Wal Mart SEO Services
Anyone surprised that Sam's Club offers SEO services?
I think I am going to fight back by selling Chinese made US flags for 3 cents each. :)
Published: December 27, 2007 by Aaron Wall in business
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Comments
It may seem funny to someone who does SEO for a living but it will probably bring them in big bucks. Its a bit like Tesco's in the UK (a big supermarket chain) now selling petrol. They have such a big user base they can sell just about anything they want.
Will they just be placing the CPC adds on the wall mart site?
First of all, is it Aprils fools day ;) That was the first on my mind when I read this. What is next: Get a brain surgeyr and LASIK for only 99 dollars? You can sell products sheap because they are made in low cost countries, but advanced SEO services needs advanced skills and knowing what WalMart pays.....
I am divided. On the one hand I am sure that anybody who believe they will get anything of real value in SEO for 25 dollars would not buy from you or me anyway.
However, if they use the 25 dollar as door opener and then upsell other services in a range from 50 - 1000 dollars per month, then they will eat some of our market for sure.
But again, I really hope that NOBODY with a SEO skills and a soul and heart will ever go there to build their SEO department. I think in their case SEO will be the abbreviation for Shame on you Engine Offering and not much more.
Hi Ronan
It sounds like they will be buying PPC ads on Google and Yahoo. They also provide a search engine submission service that has to be of limited value.
The same/similar thing happened in Croatia. Our largest retail chain (konzum-agrokor) bought largest advertising agency and is now blackmailing it's clients... There's no strong government regulative, so they go unpunished... old money-new scams.
either way, they will not have success since they're now fighting out of their arena, and they hire drones to do this job. every expert on his field (general advertising or online marketers) will not work for them - so they will not perform good...
Well, they must have a broad base of customers and probably they will be able to make money from this new business... even if they are not so good. At least during some time.
This is why I prefer to shop at Target now! - Aaron that is quote of the day now! lol
This actually doesn't surprise me all that much. I am just waiting for the influx of ticked off customers who will come running to all of us SEO / SEM experts after they realize that cheap is rarely the best solution.
My only concern is going to be the extremely frugal real estate agents that we normally work with who are going to want to spend even less time and money and will want to try out Wal-Mart's services. I can only hear the complaints now.
I agree with Fireflycreative, Aaron your quote is amazing.
That is sorta the silver lining of the SEO industry. People upset at increasing click costs and people upset by being scammed by big brands end up coming to smaller players to do their search marketing properly. The sad bid is that few ever make it past that first round of scamming with a wallet open enough to attract real talent, so they keep getting scammed over and over again.
....the website mentions YP so that leads me to believe the YP.com business model is behind this...
Upsell, upsell
I'm okay with big chains tapping into online services, but I fail to see the value in this for customers. What is that $25 a month really getting you?
Exactly. It is unethical for me to scam someone, but Wal-Mart uses a price point so low that they can't provide any real value to customers.
Ha, ha, Aaron you might be working in McDonald next year, but then again you will be over qualified..:)
Can you imagine the irony Matt Cutts walking in and asking you for a Big Mac, the ex Webmaster, will next it nice and juicy for him, with spit and polish!
Hang in there guys, it is not just about the money, but the passion for the work, which really is a life style.
Wholly Hamburger Helper Batman! I wonder who the poor traditional marketer is that got thrown into this mess.
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THE GOOD NEWS
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1. Aaron's book will soon be read by the Sam's Club employee leading this new charge. That is, of course, unless Aaron feels so badly for this person that he simply emails them a free copy of his ebook.
2. Many new leads will be knocking at your virtual doors soon after they tire of this valueless type of "service."
Ha! I'd be lying if I said that part of me didn't want to see that company in red. What do you think Aaron (anyone)? Can the SEO community take at least what we can back from them...something like hmmm i don't know...their search equity? Is it possible? Google proxy hacking seems to be getting some light these days...
Just so I'm not perceived as a vindictive a-hole, take a look at, "The Cost of Low Price," a documentary about Wal-mart's business model. If you don't think they have it coming, then go ahead and label me.
