KeyWords in the Browers....Buyers Beware!
What you should know about those Keywords in the Brower deals and how they aren't such a "deal" afterall.

Wouldn't it be great if every time someone typed a word related to your business into Internet Explorer, your site came up? That's the basic premise to the growing number of companies offering "keyword in the browser" services. You've probably seen their offers in your e-mail more than once, offering to get your site a top position for those hard-to-get keywords if you buy their services NOW - and it's not cheap.

In working with clients to market their web sites, I get an e-mail asking every month saying, "I got a call from a company saying they can get me to the top of the search engines for the keyword I really want if I buy now for $2,000."

Sounds great, but 'buyer beware' when you are dealing with these too good to be true offers. I warn my clients to run the other way!

There are a couple things that these companies tend to downplay that make these services questionable at best. First, in order for your site to "pop up" for a keyword, the Internet user has to have that keyword company's special software already loaded on their computer. These companies claim they have "millions" of internet users with this special software loaded. Well, I bet if you asked around, you'd be hard pressed to find ONE person that has downloaded the company's software in question.

Second, they ask you to download their software, type in the keyword and you'll see your spot is ready and waiting for you. Why is it that there are so few participants in their system? Also, if their service is so great, why is the spot for a normally impossible to get keyword available ? I have heard from a couple clients that the software can be very intrusive and cause performance problems on your computer . Who wants that? Even if you downloaded it, you'd take it off your computer right away.

One other thing, many of these companies encourage you to pay via money order or check. The reason? If you pay with a credit card, you can charge back their fees or dispute the bill with the credit card company. Never pay for services you are unsure about (or that approach you first) with a debit card, check or money order.

A new client of mine came to me after he paid $3,000 for one of these services. He was trying to get the credit card company to charge back the money spent, and not easily. Here's what he shared with me, "Our experience with the keyword browser companies is they are are all misrepresenting their ability to produce click throughs. Anyone can start this type of business, because it depends on people loading their keyword software on consumers' computers without their knowledge. This is very deceptive and should not be permitted."

In any case, Google has specifically warned against these types of companies, and they do not support or endorse the keyword in the browser services.

So what is a webmaster to do to expand your business online? What really works is good old fashion marketing techniques, and a long term plan for the next 6-12 months:

1. Find a marketer that can prove they have a track record with real results, and real references. Don't let anyone pressure you to spend thousands up front promising incredible results.
   
2. Ask around to see if your web developer or hosting company knows of a reputable online marketing company. A good consultant or company is willing to work with you and talks in terms of the long term, and may even work with you on payments and pricing.
   
3. Do some research yourself. Any good marketer can point you to some sites they work on - and you can do some manual searches to see if you can get those sites to "pop up" on Google, Yahoo, and/or MSN in the top 2 pages of results.

Don't get discouraged, and happy marketing!

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About The Author
Roxanne McHenry owns and operates SEOProz - an Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization company that increases web site traffic and sales through targeted marketing.