Beanstalk's SEO News Blog

Beanstalk SEO will be closing at 1PM PDT on Friday the 18th of December for our annual Christmas party. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and look forward to serving you again on Monday when we open at 9am as usual.

Labels: beanstalk

Happy Earth Day everyone! I'd like to say that in the spirit of conserving energy and resources we were all going to turn off our computers and lights but I have a strong suspicion that our clients might now be as happy with that as the planet (and staff) might be. :)

But do what you can, reuse what's possible and recycle the rest.

In the spirit of the day and of helping the planet, I'm going to ask for your help in building a playground for my childrens' school. Their playground is being torn down by the city (admittedly - it is about 20 years old) but on the down side - they're not replacing it.

So we've got to come up with the money to replace the playground if we want our children to be able to play and to that end - we're fundraising. In this case, we're holding an auction at the school. We've got a large number of items but we can always use more - we do have to raise tens of thousands of dollars after all.

You can see a list of some of the donation made by the friends of Beanstalk on our South Park School Auction page. Anyone who donates an auction item worth more than $100 gets some free publicity with a mention on our site and of course, you get to feel good. :)

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or woudl like to donate and item(s).

Labels: beanstalk, earth day

We've always tried to be ethical business people. We've been in business since 2004 and have had a guarantee since our launch. It's changed a bit over the years but the heart of it has always been the same - if we can't get a client into the top of the rankings then we haven't earned our full salary. You can read about it on our site here if you'd like to see how it's worded.

Well I got an email from the SEO Consultants Directory a few months ago noting that someone else in the directory had a problem with us offering a guarantee. Why others should have any say in how we operate our business I have no idea but at the end of the day we worked it out and the folks over at the directory were satisfied that we were true to our word.

Well alas - that wasn't the end of it. I got an email last week that they weren't listing any new SEO companies that offer a guarantee. When I replied this morning I got back a note that after 4 years - we've been pulled from their directory.

To be fair as we don't offer the option to comment on our blog, here is the reply to my question as to whether our company would be pulled:

Yes you have. Dave, you're guarantee is a prime candidate for our focus and one of the three that were read in detail that caused us to come to our final decision in this area. It reads like SEO Snake Oil and to the average consumer is going to confuse the **** out of them. That's your choice though and we did bring this up once in the recent past. We're really surprised that someone with your tenure and standing in the industry even has such a myth attached to their site in this day and age.

Nothing personal, strictly business.

Thanks for being a long standing member. But this doesn't work for us. And changing it now in a "reaction" to our decision would not be of any help either. This is sheer mumbo jumbo. We were almost tempted to use it as an actual example of what we were discussing and decided against it out of respect for our members. I think you were the only one out of our 109 Active Members who advertises this type of SEO Guarantee. And, we've caught some heat about it over the years and have overlooked it because we know what you are guaranteeing is usually a given with most successful campaigns. You've made it look like you are doing something that others cannot and then have slapped a guarantee on top of it to enforce that belief. Heh! And then you have a Google Guarantee? Oh boy, don't get us started, please...

So I don't particularly get the point. My favorite part is, "... have overlooked it because we know what you are guaranteeing is usually a given with most successful campaigns." OK then - basically our guarantee is what most SEO's offer but we just outline it and put it in our contracts. What then, is the problem?

At any rate - that's my rant for the day and now I have to get back to working for clients. To be fair - if there's a reply from the directory worth noting - I'll add it to this post.

Labels: beanstalk

Thanks to our clients Beanstalk has been "forced" to move to a larger office space. Our new address is at:

103- 814 Broughton Street
Victoria, BC Canada
V8W 1E4

Of course, our phone numbers are the same.

I'd like to personally thank our clients for -

a) helping us to grow out of our old offices, and
b) their patience over the past couple days as we worked to move our offices as quickly as possible

And now to get back to playing catchup. :)

Labels: beanstalk

Beanstalk will be suffering temporary downtime on phones until approximately 10am PST Wednesday the 25th.

We are moving to a new location with a larger space and unfortunately - they have to bring our phone lines down to move them.

The total downtime will be ~8 to 10 hours from midnight until 10am. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Emails will be answered of course though we will be moving all our staff, computers, etc. over the Wednesday so we will have to take care of issues on a priority basis. We should be back to normal by Thursday.

Thank you very much for your patience.

Labels: beanstalk

Due to an ever expanding customer base Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization is pleased to announce that they are actively hiring SEO Copywriters. Right now we mainly need talented writers looking for some good experience to write educational articles to syndicate on our clients behalf. What we are looking for are individuals in the USA, or Canada who have a writing background / education. Please forward examples of your copy writing work and a resume to daryl@beanstalk-inc.com, with a subject line that includes SEO Copywriting and any post secondary education you may have. Copywriters with work experience in Natural Health, Insurance, Technology, and Law will earn extra brownie points.

