It doesn’t matter how awesome the products or services you offer are if they can’t be found on Google (or any other search engine for that matter). As a business owner, chances are, you have a website. However, just having a website is simply not enough. If you want your business to be successful, you’ll need a successful web presence. That means that you’ll want to implement an effective Search Engine Optimization strategy as part of your overall web marketing strategy.
Unfortunately, we live in an era where there are lots of self-proclaimed “SEO Experts” who either cold call or spam prospects while making grandiose promises or guarantees of page 1 organic search rankings.
Here’s the Typical SEO Scam Scenario:
You get a call or email from a supposed SEO Company. Stop right here. It doesn’t matter what you’re promised, i.e. guaranteed page 1 Google rankings, search engine submissions, free trials, etc. Why?
Think about this logically. If a so called SEO expert is so good at ranking websites on page 1 of Google and other search engines, why is it that they are cold calling or sending you an unsolicited email about their wonderful services (why are they spamming you)?
It stands to reasons that instead, these SEO experts should be ranking their own websites so well that new clients are coming to them in droves via organic search results! But, by and large, the vast majority of these SEO companies or so called SEO experts are little more than scammers. They are cold calling and spamming you because they simply are unable to get their own websites to rank well in the organic search results. If they can’t rank their own SEO websites, how can you expect them to rank anyone else’s website? An even better question might be, do you really want to hire a SEO company who can’t even rank their own website?
So it’s not surprising that we regularly receive questions from our web design clients about the legitimacy of an email or phone call they received from a so called “SEO” company.
So, how to can you determine whether you’re dealing with an SEO Scammer?
Here are a few types of SEO Scams you’ll want to avoid.
Guaranteed 1st Page of Google Results
Perhaps one of the most common SEO scam pitches is guaranteed first page results in Google. Think about it logically for a minute. How can XYZ SEO company GUARANTEE to get your website ranked on page 1 of Google when XYZ SEO company is not Google, nor do they control Google’s search algorithm? That’s like saying you can guarantee your neighbor a job at Google if your neighbor pays you to spruce up his or her resume. ANYONE who promises or guarantees organic search results is lying to you. Do you want to pay money to a liar, whom you know cannot deliver results for which you’ve paid? Even Google clearly states on its webmaster support page that “ No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.”
They having a Special Relationship With Google or a Special Contact Person at Google
Because Google organic search provides what Google believes to be the most relevant results (web pages) to the user based upon a given search query (searched keyword), no SEO company or individual can have a “special” relationship with Google that would otherwise change this fact. Any SEO company that tells you otherwise is lying.
They have Secret SEO Techniques.
You often find that many of these SEO companies will “Sell” you on the premise that they have some secret (magic) SEO weapon that gives them the advantage over other SEO companies in helping clients to get ranked on page 1 of Google. Unfortunately, this is usually just SEO Sales double talk. Any credible SEO company should be able to describe to you exactly what their SEO strategy involves. When they relegate the details as some sort of “SEO trade secret”, you should look to them with great skepticism because they may likely be planning to use SEO techniques that are against Google guidelines (black hat) which could ultimately result in getting you website banned by Google and/or other search engines. Best to stay away from these SEO companies.
At Prominent Web Design, we offer legitimate Search Engine Optimization services and have a long-established track record of success.
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