Hey American Express… I Trusted You and Look at Me Now

You fine folks are in store for the information of the century; - WOW - is all I have to say.

I have great news for those of you searching for information about how to rank better in Google. I received a packet from American Express earlier this week,  and to be honest, I was not aware of  the “true gem” I would find when I first decided to explore the contents, and all I can say, is that opening the package was likely the best decision I have ever made… I think.

 It seems American Express entered the search business and is offering its spam, err, mailing list of small businesses a few tid bits of useful information. Yep, American Express sent (probably millions) small business owners information about how to rank better “naturally” on search engines.

From the packet –

“the copy you use on you website – especially in your page headers – affects when and where you appear in search results.

Optimizing your website to appear more frequently in search results can be as simple as choosing the right keywords and phrases:”

I will point out – especially in your page headers, (title is fine but keywords and meta description…come on!) – and – can be as simple as -

The copy then goes on to describe a few tips for “natural search marketers” to use when deciding on good headers and page copy.

I may have been a little misleading in the introduction and I do apologize. The point, the trusted American Express has no business offering a half ass recommendation on search engine optimization, and it is clear as day why. This troubles me because it will lead business owners down a long path of no results. A trusted source, American Express, sent this information out in their “Small Business Marketing” packet and the information will likely cost thousands of business owner’s time and money.

They will first try to learn what headers are, then they will try to develop “proper headers”, then they’ll develop keyword rich content, and wait and wait and wait. How many of those business owners will sit and wait for results that don’t come? Only to realize that they have waited for nothing and they may now be out of other options.

A simple introduction to search engine optimization (SEO), the benefits it can have on a business and  for a website, and information about where they can find more details, would be more suiting – IMO. 

In actuality, American Express is either terribly misinformed or playing it safe. Imagine the lawsuits that would arise from a half ass education about the value of link building without going into details about how to obtain good, quality links to go with that keyword rich content?

Business Owner: “Yeah I got this card from American Express and it told me to build links, who knew they did not mean to spam the world?  I am now banned from Google and out of business” –

It’s an unfortunate truth, but all corporate entities need to play it safe in everything they do – were the tips that bad, not really but kind of, did I expect more from American express…Yes – after all, I do trust them with many financial commitments.

On a positive note, they did provide some decent information about creating a user-friendly website, the packet is not all bad, but it is liken to sending a soldier to war without the training. So please, American Express, leave the 90s optimization tips to those companies that don’t have our trust.

If you had a few paragraphs, what tip would you give… assuming you have a lot to lose if you get it wrong. Maybe the approach American Express took wasn’t so bad (it was)…what do you think?

Finally, real, valuable information from a respected friend Dan Schulz -

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=413544