Labels: beanstalk, copywriting, seo

2009 has started off great thanks to Advanced Web Ranking and Top SEOs. Advanced Web Ranking made it a great morning by providing me with the monthly ranking reports for a number of our clients. So I suppose it isn't *really* Advanced Web Ranking so much as a great team of dedicated SEOs and link builders who made that a great experience but I've got enough happiness to go around.

And Top SEOs helped make it a great morning by once again handing us two awards:

• Best in Organic Optimization
• Best in SEO Training

As with Advanced Web Ranking - I suppose it's more our great staff that I have to thank for these awards but I'll do that when I get back from holidays ... for now I'll thank Top SEOs for recognizing our hard work and presenting us with this honor.

And a big thanks to you as well - our blog readers and clients. We grew teremendously in 2008 and I'm looking forward to growing with you through 2009. Watch for some big changes to our blog frequency and free SEO tools in the near future.

A Reminder

Don't forget to change the copyright date on your websites.

Labels: beanstalk, blog, free seo tools, organic optimization, seo training, topseos

Beanstalk will be closed from December 24, 25 and 26. We will be open from the 29th to the 31st (closing at 3PM on the 31st) and reopening on January 2nd.

We would like to wish you all a very happy holiday season and look forward to serving you with services or just information in our blog and articles in the new year.

Labels: beanstalk

Beanstalk SEO is committed to helping where we can and to this end we're committed to reducing our impact on the environment while helping those in need. To date this has involved looking for ways to reduce our carbon emissions and help charitable organization.

Today we've added another level of engagement and that's through the purchasing of carbon offsets. We can't help but use power - such is the nature of being a computer company but what we can do is seek ways to reduce what we produce and purchase offsets for what we need to consume to help balance our effect on the world around us. We are committed to continuing to do so and would like to see our peers, clients and blog readers do the same.

If you have any questions about how to do this please don't hesitate to contact us. We're happy to answer your questions and help you make the world just that much better.

Labels: beanstalk, charity seo, environmental

Alright, I've noticed that my friends in the SEO community are being overshadowed in their donations to our efforts to raise money for breast cancer research by our clients, friends and even (didn't see this one coming) to the people who walk by our house, read our sign and drop a donation into our mailbox. Alright people - that is kind of sad BUT it's a huge plus for our blog readers, clients and others. We've now crossed $1000 earned and that doesn't even include the $500 Beanstalk will be adding to the total.

And so I'm going to try something a little different - I'll try giving a little and in return, I'm hoping that breast cancer research will get a little something back.

Giving A Little:

I've been giving quite a bit of thought to what tid-bit of info to give so I'm going to leave that up to you to decide. We're the #1 ranking site for "seo services" so ask away. Let me know what you want to know with the sole exception of "How did you get to be #1?" which would require a book of info but we'll answer any one question. Send them in between now and the end of the week and the question with the highest number will get answered on our blog, even if it's "a secret". :)

Get A Little:

The goal of this trade will be to inspire our blog readers (AND SEO's) to give back in the way of a donation to breast cancer research. The donation is tax deductable, gets you a listing forever on our Run For The Cure page and some other cool incentives.

So:

So, send us your questions by this Friday we'll answer the question that we received the most of. And then donate - or donate first, it's good for the soul.

Labels: beanstalk, charity seo, seo

Well it's always nice to be recognized and so winning two awards in the same month for different categories of SEO is a pretty good feeling. The TopSEO.com awards came out and we get two of them, one of the top SEO training companies and one of the top organic optimization companies. Since we don't do PPC - we're pretty happy with those results. :)

View The Results:

Best in Organic Optimization
Beanstalk ranked #7 in Canada for best organic optimization. I have a hunch that the fact that we don't list off our clients (never have, never will) played against us there but it's nice to be recognized without having to. Perhaps it's our own rankings that tipped us over the top. ;)

Best In SEO Training
In the SEO training category we ranked #5. Not too shabby for our first pop onto the radar in the awards.

All-in-all we'd like to extend a big thanks to TopSEOs.com for appreciating the effort we put into our campaigns and our training. Of course, we won't let it go to our heads - we still need to produce the results to insure we get higher in the award results and of course, to insure we don't ahve to pay back our guaranteed clients. :)

Labels: award, beanstalk, organic optimization, seo training, topseos

As a lot of people have heard the ex-Googlers at Cuil have launch their "Efficient Google Killer", which seems to have become the laughing stock of the SEO Community for terrible results and matching up images with search results that don't belong to the same website. Today out of curiosity I thought I would "Cuil" my own name and see what kind of results came up, and apparently I resemble a younger Ben Stiller from the 70s with a perm like mullet.


