No matter what service he is seeking, the un-educated consumer is at terrific risk of being swindled; be it a visit to a mechanic, computer repair technician, or an SEO firm. Being intangible, internet-based, and unregulated the field of SEO is ideal for scam artists and other miscreants.
What do they do?
A phony SEO telemarketing company acquires a database of phone numbers. It then ‘robocalls’ the entire list, if anyone actually picks up the call is forwarded to a salesman. The salesman then pretends to analyze the company’s website and proceeds to use scare tactics, and ‘technical jargon’ to overwhelm the person into signing up for their services.
Their services usually include either purely black-hat SEO techniques, designed to boost your rankings, which then result in being red-flagged and penalized. Or in other cases they may covertly and deliberately do destructive work, and then demand more fees to help combat the ‘problem’ they created. Lastly they may do no work at all, which in the long run is the least destructive for your company.
What to watch for:
With a bit of resolve and consumer education the marketer, business owner or webmaster can proof himself up against such attacks. Fortunately these unscrupulous companies are very easy to spot and all follow a certain pattern of behavior. Let’s examine:
1) Guarantees: Real SEO firms never give a guarantee of search engine placement. Bogus firms take it even further and guarantee first or second page placement, which is completely irresponsible and dishonest. There is no way to guarantee placement. However, an honest SEO can guarantee search engine placement improvement.
2) Google Certified: There is no such thing as a Google Partner or Google Certified SEO, Google SEO Qualified, or any other Google association. Such claims should trigger in you an instant red flag. Just hang up. Here is some more data straight from support.google.com about what to look out for:
- Google does not place robocalls.
- Google does not call to “update your front page listing” or ask you to “claim your free website.”
- Google does not charge for inclusion in Google Search or Google My Business.
Reference:
https://support.google.com/faqs/answer/2952493?hl=en#telemarketing
3) Temperament: More often than not such firms are noticeably rude and unprofessional on the phone. However there are some who are very polite and convincing, in which case they will aggressively hard-sell.
4) Schemes: When queried as to how they will pull off the SEO feats they are promising, some may hedge, and others will describe in detail as to their technique/process. There will always be some kind of linking, cloaking or other black-hat method in their schemes. If there is not then either they are lying or they actually do not know what their technicians will do to your website.
Take Action!
Don’t let your education on this subject end with just this article. With the aim of empowering businesses Clear Imaging has created the free Do-It-Yourself SEO Guide: a sensible guide to improve your website’s SEO, and all in accordance to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
Do-It-Yourself SEO Guide:
http://www.clearimaging.com/marketing-toolbox-diy-seo.htm
Google Webmaster Guidelines:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769
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