Why banks, major retailers are difficult to find in search engine results

Awarded at Toronto "Ultra Advanced SEO Symposium" Nov. 2005.

Why banks and major retailers and insurance companies are so difficult to find in search engine results

Seoza News February 25th 2005 Number 505. We came across this UK article the other day which mirrors the exact situation we see in South Africa ... here's brief introduction to the article ...

"The majority of FTSE 100 companies have failed to make their websites visible to potential customers on leading search engines such as Yahoo, Google and MSN, research released today has claimed. According to a poll by search firm The Search Works (formerly known as WSPS), almost two thirds of the official websites of FTSE 100 companies did not appear in the first page or top 10 results of a simple online search using keywords such as 'travel', 'insurance' or 'bank' " ... read full article http://www.vnunet.com/news/1161434

Back in SOUTH AFRICA

You may already know that we rank number 1 or 2 on Ananzi for "Internet Banking" and as we jokingly say (sometimes not a joke) ... we don't have any money in the bank never mind that we don't know anything about banking. We are normally number 2 or 3 for insurance. Yes you're right, we know nothing about Insurance either BUT we do know more, and a lot lot more, than any bank or insurance company or major retailer about getting found on search engines. And we know how to turn this capability into money ...

To make matter worse you cannot even find most of the major retailers when you type their brand name into Ananzi

There is a complete reluctance to learn about the Internet and what makes it work ... yet these same organizations will spend millions on useless ads in magazines, newspapers and TV. For this the major organizations pay large amounts of money and have no idea whether they get a return on investment (ROI) or not.

But this is fantastic ... we love it because it means that as small operators we can run rings around these major establishments and so can you ... if you want to.

The Internet is THE GREAT LEVELLER ... it is not important that you know all the politicians, that you have "important" members on the board, and the size and location of your office block is totally irrelevant

Man, I can get carried away on this subject but why should I? ... These "pillars of the economy" should WAKE UP.

My ISP "M" ... now known as The Silent ISP

This brings me to the silent ISP ... begins with "M".

So far this week I have received notification from 2 ISP's that ADSL charges will be reduced. But from the claimed biggest, "the leader" and the one that happens to be my ISP total silence. I wonder why?

On Wednesday after learning of the price reduction from S A Domain in Cape Town I rang "M". Of course there was nothing that could be done but I was promised that someone would call me back ... do you think anyone has called me back 2 days later? Almost forgot they did tell me that for the extra I was paying "M" I did have access to things like their online encyclopaedia ...

If I ever refer to the "Silent One" in future you all know I mean "M" ... the company that hides or lurks is a better description. For years ISP's have overcharged (by a vast amount and I can show this quite easily) for domain registration and hosting here in South Africa.

Hopefully and at long last the consumer is at the beginning of a fair deal but it would be nice if the so called leader "M" took a leadership position for a change. I messed up by allowing my main email address, that I registered many years, ago to be hosted by this company and because this email address is important to me and because it is spread all over the world it is difficult (not impossible mind you) for me to change ISP's

Bid or Buy

In the USA many tens of thousands make a full time living from participating in on-line auctions using Ebay

I personally have no experience of these auctions but William our colleague does and he has some exciting things to say about Bid or Buy's updated program. However what I have already learned is that the same basic understanding required to succeed on search engines is also needed to succeed on the auctions. William uses Bid or Buy to sell Koi ... and if you want to make a bid try William's koi auction (not suggesting you bid but see how it works). If you have not joined already you need to. Do this by clicking our affiliate link ... then don't forget to take a look at what William is selling (you won't believe it ...)