ufindus more like uspamus
Ok maybe I’m been a little harsh here, over the weekend I did a quick search on Google for”Armani Suits Harrogate” clicked on #1 ufindus and been an SEO instantly thought hmmmm what going on here then.
so is this bad or good practice.
http://www.ufindus.com/fashion_clothing_shops/harrogate when I went to this page, I notice that the word Armani wasn’t visible that I had search for.
So a quick view source and Ctrl-F for Armani I found the text in the meta and in a Div
class=”category_desc_header” id=”catDesc” style=”display: none”
hmm the ok so “Show Category Description” display the text
“Are you looking for fashion clothing shops in Harrogate? Choose from a range of designer labels bringing you the freshest fashionable clothing. We have a choice of fashion clothing shops stocking a variety of designer labels in Harrogate today. Fashion clothing can be found to suit all occasions and tastes. If you are looking for suits and evening wear there’s a great choice of designers to choose from. Suits and evening wear for men and women are available from well known names such as Armani, Paul Smith, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce and Gabbana and many more. Even casual wear can be spruced up a little with a choice of casual clothes from designer labels. Great for nights out or dress down days at work designer casual wear is great for when you want to look smart without putting in to much effort. Casual designer fashion clothing is available from brands such as Diesel, Firetrap, Ringspun, Sonetti and Teddy Smith. If you want to fit in at the coolest parties and hippest clubs then designer streetwear is the choice for you. Fashion clothing from streetwear designers allows you to relax in comfort whilst creating an effortless style. Designer streetwear is available from brands such as Ecko, Akademics, Rocawear, LRG, Addict, Carhartt and Zoo York. Find fashion clothing shops in Harrogate with the results below.”
I wouldn’t class it has been hidden text more misleading text, but adding paid listings from Overture for the keywords like “Fashion Clothing Shops” so I get ..
Fashion World UK
Top ladies 2008 fashion in sizes 12-32; Save 10% on your first order.
www.fashionworld.co.uk
Celebrity Style at ASOS
The leading online fashion store Buy now for next day delivery.
www.asos.com
which neither sell Armani and neither are in Harrogate, which means if you live in Harrogate and need a suit quickly, drive to Harvey Nichols in Leeds
DaveN
Dom Parker 1494 days ago
This blog post now ranks for that term
Dio 1494 days ago
http://daytripmedia.co.ukSo they’re a glorified MFA type of site, monetising via people clicking on the ads for the actual things they want. Interesting. to be fair though, clicking on one of their ads is one stage further than I normally get with uFindus. I spot them all the time in top slots on loads of local stuff, after several disappointing visits where I couldn’t find what I wanted, I now just skip that first click from google and move to the next search result.
Lee Johnson 1493 days ago
http://www.customerstreet-seo.comFAO : DaveN
I work as the SEO manager for the Customerstreet Group. I was interested to read you small article regarding potential Blackhat SEO techniques on our UK business directory. I would just like to inform you that the code: class=”category_desc_header” id=”catDesc” style=”display: none” is associated with a piece of Java Script that has the description for the page closed when the page opens. The reason this is done is for the end user. When a user of our directory service is looking for something, they want to find what they are looking for ASAP. So we do not have the description of the page open when the page loads. If the end user wants to see the description they just click “Show Category Description”. In conclusion: no content is hidden on any of our directory pages.
As all webmasters know, to get a page found, it needs to contain relevant content to the search, this is the reason this is done. If we did not allow anyone to read the description and it was hidden in CSS or off-set so the text displayed off-page the search engines would not like this. We are an honest company who strives to follow the Search engines rules explicitly and will always continue to do so. When looking to get a good reputation on the search engines it is critical that their rules are followed to the letter.
I would imagine that you have seen drop down menu systems, the description works on the same principal, Google and other search engines see all the content but as a webmaster you can choose how the content is displayed on page load, open or shut.
If you would like to learn more about the java drop down box here is a good place to start: http://mootools.net/. This is a very informative site that shows examples and downloads that you can use yourself.
