The Power of a Name | How to beat "competitors" in Search
Starting up with a light read :) Most SEOs have a funny story (or few) to tell, similar to this one.
A co-worker asked me to help her friend in need. Mike, was running a small business. The task was to help overcome a new competitor that knocked Mike's business from top of Google. I said, "sure, why not?" and took a call from a devastated small business owner in... let's say it was Albuquerque.
Upon talking with Mike I found out that his windows installation company was always ranking high for a brand name and all of a sudden things changed:
"What is your company name?"
"Vista Windows!"
"And who's the new competitor?"
"Microsoft!!!"
Microsoft launched Vista Windows, and that was pretty much it for page-1 presence for anyone with that name :)
I explained why Microsoft is not really a competitor. I made a case that instead of pursuing ranking for "Vista Windows" top of Google, resources could be spent on building up his website with relevant content -- topics like types of windows available, details about installation process, benefits of double-pane windows, information about federal and local tax incentives for energy-efficient upgrades. I noted that local optimization is important, as people do search on "windows installation in Albuquerque" and other keywords. Review on Yelp could have been pursued. We adjourned.
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Later I found out Mike wasn't impressed with my advise... and hired marketing agency to help battle Microsoft.
I was disappointed. On one hand, I was not able to help Mike with his online endeavors. It was also discouraging to hear that my skills were not up to par with expectations.
Nonetheless, it was a great experience -- it taught me that I could be more effective in communicating opportunities (or lack thereof), better elaborate on what can be done to improve online presence and drive business.
Bottom line: don't hesitate to take on the tough projects, and embrace the experience.
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