MARKETING STRATEGY : Search Engine Optimization : SEO Scams - Eight Warning Signs

Here are eight warning signs that an SEO " expert " is trying to take advantage of you.

SEO Scam warning sign 1) Asking you to invest all your budget in SEO.
While SEO can deliver a fantastic ROI, the reality is that Search Engines can change, your reality can change and SEO might not be the best option for your business in the future. So think twice before you invest a large chunk of your marketing budget in SEO. Think about alternatives to reach your clients. Consider pay per click advertising, email marketing, online coupons and starting a social media campaign.

SEO Scam warning sign 2) All search engine optimization is about your home page.
Every page of your site is a potential doorway. Users navigate via search, so map out keywords and selling propositions against URL's and try to offer the most relevant user experience in and out your website at all times.

Have every page of your website optimized for the particular subject you are describing. Having different meta tags for each page helps both users and search engines, especially in searches where users may bring up multiple pages on your domain.

SEO Scam warning sign 3) " We will submit your site to 2,000 search engines! "
Google, Yahoo and Bing (let’s leave YouTube for the moment) are enough. Medium-smaller size search engines are usually powered by the big search engines, meaning if you are listed on the big 3 you will be automatically on the smaller ones.

In fact, the major search engines have been in this business for years, and they’ve gotten pretty good at finding sites themselves.

SEO Scam warning sign 4) " Have your site optimised and promoted for only $29.95 a month! "
It’s simply unrealistic to expect good work from a professional SEO for such a small fee.

SEO is a long-term exercise base primarily on strategy. You need to build a base, go out, make good connections and relationships to your website, learn, improve, etc. This is simply not a free exercise. SEO is not a commodity as some companies might wish.

Does that mean that small companies with limited budget can’t do it?

No. It means that small companies with limited budgets need to understand the timeframes involved and question whether optimization is the best answer for their needs.

Think about making incremental improvement to your web business using testimonials, new products, promotions, partnerships, constant updates in content, etc. That will help your rankings.

Or, if you’re insistent on optimization, put extra effort into the start of the process, finding keywords with less competition but still with high value.

SEO Scam warning sign 5) " We can’t tell you what we are doing — it’s a trade secret. "
Other than a few tid bits you uncover over years doing this kind of work, there really isn’t a whole lot of "secret" information. SEO marketers aren’t paid because they have some incredible secret wrapped up. They are paid because of the experience they have in dealing with the search engines, and the success they can bring to a site. They are being paid to offer the best solution in the context of your needs and reality.

If they can’t ( or won’t ) tell you what they’re doing, it’s probably because they don’t know and are trying to conceal this fact with smokes and mirrors.

SEO Scam warning sign 6) " We know a guy at Google. "
I love this one, mostly because I know a guy at Google. I also know a guy at my local pub, but I still pay for beer. I know a guy at Telstra, and I still pay a monthly phone bill.

Trust me, Google is not going to risk the integrity of its search results just because someone knows someone. How naive!

SEO Scam warning sign 7) Messing with keywords
Keywords are the soul of SEO.

Creating compelling and useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other factors. Users know good content when they see it and will likely want to direct other users to it.

Knowing how to use your industry jargon, important keywords and most searched keywords is important.

But here’s the key: understanding the difference between popular keywords and keywords that are close to the end of a buying decision can make all the difference to your ROI.

Example: When performing SEO for a travel agency in Australia, we were researching keywords and trying to decide the leading word. It came down to decision between "Travel" and "Tour".

Although there were 4 times more people looking for the keyword "travel", we opted for "tour" because using pay-per-click for testing, searchers typing "Tour" were 70 % more inclined to convert.

For every person searching for "seo" or "sem", there are probably 10 people searching for more obscure queries like, "How do I promote my business on Google?" You can see how our page about link building ranks for hundreds of related keywords.

Try to pick a market position you feel you can dominate. The #20 result for "insurance" produces web traffic worth $0. The #2 or #3 results for "pet insurance" yields far more.

SEO Scam warning sign 8) " We guarantee page 1 rankings! "
Nobody can do this. Nobody. Check out what Google says.

In SEO, there are no guarantees on rankings, web traffic or any other measure. Think of SEO like advertising ( that’s really all it is, just online ). The best marketing guys don’t guarantee anything, either. Neither do doctors or lawyers. You hire these professionals based on the questions you’ve asked them, their past successes, experience, etc. SEO is no different.

Good SEOers are good because they have spent years learning and testing, and know the measures most often needed to produce results. So if anyone guarantees anything, they are only guaranteeing that you will be wasting your hard-earned money.

source: source: http://anthillonline.com/the-eight-scams-peddled-by-seo-consultants/

SEO Scams - Eight Warning Signs

Here are eight warning signs that an SEO " expert " is trying to take advantage of you....

Adjusting Keywords - Listen to your Customers

You probably use many sources and sofware to brainstorm and adjust your search keywords, but how do you know if your customers are starting to change the way they search...

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) is the process of promoting a website using search engines ( Google, Bing, etc. ) with the aim of achieving the top 10 of page rankings...

---