Intent Group – SEOs are douche bags

I did a blog post a while ago about this, but I thought I would bring it up again to drive my point home.

Have you heard of SEO? It stands for ‘search engine optimization’ and if done correctly, can propel you to the top of Google search results (where it’s very important to be) for your industry’s search terms. Do you know how much extra business you could generate from having your name come up first when consumers/companies search for your industry? Many people use Google and there is no doubt that doing SEO on your business can impact the bottom line in a significant way.

However in this blog post I wanted to talk about the general douche baggery of SEO consultants.

You see my expertise is not in SEO (all though I’ve read a number of books on the subject) and I have had to deal with a number of SEO people throughout my business life.

The problem with people in the SEO industry is that there is no real qualification that you need to claim to be an ‘SEO Expert’ and what that leads to, as in many industries with a similar problem, is a lot of people taking that title that maybe… well don’t really deserve it. You’ll know these type of people when you see them, as they usually have a lot of hot air about them (arrogance). These fake ‘pretenders’ let’s call them, will usually strive to make what they do seem complicated… or even mystical, rather than trying to simplify things for you. You see, the more complicated they can make their job seem, the more money they can charge for their services.

Let me give you one specific example I came across recently.

I was browsing the internet (as everyone does) and saw an advertisement (as you do) for an SEO ‘webinar’. A webinar is basically an online training course, and this training course would be taught by someone named ‘Daniel Hayward’ who it seems from the advertisement is a marketing genius (have you noticed when people advertise themselves they never fail to mention that they’re the best in the industry)? Anyway Daniel claims to have built a list of 1.1 million opt in consumers (that’s a big number, and congratulations to him if it’s true and he did it ethically).

Now don’t you think it’s fair for me to do some research on Mr. Daniel Hayward before I register for his seminar? After all, we should do a little bit of digging to find out a little bit more about a person instead of taking his claims at face value right?

So why am I writing this blog post? What inspired me to once again vent my absolute annoyance at this industry?

So I went to this gentleman’s LinkedIn profile (since I couldn’t find a website). You can tell a lot from someone’s LinkedIn profile; most notable where they work and their accomplishments (I assume that’s the first thing people fill out when they get one of these accounts).

So what do we find on Daniel Hayward’s account? Well let’s take a peek inside…

So Daniel Hayward claims to be the BIGGEST in-house SEO company, not just in Sydney but Australia… pretty big claim. Especially when you consider the fact there’s no such thing as an in-house SEO company.

Let me explain.

The definition of in-house SEO is:

All the advertising activities that are done by one or more people within the company, with nocontribution from a specialized agency. (http://en.mimi.hu/marketingweb/in-house.html)

Basically when you bring SEO ‘in-house’ for your business you are effectively shunning a traditional SEO company/agnecy and hiring a full time SEO employee. So as you can see, bringing your SEO activities in-house is an alternative to hiring an SEO company. Basically this person is claiming to be the biggest company that provides a service that no company provides. It’s like me saying I have the biggest video production company that is run entirely on cheese… technically it’s true (because I eat a lot of cheese), but at the same time it’s not a thing.

But let’s not judge too quickly, let’s go check this company out and see what they’ve done, after all I’m sure the biggest ‘in-house SEO company’ in Australia would have a website. I’ll try Google and see if I can find this so called largest company.

Google search…

The first result is a Facebook page with… 174 fans. Wow… I’m just a little player and even I have more Facebook fans.

And if you were to look at their page it would seem they do Bali rentals:

By the way what better way to make a first impression than a stretched logo:

And it’s good to know they have a free @live.com account to field any enquiries.

 

But this is just their Facebook page. I’m sure the biggest SEO company in the world has an awesome website so let’s click through to intentseo.com.au and see these guys kick out of the ball park with some…

Wow…

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what I mean by SEO Douchebaggery. Now let me say I don’t know this Daniel Hayward character, I’m sure he knows his stuff when it comes to SEO and I have no doubt he’s a lot smarter than me (as far as search engine optimization goes) but do you really have to make these wild claims without thinking someone is going to call you out on it?

Anyway I’m out, speak later.

—-

By the way, I just wanted to mention that E-Web Marketing is a great company and I do not have anything but positive things to say about them. I actually dealt with them personally at one point, however if someone is associated with them and I have an opinion on it I will say, so I’m callling this person out.

—–

Update: later on in the day

I noticed a new ad has been put up and now the 1.1 million subscribers claim is missing.

Also it seems the LinkedIn profile for Daniel Hayward that I had may have been the wrong one (all though it still states Intent Group, but now he is CEO of Deals Daily)… which sounds familiar. However when I went to the page I found:

So I don’t know. Maybe this guy is the real deal… albeit with a bad hosting provider.

Personal Letter to Mr. Daniel Hayward – do not read below this point if you are not Daniel Hayward :p

I am not into making up half truths about people or businesses. If anything I have written in this article is factually incorrect or you would like to place a rebuttal feel free to write me (facts only) to – kosta [ at ] kostak4.sg-host.com and I will be sure to publish it below.