Would you pay for search engine optimization?

[602rwtq]

You're probably contacted more than once a week from a company promising you the first page of Google.



Don't ever sign up. They will either:



1. Create a pay-per-click Adwords campaign for you (you can do a better job yourself for half what the "brokers" charge).



2. Place you in a directory like yellowpages or citysearch that hopefully will appear on Google page 1. You now have 2 layers of separation from Google searchers and very slim chances of getting traffic.



And for this "service," they will lock you into a 12 month contract that you will regret.



I can actually get you on the first page of Google for the term "[your city] car detailing." I wouldn't charge you "initialization fees", "research fees", nor would you sign any contracts. I wouldn't ask for payment until we reached page 1; You only pay when you reach page 1. There would be a monthly fee to keep you there, but no contract...cancel any time.



Depending on the city you service, being on the first page could be worth $500 - $3000 a month in detailing business.



Would you pay for first page rankings? How much would it be worth to you?



I'm thinking of starting a search engine ranking service for detailers and am gauging interest.

 

[EBPcivicsi]

I pay now, anyone who is not paying is losing business. The title should read. "How can any detailer afford not to pay?"



Having said that, I am not completely satisfied with the services....I use web.com and a place called advance your listing. AYL, was supposed to get us ranked first on the local results (we are already first in the natural results on most terms that I want), but it seems to come and go. Web.com *I think* just basically pays for a pay per click ad that results in our site coming up a sponsored link when you google certain terms.



I would *much* rather pay an autopian as long as the reults are there. I pay $150 or so per month. When can I cancel? Honestly, if you can "show me the $" I would switch today--I *never* signed a contract with any company above so I am free to leave....

 

[602rwtq]

I pay now, anyone who is not paying is losing business. The title should read. "How can any detailer afford not to pay?"



Having said that, I am not completely satisfied with the services....I use web.com and a place called advance your listing. AYL, was supposed to get us ranked first on the local results (we are already first in the natural results on most terms that I want), but it seems to come and go. Web.com *I think* just basically pays for a pay per click ad that results in our site coming up a sponsored link when you google certain terms.



I would *much* rather pay an autopian as long as the reults are there. I pay $150 or so per month. When can I cancel? Honestly, if you can "show me the $" I would switch today--I *never* signed a contract with any company above so I am free to leave....

Great to see that you value search engine positioning. 90% of services sold on the Internet originate with a search on the search engines. About how much business do you get from Google monthly?



I see that you have a Google Adwords listing AND the top organic spot for "Memphis car detailing"

You ALMOST have the three headed monster:



1. Google Adwords

2. Google Places (a spot on the map) on the page 1

3. Google Organic on page 1



You're doing very very well. I reviewed your Google Places entry and it looks complete: photos, your selected the correct categories and keywords, and you even have 6 real reviews.



Google actually rotates Google Places positions week by week, so you may be back on page 1 next week. Honestly, there's nothing I could do or web.com or advanceyourlisting.com could do to keep you on page 1, spot 1. Google is constantly rotating these businesses to keep things democratic.



Given that you have the #1 organic position, I don't see why you continue to pay $150 a month. Does the $150 guarantee that you keep that top listing? Does that $150 go to your Adwords campaign? You could run your own Adwords campaign and get far more clicks for your $150 than you're getting now.

 

[jose206]

Man ive been struggling with getting back on google maps, its under "review" status right now. I use to be one of the first business on there in surrounding cities of seattle but then like a dummy i :wallchanged the adress to some random seattle adress since im mobile and thats part of the area I service, then a month or two later I changed it back since i didnt see myself coming up on first pafe for google maps. Now i have to search my business name and zip code in quotations to come up...I have a google adwords campaign my web guy set up for me and said it was suppose to be up and running by today but im not seeing my business when i do a search on google for auto detailing.

 

[sacdetailing]

I want to know what is the increasement of business going to be with this nice feature. From people that had used this service plz.:bat

 

[602rwtq]

Man ive been struggling with getting back on google maps, its under "review" status right now. I use to be one of the first business on there in surrounding cities of seattle but then like a dummy i :wallchanged the adress to some random seattle adress since im mobile and thats part of the area I service, then a month or two later I changed it back since i didnt see myself coming up on first pafe for google maps. Now i have to search my business name and zip code in quotations to come up...I have a google adwords campaign my web guy set up for me and said it was suppose to be up and running by today but im not seeing my business when i do a search on google for auto detailing.

Your Google Maps entry is public. You can find it by going to Google Maps (Google Maps) and searching Precision Auto Salon.



Problem is, it isn't appearing when people search "Seattle auto detailing." Mostly because there are 30+ detail companies competing for the first page for that term.



That's a really competitive market in Seattle.. I'd recommend in the short term trying to secure 1st page rankings for "Bellevue auto detailing" and in the long term "Seattle auto detailing" as Bellevue is far more achievable.



