We should always look for ways to protect our business from SEO scams and there should a kind of assurance that we are working with reputable service providers. In this case, we need to follow multiple solid guidelines that we need to adhere to before proceeding forward. We should stick to what really make sense, despite various sales pitches that try to persuade us to do otherwise. We shouldn’t disregard good advices and work without proper safety nets. Here are things we should do to prevent various SEO frauds:
1. Get enough references
If a SEO specialist is successful at promoting their clients’ business, then they should be able to show some happy clients. Predictably, we should be able to find websites promoted by the SEO professionals that can rank quite well. We shouldn’t fall into fraudsters’ trap by failing to check for real results of their works. Although some of their clients may want to stay hidden, we should still be able to find multiple signs that these professional have provided multiple good results.
2. Don’t bind ourselves into a one-year Contract
Many fraudsters want to hold us hostage to get our money. This should be a fair warning that they may not have the best interest in mind. There should be loyal customers who have been using their services for years, if these professionals are able to provide really good job. It is a bad idea to fall for weak excuses that it is an industry-standard rule that we have to sign up for at least one year. In fact, we could see many reputable SEO services providing reliable month-to-month works.
3. Don’t trust guarantees for top placements
We should immediately walk away from service providers who promise immediate top placements. In many cases, it is very difficult to gain top placements and it may require years of efforts while spending millions of dollars in content building and various marketing efforts. We should avoid blatantly false advertisements, because once we sign the papers; it is likely that we will be bound to one-year long contracts.
4. Avoid integrated SEO and SEM packages
We should be wary of one-size-fits all offers. These packages could only be intended to combined SEO and SEM deals to the masses. There’s no way we can get excellent result with only cookie cutter programs, because then all people will be placed on first page, which is impossible. Our marketing programs should be tailored for our unique requirements to be especially effective. We shouldn’t buy into SEO/SEM programs that come with little details, where everything is explained poorly and unclearly.
5. Don’t trust “specialized” SEO professionals
Some SEO professionals may say that they are specialized to work in our niche, such as legal and retail. In reality, these people still provide generic services and they just have different packages for specific industries. Although some of them could be honest, we should ask for results and look for their past clients. In general, basic SEO concepts work for all industry.