DaveN 1493 days ago
Hi Lee Johnson, has I pointed out I think I was been a little harsh when I posted, I was more annoyed the fact that you provide and set of results for Armani when you say things like,
“Suits and evening wear for men and women are available from well known names such as Armani”
then list site that don’t sell Armani, it just wastes my time.
DaveN
Lee Johnson 1493 days ago
http://www.customerstreet-seo.comHi Dave, that was a quick reply, I do understand your quandary but as you may not have noticed, we have 100 on the results for the search you made. We cover surrounding areas too with distance in miles from your current search. Emporio Armani is on the list so it does relate. Here is the listing:
Emporio Armani
Tel: 0161 8398789 – 84 King Street, Manchester, M2 4WQ (43.39 miles)
We could make it even more specific to the current search location but we have looked into this and some areas will not display anything in some of our categories so we felt it more important to the end user that they do see results, even if its only the closest location to them even if it is several miles away.
If I was looking for something lets say a “dye sublimation printer” but there was non in my town/city I needed one for my business but there was none locally, I would not mind if the directory did show me the nearest location to buy one.
If you have any more questions please reply here and I will try and explain your query.
Craig 1493 days ago
get yourself to the armani shop at mcarthur glenn in york for a cut price suit
Tom 1492 days ago
http://www.secondsighting.co.uk/ufindus are not honest! their main business plan is hard selling websites/listings to small uk companies. customers never get what they are promised – one reason why the company has to rebrand every 2 years.
Lee Johnson 1491 days ago
http://www.customerstreet-seo.comUFindUs are one of the largest directory companies in the UK, we offer several services to help clients get more visibility online. Clients can have a custom website built, have premium listings on our directories, we also have trade specific directories that a client can be placed in.
As the SEO Manager of CustomerStreet my job is to get our directories and trade specific portals as high up the list as I can. Our paying clients pay for us to perform for them. We have over 30.000 clients who feel that our services are a worthy part of their advertising budget and help them get coverage on the SERP’s (search engine results pages).
We are still called UFindUs Ltd and have been since inception of the directory business, we also have other services & directories as a part of the business and as we have grown the company has now grown to encompass over 150 of the UK’s busiest directories and we market them all together under the brand name of Customer Street. All our services can be found here.
In total we get around 90 new subscribers to our service every day and around 10 subscriptions lapse for a variety of reasons including people who have found that it has not worked for them. Like any advertising product we certainly can’t guarantee that it will work out for everyone but we try really hard to make it. You have to assume that the 80 or so extra subscribers we gain every day appreciate the service and certainly that is the feedback we get.
I hope this helps Tom understand a little more about UFindUs a part of the CustomerStreet group which is despite the anonymous criticism still the largest producer of websites in Europe.
AJ 1491 days ago
So nothing to do with Iomart then? That’s good because they previously promised two of my clients page one listings on Google and then made it extremely difficult to cancel when they couldn’t deliver.
Will Critchlow 1491 days ago
http://www.distilled.co.uk/blogThe question no-one is asking is: ‘Armani’? What’s the big occasion? Hope it’s not a court appearance
mick g 1491 days ago
http://www.crystalclearideas.co.uk/block-pave-driveway.htmLee, so you think building a single page website for each business on their own url stuffed with keywords and a link back to the mother ship is good do you
In the area’s I operate the serps are full of this shite and you certainly will not be the first what google have culled on a massive scale with what your doing here because basically your spamming the fuck out of google…lets not beat about the bush here, thats what your doing
DaveN 1491 days ago
hahaha,Will Critchlow no just lost some weight, and I like Armani
mick g 1491 days ago
http://www.crystalclearideas.co.uk/block-pave-driveway.htmhere’s a couple of examples I found in case you have trouble pin pointing any
http://www.blockpavingsheffield.com/
http://www.pavinginleeds.co.uk/
now correct me if I am wrong but i don’t think google would class that as websites of quality now would they, its there purely to spam google for the links
lee johnson 1462 days ago
http://www.customerstreet.com~Im glad Mick G brought up these two small sites. I have just checked and all the keywords on the pages are are all in the top 11 positions of Google. (checked 23 may 08). I do agree with you that the sites are small but the client who has a rapidsite with us can add as many pages as they like. To be fair the software is several years old but we qare in development of a new system that will have new templates and a full SEO analyser for each page of content. The reason why this is happening is that Google and other search engines change what they require and look for within a page and also off page ranking factors. We understand this and the new content management system will follow the Google guidelines to the letter. I do appreciate the comments. Watch this space.
