How Are They Doing This?

by 11 replies
13
I got a call from a company that promised to put me on the top of the sponsored links in Google for a flat monthly fee without paying for the clicks.

I asked for example searches I could do and was told to google:

mobile auto detailing los angeles

and

led grow lights

Sure enough, his clients were at the top of the sponsored listings on the top, not the sidebar.

They're only charging $150/month and guarantee the placement. If I was paying for the clicks through adwords, it would be much more.

My question is, how are they doing this?

I'm actually doing SEO for a company right now, but it's all organic search, no adwords.

Thanks for helping to solve this mystery for me.

Zach
#search engine optimization #ppc
  • While I admit PPC is out of my comfort zone, they could be using coupons. Some big PPC players get huge (there was actually just a thread about a $1700 coupon) coupons via Adwords. Just a guess.
  • Or it could be that they've done very in depth keyword research and have identified those terms they know they can make a profit on. Do you give them they keywords, or are they choosing them based on a seed word you provide?
    • [1] reply
    • This would have more to do with the landing page than anything and the QS would take quite some time to get cheaper clicks.
  • You will want to find all the details about that offer as it might not be what you think it is.

    $150/month may only get you in position #1 while you still have credit, not for the entire month. $150 might only get you $130 worth of clicks or something, you just don't have to worry about paying the the clicks yourself.

    Ask them what the minimum amount of traffic you should expect for $150 and if the spot is guaranteed for all searches for the entire month.
    • [1] reply
    • They said it stays up all month long and gets an unlimited number of clicks for the flat fee.
      • [1] reply
  • They provided the keywords. However, I've done the research and agree that the keywords they chose are good. I'm not considering using them as we're already number one in generic search. I just want to know how they're pulling this off.

    I actually told the salesman I'd think about his offer and get back to him. His response was, "Don't bother calling me back, I'm just going to go sell the placement to somebody else." He then hung up.

    The company is NetBiz.com
  • I just had a very quick look and there are some unhappy customers with them. It might be worth having a bit of a dig.

    NetBiz.com and SEO : Lead Generation Companies
    • [1] reply
    • I bumped into firm that was doing this at a trade show.

      Its very geo targeted - or this one was. They are doing massive buys for PPC. You get to leverage their buying power ... and its a special offer google is doing for them and a few other seo firms.

      it was a bit ago ... there was some quirky things with it but ... seems like it was legit. There was a time commitment and some other stuff.
  • Zach, does the traffic for the keywords work out as a bargain at say a 2% CTR? Are they GEO targeting the traffic? If so, what is the traffic like for the region they are targeting. Did they mention to you the $80 setup fee?

    I don't think they will be relying on coupons or special buying power; they are just Google Adwords Qualified like many other companies. There is no special arrangement with Google.

    I had a bit more of a look and there are some unhappy chappies on numerous blogs. The BBB site (I guess that is fair trading or similar?) has 39 complaints in the last 38months with a rating of C-.

    The iVouch site does have a perfect record though - every rating is 5/5 for all reviews.
  • After doing some looking around, it seems that they're just cherry picking easy to rank for keywords that don't have much competition and therefore aren't very valuable.

    I also think it's odd they promised to not place any of my competitors in the same spot in the sponsored listings results. Well, what if somebody else decided to bid on the same keywords? They can't stop the rest of the world from competing with them. I think they're making promises they can't guarantee.

    I have to say, I was somewhat intrigued at first, but once the salesperson got rude, I was done with them.
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    How Are They Doing This?

    I got a call from a company that promised to put me on the top of the sponsored links in Google for a flat monthly fee without paying for the clicks. I asked for example searches I could do and was told to google: