SEO Scams and How to Recognize Them

SiteProNews author Andrew Plimmer wrote a good article about how to recognize SEO companies who use unethical tactics. I agree with most of the article, but had a few exceptions I wanted to share.

The SitePro News article asks; How can you tell if an offer like this is coming from a SEO scam artist?

Do your due diligence. Have a look at the page rank for the website of supposed SEO experts who’ve contacted you. If their site isn’t highly ranked, then run in the opposite direction. After all, what kind of results can you expect from a SEO company which can’t secure a high page rank for its own site?

Not necessarily true. While it may be one indicator to consider, remember the old saying about a plumber never having time to fix his own leaky faucet. I know some really good SEO guys that don’t rank well for the term SEO let’s say, but they do know what they are doing and they are not scammers.

First of all, when you are trying to rank for terms that have SEO, SEM, Search Engine Optimization, etc., the level of competition for those phrases is extremely tough since all the people trying to get ranked for those terms are likely professional SEO companies.

The article says “After all, what kind of results can you expect from a SEO company which can’t secure a high page rank for its own site?”. Most terms clients want to rank for are much much easier to get than a top ranking for the term SEO. The article makes it sound like it should be easier to rank for an SEO key phrase and if you don’t rank for that term, you must not know how to rank for anything else.

Secondly, most SEO pros know NOT to just rank for the term SEO. A searcher who types in the keyword SEO could be looking for information on how to do SEO, wanting to know what SEO is, or just wanting general information. This is not a buying term, therefore not really a worthwhile target for anyone who sells SEO work.

SEO Consultant, SEO Service, SEO Company, SEO Services, SEO Prices, SEO Rates and other two word phrases are much more targeted than just SEO and anyone typing those phrases is looking to HIRE an SEO company.

The problem is that the article says to see if the SEO company is ranking for it’s own search terms, but fails to tell the reader what search terms they should be ranking for.

I do agree, however, that unless the user found the SEO company through a search engine somehow, somewhere, they likely should not hire them. If the offer came through unsolicited email or by phone rather than by a search you performed, then you should be very careful.

I believe that was the point the author was trying to make.

They guarantee that your site will show up in the first page of results or even as the number one result! Time for a reality check: the algorithms that the search engines use are closely guarded trade secrets meaning that no one outside of a few people at the search engine companies know exactly how it all works. Guaranteeing a certain page ranking is a sign of inexperience at best – and much more likely, indicates a scam.

Absolutely agree with that. No one can guarantee you a top 10 listing in any search engine. If they do, there is something wrong with this picture.

They phone you from what is obviously a very busy call centre. If their sales department is a room crowded with telemarketers trolling for business around the clock, you can hardly expect much personal attention being paid to your site.

As the author indicates, sometimes smaller is better when hiring an SEO company. I only take on a few clients at a time for example, otherwise, I would be too busy to pay the right amount of attention to each client I do take.

It took me time to learn that. I used to do a project and quickly move on to a new client, meaning I had no time to really monitor the results of the work I did for the last client. I learned how to say no and it was the most important SEO lesson I ever learned. So now I do have the time to do the proper followup and analysis for the SEO work I do for clients.

So, some SEO companies may not be scams per say, they may just not have learned the lesson I learned about how to build a good SEO business, about how to take what you can really handle and do a good job with and saying no to the rest.

Just don’t assume that the bigger the SEO company, the better results you will get. That would be like saying GoDaddy Hosting must be better than other hosting companies because they are a big company. If you don’t already know that isn’t true, you should.

They promise to secure your site top rankings for long tail keywords which strike you as unlikely to be used by anyone. For starters, they’re trying to sell you a guaranteed page ranking (but we know better, don’t we?). If the keyword they’re offering you a top ranking for sounds a little fishy to you, look up its popularity with the (free) tool Google AdWords.

Just wanted to add the link to where the (Google Keywords Tool. is, since the author did not. Check the phrase the SEO company is promising to get you ranked for to see if it’s even worth the effort.

Their services are offered at unrealistically low prices. There are some SEO scammers who lure victims by offering to optimize your site and run promotional campaigns for prices that sound entirely too good to be true. An effective SEO campaign takes a significant amount of time and effort for keyword research, reworking page content, building high quality back links and designing and implementing traffic driving strategies. It’s not something that can be done on the cheap, at least not well.

That statement is not entirely correct. When I started marketing on the web, I had no cash at all to promote my websites with, yet I’ve done very well. Some SEO companies, like my own, will work within the budget you have rather than just saying that it costs x amount of dollars, take it or leave it.

As a company, you have to stay within a budget. Many SEO companies, like my own, will help you decide how best to use the budget you have rather than offering you a gold, silver, or bronze pre-set package you may not be able to afford.

And with companies who use these set prices and packages, you are not getting the best service. Every client is unique. You have a set budget you need to stay within, you have different obstacles to overcome, different levels of competition, different goals, etc. than the next client.

You need an SEO strategy that fits into your budget your plans, and your unique situation. So, I would add that you should be leery of any SEO company that offers only preset packages that are a one-size-fits-all approach.

I would also add that you should be careful to avoid signing any long term contracts with any new SEO company you hire. Too many SEO companies have a strategy that includes getting every new client to sign a 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, or even a 2-year contract.

You do not know how well they will perform for you, yet they want you to sign up for a long-term deal? Yes, they will argue that it takes time to do a proper SEO campaign and they are correct. They use that as a reason they need you to sign a long-term contract.

However, there are metrics and analysis tools that will tell you about some of the progress that is being made during a campaign. You do not have to wait until the campaign is complete to see if it is going anywhere.