I could get you on page 1 for "Bellevue auto detailing" for $150 (only pay once we get you there) and $30 monthly. "Seattle auto detailing" would be $450 and $125 monthly. That's a long term project. But if you're familiar with Derek's auto detailing, you know that his first page ranking is worth $1000s+ monthly.



Until then, continue with Adwords, but make your Web guy report to you EXACTLY how much you're spending each day, how many clicks, what keywords you have paid for, etc. And ask all customers where they found you so you can track if these methods are working.

 

[602rwtq]

I want to know what is the increasement of business going to be with this nice feature. From people that had used this service plz.:bat

Depends on the city. If you're in Sacramento, first page rankings may be worth $1000 - $2000 monthly.



Just do a search for "Sacramento auto detailing" and you'll see that stable companies doing large volumes of work will be listed there. I can tell you that in Portland about 50% of all detail shops have closed in the last 5 years, but none that have 1st page rankings have closed.

 

[jose206]

Thanks 602, in how long do you think you could get me first page for bellevue auto detailing?

 

[602rwtq]

Thanks 602, in how long do you think you could get me first page for bellevue auto detailing?

2-4 weeks. You only pay if I can get you there.

 

[EBPcivicsi]

Great to see that you value search engine positioning. 90% of services sold on the Internet originate with a search on the search engines. About how much business do you get from Google monthly?



I see that you have a Google Adwords listing AND the top organic spot for "Memphis car detailing"

You ALMOST have the three headed monster:



1. Google Adwords

2. Google Places (a spot on the map) on the page 1

3. Google Organic on page 1



You're doing very very well. I reviewed your Google Places entry and it looks complete: photos, your selected the correct categories and keywords, and you even have 6 real reviews.



Google actually rotates Google Places positions week by week, so you may be back on page 1 next week. Honestly, there's nothing I could do or web.com or advanceyourlisting.com could do to keep you on page 1, spot 1. Google is constantly rotating these businesses to keep things democratic.



Given that you have the #1 organic position, I don't see why you continue to pay $150 a month. Does the $150 guarantee that you keep that top listing? Does that $150 go to your Adwords campaign? You could run your own Adwords campaign and get far more clicks for your $150 than you're getting now.

The organic results being number 1 are there no matter what--have been long before we paid a dime.



I guess I am paying them $150 a month to run a google ad campaign! There are other "benefits" offered with my package, but I don't have time to use them...they are fluff IMO.



My problem is that I don't have time to manage any ad word campaign, much less do the research to learn what it takes to do a proper campaign. Advice?



I would say that 60-75% of *new* clientel comes from google--our average ticket is $309. We typically do about $25,000(about 6% wholesale) on average--that's gross.....



If detailers aren't paying for SEO they are leaving money on the table, period.

 

[Make it shine!]

Another easy and free way to move up in the rankings on Google is to link build. If some of you guys are interested we should link each other to our websites and we will all profit from it for free. THe more links you have out there the better chance you have of being ranked higher by google. I am currently trying to do this myself, so if anyone is interested lets do it, its rather easy and FREE!!! If anything its helping fellow Autopians out!

 

[602rwtq]

The organic results being number 1 are there no matter what--have been long before we paid a dime.



I guess I am paying them $150 a month to run a google ad campaign! There are other "benefits" offered with my package, but I don't have time to use them...they are fluff IMO.



My problem is that I don't have time to manage any ad word campaign, much less do the research to learn what it takes to do a proper campaign. Advice?



I would say that 60-75% of *new* clientel comes from google--our average ticket is $309. We typically do about $25,000(about 6% wholesale) on average--that's gross.....



If detailers aren't paying for SEO they are leaving money on the table, period.

So you're doing $25k a month and 60-75% of that originates from Google? That's $15k in business from your first page rankings. I don't understand why this isn't a higher priority for most detail operations.



If you're too busy to run your own AdWords campaign, that's understandable, but do you get detailed reports from your SEO company? You should get reports about which keywords you're sponsoring, what you're paying per click, and what you're spending monthly. If you can get the user/pw to your Adwords account, I can review it with you on the phone and look for improvements. You can PM me for my phone number.

 

[602rwtq]

Another easy and free way to move up in the rankings on Google is to link build. If some of you guys are interested we should link each other to our websites and we will all profit from it for free. THe more links you have out there the better chance you have of being ranked higher by google. I am currently trying to do this myself, so if anyone is interested lets do it, its rather easy and FREE!!! If anything its helping fellow Autopians out!

This worked years ago, but no longer. Google is not impressed by 2 way links...they're basically worth nothing.