stephen ord 1338 days ago
Think ive been conned by ufind us, basically and to try and keep it short and sweet , sales girl rings me and ask me to advertise with them saying i will be the only one in my area advertising my services, shortly after i recieve a cpl of calls but for anouther business so i did a search for my own in case the phone number was wrong , couldnt find myself on customer street ! but did find it on the outher site along with about 20 outher businesses all the same , so cancelled direct debit with bank sraight away no problem in my eyes ive bin misslead by the sales girl so missold the product they now threatening with debt collectors am gona go to the OFT and trading standards but its all wasted time to me its gona get nasty and i want my originall monies back as well its the principall dont belive a word they say liars !!!!
Graham Armstrong 1336 days ago
http://www.btcustomerstreet.comHi Stephen, I am the accountability manager at Customer Street and am more than happy to have your case looked into. The correct way to cancel your service is detailed in the terms and conditions and you should be aware that canceling a direct debit wont in itself cancel a package.
Please email me at ad@customerstreet.com with your account details and I will be happy to look into it for you.
Wayne 1303 days ago
I had a so called web site designed by customer street, it is poor quality and not what I expected, when I rang they said I could alter it myself whenever I wanted to, if I knew how I wouldnt have needed them in the first place. So far I havent had a single enquiry for work via there advertising or web site.
Fast sales talk, promised the earth, delivered nothing, steer clear you wont get what you want
Graham Armstrong 1302 days ago
http://www.btcustomerstreet.comHi Wayne, I obviously cant locate your account details just from the information that you have posted on here but I am more than happy to have the matter looked into for you if you contact me at ad@customerstreet.com.
When each customer signs up for their account they are sent by email and in hard copy a Welcome Pack which contains a “first steps guide”. Whilst we take some information from you when you take the service out this information is not exhaustive and you are quite right you can add extra pages to the website and customise it in a variety of ways to best suit your business needs.
It will depend on when you took the package out as to how you go about amending your site but in either instance the first steps guide take you through each stage of making the changes.
If you are struggling to do these changes then please call the Customer Support number given in the pack (0845 338 0500) and we will make sure you speak to a member of staff who can either talk you through the changes or make the changes for you, within the limitations of the software of course.
It’s not always easy to read through everything as soon as you get it but everything you need to know to get up and running should have already been sent out. As I have already said, if there re any problems then please feel free to either email me directly or call our support number.
You also have the ability of tracking the levels of interest that your site generates through a variety of ways. Each customer has their own control panel which allows them to set up email forwarding to an email address of their own choice if you don’t want to use the webmail service we set up as standard. The webmail is where any enquiries your receive from the enquiry form on your site are directed to. You can also log into the statistics package which will tell you how many people have viewed your listing and how many people have clicked any of the links to your site. You can also drill down further on these figures to check out where these enquiries are coming from and even the ip addresses of each one.
Many customers also like the 0845 number which we can provide free of charge. This means you hear a whisper that alerts you to the fact someone is calling you using a number promoted on the directories before the call is connected.
I obviously can’t speak for yourself on this point but in general something worth mentioning is that sometimes customers may say that they feel they are getting no enquiries when in actual fact all they have on their site and directory listings is a landline number with no answer phone. For any business it is always worthwhile to have an answer phone if there is no one to take a call during normal working hours and possibly leave an alternative mobile number for a customer to call. I know when I have tried contacting tradesmen and even our own customers it can take persistence to get in touch.
