8 TELL-TALE SIGNS OF AN SEO SCAM

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

SEO Fraud & Scams:

Tell-tale Signs, True Stories & How to Avoid it!

INTRODUCTION:

As valuable as SEO/Internet/Social Media Marketing is, from small businesses to huge corporations, we’ve all heard the phrase “with the good comes the bad.” But OF COURSE! One cannot exist without the other...

Any industry these days is subject to fraudulent people creating fraudulent companies and living fraudulent lives. It appears as though scammers have recently been aiming their arsenal of black hats and snake charming skills right towards the SEO/Internet Marketing industry. Unfortunately, we've been watching it become a common theme and have witnessed it first hand.

It's hard to sit back and do nothing while this is happening with no way of predicting who will be targetted next. If it cannot be stopped immediately, then let's make sure that accurate information and lots of awareness is being brought to this issue.

Even if all we can do at the moment is to share a post to provide the knowledge and tools to make sure you aren't the next victim, then that's better than nothing!

Yes, there are people out there that do effective, trustworthy work and provide real results. In this article, we will further discuss the typical tell-tale signs that you should look out for, real-life stories and first-hand knowledge to help you avoid it altogether.

 We just want to prove that there are still good people out there who actually enjoy working in the industry! There still are people you can trust with your hard-earned money to do what you ask them to do!

QUICK RECAP ON SEO:

In order to understand SEO fraud, you must first have a basic understanding of  SEO. And by SEO, we only mean the white hat kind.

Search Engine Optimization is the name behind the acronym. It is an effective process in which many particular methods and techniques are applied to help your website or business rank higher on the search result pages without the use of paid advertising.

 AKA- we help you rank higher on Google for your clients and potential clients. My definition- We (all of us SEOptimizer's are just trying to break the algorithm used to provide online users with results to their search engine submission, all while making sure that we stay updated to any adjustments made by the search engine)

Did you know that 91% of people choose a link on the first page of search results, 75% choose a result within the top 5, and just for a little extra UMPH- there are about 3.8 billion searches done on Google PER DAY?!?!

Click HERE to read more info about SEO: what it is, how it is done and why it is important for business owners and their businesses'.

DON'T MISUNDERSTAND, SEO IS REAL!

           Yes, Search Engine Optimization is really real. It DOES have real people who really love being a part of this real industry doing real work and aren't in it to make a real quick buck. *RAISING HANDS* It is a real process made up of real strategies to boost your website's ranking for the search engine result page (SERP). There are real techniques, real approaches and real methods that can increase your PageRank.

           SEO itself is not a scam, it is selfish people who do as little as possible looking for the quick buck and the easy targets who are the real scam. We dislike them just as much as all you scorned business owners and to our other white-hat SEO brothers and sisters just trying to do your jobs and provide for themselves and their families.

            It has taken away from our ability to build trust with potential clients, and also ruins our credibility and integrity from those who have already had a bad experience. One bad experience is enough.

           You may be thinking: How can this happen as often as it does?
Well, anyone can quickly spend money on a cheaply made, bare-minimum website containing just enough on it for it to appear legit. Also, anyone can claim to be an SEO consultant.

In order for me to continue, I need to explain black hat SEO and white hat SEO..

BLACK HAT VS WHITE HAT SEO

Black hat SEO is basically a way of cutting corners to make your search results rank go up high very quickly by using methods that are against search engine rules and regulations. These tactics can result in penalties, removal of content, de-indexing of your site and lastly complete banishment from search engines. Below is an infographic to explain different tactics and techniques that fall under both categories to give you some examples:

White hat SEO is when you do everything by the book and obtain your SERP rank appropriately through proper strategies. Meaning, the exact opposite of black hat SEO. Below is a graph I created to show black and white hat methods 

Now that you have an understanding of the two- let's get down to some common signs that you are about to get scammed out of your money.

