As like in any field of business, there are companies that just can’t get it when it comes to honesty and integrity. That goes for SEO companies as well. They can take you for a ride easily if you’re not aware out of what to look out for. These companies will do all sorts of underhanded things to get your money and leave you high and dry. That being said, we need to look at the warning signs of a bad SEO company.
The first thing to look out for is hype. Any SEO company that makes the claims that sound too good to be true, usually means just that. The first line of hype is that they can get you at the top of Google overnight or some ridiculous fast time. This is total nonsense. It takes weeks and months to move on up the charts to any significance and then it takes repeated monitoring and updating at that to keep moving up as well as secure your position. Another hype is that you can’t do SEO on your own. Total nonsense. It takes a great amount of study and application but given time you can learn enough SEO to be able to chat with the real SEO companies and they can then work with you more efficiently. This doesn’t mean you take a few courses and think you can become some sort of SEO guru, what it means is that you can enhance your chances via education which should save you money and time.
These unscrupulous companies will boast about how they can outsmart Google and all the the other search engines with inside information or technologies that can undermine the algorithms the search engines use. This again is total nonsense. This is a way they take advantage of the less aware. If you know nothing about how search engines work, then their fancy talk will have your head spinning with unrealistic hopes.
Watch out for the SEO Company that tries to educate you by getting you to buy SEO secrets type courses and webinars. These are just scams to get more money out of you by addicting you to get rich quick schemes. They’ll also show you statistics to back up their claims with contact info to the so called clients who of course will give glowing reviews, but it’s all bull and another dirty trick to pull you in and play you for a sucker.
A real SEO company will indeed evaluate your knowledge of the field but will walk hand in hand with you as you go along. They will keep you abreast of all actions whether positive or negative and provide statistics to back them up. Following that, They’ll adjust their game plan and make recommended changes on your part.
SEO is not some one shot to success. It’s a suite of both technologies and techniques and strategies that has sound fundamentals and room for innovation. There’s no one man gang approach but a team effort that takes time and patience and of above all realistic expectations.
So don’t let yourself be fooled by these fly-by-night SEO companies. Caveat emptor is the rule of thumb here.
Image credit: IB Systems graphic development