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Summary
- Why, when searching for SEO agencies or experts, do we appear on obscure pages or not at all for some high-traffic keywords.
- To illustrate this point, let’s consider the case of a medical lab that launched a new drug and contacted us to market it.
- Knowing the key to commercialization was the prescribers, we proposed an alternative strategy that minimized the impression that the lab had done no campaigns for their new drug.
You offer SEO services, but you don’t rank for the most important keywords! That has been one of the comments many customers have showered on us. It’s been also one more echo from the experiences of our early SEO experts, who co-created Pulseweaver and continue to evolve it by working together with a lot of other former SEO agencies. Let’s now evaluate whether this really is an important criterion. Let us move ever closer to the crux of the question.
Addressing a Common Critique
We’ve heard this comment countless times. When it came from clients, we’d simply say, “You found us, didn’t you? That’s no coincidence!” But for the first time, we’re addressing this openly, although we’ll keep some details private while being honest about the issue.
Why We Don’t Rank for Popular SEO Keywords
Why, when searching for SEO agencies or experts, do we appear on obscure pages or not at all for some high-traffic keywords? The straightforward answer is: we’re not interested. In fact, we even de-index elements that might lead to high rankings for those keywords!
Does This Mean We Don’t Want Clients?
Quite the opposite! Of course, we need clients to continue growing. But the real question is: what kind of visitors will we attract if we rank for these keywords? Are they worth the effort? The answer is no.
We made this mistake early on, achieving top rankings for major keywords according to SEMrush and Ahrefs, resulting in significant traffic. However, it was disproportionate to our revenue and added extra costs to manage the traffic, reduce bounce rates, and handle session durations.
Lessons Learned from Our Initial Mistakes
We realized that most visitors were curious onlookers, competitors, or people seeking ideas to implement themselves. That’s when we had an epiphany: do our clients face the same issue?
Real-World Example: The Medical Lab
To illustrate this point, let’s consider the case of a medical lab that launched a new drug and contacted us to market it. To protect their identity, we’ll say it was a migraine medication.
The lab asked us to be visible on keywords like “migraine remedy” to compare our proposal with their usual provider. However, such keywords put you up against all sorts of content – grandma’s advice blogs, affiliate sites, gurus, therapists, scientific articles, and of course, other labs with established solutions. After analyzing the search profiles, we quickly realized this wasn’t the right approach.
Knowing the key to commercialization was the prescribers, we proposed an alternative strategy that minimized the impression that the lab had done no campaigns for their new drug. Despite this, not only did it exceed their expectations, but what they loved was that competitors didn’t even realize for several months that their sales decline was caused by this medication. This gave the lab time to build loyalty and secure their gains, and we gained a client that truly propelled our development.
Conclusion: Technical Skill vs. Strategy
Technically, we were proficient, but our strategy was flawed! They say luck is being prepared when opportunity strikes. We were fortunate to correct our approach. A Google update, as they often do, reshuffled the web, redistributing power.
Fortunately, most of our clients weren’t severely impacted, although we put in many extra hours. Some clients, however, were thrown into what we call the “Google graveyard.” This was a turning point in our journey.
Refining Our Approach
A thorough analysis involving several team members helped us eliminate all causes until we pinpointed the two common factors among those who experienced downgrades. We then targeted these sites, knowing which searches we needed to appear for, and crafted an almost irresistible message because it was exactly what they were looking for.
A New Strategy for Client Acquisition
The beauty of this strategy was that clients no longer needed convincing. It was simple: sign a contract, and if we didn’t deliver, we’d refund them! For certain searches, we achieved about 90 clicks out of 100 searches, resulting in 60 contracts. So, would you rather put in the effort for a keyword with 1 million searches that converts at 0.1%?
The Benefits of Our Approach
Today, we benefit from the chaos caused by some so-called experts, who inadvertently prepare prospects for our services, reducing our client acquisition costs and sales expenses. A satisfied client returns and refers others. What’s more, we shield our clients from being audited and compared, ensuring they dominate with the best bounce rates and session durations.
The Importance of Choosing the Right SEO Agency
There’s no shortage of agencies offering SEO services, and it can be tempting to choose based on price alone. However, it’s crucial to listen to each agency’s proposal and assess whether it truly meets your needs.
While we don’t aim to disparage our competitors, we believe that the best SEO agencies have a deep understanding of the intricacies of search engines and user behavior. They combine technical proficiency with strategic thinking, tailoring their approach to each client’s unique goals and challenges.
When evaluating potential SEO partners, look for those who take the time to understand your business, your target audience, and your competitive landscape. They should be able to articulate a clear, data-driven strategy that goes beyond simply chasing rankings for popular keywords.
Remember, the cheapest option may not always be the most effective. Investing in a quality SEO agency that delivers targeted, qualified traffic can pay dividends in the long run.
Final Thoughts
We even changed our business name to something unrecognizable to most. But if you ever need us, you’ll quickly realize you’ve found the right place. Still want to be the best? To appear first for the main keyword? Good luck with that, but we’re taking a different path 😉
The Added Complexity with Pulseweaver
It’s more complicated than that. Pulseweaver was created with the same principles: prioritize traffic quality. Its analyses align with this and Pulseweaver results surpass most current SEO services. And it will achieve even more with upcoming updates. However, some skills of top SEO experts, essential for certain tasks, are nearly impossible to teach a machine, especially when it comes to human behavior or unique cases previously encountered. When Pulseweaver needs an expert, they’ll step in behind the scenes to assist him in his mission.
