SEO Marketing and PPC Caution – Hijacked By HiBu

Hijacked by HiBu

Happy November!

To kick off our first blog post of the month.

A little “reporting.”

Picture the scene.

You’re locked out of your car, your house or place of your business.

Or… a tenant left your building. They were on the shady side so you want the locks changed ASAP.

Either way… you need a Locksmith.

Sure… you might know one – but play the game and imagine you don’t.

Years ago you’d reach for the Yellow Pages.

This time you grab your laptop or your phone.

You search. Bingo – you find what you’re looking for.

This scenario plays out every day in every city and town.

One Locksmith smelled a rat.

He was dealing wiht HiBu (based on in the U.K.) for some “PPC” marketing.

He was doing some Search Ads – Paying for placement on search.

Anyway… The story goes that HiBu added a bunch of “fake” Locksmith listings to the search results.

Almost creating bogus companies and content to eat up search results.

This would then drive up costs per click so HiBu could allegedly charge the Locksmith more for placement and management of his campaigns.

The Locksmith cross-referenced the data with the data on file in his state because every Locksmith must register with the state.

He’s suing for a bunch of the green stuff.

I guess there are several lessons buried in here – but the key lesson is.

For good or bad  – SEO marketing comes down to how much competition you’re dealing with.

When it comes to Organic Search Marketing….

Making your website and business more authoritative than the competition is key.

What you’ll have to do is related to what your competition is doing. If they’re tough. You’ll have to be tough.

Same goes with PPC… more competitors… and the cost of the clicks are driven up.

Clarity before you start is key.

Checking your stats and knowing your competition is crucial.

Have a great week!