I'd never understand this low cost services business. If it's a product ok - you can have a technology which allows you to offer low price. But low cost service? What could you really expect for $25 per month?
Sad thing is they'll probably not only get lots of customers, but will work for the bad name of SEO in general.
....when these people realize it's not a magic pill on the cheap and come to this small one man op (since 97)
My only groan is that when the "believers" get to me they're all on a shoestring.....
David
Hi David
If they are real believers then they are not on a shoestring. If they are on a shoestring then they are not real believers.
With my personal business... I have a well known popular brand name car dealer client. Then one day call me in for a meeting since another SEO company is offering something 10x less. And they even have no name. Just a page saying they offer the service. And they are seriously considering moving over. This made me think that just to kill the competition or please the cheap clients, I think need one of these cheap SEO service that barely does anything. Then upsell something if they are not happy or try to offer and offer new things. But this $25 SEO... wow, this is too low.
That's so funny. It's just like people that buy electric guitars at Wal Mart. All your doing is buying a cheap piece of crap that sounds like s#!t and isn't worth a dime once it leaves the store. There is no way they could manage this program with real professional SEO experts. I would HATE to be in their customer service department for this product.
Oh and PS.
Anyone who would consider hiring these guys for SEO is no one I would want to work with anyway..LOL.
I wonder how they going to promote the new 25$ a month service?
Spam their customer database? Hey grandma check out this month special in aisle 3 right next to farts are us, all you can get SEO for 25$ a month..:)
"all you can get SEO for $25 a month"...that was a good one Igor The Troll. But hey, I think we should not freak out about it or laugh at it.
Wal Mart will give a tremendous amount of exposure to millions and millions of people who have NO IDEA what SEO is. Yeah, they might take a big part of the market from us, but you know what, they'll end up buying Aaron's book or hiring you to do some SEO THAT REALLY WORKS. Look at the positive side of it.
Or they might just think that the whole industry is a scam and never be willing to invest appropriately after their first industry experience.
I am not too concerned about Wal Mart gaining marketshare in the field of SEO, especially with their brand positioning and price point. But they might scare off more people than they introduce.
Aaron, I been doing marketing for my travel company for 8 years now, and I would not want WalMart SEO even if they paid me!
Think of the negative Brand effect! No thanks, I rather hire professionals if and when I need one.
That is another reason I stopped advertising with Adwards, the quality is not there. I think it is better to hire a professional PPC company who will build a proper campaign for you. But personally I like viral marketing which is much stronger and better than any PPC wheeling consultancy!
I do my own PPC because I want to see what works and why. If you can figure out SEO then PPC is easy, IMHO.
Aaron, you made my day today with this entry, thanks my friend. Everyone, we have all been doing this job for a while now, and those that haven't, welcome, you will learn a lot and hopefully put it into practice and succeed.
I was going to comment on Matias post, but after reading your response, I had to think for a bit. This is what I came up with, exposure good, but the flack will be bad. However, I will pit my experience over a Wal-Mart sales rep anyday, anytime. Consumers may end up with poor results and run away screaming, but give me some time to talk to them afterwards and I will be able to convince them that this is not a cookie cutter business. Everyone US bound (I'm CDN, but lived there 4 years) knows WM practices, and we all know they will sub-contract this one out eventually if not right away. As such, if you were a small business owner, which is what I figure they are targeting, would you put up with, "The guy working on your account is in XXX right now, we'll get back to you...when we figure out why you are on page 1,031 for your keyword choice, and why you are paying $1,031 with no ROI for CPC." I think not. (Mind you fine print on the contract will save them) It just means we are going to have to work harder to promote ourselves, but we will be doing so to a larger audience, thanks to WM.
Personally I think I stand a better chance walking into a clients office with a printed copy of Aarons book and my own experience, than what is going to happen to them eventually.
Exactly.
Think back to the advent of CMS, out-of-the-box ecommerce and web design templates. Did it put web developers out of business? Wasn't it a natural reflection of the industry's growth?
At first look, "lame." On second thought, "It galvanizes the market for the rest of us."
Big attention from big businesses equals big growth over all.
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