Google wants to see that websites around the world have linked to your website (and therefore recommended your website to THEIR visitors). Examples of inbound links:



1. The local BMW club recommends you as a detailer and links to you from their website.

2. A local body shops recommends you as a detailer and links to you from their website.

3. A customer who is a realtor recommends your shop and links to you from their website.

4. Someone on Porsche forum loves your before/after photo and links to your website in a forum post.

5. You write a guide on how to clean wheels properly and your local car dealership links to that guide on your website.

6. You create entries in free business directories like Yahoo, Citysearch, Yelp, yellowpages.com, superpages.com, yellowbook.com, dex.com, truelocal.com, local.com, and merchantcircle.com

7. You create a link to your website in your Autopia signature.



Google wants to recommend websites to its searchers that are:



1. Relevant

2. Popular



The way it determines relevance is by the words the site contains. Thus, if you want to rank for Houston Car Detailing, those words better be on your website (preferably in your title--which is like the cover a book to Google...it identifies what the site is about).



The way google determines a website's popularity is by determining the number of other websites in the world that have taken the time to link to it.



SEO is 25% on-page (having the right words on your page). That's the easy part. The hard part is the 75% of the equation that is off-page. Off-page is mostly about building inbound links.



This takes a lot of time and research, so most businesses would just assume hand this job to an outsider.



I can get you on the first page usually within a month, depending on how many detailers we're competing against in your city.



PM me for a free quote. Be sure to include your website url and the keywords you're targetting.

 

[jose206]

602 ill pm you, I did read what you did for another detailer on another forum when he moved. Your services sound very promising.

 

[AndyWax]

I am a little skeptical about using a company to do this. I hired a local but, large firm, to handle the SEO for my carpet cleaning business. They charged me $100/mo and promised that I would be in the top 5 on various search engines. Month after month I was getting more calls from setting myself up on google maps for the city I lived in. Needless to say I was not happy. To top it off I was in a one year contract. Going forward I want to find a solution that will show me results and charge me accordingly. I hate paying monthly fees for the "possibility" of getting new business.

602- I will be relocating back to the bay area very soon and would love to talk to you about using your services but, please understand I have been burned once already.

 

[GoingGreenDetailing]

I would definitely be interested in such a service. I have not done any SEO. I service the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area in NC. I spend $0 advertsing dollars a month and stay really busy as it is, but I would like to take my business to the next level.



Going Green Detailing Machine

Proudly Serving the Triangle

 

[602rwtq]

I am a little skeptical about using a company to do this. I hired a local but, large firm, to handle the SEO for my carpet cleaning business. They charged me $100/mo and promised that I would be in the top 5 on various search engines. Month after month I was getting more calls from setting myself up on google maps for the city I lived in. Needless to say I was not happy. To top it off I was in a one year contract. Going forward I want to find a solution that will show me results and charge me accordingly. I hate paying monthly fees for the "possibility" of getting new business.

602- I will be relocating back to the bay area very soon and would love to talk to you about using your services but, please understand I have been burned once already.

This is a very familiar story. The biggest perpetrators are the phone book companies (Dex, Yellow Pages, and Yellow Book). There's two reasons why customers get burned by "SEO" companies:



1. Contracts. Why should you have to pay for 12 months of service? What if the service is disappointing? I could understand a contract for a phone book--the book is printed and delivered. But a digital campaign can be dropped at any time and at no cost.

2. Paying as you wait for results. It can takes weeks, and months until you rank on page 1. There's no guarantee you can even get there. Why require the customer to pay as he waits? Do we charge our customers prior to delivering their car? Does a restaurant charge you prior to delivering your food?



I'm starting an SEO service that's quite unique:



1. No contracts

2. No payment until rankings are achieved

3. I'm an ex-detailer, doing work specifically for detailers

 

[602rwtq]

I would definitely be interested in such a service. I have not done any SEO. I service the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area in NC. I spend $0 advertsing dollars a month and stay really busy as it is, but I would like to take my business to the next level.



Going Green Detailing Machine

Proudly Serving the Triangle

You have a very slick looking website: The Going Green Detailing Machine



However, there's a MASSIVE FLAW: it's invisible to search engines because it's programmed entirely in flash. This means it's essentially a collection of pictures, and not words.



Try going to this page and copy/pasting the text:

Atomic Mobile Detailing | Detailing at Home, Work, or Anywhere Else!



Your site is PICTURES OF TEXT, but not actual text. Google does not recognize pictures (it can't distinguish a Ferrari from a pile of dung)...only text. Thus, when someone searches for "Raleigh car detailing", Google could never recommend your site because those words don't appear on it anywhere.



I'm actually surprised that any designer would create such a site for a small business purely in flash. That was phased out 5 years ago when search engines became so important.



Typically, it wouldn't be too hard to rank for:

1. "Raleigh car detailing"

2. "Durham car detailing"

3. "Chapel Hill car detailing"



However, in your case, your site would need to be significantly modified to include actual, searchable text. It will look roughly the same still (attractive, actually), but there would be real text that the search engines could recognize.



I'll pm you a quote.



Whether I do it or your original designer does it, you do need to get this fixed. Hopefully other web guys here can comment on the importance of getting this flash-only site fixed ASAP.