What happens after everyone is SEOd?

I have some tools on my web browsers that give me instant statistics on every website I look at. About 20 minutes ago I did a Google search for the phrase “cat care;” not because I have cats, but because I am looking for companies in this category who should become clients of mine. It’s always interesting to see who shows up on page one and then study how they achieved such a coveted position.

Here’s a funny one – Pet Place dot Com. Amazingly, 3,952 other websites have pointed links at this website. Oh, really??!! They started their website in June of 1998 (go to WhoIs dot com and look them up). So they’ve had time to acquire a good deal of outside websites who are fans…but 3,952? No Way. These guys have hired a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company who’s been planting links in directories all over the internet.

Strange inconsistencies

There’s another company out there called Cat Care dot Com who also shows up on page one on a search for the phrase “Cat Care” and they only have 82 links pointed at them. The difference? They’ve been around since 1996 and have a different approach to their website – one that Google and human beings like better.

Then I did a search for the phrase “Cat Food.” One of the top 10 websites is Iams dot Com. Amazingly 3,229 other websites have pointed a link at Iams dot Com. Did you point a link at Iams? I sure didn’t.

FancyFeast dot Com also started their website in 1996. Yet they have only 189 links pointing at their website. So why are both showing up on page 1 of a Google search for the phrase “Cat food?” We’ll get to that in a few paragraphs. First, what’s going on out there?

SEO link hammering and how to beat it with an honest approach.

Don’t get me wrong. SEO companies serve a purpose, especially in some categories. But when I see thousands of links pointing to a company’s website and they make cat food…come on now…something is wrong. Are that many people passionate about cat food? And why are so many crazy about Iams yet not Fancy Feast. My cats always loved the later brand far more than the former, but even then I didn’t get so excited about it that I got on every website I manage and point a link at the company. No, something is clearly going on here.

SEO companies make their money primarily by getting onto directories out there and planting links. There are 2 kinds of directories – 1. Listings like Search Site dot Com 2. Article submission sites like Buzzle dot Com

SEO guys typically hate the article approach because it requires a lot of work and it’s a slow way to build up off-page link credibility. There are some other arguments against this approach that make sense, like not wanting to compete against your own website. But a great reason to use these sites is that you can plant an anchor text link in a page full of relevant content full of key phrases. Google likes that.

Why this is good for you…and Ion Leap

In certain categories, it’s very clear that everyone on the top couple pages of a Google search results page (SERP) is using SEO companies to plant tons of links. So once every company out there has 22,000 outside links pointed at their website, then how will you compete?

You’ll have to put up relevant content for your audience and it will have to be really good content.

We have to admit, we do link building too. But Ion Leap does it in a far more careful way than just hammering links onto directories. I won’t go into our full approach here because it’s proprietary, but as you read through out website you’ll begin to see that the difference between us and SEO companies is that we’re very careful and are building lasting value for brands by using blog writer teams to create high value content writing. Internet marketing at Ion Leap is not instant. It can take us several months to get some companies in competitive categories ranked well. But once we achieve this with solid content writing by our blog writer teams and careful link building, you’ll be next to impossible to get around on the ranking.

If there’s a level above “white hat” in the world of SEO practices, that’s Ion Leap. We are a more careful internet marketing company.
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Steve St. Clair runs Ion Leap and, for fun, runs the Sinclair DNA study, which studies the history of the Sinclair family using the wonderfully accurate science of DNA. Through this study, Steve has applied the rigor of DNA he applies the clarity of marketing data and metrics to clients’ rankings on Google and Bing.