Wouldn't it be great if every time someone
typed a word related to your business into Internet Explorer,
your site came up? That's the basic premise to the growing
number of companies offering "keyword in the browser"
services. You've probably seen their offers in your e-mail more
than once, offering to get your site a top position for those
hard-to-get keywords if you buy their services NOW - and it's
not cheap.
In working with clients to market their web sites, I get an e-mail
asking every month saying, "I got a call from a company saying
they can get me to the top of the search engines for the keyword
I really want if I buy now for $2,000."
Sounds great, but 'buyer beware' when you are dealing with these
too good to be true offers. I warn my clients to run the other
way!
--------------------------------------------".... in order
for your site to "pop up" for a keyword, the Internet
user has to have that keyword company's special software
loaded on their computer ...."
-------------------------------------------
There are a couple things that these companies tend to downplay
that make these services questionable at best. First, in order
for your site to "pop up" for a keyword, the Internet
user has to have that keyword company's special software already
loaded on their computer. These companies claim they have "millions"
of internet users with this special software loaded. Well, I bet
if you asked around, you'd be hard pressed to find ONE person
that has downloaded the company's software in question.
Second, they ask you to download their software, type in the
keyword and you'll see your spot is ready and waiting for you.
Why is it that there are so few participants in their system?
Also, if their service is so great, why is the spot for a normally
impossible to get keyword available? I have heard from a couple
clients that the software can be very intrusive and cause performance
problems on your computer. Who wants that? Even if you downloaded
it, you'd take it off your computer right away.
One other thing, many of these companies encourage you to pay
via money order or check. The reason? If you pay with a credit
card, you can charge back their fees or dispute the bill with
the credit card company. Never pay for services you are unsure
about (or that approach you first) with a debit card, check or
money order.
A new client of mine came to me after he paid $3,000 for one
of these services. He was trying to get the credit card company
to charge back the money spent, and not easily. Here's what he
shared with me, "Our experience with the keyword browser
companies is they are are all misrepresenting their ability to
produce click throughs. Anyone can start this type of business,
because it depends on people loading their keyword software on
consumers' computers without their knowledge. This is very deceptive
and should not be permitted."
In any case, Google has specifically warned against these types
of companies, and they do not support or endorse the keyword in
the browser services.
So what is a webmaster to do to expand your business online?
What really works is good old fashion marketing techniques, and
a long term plan for the next 6-12 months:
1. Find a marketer that can prove they have a track record
with real results, and real references. Don't let anyone pressure
you to spend thousands up front promising incredible results.
2. Ask around to see if your web developer or hosting company
knows of a reputable online marketing company. A good consultant
or company is willing to work with you and talks in terms of the
long term, and may even work with you on payments and pricing.
3. Do some research yourself. Any good marketer can point
you to some sites they work on - and you can do some manual searches
to see if you can get those sites to "pop up" on Google,
Yahoo, and/or MSN in the top 2 pages of results.
Don't get discouraged, and happy marketing!
