professionals rarely share real success stories //

With a few exceptions, most SEO professionals are afraid to share their successes stories.

Many people are unable to share their work, even if it is successful. How can SEOs stop “ghost optimization”

Let’s first look at the causes of the continuing secrecy among SEO professionals and the prevailing negativity.

Anyone heard of SEO horror stories?

#seohorrorstories has been one of the most used SEO hashtags in recent years.

Why is it that SEO professionals are more inclined to share the terrible failures of their industry and those of their colleagues than they are to share their own successes?

Are these the negative generalities of society? Is there an internal problem that is causing the situation to worsen?

It’s likely to be both.

First, recent years have seen a downward spiral in public debate. Trolling has replaced diplomacy.

How can anyone else maintain civility in everyday conversations when even the presidents are provoking people online?

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have also capitalized on anger and fear.

This “bad news” is sent straight to the lizard brain, eliciting fearful and angerful reactions without consulting the brain parts responsible for logic thinking.

It’s no surprise that the SEO industry is a highly professional one, but the conversation has turned into “OMG!” That is nonsense! It’s so stupid!

Although I may be exaggerating, this is the essence of many shares where #seohorrorstories are concerned.

These are not just cautionary tales. It is also a way to ridicule those who are too reckless to use old SEO techniques.

The idea is that if one cannot shed light on their successes, they can then highlight the failures of others. They will indirectly be able to compare themselves with others and thus appear better.

This is just guesswork. There may be different motivations behind horror stories. Most cases are not motivated by gloat or malice.

“Look at this random graph. The growth is amazing!”

A compromise is also available, anonymous “success stories” – in which the success stories can’t be fully reexamined by peers.

These stories are a middle ground between success stories and failure stories. What logic is there to these stories?

There will be many social media posts that are random graph-based and have no URL.

It is usually an analytics screenshot that has been clumsily anonymized prior to publication. The stellar growth they show lacks credibility.

I am often acquainted with people who have similar success stories so I know they won’t lie.

They usually add as much context to the case as possible, but don’t give away any important details so you can’t track down the website.

What about potential clients and industry outsiders?

They don’t know who is sharing the graphs or how reliable the information is.

What’s the point of sharing graphs with no context?

Again, I am only guessing.

• SEO professionals try to communicate their expertise in this way.
• Others share their joy at making it happen out of pure joy.
• Some people may need additional information about what happened after things went wrong.

Be aware that many #seohorrorstories remain anonymous. This allows for some peer review within a small area. It’s better than none, right?

Do you have any SEO heroes stories?

You may have noticed. I’ve been searching for SEO heroes (as in super-hero) stories for the past two months. It has been very aggressive.

The SEO industry had far fewer success stories to share than the bad news. It was surprising to me that not even the possibility of additional publicity motivated many SEO companies, consultants or in-house SEOs to share their success stories with me.

To encourage sharing positive examples of #seohorrorstories, I created a hashtag similar to #seohorrorstories. However, it felt like I was the only one using it.

Are SEO professionals ashamed of their work?

It’s not surprising that some people don’t want to be SEO practitioners, given the bad reputation the industry has earned over the past 25 years.

Many SEOs continue to engage in unethical activities, and they may be ashamed to admit it.

Others may be simply afraid. I investigated the causes of this fear and found these.

Manual Google penalties

This fear is a long-standing one among SEO professionals, dating back to the beginning. Sometimes, it was suicide to expose yourself as an SEO practitioner and mention the website you are working on.

Google introduced the term “manual actions” in a somewhat bizarre way. However, penalties were known to be imposed without warning and often after too much publicity.

This fear is not rational. It’s also irrational, as are most fears.

SEOs aren’t criminals and hiding is not required in most cases.

‘Secret sauce’ copycats

A second, but more likely scenario is where your competition steals your “secret sauce” SEO techniques and copies them.

This is possible, but it is important to know who your competitors are on the internet. Many SEOs will still use the phrase “businesses that sell the same thing in the exact same area” for their keywords.

