With SEO (Search Engine Optimization) becoming more of a familiar term and people realizing the increasing opportunity to generate more business from the internet, it has created a booming industry for online marketing. However, like any industry, there are good SEO professionals, and unfortunately, a whole lot of bad ones just trying to make a quick buck at the expense of others.
From our experience and conversations with business owners, we’ve collected 5 most used SEO scams the bad guys use to rip you off:
- “We guarantee #1 rankings in Google”. There is absolutely no way in hell that anyone can guarantee a #1 ranking in Google, unless it’s for a search term for your business name (which you should be able to with little to no effort), or some obscure term that no one would ever think of searching for. The words “guarantee” and “SEO” used together should signal a red flag.
- “We know the secrets to Google”. Ask yourself this: Why would Google, a multi-billion dollar company who has invested millions into their search engine, share their secrets to a SEO company? It just doesn’t happen. Many of the qualified SEO professionals learn through years of experience, research, and data.
- “We are calling from Google to offer you SEO”. Here’s a rule thumb: Google will NEVER call you to sell SEO; they usually call when you request it. Google does not charge a fee for modifying Google Places (i.e. Map section), and will not ask for your password or your personal information.
- “It only costs $100 (or some small amount) to do SEO”. This is a trap that is usually setup to be a quick money grab. SEO is a long-term strategy that involves plenty of grunt work and resources such as outreach to webmasters, citation cleanup and link building, to name a few.
- “We do SEO/Web Development/Adwords/Social Media/PR/Branding/Logo Design/Email Marketing/etc”. It’s possible to meet a large agency of that can accommodate all of these services, but even then, many of these companies tend to focus on a handful of services to specialize in. If someone comes up to you and offers everything under the sun, be wary as they may be spreading themselves too thin when it comes to knowledge and resources, at your expense.
Basically, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! We hate seeing business owners being taken advantage of; if you or someone you know has encountered a situation like this, please share in the comment section below.
