Beware The &quot;Hit List&quot; Ranking

I just Googled "ADT" and "ADT" came up first including a large overview box of the right of the search results. Protect America shows up at the bottom of that box in the "people also searched for" area

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John Honovich

In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #1

IPVM

Do you have some form of ad blocker?

Because this is how it looks to me (and I am pretty sure people in general):

ADT is first above, but only because it pays for an ad, than ProtectAmerica, Simplisafe and Slomin. In 5th place, is ADT's organic ranking / listing. Note, it won't always be in this order, it depends on whose running ads, what they are bidding, their click through rates, etc., but this is a fairly normal listing.

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #1

Do you have some form of ad blocker?

Because this is how it looks to me (and I am pretty sure people in general):

Yes, you're right John - I'm running Chrome with Adblock

Just tested it on IE and it's same as your screen

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Ross Vander Klok

In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #1

IPVMU Certified

I got Protect America right at the top:

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #2

Dirty little tricks.

Seen the price war (fighting for the best spot in Google search result list) all the time. It does surprise me a little that Kirschenbaum can point this out, not really a IT nor internet savvy guy by any means. LOL.

I'm curious about the $$ throw to Google from company like Simplysafe. I mentioned somewhere that Simplysafe could drop half million a month for online ad. Sounds about right?

Any guesses?

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John Honovich

In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #2

IPVM

I mentioned somewhere that Simplysafe could drop half million a month for online ad. Sounds about right?

As we covered here, Simplisafe is doing over $100 million in annual revenue, so $6 million in online advertising seems like a fairly reasonable amount for a direct sales consumer electronics company like them.

One example of a high spend advertising, searching for 'home security' returns 4 Simplisafe options as the top sponsored / paid listings:

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #2

I read that report multiple times. Excellent article but have to admit that I had doubt on those numbers initially. Bumping into few more guys who attend the Barnes conference, and also well connected in monitoring central space, helps confirming everything. Agree that it sounds like a highly profitable business model.

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Undisclosed Integrator #3

Do Kirschenbaum's Newsletters go to your email address? I was getting them routinely, but no longer. I signed up for his newsletter on his website but, still, the newsletters are not coming in. Now, if I want to read the latest Kirschenbaum Articles, I have to go to his website.

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Ross Vander Klok

IPVMU Certified

They cracked down. When I tried to subscribe again he emailed me and said nope, no email for you!

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John Honovich

IPVM

The Kirschenbaum newsletter sign up form is here. Try that and if it still does not come, could be going to spam.

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Undisclosed Integrator #3

I tried that sign up form at least twice in the past few months and still nothing. I've not received any response like "no email for you"....like that Seinfeld episode. So, maybe I'll call them and ask if I've been put on some "type of list." BTW, I purchased contracts from them in the past.

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Ross Vander Klok

IPVMU Certified

Seems like you would qualify for sure then. He told me (basically this is what we ended on after multiple emails back and forth) since I was an end user it was a no go.

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John Honovich

IPVM

#3, I'll email the two of you (i.e., Ken K) to help facilitate getting you on the list.

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Undisclosed Integrator #3

Thanks John. I use his contracts and found his newsletter informative. Not sure why they stopped sending them to me.

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David Morgan

Security Dealer Marketing

In reply to Undisclosed #4

You may want to reach out to Ken to have him manually subscribe you. Also, check your SPAM filters. I had an issue previously and he was able to rectify it.

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Undisclosed #4

•Apr 22, 2017

IPVMU Certified

Avigilon apparently advertises on single word "avigilon" searches, though most other surveillence mfrs I checked don't.

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John Honovich

•Apr 22, 2017

IPVM

I noticed that as well. My guess is the longer sales cycle and indirect buying for surveillance products makes it less attractive for online marketing.

For example, ProtectAmerica is trying to sell consumers ASAP, either online or via a phone call right then and there. This makes it more attractive / financially sensible to pay to get people now.

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Undisclosed #4

•Apr 22, 2017

IPVMU Certified

In reply to Undisclosed #4

But why pay for an ad on a page when you are guaranteed the top result anyway - because your domain name matches the search term and no one else is buying ads for that keyword?

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Brian Hampton

•Apr 23, 2017

IPVMU Certified

You aren't guaranteed the top result. From what I've come to understand about Google's search results ranking, it takes a few things in to consideration. Just as an example: I uploaded an app to Google's Play Store. I searched for the exact name of the app and it was about 60 or so apps down the list. Apps with names completely unrelated and nearly 0 installs came in above mine. It took installing it on numerous devices and rating the app to get it moved up the list. I'm sure they use a similar method in their web search results.

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Undisclosed #4

•Apr 23, 2017

IPVMU Certified

In reply to Brian Hampton

You aren't guaranteed the top result.

This is technically true. But as a practical matter, having a non-English word trademarked domain name and a legit site behind it, virtually guarantees it.

Unless Kanye West starts selling them on his site ;)

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Brian Hampton

•Apr 24, 2017

IPVMU Certified

In reply to Undisclosed #4

Are you familiar with how Google's AdWords works? I'm not, but I believe that you can specify multiple names in the ad campaign so could it be possible they added their own name in the list of search phrases for one ad campaign? I am still trying to learn how AdWorks works. When I ran a campaign and searched for my business name it came up in the ad box but my website wasn't in the top 5 search results. But that's probably because I desperately need SEO help. :D

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David Morgan

In reply to Brian Hampton

Security Dealer Marketing

I'm familiar with how Google AdWords works. You can bid on any number of words and phrases including your brand name or that of your competitors and (hint hint) the manufacturers you represent. One thing to keep in mind is don't bid on manufactures like Honeywell by themselves since they do things outside of our space. Also, keep in mind you'll want to either add what's referred to as negative keywords (ie Honeywell security jobs) or on an exact match basis to limit a wasted ad spend. Also, if anyone on this string is looking into bidding on competitor keywords be sure to put it in a separate ad campaign since generally speaking you won't get a high click through rate and your quality score will be lowered. Also, you are correct Brian, the organic results has to do with your SEO efforts however it shouldn't to tough based on the name of your security company. Be sure to add the name of your security company into your title tag on your home page as well as within your meta-description. Hope I'm not further confusing you by this but whoever built your Website should be able to help with this.

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Brian Hampton

IPVMU Certified

In reply to David Morgan

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I am the one who set up my website. Nothing more than a WordPress page with a theme. It's quite basic but was setup quickly to have a presence on the Web if people were to search in my area. I'm going to reach out to a couple people who can help with this.

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David Morgan