Date: August 4, 2006
Diabetics frequently struggle with controlling
their diabetes, and after a significant struggle myself
dealing with my diabetes, I had some success, so I decided
to share what I have learned with other diabetics. Hence,
I created BeatingDiabetes.org, whose main purpose is to
help diabetics get and keep their blood sugar levels under
control. I realized, however, that if I didn't have good
positions in the search engines, I wouldn't get much traffic
unless I spent far too much money on advertising. While
I wasn't sure what kind of business model would work, my
sense was that if I could drive traffic to my site, the
business model would come clear. So my strategy from the
beginning was to spend about a year getting myself in good
positions on the major search engines to drive traffic to
my site.
Finding an SEO company, in theory, is extremely easy. If
you want someone who is good at SEO, type in Search Engine
Optimization on the major search engines, and see who is
on the first page. If they're good enough to get themselves
on page 1 for their own business, I figured they would be
fine for my modest venture.
eBrandz was on page 1 in both Google and Yahoo. If I remember
correctly, they were one of only two companies who were.
I solicited quotes from both companies who were on page
1 of both sites, along with two or three other companies,
and went to their web sites. After evaluating the companies,
I decided on eBrandz. I liked the personal response I received
from eBrandz as well as their price. The people I communicated
with at eBrandz made me feel comfortable that I would be
in good hands.
I was a pioneer in international software outsourcing,
and had been to India in 1987 and 1991 associated with software
outsourcing. Back then, it was before the Internet took
off, and communications was difficult. email, for example,
was almost non-existent. Today, with email almost universal,
you can communicate to India as well as to anywhere in the
U.S. So I was comfortable working with an Indian company.
The price was also important. I couldn't afford the price
for sophisticated SEO that many U.S.- based companies were
asking, since I was a tiny start-up.
The team has been fantastic. Every month like clockwork
they deliver their reports, which show in detail the work
done that month, along with my key website stats, which
have grown consistently. They also respond to every question
that I have. I'm very satisfied with the work eBrandz has
done.
It took about four months for the site to be optimized and
traffic start to really ramp up. When eBrandz started tracking
visits in August 2005, I was getting 500 unique visits per
month, which included the results of advertising on Google
Adwords. Today, 9 months later, I'm getting about 4,000
unique visits per month with no advertising, and I expect
the traffic to continue growing.
I'm now operating at a small profit, but I haven't really
focused yet on the business/profit side of what I'm doing.
My goal is to help diabetics, although I'd certainly like
to earn enough so I could focus on BeatingDiabetes.org full
time. My strategy was to spend the first year building a
base of traffic, and trying to understand what the people
coming to my site wanted and needed. Based on what I've
found out, I’ve introduced a new business model that I believe
is very valuable to diabetics. The important point is that
without eBrandz, it would not have been possible. Basically,
I'm now in a position where I can take my work with diabetics
to another level, and will hopefully realize my goal of
turning this into a full-time endeavor.
I would absolutely recommend eBrandz to other companies.
Without hesitation. In fact, I already have. eBrandz has
made it possible for me to help fellow diabetics cope with
their diabetes in a meaningful manner. I want to contribute
in a positive manner, but without the traffic now coming
to my site, it would not be possible. I'm also voting with
my pocketbook on this as well. eBrandz recently added web
site design and development services, and I used them to
develop a world-class looking site. Please visit, and if
you need to take off a little weight or want to improve
your nutrition, please join us.
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Stephen A Caswell
Principal
BeatingDiabetes.org
