There are a lot of dodgy SEO companies in the marketplace and most should be avoided as they will either rip you off or simple waste your money. In many cases they are simply tying to get money from you for little or no work plus its very difficult
How to spot a dodgy SEO provider?
The 1st golden rule is that 99% of unsolicited emails that are sent to you are from scammers or companies that can simply be ignored – probably 100%.
The 2nd golden rule if you do a general search on google for a SEO company this doesnt mean that they are a reputable company to deal with if they have a high rank
The 3rd golden rule is if they do a hard sell or say they have a special thats for a very limited time.
The 4th golden rule is to only deal with an Australian company – at least you have some consumer laws to protect you but beware that it can be difficult, time consuming and expensive to take legal action
Once you have found a company that you are considering using then ask these questions and you can then spot any deal breakers. Do not use a company that fails any of the deal breakers.
1. Can you guarantee results or number one position
If they say yes then thats a bad sign
2. Who will be my point of contact?
Make sure that they offer a person who you can talk with and who will be working on your account the whole time.
3. Contracts
Do you use contracts?
Can I pause my campaign if I want to?
Is there a trial or opt out period if I am not happy?
Deal breakers
Yes you have to sign a lock in contract
You cant cancel or pause
We need your credit card upfront – never pay by credit card but only transfer money once you are happy with the service.
No opt out clause
In general read the fine print on a contract – there are scammers who then use debt collectors if you stop paying and have signed a contract or other nasty tactics.
4. Links on my website
Questions you should probably ask
Where will you be getting links?
Can you give me an example of some high quality links you’ve built for other clients?
Is the work done by your team in Australia or do you have a team overseas?
Things to look out for
We have our own private network of sites
We can’t give you that information as it’s proprietary
We don’t show you the links we build due to privacy reasons
We build x number of links per month
I have to ask about that
Our people are overseas
5. How do you measure performance?
How is performance of the campaign measured?
Will you be tracking customer enquiries and or sales?
Will I receive something that outlines conversions within my reports?
How will I know if I’m getting a positive ROI?
If they cannot answer specifics then thats a bad sign.
6. How will I be kept up to date with what’s going on?
How will I know what work is being completed?
How often will I hear from someone?
Things to look out for
We just provide you with the report
No we don’t do one on one monthly calls
Just call us
Just log into our system and look
7. What’s included in your reports?
Can you send me an example?
Will it show the tasks that have been completed for the month?
Will it show conversions? (customer enquiries or sales)
Will someone explain the reports to me if asked?
Things to look out for
We cant show you
If its a generic report without any specific information on it
I’ll send you something but you probably won’t understand it
By following these tips you should be able to avoid being ripped off.
