Call us today at: 603-685-0111
Home > SEO > Warning Signs of an SEO Scam

Warning Signs of an SEO Scam

September 10th, 2011

There are a lot of companies out there claiming to be SEO specialists, but very few are capable of providing Search Engine Optimization services.  SEO requires professionals which are well versed in the ever changing world of search engine optimization.  And that is really the key… the rules of SEO are changing every single day and there is no book or guide to keep us updated.  So, an SEO specialist is either keeping themselves up to date or they are not. They are either testing their SEO theory or they are not.

There have been so many stories from companies that have paid large amounts of money to these self proclaimed SEO specialists with little to no results. As a service to my readers, I want to give you some questions you can ask any prospective SEO “specialist”. If they don’t give you the right answers, you should be very cautious in hiring them.

Can you get me to the top of Google?

There are no promises or guarantees. If anyone says they guarantee they will get your website ranked to the first page or to the number 1 position, you should know right there that they are making promises that they couldn’t possibly keep.

How long before I will see results?

If the answer isn’t, “It depends on your website, competitors SEO strategy, industry niche, keywords and a bunch of other factors”, save your money and walk away. SEO is a competition and your competitors are not going to just sit there and let you dominate their search results.

A lot of these scam companies will claim 2 to 3 months. That’s 2 to 3 months where you are paying a monthly fee and after 3 months when you haven’t seen results, they will tell you how your competitors are fighting back and they need more time. These types of companies know they won’t keep you forever but they will milk every dollar they can from you until you can’t take it anymore.

Can you optimize my landing pages and, if so, how will you go about doing that?

If the answer is, we will try different layouts and see what is working best, nod politely and let the red flags sail.

The real answer here is; by utilizing a multi-variate split testing tool to test out a variety of on page factors such as layout, colors, fonts and graphics to determine which landing page variations have the highest conversion rates per traffic source and / or keyword.

How much is this going to cost me?

There is only 1 answer that is acceptable; I cannot give you that answer without first researching your site and your competitors to determine an optimal strategy. Once we have done that, we can build a proposal of that strategy along with pricing.

It just can’t be done. Someone cannot feasibly flat price these services. There is a big difference between a website with 10 pages and another with 1000 pages or a site that sells 10 products vs one that sells 500 products. Now, it is OK if they give you an estimate with the stipulation that they need to do their own research before finalizing that price.

What online marketing services do you offer?

If the answer is limited to PPC / SEM and SEO, think carefully as they are likely limited to these services and cannot provide the full range of Online Marketing Services you may eventually require.

If you are going to hire an online marketing agency to work with you and your business, you want to be sure they offer every available service that might benefit your business regardless of whether you need it now or not. At Discovery Communications Group, we offer the following online marketing services;

 

Bill Karas is the Director of Online Marketing at Discovery Communications Group and specializes in SEO, SEM, Performance Marketing, Analytics and Landing Page / Conversion Optimization Services. You can reach him directly at 603-685-2919 or email him at billk@discoverycomm.com

Categories: SEO Tags: ,
Comments are closed.