Looking through my email, I’d guess that I send 20 emails per week on average that include a link to the page, and since January, the list has about 5,000 page views. The traffic isn’t tremendous, but it’s a piece of content that I believe to be incredibly valuable to the industry and to those seeking services. It’s actually a far better document now, because you can select “site reviews” from “$5,000 – $10,000” and get a list of firms back that have websites, geographic locations and in many cases (where my contacts said it was OK), an email address and phone number.
Solicitation to the list has always been an issue – despite my disclaimer asking folks not to request inclusion, it happens nonetheless. We’ve also struggled with the idea of taking referral money; I’m adamantly opposed to it because I believe there’s no way to be 100% upfront and honest with prospective clients if you know that different providers have different cost structures, referral fees, close rates, etc. Only by refusing any kickbacks can we be completely fair to the people who need help.
The re-launch of the list made me think about several other questions, too:
- Are there lists like this in other industries and for other services?
- How do I ensure that the firms on the list continue to give high quality experiences to their customers?
- Would it be ethical to place ads for our premium content on the page?
- What level of trust will visitors unfamiliar with SEOmoz place in the list? Will they believe it’s truly unbiased?
I don’t have the answers, but I think they make interesting topics for discussion.
