Comments on: People who believe the SEO Magic Bullet Theory.

By: SEO ranking estimates and timeframes - common questions, uncommon answers. - Jim Boykin’s Internet Marketing Blog

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:45:39 +0000

[...] Just copying a lead (edited) here for your viewing. Nothing too special, just how I sometimes respond. Sometime I respond "very professional", and sometime I’m more slack depending on my mood. I was also suprised that he asked all his questions without divulging his URL. I think it might be one of those Magic SEO Bullet people…maybe. Hi Jim, I contacted XXX XXX regarding his SEO services and he referred me to you. My web site is in the business of allowing people to create xxx xxxx, xxxxx,xxxxx, etc. online. It is similar in concept to xxxxx.com… The goal is to get on page 1 of search results with those guys for ‘xxxx xxxx’, ‘create xxxx xxxx…’ etc., and as far up the page as possible. While I understand that there are no guarantees, what type of results do you estimate you could achieve and at roughly what price? Would you be able to do the entire thing without resorting to ‘black hat’ techniques so that my business would not be involved in anything offensive to Google or other search engines that could put the site in jeopardy? How long do you estimate such a campaign would take to achieve results? Thanks much and I look forward to hearing from you, Mxxxxx [...]

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 13:38:37 +0000

You think those are the problem? Easily educated.

It’s the ones who say that they want a PR6, know SEO, and will correct me if they see I’m doing it wrong. I’ve received that before.

By: NeoNetMarketing

NeoNetMarketing — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:51:25 +0000

People who believe the SEO Magic Bullet Theory

Jim Boykin opened a conversation about people that believe there is a Magic Bullet to SEO work

…

By: Sophie Wegat

Sophie Wegat — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 21:28:32 +0000

It’s not a lost opportunity, it’s saving yourself a huge headache.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 21:18:55 +0000

Please treat the very savvy folks I refer to other SEOs with respect

Seriously, the best response is “sorry I’m busy for the next few months/years/decades, please take a look at the seoconsultants Web site”.

By: Kyle Posey

Kyle Posey — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 19:32:47 +0000

Well, that’s a tough one. You want to educate these kinds of people, to help them understand how hard seo work can be. However, these kinds of people “know a guy” who’s used those types of services before, and was pleased with them. At that point, it almost seems pointless to pursue the sale because they have already set themselves up for dissapointment.

Heck, you should tell them that you don’t know of anyone that can show results on that type of service, but encourage them to find someone who can and get them to let you know when they do find them. You could even offer them a reward for finding the silver bullet. Then they will go out and self-educate, and then hopefully come back to you after they realize that those schemes don’t work.

By: Marshall Clark

Marshall Clark — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 19:31:01 +0000

I try to spend as little time on them as possible. Maybe send them a politely worded email saying you’re booked solid for the next 6-24 months and pointing them towards one of the SEO consultant directories.

I think some people manage to learn just enough about a subject to think that they don’t have anything else to learn. These people can be dumber than a box of hair.

/-marshall