You do need to understand that the analysis you do during the campaign is not complete and that if you set up goals to achieve in 3, 6, or 12 months, that you still need to wait until the deadlines to see a true analysis.

But, seeing some progress during a campaign is a good indicator that your SEO company is working toward your goals. And if they are making progress, you should continue to stay with them and see the campaign to the end. If you see absolutely no progress or they cannot tell you what progress they are making during the campaign through real analysis and proven metrics, then you may want to go another direction.

Either way, with a contract, you are stuck. Without one, you are in control and your SEO company must perform and get results in order to keep you as a client. So you decide what is best for you.

They promise results in 48 hours (or less). If this could be done it would save everyone a lot of money and time. The results of optimizing a site aren’t visible at all for at least a few weeks – and for the results to really begin trending in the right direction, you often need to wait a few months.

I agree with that 100%. You need to be patient and not believe anyone who tells you they can get you ranked in 30 days or less. Sometimes we get lucky and we do get a site ranking fast. But you shouldn’t be counting on luck. It takes time.

The article goes on to say; Now, if you’re looking for a legitimate SEO firm:

Again, do your due diligence. Look at their credentials, find out who’s used their services in the past and what they have to say about the company.

I don’t totally agree with this statement. I won’t send you a list of my clients so you can check their sites out. With some, I have non-disclosure agreements. I even do the SEO for some of my competitors, names you might even recognize, and they sure wouldn’t want you to know that.

Some SEO companies will approach me for a list of sites i’ve worked on just so they can solicit business from my clients. My clients don’t need more spam from fishers. Sometimes another SEO company wants to check me out so they act like a potential customer wanting a list of clients I work for. Not happening.

It can just be a privacy issue. Some companies, especially large corporate clients, just dont’ want anyone to know they outsource their SEO work. So there are legitimate reasons I or some other SEO professional might not show you some client websites we have worked on.

I do however own enough of my own websites that rank well for competitive terms and can show a client those. I can also show some client websites because that client has agreed to let me use them as an example.

That brings up another point. If, as the author states, you should check to see how well the SEO company ranks for it’s own terms, then it would be fair to want to see non-seo related websites that they own that sell other products or services and what success they have had selling something besides SEO work.

If they have never done affilaite marketing themselves, then how good can they be at doing affiliate marketing for you? If they have never run an online store themeselves, how can they help you run your online store? If they have never sold anything ecxcept SEO and website design, it only proves they know how to sell SEO and website design. it does not mean they know how to sell anything else.

Some will say that’s unfair. After all, they are in the SEO business, so why should they sell anything else. I put up some websites and blogs on unfamiliar topics just as an experiment to see how well we can do with those topics. I keep my hand in affiliate marketing so I don’t lose touch with how it needs to be done and whatever changes come along.

But, just because an SEO company does not do those things, it does not make them a bad SEO company, just like not ranking for a term you think they should rank for does not indicate they are bad at SEO.

You should expect regular reports on how your keywords are performing and you should be able to easily get in touch by phone and speak to one of the SEO consultants to get their advice and input as needed.

The reports you get from me can be found at Google.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, Bing.com, etc. You simply type in your target keywords and phrases and you will get an immediate report of how well I’m doing for you.

Written reports can be made to look good. Lots of little graphs and charts make you feel good. It may be something you can take to a meeting and put into a PowerPoint presentation. But written reports are useless compared to actual results. I simply meet with my clients and show them how they are ranking for their terms. I’m either getting results there or I’m not. The client can see for themselves.

So written monthly reports do not indicate your SEO company is legitimate or even good at their job. Even a scammer can create a graph in a word doc. There is nothing wrong with written reports, it’s just not any kind of proof of legitimacy or effectiveness.

The best SEO companies have years of expertise in the field and know the most effective SEO methodologies inside and out – and how to use them to get results for their clients. They won’t make you the outlandish promises that the SEO scammers will and they may not offer bargain basement pricing, but keep in mind that this is one service where you do get what you pay for.

Absolutely correct.

I hope you don’t take offence at my post Andrew. I just see people writing this “How to recognize a legitimate SEO company” type of article all the time. The common thing I always see in these articles is a kind of “everyone-who-does-seo-like-me is legitimate, everyone-who-does-not-is-not-legit” approach.

Different SEO companies do things differently. That alone does not indicate whether or not they are legit. As you said, a lot of proven experience is a good thing to look for, but that does not mean someone new cannnot come along, learn SEO the right way, and start themselves a business. They may be perfectly legitimate, but less experienced. They may even offer lower rates to build up their client list.

None of that means they are not legitmate. So beware of blanket assumptions as to what indicates good or bad seo companies, except the obvious things you mentioned like; Promises that sound too good to be true, offers to target keywords that no one searches for, unwillingness to give out their phone number, unwillingness to give their real location, unwillingness to offer different ways to pay them such as; by check, paypal, google checkout, direct credit cards by phone, etc.

The cool thing about asking about how they can be paid is that paypal, google checkout, credit card companies, and banks have at least verified the existance of the people you are dealing with and that they have a US bank or take US credit cards.

Agreed scammers can get these set up as well, but it’s one step toward veriffying they exist and there are options with those payment systems of recovering money if you get ripped off. If the SEO company wants you to jump through a lot of hoops to get them paid, it is an indicator they may have had problems with chargebacks, bad checks, etc.

In a buyer-beware world, you do have to be careful. But we should also be careful when making a list of things that supposedly prove or disprove the legitimacy of a company.

Andrew, your article was as helpful as you intended. I just thought a few points should be clarified since so many people write about this topic.