll work for you, as well.

But how far can this go? How much can you look at competitors, especially the big conglomerates, and rely on their data? How do you even know if the on-page optimization they’re doing is also correct?

In a world of search results giving favoritism to large industry authority sites, our initial instinct is to believe that these websites have their SEO teams up to par. We’re expected to believe that their multi-million dollar budgets can afford to ensure they have the elite strategies behind them.

Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Being local to New York City, I’ve had the advantage of collaborating with some of the top enterprise businesses in the city. Companies for brands we all use every single day. I’ve been brought in by these companies for SEO consulting & training, in-depth technical SEO audits, advisory roles & more. Much to my own surprise, the knowledge of SEO within these companies was severely outdated.

What I’ve Noticed…

Many of the Fortune 500 companies had what I’ll call “scattered marketing.” What this means is that their marketing team didn’t have a proper handle on all of the different forms on marketing, and instead of dedicated select team members to different platforms/marketing strategies, the entire in-house teams we’re doing everything.

One specific Fortune 500 company based in the city comes to mind when I think of scattered marketing. This company, which is considered to be among the largest life insurance companies in the world (estimated $800million profits in 2017), had days of the week dedicated to specific forms of marketing. Monday was Paid Advertising review & optimization; Tuesday was Search Engine Optimization; Wednesday was reconfiguration and audit of email marketing blasts; and so on.

Since they have the resources to maintain a full-time, dedicated in-house marketing team, there was no other reason than straight consulting as to which SEO Services New York could have been useful. They just needed guidance and the proper advice as to what’s taking place in a legit SEO campaign, that’s focused on results, longevity & ROI.

Big Brand (Bad) SEO in Real-Time

I’m not one to start controversy and begin bashing companies in hopes of minor publicity. It was simply to prove a point that they don’t always have their $#*! figured out and this should be accounted for in the strategy development. The point I’m going to share was reviewed with well-known industry colleagues who, as well as myself, had no proper explanation as to why.

If you know why… comment below, and I’ll edit the post to include your comment and a link back to your website.

Site: Overstock.com

I was researching for a prospective e-commerce client, and I was shocked to see what the footer of Overstock.com looked like:

click to enlarge in a new tab

Now, the red boxes… I have a Google Chrome browser extension that automatically highlights “nofollow” links. When a hyperlink in a page has a nofollow tag associated, it’s automatically given a red box.

For more information on nofollow links, here’s Google’s explanation.

When it comes to on-page SEO, we know that internal linking is a tremendous asset. It’s extremely important, and more importantly, the text of the links play a huge role. Given the nature of Overstock.com, I would think that there are many opportunities for them to take advantage of high volume search terms.

For example…

We would think Overstock would like to rank high on Google for the search term: “Overstock coupons”. This is a search term that brings in roughly 75,000 searches per month.

Unfortunately, at the time of this post, they’re sitting at #6 for that specific search term. I wholeheartedly believe that the removal of the nofollow link in the footer menu will give them positive results in the search engines.

This example could be shown for a few other of the items listed in their footer.

On The Other Hand…

Overstock.com does have history specifically regarding their SEO tactics. In 2011, they were penalized for using link schemes and maybe in their attempt to ensure they don’t ever get slapped; they’re taking overcautious measures.

What Do You Think?

Comment below if you think you know why Overstock.com is doing this. Have other examples of big brand (bad) SEO? Comment below.

SEO Services New York  Featured as a Leading SEO Company on Clutch!

SEO Services New York Featured as a Leading SEO Company on Clutch!

A digital marketing campaign is not complete without an SEO strategy. You can have great content, an amazing brand, but without SEO, it will simply be lost in the Internet void. One survey of 226 small businesses found that 13% plan to invest in SEO, along with high-quality content, security, and user experience in 2018. SEO is essential and no easy feat, demanding a partner with a meticulous eye and technical know-how. As a result, finding a partner that is reliable and trustworthy is more essential in this field than most. Just as reviews are integral to an SEO strategy, they are necessary to build trust among consumers. Clutch, a B2B market research firm, based in Washington, D.C., provides a platform that helps build trust and confidence through verified reviews in the B2B space.

Unlike similar sites, clients don’t just visit the Clutch site, find a provider, and leave a short testimonial. Their analysts speak directly with our clients and dive deep into the full scope of a collaboration to understand not just the services provided and results, but also the nature of team dynamics, project management, and other similar factors. We’ve really appreciated the time our clients have spent to provide feedback. Their insights have not only been used for the purposes of continually improving our processes but just recently, has allowed us to be named a top SEO company in New York on Clutch.

Being listed alongside other reputable companies is a huge achievement for us. Founded in 2013, our company started off small but has grown to have clients of all sizes and reputations. Our goal is to provide to longevity in search results for our clients, and we’ve accomplished this for many of our partners.

We’re thrilled to see that the final reviews published in our profile speak to our high level of expertise and customer service.

Digitization is quickly changing the rules of business for everyone. A strong SEO strategy is an essential piece of this puzzle, and with Clutch, we’re very hopeful that businesses will select us as an ideal partner to make their digital transition as seamless as possible. In all, this achievement puts us at the forefront of the industry, and we’re confident that our team will continuously grow and work hard to maintain this reputation!

#VFAQ  – How Long Does It Take To See SEO Results?

#VFAQ – How Long Does It Take To See SEO Results?

How Long Does It Take To See SEO Results?

This is the million dollar question and we understand why. It’s natural for anyone looking for an SEO agency—or thinking about starting an SEO campaign—to want to know what the ROI is and how long it all might take.

Here’s the short answer; our clients typically see positive movement by the end of the third month.

According to Google, it’s wise to “prepare for a campaign up to one year” when undergoing a new SEO strategy.

And their patent shows they will fluctuate a website based on new trust indicators, a process that could take anywhere from four to six weeks.

Ultimately, establishing authority takes time, and no SEO company can tell you exactly how long it takes for an SEO campaign to deliver results. It isn’t something that can be tricked, faked, or rushed.

If Google suspects a website is building authority too quickly, that site’s SEO will likely take a hit.

So we do it the right way, making sure our SEO campaigns are long-term investments. And when the payoff does come, it can be significant, especially considering the money you’ll save by having your site high in organic results, as opposed to dumping cash into Adwords and PPC.

#VFAQ  – What Is Search Engine Optimization?

#VFAQ – What Is Search Engine Optimization?

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

To us, Search Engine Optimization—or S-E-O—is more of a philosophy than a strategy, one that’s focused on building a website’s authority in the search results. No shortcuts, no gimmicks.

How do we do it?

Our philosophy is to mimic the natural way a website gains authority by feeding Google the trust metrics it uses to identify trustworthy and authoritative websites. Because when Google sees your site as authoritative, it is more likely to put it near the top of search results.

We do this using proven methods focused on longevity and relevancy creation that increase visibility within all levels of competition. This also includes a consistent focus on on-page and off-page SEO, the two major components of any website’s authority.

How To Hire An SEO Consultant

How To Hire An SEO Consultant

Yesterday, February 14th, Google uploaded a video to their Webmasters Channel on what you need to know before hiring an SEO consultant. Google’s own Maile Ohye, Developer Programs Tech Lead, guides you through some of the relevant information you need to know about the SEO hiring process.

After watching the video in full (with an expectation of some skepticism), I found the video extremely informative and it aligns perfectly with our philosophy here at SEO Services New York/Break The Web.