Comments on: Is it Silly to Think Rankings Build Businesses?

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:33:20 +0000

Hi Sally,
Very true and great points! Especially about the skills and touch point of answering the phone properly…it is the total package for sure! Thanks again for stopping by!

By: Sally Dillon

Sally Dillon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:55:30 +0000

Oh, and let’s not forget the importance of answering the phone and how the phone is answered!!! Your receptionist can gain or lose sales for you if she doesn’t have good phone answering skills.

By: Sally Dillon

Sally Dillon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:54:00 +0000

If you are getting visitors but no sales conversions, it’s time to do some split-testing or try this: find 10-20 sites that sell the same products and/or services that you sell. Compile them and then get as many people as you can to rate which one they would choose to do business with. The more people that participate, the better. Then emulate the “winning” site. Including testimonials, credentials, awards, community and charitable organizations that you are a member of, and especially photos and videos of the principals of the business all go a long way in building trust.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:44:41 +0000

Hi Lorraine,
Great point and analogy comparing rankings to brick and mortar inventory, systems, etc…as always thanks for being such a great loyal reader

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Sage advice as always, sir!

No question, I can say through personal experience of my business growth that rankings alone are inadequate for total success. They still make me tingle though!

Just like you can not have a successful brick and mortar business without both brick AND mortar…and inventory and systems, and policies, and etc., etc., you can not build a web business just on rankings. Seems only logical when you consider that life in general is too complex for any individual aspect to be the only necessary ingredient for success.

As always, many thanks for generating a sensible, honest dialogue on this often over-hyped subject.

Lorraine

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:56:54 +0000

Hi Gary,
Thanks for reading, glad the post helped!

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:56:00 +0000

Great article, it gives a better understanding about the important role that link building plays in in driving costomers to my site.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:19:33 +0000

Hi Alton,
Thanks for your comment and for reading!

By: Alton Duderstadt

Alton Duderstadt — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:49:07 +0000

I totally agree with you on this Nick [like I have started to do on many SEO issues]…building out the full scope of SEO is more important than ever. Being at the top of the SEs is not the end of the road. Well done sir.

Alton j.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:19:17 +0000

Hi Rifki,
Thanks for the comment…yeah I wish people really understood that there are no real shortcuts for SEO…

By: Rifki

Rifki — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:39 +0000

Well said Nick!

I guess we have all been a bit guilty of jumping on the bandwagon with this one. There are no shortcuts to ranking, rightly so, and it should only be achieved by trustworthy and quality content over a reasonable period of time.

Keep it up,
Regards

Rifki

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:10:51 +0000

Hi Mike,
Great point about keeping the eye off of the prize with short sighted view points…I wish more people could understand that simple but key point!

By: Mike Martin

Mike Martin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:33:21 +0000

At the end of the day, planning for the long haul is an integral part of the web planning. The short sighted victories of top rankings, regardless of the costs, take the eye off of the prize.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:09:09 +0000

Thanks everyone for the excellent additional comments! The key is to build your business online one step at a time…

By: Leslie McKerns

Leslie McKerns — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:53:50 +0000

Nick,
This is absolutely true – think of the brand and use the site to build trust. You said it well, “The recent economic climate has caused many industries to change their buying behaviors. It has caused potential buyers to look at things in a new light before making any type of purchase or inquiry.” There is so much information out there, no one even buys a pair of shoes any more without extensive research. The “buyer” is in a kingdom, with the ultimate power of, “No.” You have to answer the unspoken questions raised in the decision making process – and give naturally compelling reasons for the “Yes.”