And if you haven't guessed Dave is the taller less intimidating one. Here is a close up showing my better side and the Beanstalk URL, if you visit this page there aren't any actual images in the content.


On a side note Cuil however does return 1,898 results vs Google's 923 results for the term "Daryl Quenet".

Update:
One of our Older Readers has told me that this is Hall and Oats, and after Googling for them I found the image is actually the CD Cover from their "The Very Best Of Hall & Oates"

Labels: beanstalk, Cuil, google, SERPs

Beanstalk has just released their latest press release announcing discounted prices from July 21 through to July 25, 2008 on all services. The press release is as follows:

Beanstalk Offers Reduced Rates On SEO Services Until July 25

Top SEO company Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. is offering up to 20% off their SEO services. This is offered to fill an otherwise slow period as well as to remind online merchants that now is the time to prepare for the winter holiday season if you’re hoping for organic rankings.

Victoria, BC July 21, 2008 – Calling it their "Christmas In July Sale” Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. is offering up to 20% off on their optimization and link building services.

The discount will be applied to all services. Their guaranteed SEO services will be reduced by 10% and their non-guaranteed services such as link building, consulting, paid reviews and training will be reduced by 20%.

“We all know that summer is slow,” started CEO Dave Davies when asked why they’re dropping their rates now, “and if we’ve got staff sitting idle then we might as well let a few clients benefit with some reduced rates. It’s a bit like an airline dropping their prices to fill seats – we’ve got the staff, we’ve got the resources, we might as well let a few people get on at a reduced rate than let the resources go to waste.”

“It’s also a good time to plant in people’s minds the notion that it’s time now to prepare for rankings during the winter holidays. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been called in mid-October from someone who wanted to rank for the holiday season. PPC is great for that but if you want to rank organically for the holidays – this is about as late as you can start and even now might be pushing it if you’ve got a brand new site”.

When asked why this is Dave replied, “That’s a full lesson unto itself but let’s just say that for anything but the lowest competition phrases – just the link building alone and the time it takes for the links to get picked up is longer than a couple months. If you want rankings six months from now, you need to start today or, better yet – three or four months ago. This isn’t the case every time of course but it is often enough. If you want to rank for the winter holidays and you haven’t started yet – you need to do so now. You don’t have to choose us, you can even do it yourself – but you need to get started one way or the other.”

And so inspired their, “Christmas In July Sale”.

Contact them today at 877-370-9750 or visit them online at www.beanstalkseo.com for more details.

About Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc.

Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. is a leading SEO company. Located in Victoria, BC, Canada Beanstalk offers guaranteed SEO services, consulting, training and link building. They are a leader in organic search engine optimization and link building services.

From July 21 until the 25 they will be offering significantly reduced rates on their services.

Contact

Daryl Quenet, Director of SEO Services
Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc.
http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/
877-370-9750

###

Labels: beanstalk, seo services

Beanstalk has changed it's name. A slight change but a change nonetheless - Beanstalk is now formally known as Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. as opposed to Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, Inc. Here is the press release that has gone out with this announcement:

Top Search Engine Optimization Firm Changes Its Name

Top SEO company Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, Inc. has formally changed it's name to Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. This change reflects adjustments in the popularity of specific terms used to identify the industry itself.

Victoria, BC July 15, 2008 -- In an effort to further enhance their brand identity, Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, Inc. has formally changed its name to Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. As business owners have become more educated and familiar with the search engine marketing industry the terminology used to describe it has become more specific. Beanstalk has changed their name to reflect this adjustment in visitor behavior.

"The world of online marketing is changing," says Beanstalk, CEO Dave Davies, "and we have to change with it. When the company was first founded back in 2004 - the terms used to describe the services we offer were varied. As the industry has evolved and consumers better informed and educated the terms used have become more solidified. A name reflects who you are - and our name needs to reflect what consumers identify with in our industry."

When asked about the name change in relation to the optimization of their own site Dave chuckled, "Of course we can't ignore the effects of having the ability to more easily work on some of the top keywords in our industry. That said, we already rank very well for "seo services" which is and will continue to be our primary focus. In this case, the ability to target new, more highly searched phrases than "search engine positioning" is an added bonus but not our primary motivation. Branding is the key in our current marketing efforts and associating our company with some of the top words used to describe our industry is a big part of that effort."

The change is now reflected across the Beanstalk site, "with the exception being our SEO blog", Dave points out. "If we wrote as Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, Inc. in a post two years ago then it will remain that way in that post. All new posts will of course reflect the new name."

