The Dilemma for VoIP Providers |
(PRWEB) December 16, 2005 -- Every sound business concept should
be based on a good product combined with a good service and offered
at an appropriate price. Being able to offer that, all you need is
to direct your potential customer's purchasing intention towards you.
But what good does it do if average Joe does not know that you exist.
And where does Joe look - on the WWW, most likely using the search
engines Google, Yahoo or MSN to find his new "VoIP provider"?
A research project conducted by http://www.myvoipprovider.com revealed
the shocking truth that Joe is not going find what he is looking for
- at least it will be very difficult for him.
Using the 9 most common search phrases (VoIP, Internet Phone, Broadbband
Phone, VoIP service, VoIP phone, VoIP solutions, business VoIP, VoIP
service provider and VoIP provider) as per Overture for October 2005,
on Google, Yahoo and MSN and reading through the first 10 pages (100
entries) - a patience Joe most likely won't have, the result shows
that on average he will find only 11 VoIP providers in the top 100
search results. He will also find news, plenty of blogs and just as
many spam websites, which raises another question - Are the search
engines neglecting their own "raison d'etre"? -.
Most of the listed VoIP providers Joe will find are from the USA,
have deep pockets and spend large amounts on online advertising. These
few VoIP providers, such as Vonage, Broadvoice, Packet8 and Skype
to name a few, have used every trick in the book for optimizing their
online presence and now belong to the fortunate few who will be noticed
by Joe. But they are not necessary the ones with the best product
and price, they are the ones that managed to win the "Ranking Game".
What about the hundreds of other VoIP services?
The VoIP industry is a product of the internet and as such the first
place to find a new VoIP provider. If new start-up VoIP services think
that by offering very competitive rates, a fantastic service, brilliant
customers care and a really good web presence they are bound to make
money - well think again. They will be picked up and used by the computer
geeks and the internet savvy users, but with VoIP slowly going main
stream it is highly unlikely that the average user will ever know
that they exist. Some providers will have to seriously "beef up" their
online presence, some have to hang in and frustratingly see how long
it takes to move up the search engine page rankings. And time is what
one does not have in these fast moving times - so the business model
needs to be questioned. .
MyVoIPprovider.com has compiled a directory of 550 international VoIP
phone companies with 5-10 new VoIP services being added on a weekly
basis. Quite a number of these providers will not be around in the
next 24 months if they do not expand on their online presence.
The key to their success will be Search Engine Optimization and making
sure that while they are slowly moving up the rankings they are listed
in as many VoIP related directories as possible. Some comprehensive
directories can be found on www.myvoipprovider.com, www.voip-info.org,
www.voipreview.org, www.sipcenter.com, www.voipproviderslist.com etc.
For any end user looking for the most suitable and not just any VoIP
provider the chance of being successful is directly linked to the
use of these online VoIP related directories, which in return means
that providers need to make sure that they are represented in these
directories. Does that shift the power? Most probably, but to the
benefit of the end consumer who will receive the kind of information
they were looking for by adding an intermediary - the directory provider.
Let's just hope that the intermediaries are not being caught in the
same "non-visibility" trap.