THE TYPICAL TELL-TALE SIGNS OF AN SEO SCAM

*Note* this list is compiled of the top-most similarities noticed when researching and comparing business SEO/SEM websites that seek to scam any other businesses out of money. I am not stating that if a company has even one of these things, they are 100% scamming you. Read through it, remain careful, do your research and look for the clues below:

 1. Guaranteed Spot on Front Page     

"We GUARANTEE the Number One Spot on Google!" 

If you see this or any type of guarantee on an SEO page- RUUUUUNNNN!!!! 

This is, in my opinion, the first and the worst thing ANY company can do, and not just for SEO companies. Can anyone truly guarantee anything in life? Unless it's a guarantee that we will all die someday, DO NOT FALL FOR IT.  

SEO is nothing that can be guaranteed, for any search engine, in any year at any time, ever..... unless you are cheating, stealing, hacking or you are the creators of the algorithm and of Google. 

SEO is a process to help you achieve a higher rank on the SERP's (search engine result page) when done correctly that is. If it is not done correctly where black hat back-alley trickery is used, you could be de-indexed, blacklisted or banned from the search engines altogether. 

So keep that in mind when choosing your consulting company because no one likes going down as a team just because of one person's f*ck up. Yes, we're all looking at you, Jeff!

2. The Pre-Packaged Deals

Have you looked at an SEO company website and see the different levels of package deals with X amount of links, X amount of keywords, X amount of content and X amount of blah, more blah, and finally more blah blah blahhhhhh? 

Again, this is in other words, another guarantee that they are going to get these for you. It's in the package, and you're paying for it upfront. 

Well okay, they may actually be able to get what they say for you. But how literal are they being? Usually, it doesn't mention if they are do-follow links or what type of keywords they are going to use, barely any extra information at all.

If you don't know what to look for, then you probably won't see it till its too late. Most legitimate companies will either determine prices based on your business needs unless it's for a one-time service or they will typically charge by the hour.

In our case, we don't have any set prices since each business is very different from the next. So, with that being said, the amount/type of services, size of the company & amount of work required will not be the same for each case.

3. They bank off of your lack of knowledge

If you are on the internet looking for SEO services near you, chances are because you are looking to hire a consultant or team to do your internet marketing. Well, if you don't know the bare minimum,  there are some "consultants" that will smell it on you and use their silver snake tongue that can make the worst sentence sound beautiful.

So to someone who doesn't know much about SEO, if anything at all, may hear this next sentence and think it sounds good and professional:  

"For only 49.99, we will take your Pagerank, then increase and index your backlinks so your website can perform and allow Google to audit it for for the top spot... "

I sent this same sentence to another associate of mine who understands how marketing and SEO works just to see what he said. This is the screenshot of that conversation. Afterwards he was clearly confused.

If you are familiar with SEO, you know this is all sorts of wrong and definitely a scamming company and you're probably laughing. If that sounded like something you could buy into, then please keep reading till the very end, don't even blink until you're done.

4. The "Insider Info"

"Just so you know, we have an upper hand for SEO because we know someone who works for Google and he tells us ahead of time before they make an update"... OR something like that. Sound familiar? I sure hope not.

Just a guess as to what BullS**T sounds like. This is one thing I have heard quite a few times when it comes to SEO scammers- all the claims that they have insider knowledge and can beat out the competition and stay ahead of the game. However, they really are not a part of the game at all. Don't fall for it!!!! 

No one besides the two owners of Google and maybe some mathematicians/algorithm experts that work FOR them would have this information. For them, to leak it means losing EVERYTHING because they most likely had to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) which means that they cannot discuss anything work-related with anyone outside of work or they can be sued to the fullest extent of the law.

..and to be sued by Google (who has about 85% of the search engine market share) for leaking some information about an update would basically equal professional suicide. Well, not quite, but they'd certainly lose their credibility, probably all of their possessions, maybe a few pieces of their soul, etc. (I'm joking... kind of)

 No one in their right mind would do it. I guess that is why these guys claim they can get it. Notice the "in their right mind" part of that sentence. 

