Why search marketing hasn’t taken off in Hawaii

I don’t know about you, but one thing is for sure when it comes to technology and the islands; there’s a pretty big gap between the two. Not to say that Hawaii is behind the times or “technologically stupid”, but the two just haven’t been properly introduced.

Now when it comes to search marketing and the many small to mid-size locally owned businesses out here, alot of the business owners don’t see a point in getting someone to build them a website and get it listed in the search engines since we’re out in the middle of the ocean. I can’t really argue with this logic, but at the same time I need to speak up on it; that logic is why they’re not capitalizing on a huge potential and not getting external exposure.

But the really funny thing about all of this is that search marketing has been bastardized and SEVERELY misrepresented out here. Between all the spamhouses in India trying to win an outsourcing contract, mainland web development and marketing firms muscling in, and the totally misinformed or poorly educated SEO/SEM wanna-be’s…. well it’s pretty obvious why local businesses shy away and can’t see any good in online marketing.

Before I pull out my soapbox, I just want to make something clear here; I don’t know everything, but I’ve been doing this successfully for close to 7 years now. I have made my mistakes, I have learned my techniques the hard way and I have paid my dues enough to spot the difference between someone doing it right or just for a quick buck.

Ok, so back to the topic. So now we have a clear understanding as to why this hasn’t worked out here but what to do about it? Well I have a few suggestions;

• Â Don’t outsource to foreign countries unless it’s a language specific project
• Tell the guys back stateside that they can pack sand and worry about their own area (sorry, you don’t understand anything about Hawaii so you would do a horrible job marketing anything here)
• Get organized with other people in this industry, let’s make it a point to represent ourselves in a positive light

I’m sure there are a ton of other things we can add to this, so let me know what you think.

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