How stupid can junky SEO companies be?

I hate phone sellers...

[Wlauzon]

Just had a call Friday from some (supposed) SEO outfit that is going to make it all better for us. Said they were going to get us much better ranking for our main keywords.

I told them that we are already #1 in the 3 major keywords on both Google and Yahoo.

So the salesman went on to tell me that they could improve on that ....

What is better than #1 position - your own private Google page?

[Terabytes]

LMAO....

I've had the same type of calls, after you show them you're #1, some just hang up.

Others try real hard to convince me that I can do even better using their optimization techniques...

(again...better than #1?)

The first statment I make is usually "have you even checked my ranking?"

They say no....usually...

Or they try to convince me that the terms I rank well for (..and are making money) are not what I need...

they feel that I need to be found for "better" (...read, more obscure) terms like "nigerian custom widgets and 419's" along with others that have nothing to do with my business and wouldn't convert if I offered a free house with every purchase....

(sigh!)

[wolfadeus]

Sure there's lots of spammers out there, but you can always go further than where you currently are - you might be number 1 for your top 3 keywords, but there are plenty of others you could go for to increase traffic. So I would partly disagree with your criticism.

[Essex_boy]

Its poor salesmanship really I suspect they mean there are other interesting keywords to go after but fail to state this, which leads me to suspect the phone callers arent in SEO but cold calling.

Which makes sense really

[Wlauzon]

but you can always go further than where you currently are

That will always be true - but I am also sure that some SEO company that has to cold-call people for business is not going to do much for me.

And the fact is, we also show up on the first page of searches for many other niche terms.

But the point really is that the last people I would trust to get me better conversions or traffic or anything is one that has to call me up to get business - and does not even know what search terms I might be using.

[Car_Guy]

What is better than the #1 position?

Making so much money from your site that you can finally forget about improving it every day, junk ads, the quality of your backlinks, page loading speed, browser compatibility issues, toolbar PageRank, your site's rankings, Google data center differences, or having to read between the lines on insiders' blogs.

[Wlauzon]

I guess we have a ways to go then :(

[Essex_boy]

Is this teh time for me to pitch for your SEO contract :0

[Automan Empire]

It seems even mini-bell companies who are major internet backbones are not above this type of pitch.

Seriously, I got a call extolling the virtues of switching my DSL service to them, which comes with a FREE home page, which they will for free submit to OVER 50 SEARCH ENGINES!

I pointed out that their company has been my provider for over 5 years, including the free website, and where is all this promised traffic on my website? What a quick way to get a cold call salesperson off the phone! :)

[jsinger]

Bell's have been awful for years.

Opened my phone bill today and was shocked to see a disconnect notice even tho the bill was only slightly overdue by their math. My own records showed I was current.

Wife called frantically, of course, and was indeed told our account was current.

Then the collection woman asked about our internet service and whether we'd want to switch to ATT.

No, Thank You!

[Wlauzon]

which comes with a FREE home page...

"A" free home page?

Wow that will get you far in ecommerce.

[Essex_boy]

Well there are those that dont know much....

[DamonHD]

...and those that know even less and so teach, cold-sell or consult?

(I am in one of those categories... B^>)

Rgds

Damon