5. Selling Backlinks

BLACK HAT SEO ALERT!

Sure, you can sell backlinks... that you have already gotten for a company as you are hanging out in some shady area of the Internet.

I have witnessed some agencies that will use that lack of knowledge against me as my colleague and I did an experiment. Acting as though I had no idea about SEO to the point we were calling them black links and using a bunch of mumbo jumbo that did not make senes, I was told by the "owner" that they had the ONLY do-follow links in the world.

THE ONLY DO-FOLLOW LINKS IN THE WORLD! hahahahaha

And you will see what I mean when you get further down and read about the personal experience a colleague and I had with this scammer.

I have also witnessed some black hat SEO companies sell URL's from a business owner's competitors pages as links. $1500.00 for 3 URL's that didn't even have their link on it. It was just a way of providing them "Intel" (back to number 4)

When it comes down to it, do NOT buy backlinks. The worst ones will be cheap as hell and make it seem great but you are really hurting your SEO.

• Read more about buying backlinks here @ Ahref's Blog

6. Keyword Stuffing

Easy explanation.

Keywords are a decent part of SEO. If you see a site that has the same words or phrases repeated over and over again almost to the point of annoyance, there you have keyword stuffing. It's an unfair rank advantage as stated above, and this can result in harsh penalties as well.

7. Their website sucks & prices are cheap

I think the title alone explains it. 

One time, I saw a "website" for SEO that was actually made off of someone else's blog POST! Clearly, these people don't want to try very hard, so why hire them?! 

Please don't ever go for the cheaper option. I beg you. Just don't do it.

If you want QUALITY (and white hat) SEO, you have to pay for it. Don't try and cut corners to save an extra $100-200 a month. You will only end up hurting yourself in the long run. Remember, SEO is an investment!

If you can't afford the other options, maybe some local start-up agency will give you a good price but always check their credentials and speak with them in person if you cannot meet face to face. 

8. Social Presence & lack thereof

Have you checked the company to see if they have and use social media outlets? If not, do it. These companies are most likely watching their backs at all times and having a social presence would just be more of a risk. 

Look them up on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook... the main platforms and see what you can find. If you don't find anything, disengage! If you find they have accounts but they are new with only a few tweets here and there- don't freak out. They may have just started their social media presence

NOW FOR STORYTIME!

A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT WITH A SCAMMER 

(Be advised, names of people and businesses have been changed due to legal privacy concerns)

Let's begin with a man who we will call "Scott B", for confidentiality purposes. Scott B. reached out through a social platform for professional and employment networking.

For starters, his profile picture shows him (but probably not him at all) standing in front of a fancy, expensive-looking car wearing a suit while attempting to give off the appearance of "success".

Clearly, Scott B wants everyone to see that he is making great money so you should definitely trust him with yours, right? WRONG.

Now, we could tell that he didn't look at our page. AT ALL. We know this because had he actually looked at it, we wouldn't have this wonderful story to tell. On this page of ours, it very clearly states that we are an SEO business- the same thing he was claiming to be the owner of.

Just with common knowledge, why would you extend your services to your competition for anything other than to gain employment from them or possibly a professional opinion or contact? Just a logical thought, but moving on...

We received a message from Scott B. stating he had 600 backlinks and would gladly give us 75 of them for $50.00. It even gets better, he stated that they were the only Do-Follow links in the world...

If you aren't familiar with what a Do-Follow or NoFollow links, I'll quickly explain why this makes no sense: When the person in charge of any website (webmaster) adds a link onto their website but doesn't want to give credit via the search engines, they just have to add a small piece of coding at the end of ANY (yes, ANY) link.

Therefore, any link can be a potential no-follow link depending on what the webmaster's choice is as to how they want to relay links on their site. Hmm... Once he said this, it was game on!

We acted as if we were really interested in that sale and also as if weren't familiar with the industry at all. By purposely misusing and mispronouncing common terms, we were able to see the extent that he was willing to go to get this $50.00. Each reply was something that could possibly sound professional to a person who is not educated about SEO.