Luca 1218 days ago
CUSTMER STREET IS A FRAUDULENT COMPANY!!!!
BE CAREFUL!!
Dianne 1218 days ago
So basically what are you trying to say is….
“That BT is a fraudulent company”
———————————————————————————————
http://www.ufindus.com/bt/index.htm
Ufindus is a web site of BT Customerstreet
BT Customerstreet offers proven internet marketing and design services to small and medium-sized businesses. As an acknowledged leader in online classified advertising our services provide a highly cost-effective web presence targeted at local customers searching for specific product and services. Find out more about our services at http://www.btcustomerstreet.com.
‘BT Customerstreet’ is a trading name of ‘Ufindus Limited’
Registered Office:
Lancaster Business Park,
Caton Road,
Lancaster
LA1 3RQ
Registered in England no: 04251486
‘Ufindus Limited’ is owned by ‘British Telecommunications plc’
Registered Office:
81 Newgate Street
London
EC1A 7AJ
Registered in England no. 1800000
BT.com
Gold 1066 days ago
Are you a customer of “BT CUSTOMER STREET”?
READ THIS…
Blimey I see bt customer street are really on the defensive here. Dont think I ever seen such a large company respond so rapidly and sternly to comments made online.
Saying that there are other places full of complaints about bt customer street:
http://www.btcomplaint.com/2009/01/bt-customerstreet.html
In my opinion the websites bt customer st are creating are complete junk. They are what you call ‘out of the box’ and they only come up in google for SPECIFIC search terms and only because they are KEYWORD STUFFED.
look at the top and bottom of this page:
http://www.plumbersegham.co.uk/
GOOGLE GUIDELINES STATE:
“Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines”
Do you think those keywords are stuffed like that for users?
The junk bt customer street create are not in line with GOOGLE GUIDELINES – FACT
That said bt customer street wont get into trouble with Google for this.
Why not?
Because the junk websites they create are registered with the poor tradesman like the plumber in egham they are NOT registered to bt customer street.
I wonder why that is?
They create the sites, charge a fortune and then distance themselves from the sites.
SOUND FISHY TO YOU?
you can check who owns a site by using this tool:
http://www.who.is/
Anyway there is light at the end of the tunnel. Google are getting super sharp at discounting spammy links so all those THOUSANDS of junk sites created by bt customer street with links back to their directories will soon do more harm than good and naff directories like ufindus and smile will hopefully dissapear.
I guess they will just create a new directory like they have been doing here:
http://www.btcustomerstreet.com/specialist-trade-directories.php
How many directories do they need? Where do you draw the line between promoting sites and SPAMMING GOOGLE?
If you compare bt customer street to say yell or brownbook you will notice a big difference. most other directories now allow their customers to add UNIQUE content so the pages show up in google. NOT BT CUSTOMER STREET. they create spammy websites IN YOUR NAME each with a link back to their websites in the vain and pitiful hope that google will count those links.
IT WONT WORK. SPAMMY LINKS ARE SOOOOO 2006.
bt customer street are using out of date tactics and CHARGING YOU A FORTUNE that may explain why their GOOGLE PAGERANK score across almost all of their directories is SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER than it was a few years ago.
Are you an angry customer of bt customer street? YOU CAN FIGHT BACK.
BT CUSTOMER STREET MAYBE ON THE EDGE OF A GOOGLE PENALTY…
If you see a bt customer street directory that appears randomly in google results and it is irrelevant to the words you searched for then you can report it here:
http://www.google.co.uk/contact/spamreport.html
If you would like to discuss bt customer street and practices they use on the internet then here is a good place to do it:
http://www.google.co.uk/support/forum/p/Webmasters?hl=en
If you want to follow all things google then try these:
http://twitter.com/mattcutts
http://twitter.com/GOOGLE
http://www.mattcutts.com/
Google hates spammy tactics and most of all they hate search results that produce irrelevant websites. It lowers the quality of THEIR search engine and costs them MONEY. Remember that folks.
