How Does Google Feel About SEO Services?

It is important to know that Google actually endorses SEO related services when they are done correctly. On Google’s webmaster central they have a series of bullet points that should be a concern for every person or business of acquiring some sort of search engine optimization services for their business. They cover some of the [...]

It is important to know that Google actually endorses SEO related services when they are done correctly. On Google’s webmaster central they have a series of bullet points that should be a concern for every person or business of acquiring some sort of search engine optimization services for their business. They cover some of the most important points I have been stressing for many years.

“No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.”

Right from the mouth of Google! If you speak with an SEO company that is guaranteeing search engine rankings I would walk in the opposite direction because nobody can guarantee any sort of rankings when it comes to search.

Be careful if a company is secretive or won’t clearly explain what they intend to do.
Ask for explanations if something is unclear. If an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, such as doorway pages or “throwaway” domains, your site could be removed entirely from Google’s index. Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire, so it’s best to be sure you know exactly how they intend to “help” you. If an SEO has FTP access to your server, they should be willing to explain all the changes they are making to your site.”

There are no secrets with SEO. It is simply the process of marketing your business and in return you generate great search rankings over time as your efforts age to help build visitors to your website. You have to develop trust in the search engines and prove you are a legitimate brand and business and over time you will be rewarded with improved search engine rankings. Don’t believe anyone that claims they have the “secrets” to SEO because it doesn’t work that way. When Google comes out and tells you that it is a very distasteful approach to take you need to listen and adhere to their warnings so that you don’t get burned by any SEO firms.

Blog Advertising is BROKE. Here is guide to fix it.

I have done a LOT of advertising on blogs over the last few years pouring hundreds of thousands into ad campaigns with mixed results.  I am the typical advertiser on your blog: I get started and I see less than expected traffic from your blog in the first week then it trickles down to next [...]

I have done a LOT of advertising on blogs over the last few years pouring hundreds of thousands into ad campaigns with mixed results.  I am the typical advertiser on your blog: I get started and I see less than expected traffic from your blog in the first week then it trickles down to next to nothing and I don’t renew in month two.  In this post I am going to show you how to attract and keep advertisers coming back to advertise on your blog and show advertisers what to look for to maximize roi on your ad buy!

In general most blog ad campaigns that you purchase directly from the blog owner are:

  • sold on a flat rate for a 30 day run.  Unlike typical ad networks that sell on a CPM basis blog owners find it easiest to manage ad sales on a flat rate for a given time period.
  • typically the ad unit sold is a 125×125 ad unit.  This has become a staple on blogs as it fits nicely into most templates.  The biggest problem with the 125×125 ad that you purchase on a blog is that the visitors you are trying to reach rarely see them!  They are tucked into the right margin of most blogs and mixed in with 4, 6, or 8 other advertisers vying for your attention.
  • no way to reach the rss readers.  Most ad campaigns don’t include a way to reach the rss readers of the blog as the website based banner ads do not show in rss readers.  Typically the rss readers are among the most passionate readers of the topic of the blog and it is a must for an advertiser to get in front of these enthusiasts.

The result of a standard blog advertising campaign is very little branding and even lower CRTs and visitors to your site.

How to Fix Blog Advertising

#1 – Blog owners need to think like advertisers! This is the overarching rule.  When it comes to ad placements and ad positions/formats you have to ask yourself: if I was paying to drive traffic to my blog what would that campaign look like?

#2 – The 125×125 isn’t going away but you must supplement it with “interruption sized” banner sizes and placements. My suggestion is adding in a 468×60 at the top of the site and a 300×250 at the bottom of individual post pages.  Then once all three units are in place you need to ROADBLOCK the two larger ad units for the same.  So for each page impression one of the advertisers would get their ad on the top of the site (468×60), an ad in the left margin (125×125) and your ad at the bottom of the post (300×250).  All advertisers will get 100% exposure in the 125×125 section on the right margin.

#3 – A monthly sponsor thank you post. The sponsor post serves two purposes: a. reach the rss readers who don’t see the website based and b. get the advertisers exposure in the content area of the page where readers won’t miss them.  Ideally the format allows the advertiser to add a logo and then a message that could be a description of their product/services along with a coupon code special for this site.

#4 – Creative creatives! The ad has to draw the visitor’s attention and entice a click.  Adding a call to action like “click here” “get started”, etc, can help.  It is important to try a number of different ads and test CTR to see what ads perform the best for you.  Even when you think you have one, it will go stale over time and ideally you are swapping out your creative monthly but this is hard to do.  Our most successful ad for TLA didn’t even mention our company name it was just this ad below run on TechCrunch:

The Blog Owner Cheat Sheet To Attracting and Keeping Advertisers (feel free to copy for your own blog!)

Advertising on XYX.com

Rates: $X per 30 day run

What you get: a 125×125 that gets 100% of pageviews in the right margin.  A 468×60 and 300×250 that will be shown together one out of every four page views.  Also* we will be doing a monthly sponsor post that will feature your products and services within the content area of our site and will reach our RSS subscribers!

What we need from you: three creatives: 125×125, 300×250, 468×60 (shown in order below)

Here is how to pay:

Send any questions, creatives to:

Hope this helps you as a blogger to make more money by attracting and keeping advertisers longer and helps advertisers see a better roi on their ad buys!

Seth Godin: Sliced Bread

Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers

Anthony Parinello: Your Price is Too High