Recently, this question popped up on one of my LinkedIn Groups from a local business that an SEO company had obviously scammed. It’s a great question and one that’s well worth exploring.
In my experience, 90% of SEO agencies are horrible at what they do… how do you find the best?? Read this list:
How to Sniff Out SEO Scams
As SEO experts, it pains us to hear clients tell us horror stories about SEO scams and disreputable companies they have fallen victim to. Don’t become a victim! Here are some red flags when corresponding with a potential SEO partner:
1. Unsolicited email pitches or calls
Beware of companies that cold-call or email you their SEO pitch. Typically, these pitches start with “I was just looking over your website…” Most reputable digital marketing agencies are growing so fast that they don’t have time to cold call nationally. The ones who do are usually scammers. If the email/call you receive meets the criteria below, warning bells should be going off:
- You never heard of the company
- Your network and partners have never heard of the company
- They email or call you constantly without your permission or any previous contact with their company
- Your business is not located within 50 miles of that company’s headquarters
We have seen so many people get scammed from these unsolicited emails or calls; 75% of them never knew it.
2. They use a generic business name
Beware of generic-sounding names like LocalWebsitethis.com or Webmastersthat.com. A generic-sounding business name is not a guaranteed sign of a scammer. I’m sure some businesses with generic names are great, but in general, it’s a tipoff. It’s easier to disappear into the woodwork and avoid getting sued when you have a generic non-name.
3. Unrealistic prices
If a deal sounds too good to be true, it is. SEO prices will vary based on how comprehensive the program is and how competitive your industry is. However, if your solicitor is promising the world for a $500 per month price tag, remember, you get what you pay for. Often, these low-cost monthly programs count on you not caring too much to check in on results or question what actual work is being done.
4. Bad reviews, or they have a lot of 5-star and many 1-star reviews
Google their business name + “reviews.” Do they have less than a 4-star reputation? Or, even worse, are you seeing fraud complaints in the search results? What do the employees say about the organization? Google Glassdoor + their business name, again a rating of less than 4 stars, should be concerning to you. If they have a mix of 5-star and 1-star reviews, that’s also a sign – as they are gaming the system with false 5 start reviews to offset the 1 star reviews. Read the 1-star reviews carefully.
5. Guaranteed top keyword placements
Sounds counter-intuitive, right? But anyone who says something like “We guarantee a #1 ranking in one month” is scamming you. Search algorithms change all the time, and search results have become personalized. Therefore, placements will vary from person to person, depending on location.
Instead, look for a company that will give you a straightforward answer about your keyword ranking potential. You may not like the answer (we all want better sooner), but at least you will know you can trust them to be honest with you.
6. Search results are lackluster
I’ll say it again: no one can promise search engine placements like #1, 2, or 3. However, a good SEO agency can show you clients who have achieved great results in the search engines. Those placements should be for competitive keywords with at least 20,000 search results. You should not be impressed by page 1 rankings for keywords no one searches for. If the agency cannot produce strong case studies and testimonials, save yourself an expensive lesson and keep looking.
7. Grandiose Promises and Claims
“I’ve made my clients billions” or “We can rock your world in 90 days”. Great digital marketing are honest and transparent and don’t make grandiose promises.
8. They don’t ask for login information
If you’ve already paid for SEO work, how do you know if the person is actually doing it? You could wait to see if you get any results, but that could be a long and expensive wait! The quickest way to pick out scammers is that they typically don’t even ask for your website’s FTP access or login information. This happened to many hotels in Lake George that were promised SEO for a $500 flat fee by a cold-calling company. When I showed the hotel owners that the company couldn’t do onsite SEO without login information, they were astonished and unsuccessfully tried to get their money back.
9. Buyer personas and business goals are not discussed
The goal of SEO is not to increase traffic. Wait what?! Yes, you read that right. The goal of SEO should be increasing leads or sales by increasing relevant organic traffic.
In order to achieve that goal, your SEO professional should ask you about your business before offering any strategy or results. If you don’t have at least a one-hour conversation about your business, your competitors, your unique selling points, target market, buyer personas, short—and long-term goals, etc., then they don’t get their role.
10. Their contract locks you in for a year or more
We just talked to another business. They hate their marketing company, but they “can’t switch” as their contract doesn’t end for another year and 3 months! WHAT??? It is common to hold someone to a 60-90 day out. However, locking you in for a long-term contract for retainer-based services is a red flag – especially if over a year.
11. Reputation and reviews are not discussed
If you are a local company, they should be talking to you about your online reputation and how to monitor it. Positive reviews and review schema make a big difference when it comes to placing well in local searches.
12. You drive the keyword conversation
While it is important for you to have input on your keyword list, you should not be driving the discussion. Remember, YOU hired THEM to be the expert. Any SEO professional worth their salt will be able to conduct their own keyword research and help you understand how they selected the keyword phrases.
For instance, if you are a law firm in NY, it might be useful to know which term is more popular ‘attorney’ or ‘lawyer.’ (hint it is attorney).
If an SEO professional is not talking to you about keyword volume, synonyms, and competitiveness, they are not as good as they claim to be. Also, your keywords need to be geographically relevant if you are a local business.
13. No ongoing communication
If your strategist goes dark after you sign the contract, you have most likely been duped. At the very least your strategist should be sharing monthly reports which details what work has been done, and the results of those efforts. Ideally, your strategist should be reaching out on a regular basis to ask questions, get your approval on new content, and keep up to date with business changes that could impact the overall strategy.
14. Page Speed is Ignored
Page speed may not be a direct ranking factor, but to think it doesn’t impact your rankings is outdated thinking. Search engines are all about a good user experience, and page speed plays a huge role. A site that takes over 3 seconds to load is hurting your business. If your strategist isn’t optimizing your page speed, you are missing out.
15. They don’t know what schema is
Schema is an industry buzzword, but does your solicitor know what it means? Do they know why it is important for your website?
Ask your SEO contact to show you how they set up your website’s location schema and categorization. If they can’t answer this on the fly and have to get back to you… they haven’t been keeping up.
16. Conversion tracking isn’t implemented
I meant it when I said increased traffic isn’t enough to call an SEO program successful. Google Analytics and conversion tracking should be one of the first things your strategist sets up. If you log into your Google Analytics and see this
you are not dealing with a professional. And I am not talking about measuring things like visits to a page or time on site. While those are good basic metrics, if your agency is not actively measuring changes in sales, phone calls, contact form fills, or other important conversions they are not doing you justice.
17. References “don’t understand SEO”
Asking for 3 references is not enough. Many people are easily duped or paid for. Have the reference review what the SEO company does for them each month and what kind of reporting they receive. If the references claim to be happy but are vague in their response or claim to know little about SEO, you should be worried. Many companies only target “easy-picking” clients and dupe them.
How do you find a GREAT SEO Company?
There are a handful of things to look for in a reputable digital marketing agency that you can rely on and trust. We’ve got an entire post about that here – be sure to check it out.
Here’s the quick version:
- Their clients have real results.
- Their references are actively involved in the SEO process – true partners.
- They have a great reputation locally or in your niche market.
- They will audit your site and share with you how they can help.
Looking for a local SEO company you can trust your business with?
Guess what, you just found one. We’ve been a local digital marketing agency in Upstate NY with over 20 years of success! We’d be happy to show you results, case studies, testimonials, video testimonials, and have you talk to our clients. Connect with us today!
Want us to analyze your site? Let’s talk! It only takes 15 minutes to learn more about what will work best for your business! Give us a call at 518-743-9424 to get the conversation started.
*Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in 2017 but has been updated as of October 2024