Are you a REALLY ANGRY customer? I mean a REALLY REALLY ANGRY customer?
Is your website a dead duck? Feel ripped off? Your blood boiling at the thought of those hard sell salesmen and women laughing while they make you PROMISES and then FAIL to deliver?
Did you trust them because they are a household name? You are not fool – they made MILLIONS from thousands of people JUST LIKE YOU.
The web can be very powerful tool but only if you know how to use it…
link to this page from your site, your blog or even your favorite discussion forum.
Digg this page: http://digg.com/
Bookmark this page so others can see it: http://delicious.com/
Find other sites that are talking about this company and post your thoughts.
Seen a spammy result from bt customer street? Report it! It only takes two minutes.
There are countless websites where you can leave comments on companies you have done business with. Here is one to get you started:
http://www.brownbook.net/business/31268010/bt-customer-street
Google is pretty advanced but in a nutshell they count words and count web links.Thats a pretty big hint if you want to get your voice heard.
paul 1007 days ago
Seems to be alot of Ufindus / Customer street / smile local self proclaimed “head sheds” on here trying desperately to back up what started of as a simple question on why a certain keyword or phrase brings up irrelevant search results.
To have the “accountability manager” , “SEO manager” and Diane trying their damdest to keep face on one simple post.
Id like to Question Lee reagrding the claim that Ufindus / Customer street / Smile local are the “largest producer of websites in Europe”? what would you say is a functioning website?
Could you possible do us the favour of posting one of these “websites” for us all to look at?
And last but not least, if you dont like people refering to you as Ufindus ( or the variations of this that we have all come to know you as ) MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE IT OFF THE SIDE OF YOUR BUILDING
andrew 779 days ago
http://www.homemovingquotes.co.ukHi
graham accountability manager can you call me ref customer street sales lies and very unhelpfull bt customer street account mananger neal
we are 2 simple guys wasting our money on your sales lies we dont want any hassle but just need our product to get its best attention on the internet and simply get what we thought we paid for ?
we paid over the last 3 months a lot of money by the end of the year £2300 and its on a credit card so we need to recover this in sales the bt sales guys promised the world now bt customer street want to un promise the basic package we paid for.
we got a premium design website 3 rapid sites
i do have a learning disibility so this package was sold as someone one help us but sadly after we paid money the whole thing has gone from bad to worse i am upset tearfull that promises are not kept by a large uk company such as bt.
all we want is our product to work if we wanted a free website and pay £2300 for seo may be this was a safer option but sales promised us all this the only thing they now dont deliver
The sales tapes from all sales guys will tell the truth but we are willing to move on and start again but sadly account mananger wont help he says write in well i am to you guys
you have the tools you have the knowledge but sadly your staff dont agree
sadly the account mananger wont help we dont want to email every telecom provider the media and the internet social networking websites warning about bt lies
we could of course but we believe in giving you a chance to sort this we see from money saving expert website you help a lot of unsatisfied customers please help us
andrew peacher
really moving quotes
81b westend street ba160lq
andrew peacher
joseph kreft
01749812041
07748058724
Ralph Laurent 776 days ago
http://www.sunglasses4ladies.co.ukA little off topic maybe, but a plea for people to consider the ethics of buying fashionclothes. Please try and think about, for example, the cloth the items are manufactured from, the human rights of the employees where they’re manufactured and the green credentials of the clothes retailer. And endeavour to pass on, rather than discarding. Thanks!!!!
Kwesi Assabere 323 days ago
I was also once a client of Ufindus.com, and after being convinced by them that their website design was the best on the planet since sliced bread, I took up their offer and had a so called website designed for me. No one ever found me on and there only way of getting found was having to pay to link the website to yell.com. I paid to have an email address with the domain name also, but they did not provide this and I was told I could do it myself, if I knew how to do it myself I would not have wasted my hard earned money giving to them to do, and the so called consultant whom I was supposed to be in touch with, I could not reach after a while as I was informed that this clown have moved to Mexico. Run like hell when you see Ufindus.com coming in your direction.