Google SERPs, or “SERP real property”, is a reality. You mainly compete with the web giants.

• Google promotes its own ads and services above organic results.
• Amazon and Wikipedia are huge websites that have a high popularity.

Is it really possible for a colleague or competitor to your business to do so by reviewing your website’s SEO?

A tool like Semrush allows anyone to look up your secrets and quickly find out what on-page and off-page SEO is. Why hide your success?

Competitors who steal clients

Another concern is that SEOs might see your work and contact you to “steal” your clients.

This is what people do. Over the years, I received numerous notifications from clients about such efforts.

However, I doubt I have lost any clients in this way. Why? Why?

Most likely not. It was also a beginning time for me.

This is a very sneaky tactic that many business people don’t like. You may be able to remove them if they are.

Clients who are toxic often cause more harm than good for your financial health. This lesson was hard for me to learn over the years as I tried to please everyone.

The common reasons for not sharing SEO work I have mentioned are often irrational fears or traditions, and not just excuses.

It is possible that someone doesn’t want to share their website address or “stellar growth” charts. This is because the work is still being done.

Other parts of the project were still far from ready for prime-time, so it was not a good idea sharing them early. I have only heard this justification once, even though I asked numerous times.

NDA: The fearsome acronym

The non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a common reason for not publishing actual results, disclosing website addresses, or client names. This agreement can also be called a “gag Order” since most SEO professionals must keep their mouths shut about their work.

This point was highlighted by John Doherty, Brendan Hufford and other search marketers on LinkedIn.

It is almost impossible for creative professionals to share their work, or to do it anonymously.

If programmers, designers, and architects were involved in the scenario above, it would be quite different.

• “Look at this house, which is located in the northern hemisphere. The structure was constructed using brown brick. The large windows facing south were made from a local wood that I cannot reveal. Some images were blurred to protect the owner’s privacy, and hide the exact location.

Why do we need to sign NDAs that prohibit us from showing our work, or sometimes telling our families?

Why is there such a high level of confidentiality? Are we secret agents?

Clients may demand that SEOs don’t talk about their projects. This could be for any one of the following reasons.

• They will demand that you perform SEO beyond the guidelines of Google or what the law permits.
• They want to be successful for their company and their sales team.
• They feel ashamed of buying SEO services, as they are still considered a form of voodoo.

Common logic refers to “trade secrets”. As mentioned above, there are many tools that can be used to examine these supposed secrets.

Three inspiring case studies are available for peer review.

Let’s not go into detail about the problems surrounding the lack of success stories in SEO. Instead, let us focus on some actual case studies that I was inspired by this year.

These SEO heroes stories should inspire you to follow their lead.

Example 1: Missguided

Dogs and their owners are often very similar , even if they have the same looks. It happens often “accidentally” for me because I’m one.

There’s also an artistic photo collection where pet owners dress up their dogs and have their hair done the same way.

Rise at Seven, a UK-based SEO agency, was the inspiration behind this very successful campaign.

In her case study, CEO Carrie Rose reports that the results are more than impressive.

“865% YoY increase in traffic to this section of the site, 134.757 page views to exact.”

She goes in great detail to explain the process and what made it so successful. Make sure you read the whole case study.

Example 2: LiberEat

Olga Andrienko is well-known for her leadership at Semrush and she showcased the success story LiberEat made possible by Mich McClure, the team behind Hoojy.

“1000% Organic Traffic Growth in 3 Months”

Despite it sounding too good to be true, particularly considering the approximate numbers, she goes to great effort to highlight what happened and why in her extensive Twitter thread.

You might still be interested in the full-fledged case report, which includes many screenshots, keyword examples, and figures, over at Semrush.

Example 3: Unbeatable Blinds

Boom Online has many case studies. But, their campaign for Unbeatable Blinds made my heart happy. Perhaps it’s the artistic quality of their images shared as part the campaign.

