Calls from Manchester offering to get my Google listing to the top for my area!

[SJD]

I wonder how many others are getting calls from an outfit in Manchester, that claims to be able to promote my webpage so it will come up at the top when someone searches for an electrician in my town? It almost sounds like Google themselves are calling (possibly that is the aim), but if you query them, it is some company claiming to be working on Google's behalf. The calls come from 0161 228 2134.

I've had several of these calls, eventually as I question them in detail, they seem to suddenly turn a bit rude and say they are wasting their time, and hang up. The cost always seems to be something like £125 or £145 for the first month, and always they seem to have just the one position/slot free, like you must hurry!

 

[ifindoubtdont]

The name of the game is KEY WORDS. If you take any half dozen consecutive words from your web page and Google it, it stands a good chance you will come up top of the page. The trick now is find the words customers would use to search for an Electrician, use these words in your 1st paragraph and dot them around the rest of your web site. Don't just repeat the same words in the same order as Google will spot it and drop you out of the search. I did this for some caravans I rent out in Mid Wales, it took a bit of twiddling but I got there in the end. Hope this saves you a few quid. Best of luck. Steve.

 

[Arnold Layne]

SJD, if I were you I'd stay away from the company in Manchester. There appears to be a company with a Manchester number which is a call centre whose personnel deploy the tactics you have described. I came across them for another technology application, not Google, so it may not be the same.But when I Googled the phone number it came up with a list of complaints against it and had been selling for a variety of known brands allegedly.The tactics I experienced were also rudeness and the phone being slammed down and the complaints on the site highlighted the same problem. Ifindoubtdont's advice is likely to be a much better bet.

 

[SJD]

Thanks for the comments. The first time this company called, they were quite persuasive, but I made myself a rule a while back that I never sign up on the spot to anything, as too often things are not quite as they appear. I have already made some effort to sprinkle pertinent key words around my web site, and I'll take another look to see if I can improve things.

As a more general comment, I find it sad in a way that instead of google simply ranking web sites on relevance to the search, there is now this whole industry of bribing either google or some third party to get higher up the results. And if I search for something to buy, the top listings are often filled with junk results from people who certainly don't sell it directly but try to pretend they do.

 

[Spazz]

I can do this free of charge.

Do a Google search for how to get top of Google and follow that fully - its works!

I have done mine 100% to that and if anyone searches for an Electrician in my area I am in the top 5.
Yell will never move from the top mind no matter what you do!

 

[1shortcircuit]

Netsearch Media?

I was contacted and when querying the authenticity of the company posing AS Google I was transferred to a very convincing line Manager. Whilst on the phone I decided to google the company name and the first few reviews were nothing but scams!

I've just been searching for the email they sent me but appears I may have deleted it?

It is a scam!

 

[Marvo]

There are a lot of scammers who'll take your money and promise you search engine rankings they don't deliver so be very careful.

There are on the other hand also companies who do SEO effectively by using a lot of techniques such as back linking, affiliating, uploading regular published content to your site, key words, blogging etc etc. The companies that are good at this will have a proven track record so you should be able to find good reports about them also they don't usually use cold-calling as their primary method of finding new customers.

 

[1shortcircuit]

I have adopted the attitude now that anyone who cold calls is a Scammer! Better to be safe than sorry, especially when money is harder to come by these days.

If I want a service now I will do my own research and try where possible to use a local company.

 

[Strima]

After Googling the phone number it definitely appears to be a scam. I never trust a cold calling company and they get the usual abuse down the phone or left on 'hold' to listen to Motorhead for a while...