As Edinburgh locksmiths we are in one of the most competitive trades there is in the United kingdom. It is almost impossible to get on page 1 of Google, never mind top spot on page one. When searching for anything on Google (or whatever browser you use) you will notice the websites at the top of the page have little boxes beside them with the letters ‘ad’ at the side. These websites pay the search engines money to be placed at the top – sometimes thousands of pounds a week! This form of advertising is called ‘pay per click‘. Every time a potential customer clicks a website using the ‘ppc’ advertising that company pays the search engine money.
The purpose of this blog![pay per click]()
to highlight why i think these websites should be avoided like the plague! Listed below are just some of the reasons i think they should be bypassed.
Top of Google in a day
Websites that are organically at the top of Google (not ppc) will be established websites which have in some cases took years to reach their position. They have built up trust with the search engines and may have many good reviews from customers on places like Google +. However in contrast the ‘pay per click’ websites at the very top of search results can be owned by someone who’s built a website in the morning and later that day be at the top of page one. This can pose many risks to a potential customer. For example these traders could be unqualified and uninsured, not to mention their prices will be highly inflated to pay for the ppc advertising.
National companies
Another problem with these ‘pay per click’ adverts is they are used by ‘national companies’ who make themselves out to be a local company. For example say someone types in ‘emergency locksmith Edinburgh‘ into google to find a local Edinburgh locksmith. some people will just click on the first website at the top of page one. The customer thinks they will be connected to locksmiths in Edinburgh or at least in the Lothian area. However, in reality they are phoning a ‘national company’ call centre usually hundreds of miles away. These national companies charge extraordinary prices for a job a local tradesman would do for half, sometimes a third of the price. The irony of it is these ‘national companies’ will use the local tradesmen to do the job but only pay them a fraction of what they have charged the unwitting customer!
My experience of pay per click ads
I nearly fell for one these pay per click adverts a couple years ago when I didn’t know any better. The drains outside my house were blocked up and sewage was backing up through my kitchen sink and onto the floor. In a panic I just typed ’emergency Plummer Edinburgh’ into the search engine and clicked on the website at the top of page. I got through to an English sounding woman which seemed quite strange considering I though I was phoning an Edinburgh Plummer. Anyway I was told it would cost £120 for the Plummer to attend and that’s not including parts. Something told me that was not right so I went onto Google maps and typed in my search again and picked a company who was based just down the road. The Plummer came out and unblocked my drains for a total cost of £60!
I hope this small blog is been of help as nobody likes being conned. My advice would be if looking for a service pick one of the naturally ranked sites on Google which has plenty of customer feedback and avoid pay per click ads at all costs!
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