Paid backlinks are as ridiculous as cats in hats!

It is truly amazing and astounding the amount of time, money and human energy that is devoted these days to generating backlinks to client’s websites. We all know that backlinks are valuable for any website. And it seems everyone is clamoring for simple, easy, effective ways to generate these without monthly/yearly costs, without spammy, misguided efforts, and without the exposure to the Black Knights of Google sweeping down from above and shutting down whatever marketing efficacy you have generated for your site. Right?

With so many different kinds of services and so many types of providers, it can be damn near impossible to cut through the clutter and actually know who to believe and what services is right for you. Plus, if you believe what you read on the web, backlinks are being slowly devalued over time and, worse, they can lose you whatever rankings you have for pages that link to “bad” paid-backlink sites. Just search:  ”paying for backlinks is bad“.

Whether paying for backlinks is kosher or not is a debate for another time. The problem I have is that I get comments on this designforseo blog that are dishearteningly stupid and alarmingly bizarre with a pinch of dizzyingly illiterate. Here’s a little sample of what I’m talking about from recent comments:

• Peach on the certified plat – “vxvxvxv” is the autochthonous rags and lifestyle brand denominate with an expos?set on in the elephantine outdoors and East Run Ivy League.Bienvenue teem parcouri
• The good blog very much was pleasant I will watch your news
• I read that a radiation wit and lithe at one is cured on more control and maneuverability. And see fit pull the plug on me
• Awesome Story, I can TOTALLY Relate and am in a similar situation with upcoming success
• By us at the moment to obtain more facts and facts anyway Come to see us contemporary to obtain more information and facts anyway
• Here sells brand-new vibram five-fingers athletic shoes, 2011 year new design vibram five fingers

The saddest thing about the above comments submitted to my blog is that these are all likely “paid backlinks” submitted by digital marketers and paid-backlink service providers. REALLY? How do you think I feel about having to review 1000s of these kinds of blatant attempts to use my blog for your advertising and backlinking efforts? I assure you I am not interested and report you all as spam. That means you; Bad Icecream, Charles Meowth, Alexander Cellulite, Rex Ryan (ok, he might be real…,) and all of the fictitious commenters who come to my blog and try to get  APPROVED -well, it isn’t going to happen.

Bottom line: engaging the visitor with content that matters is the best way to create traffic to a website. Same goes for generating backlinks – nothing replaces real, pertinent dialogue with a website’s stakeholder. Building backlinks takes time and intelligence, not money. Do it the right way.

E-commerce conversion rates are dependent on design and SEO - true/false?

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for most stakeholders of websites is their conversion rates. It is also their weakness when it comes to listening to pitches from SEO/digital marketing firms who come calling. Because most websites convert in the single digits, it’s easy to fall prey to digital marketing strategies that predict higher conversions, bigger sales numbers, and better ranks.

Looking over the initial comments from a July 20th, 2010 Charles Nicholls‘ article, “Debunking Myths from the Top 10 Converting Websites,” we see that most of the highest converting websites are supported by formidable catalog/direct mail campaigns (and large national advertising budgets!). I know from my own experience that Lands End does a great job of referring to the website during each and every phone conversation; supporting and fostering the customer’s use and understanding of the “place” of the website in the sales process and in future transactions. Relying only on the e-commerce pipeline seems to leave customers on an island; making it difficult for them to navigate from old direct mail models to newer e-commerce sales processes.

Look at each of these websites. They all take a very different tack when it comes to overall design, user experience, and shopping carts. The site Womanwithin has big, bold targets that promote sales and discounts, while a site like Office Depot highlights weekly specials in the rotating banner area supported by other navigation menus and dense silos of links below the fold.

So it seems that the e-commerce/conversion success formula has less to do with user experience, interactive design, and keyword bundles and, in the end, has more to do with brand-building, penetrating markets, consistency of message across channels, and having a keen understanding of what their customers want. In the end, this is exactly what marketers and advertising agencies have been saying for 50 years, while SEO and content strategists have been saying for ten years that providing content that engages the visitor and clearly communicates a point of view will yield positive results. This is the formula for e-commerce/conversion success.