Amidst continuing to play dumb and reading these preposterous responses he was sending back, we decided to look him up online. Low and behold, Scott B. was the owner of "U Pay, I Scam SEO" (not the real company name, but it should have been) and a handful of other websites that all looked very similar with repetitive content that he just mixed up from site to site and stuffing in those keywords like your Thanksgiving turkey.

To make matters even worse, we found out that he was actually already sending us the almost identical message from another profile under a different name at the same exact time.

Needless to say, we made sure that we weren't the only ones aware of this person. This is why it is important to do your research!!! Don't let Scott B. and the boys sell you the world on a golden platter just to receive plastic with golden-colored paint.

As good samaritans, we reported the guy and his website. I checked on it a week later and the site had all it's previous content and links removed and the only thing it said was "The future site of something amazing!"

We did our part and I hope that everyone else out there is doing the same thing. It's important to be diligent, ask questions no matter how dumb you think they are, and go with your gut instinct. If something smells fishy, it's probably because it's fish.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

You know the old saying "You get what you pay for" right? Well, it is very true. Doesn't matter which type of business you deal with, it goes across the board with any industry, if the quality is something you value over quantity. And depending on which way your moral compass is facing...

When it comes to SEO, the cheapest deals plus the promise of ANYTHING for a lower price is NOT ( I REPEAT, NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!) the best way to go. You will end up paying for it in the long run tenfold. You could get your site removed completely and be banished from search engines indefinitely.

So please understand that you are making an investment when you decide to utilize an SEO group or a consultant. Would you make an investment in blind faith? Or just because someone you don't know at all says it's a guaranteed investment? Would you risk losing all that money and more just to save a hundred bucks every month when SEO has a high turn-over rate aka ROI?

According to an article on www.digitalgyd.com:

Does SEO has a positive ROI? What is the top goal and top barrier in SEO campaigns?

Over 81% of participants (in a research from Ascend2) report their SEO campaigns are above average. The top goals of SEOs (participants) from their SEO campaigns were to generate traffic and the top barrier was to improve or get decent search engine rankings.

Katie Pritchard from www.impactbnd.com wrote:

Marketers see SEO as becoming more effective, with 82% reporting effectiveness is on the rise and 42% of this group stating effectiveness is increasing significantly.

With digital marketing becoming more mature, it’s no surprise that companies are continually getting better at SEO.

 THE CONCLUSION:

My CONclusion- sorry folks, couldn't help myself, I'm a pun-loving gal. Let's make this nice and sweet and to the point. I feel as though I have made myself very clear throughout this article. There is nothing more I can't stand than people who scam others out of their money. It's cheap & tacky, it's an awful thing to do to someone who actually works HARD for their money, and it makes the rest of us white hat consultants look bad. 

Scammers (and this goes for any industry) are tarnishing the industry and potential business for those who actually want to help businesses thrive and succeed. I was rejected by a company once because of his previous bad experience with guess what... BLACK HAT "I have insider info" company bullspit. 

So, with that said- I've given you some of the most notable tell-tale signs to look for so use them when attempting to locate an SEO company for your business. 

Do your research! Yes, researching is a friggin hassle when you already have to run a business, but it pays off in the long run. SEO is a long run type of game anyway, and it pays to play! RUN IT!

Contact these people by phone or in person. Report on anything you see that is fishy. Ask for proof. Ask questions. Do your due diligence. And let's ban the SEO scam and keep those black hats out of style and off the market for good!

With all love, white hats, hope for humanity and freedom of speech- I wish each and every one of you, the absolute best! We are here for you every step of the way for any questions or concerns you may have. 

Drop a line if you have a relevant story you want to share for use on our blogs, site and as research, share your story in the comment section or if you want to remain anonymous you can email it to us at insiteandonline@gmail.com 

Let's come together and keep on fighting the good fight!

One.

Content written by Amanda H.