Although they didn’t disclose the numbers, the links that they attracted speak for their self:

“The content was covered, among others, by Design Taxi, Bored Panda and Line Today.”

Because of the attention given to my blog and by local media, I am confident that traffic and other metrics will follow.

How to make clients proud to work for you

Ghostwriting is not something I offer as a writer.

Ghostwriters are often invisible. Ghostwriters are often overlooked and given credit for their work.

They don’t know what they did, so it is impossible to prove their knowledge.

Writing is easy.

Clients who are interested in ghostwriting usually tell you straight away. You can ignore these offers unless you are financially unable to.

It’s even more difficult with SEO services. No one will ever tell you that they are searching for a “ghost optimizer.”

You will often get a NDA with legalese after many discussions.

Other cases may result in you getting the NDA or not talking to them at all. You risk losing your time and money, and you may not get the client.

NDAs can be used to protect trade secrets. Most NDAs grant broad powers to the client to prohibit you from disclosing any information.

It’s no surprise that people in SEO and related industries (think advertising or marketing) are avoiding breaking their agreements.

It is impossible to know exactly what will happen so it is best to keep quiet.

What can you do to recognize clients who are not industry experts?

It is possible to prepare well in advance, communicate clearly during the preliminary meetings and remain firm once you begin working. Here are four tips.

First, work on your own projects

Always put your projects first, or at the very least, keep them moving in the background.

You can be confident when you engage in business relationships with other people if you have your own revenue sources and methods of gaining status.

It is not a good idea to have to work for third parties because of necessity.

If you can, do your best to work for others because of the variety and challenge, not because you need the money. Clients will seek you out if they like your personal projects.

Your authority in the industry, and beyond

Visibility does not have to be limited to client work. Many practitioners go to conferences, trade fairs, or meetups to share their knowledge with others.

Some people keep their knowledge secret and make sure that no one can steal their ideas. This is a shortsighted approach.

Multiple people can discover ideas at once. The “invention” is often credited to the person who published it first, or did so more widely.

It is crucial to be an authority in your industry and outside of the specific field you specialize.

Since I began my career in SEO, I have continued to expand into more popular areas such as marketing, web development, and blogging.

SEO is often seen as “technical SEO”, and only a subset of actual SEO. It is unlikely that many people are interested in the topic you are describing.

You are helping others to get to know your work by sharing your knowledge.

Interns can teach and share their knowledge online. It doesn’t matter if you are able to meet up in person and exchange hugs and compliments.

Online networking is also possible with like-minded people. LinkedIn is the best place to start networking.

Ghost optimization: Charges may be higher

It is simple and powerful to get more money for something more difficult or valuable.

Ghostwriters are often young writers with no names who are forced to write under the radar of larger names. Once you have established a reputation for yourself, it is important to charge accordingly.

As long as you don’t charge enough or are too timid, almost nobody will consider you valuable.

The few people who do know will gladly pay low fees for your expertise and not talk about your true value in most cases.

You must also make it clear from the beginning that ghost services are more expensive.

Ghost optimization is more complicated and more risky than simple writing. It’s therefore even more important that you charge your true value.

You will find fewer SEO professionals of high quality out there. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.

Refuse to do the dirty job.

After working with clients for a while, they may drop their masks and become more daring.

Others may become frustrated by the slow pace of SEO development and demand that you do the same as your competition.

Although riskier tactics could result in their domain being banned or penalized temporarily, the results can be quite impressive.

You must maintain your integrity. How?

Flatly refuse to do SEO by hand and use any questionable methods.

Clients feel safe because of the NDA and believe they can do it without any consequences. SEO is not something that happens in a vacuum.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell anyone that you are spamming, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t there.

Publicly available tools can give you an Xray view of the SEO on any website, as we have already mentioned.

Google also offers human-quality raters as well as more sophisticated algorithms for finding the bad apples.

Search Engine Land first published the post Why SEO professionals rarely share actual success stories.