The change will not affect clients or the services offered by Beanstalk. They will continue to offer guaranteed SEO services to their clients as well as consulting, training and link building. Sticking with their long-held beliefs, they will not be expanding services into other search engine marketing areas such as pay-per-click. "It has been and hopefully continues to be clear from our name," begins Dave when asked about adding new services, "that what we do is organic search engine optimization. The search marketing industry is a huge one and I personally believe that our clients are better served if we provide excellence in our area and refer them to others for other areas. When we have clients who want pay-per-click or social media marketing we send them to firms that specialize in just that. That always has been and will continue to be our philosophy so no, we won't be adding in any new services. Heck, there's enough going on in the organic realm to keep 10 of me busy - I'll leave paid search or social media to those who love it as much as I love the organic side rather than be second best (or worse) at all of them."

About Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc.

Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. is a leading SEO company. Located in Victoria, BC, Canada Beanstalk offers it's services worldwide with the majority of it's client base located in the continental United States.

Dave Davies is the CEO of Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. Dave co-authored the second version of the Search Engine Marketing Kit for SitePoint.com, is the co-host of a weekly radio show on Search Engine Optimization on WebmasterRadio.fm and has spoken at numerous conferences on a variety of subjects related to organic search engine optimization.

Contact

Dave Davies, CEO
Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc.
http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/
250-370-9750

###

Labels: beanstalk

Beanstalk is pleased to welcome Kennith Nichol to our team. Kennith brings with him a background in web design including HTML, CSS, SSI, XHTML Strict and an assortment of other important skills required to be a valuable member of our team.

Kennith will be starting out in advanced link building, where he ends up - only time will tell.

We are very pleased to have him with us and look forward to working with him for a long time.

Welcome aboard Kennith !

Labels: beanstalk, kennith nichol

Well it was quite a wait and took some negotiating but Beanstalk is very pleased to welcome Daryl Quenet to the team. Daryl brings with him an exceptional background in PHP, MySQL, web server administration, SEO, CSS, SSI and a variety of other useful skills and technologies.

We are extremely please to see Daryl join our forces here and we know that our clients and visitors will benefit from an expanded support capability, another extremely friendly member of the Beanstalk team and some great tools and services.

Welcome aboard Daryl !!!

Labels: beanstalk, daryl quenet

I received a call recently with a most perculiar point. The caller wanted to take me up on an offer we had for web designers to do one of their client's sites free in hopes of securing additional work down the road. While I'm always happy to work with designers the message was still odd, I never approved such a promotion and as we're basically running at full capacity and having to turn down clients to insure our guarantees and current client obligations are met - I was certain that in some 16 hours-of-work daze I wouldn't put out or OK such an email.

After discussing the issue with the caller a little more I discovered that the email came from our domain. The email address? noreply@beanstalk-inc.com. Hmmmmmmm.

The gentleman was kind enough to forward me the message he received. Note: this did not come from Beanstalk. It is simply being posted to put out there what it already apparently being published in our name. This email is in no way associated with Beanstalk and we cannot honor the content of it. Here is the email:

Good day,

My name is Steve Wilson. I am a SEO analyst at Beanstalk-Inc.com. We are
excited to offer you a FREE website SEO analysis and optimization package.
There is no cost whatsoever to you. We do ask that if you are satisified
with our service that you write a short review about Beanstalk-Inc.com.

If you're not familiar with the term, SEO is short for search engine
optimization, the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a Web
site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web
site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that
site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for Internet users to not
click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in
a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site.

SEO helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and
improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine.

At the end of our analysis and optimization service, your website is
guaranteed to start receiving more traffic from the most popular search
engines.
More traffic equals more dollars.

If you are interested in this free offer, feel free to contact me via
Email or MSN(preferred). Thanks for reading and take care.

Regards,

Steve Wilson
SEO Analyst
Beanstalk-Inc.com
P: (250) 370-9750
F: (800) 979-3215

Email: steve.wilson@gmail.com
MSN: steve.wilson@gmail.com

Ugh.

So there you have it, Steve Wilson is a sp@mmer and a thief - trying to profit off the reputation we have spent years developing. We will be taking actions against him shortly of course but thought it wise to post this here just to make sure our site visitors aren't confused.

Labels: beanstalk, steve wilson, thief

As has happened previously, Beanstalk is putting a hold on accepting new clients. We do this occasionally when our client load hits a point where we feel that to provide the level of service our clients have come to expect from us we need to put a hold on accepting new contracts.

This hold does not include our "affordable" set of SEO services as well as as consulting, training and a few other assorted services. For information on these services you can visit http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/services/. These services are provided in such a manner as to not affect our current clients and the information provided is the same we would use were we to perform the SEO ourselves so you can rest assured that you are receiving the highest level of information that we can provide.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this hold may cause. Unfortunately we have no end date scheduled for this hold. You are welcome to contact us to be put on a notification list or visit our blog regularly where we will post a change in this position.

Thank you to all our visitors and to our clients for putting us in this position. :)

Labels: beanstalk, seo services