In the last few months I have spoken with at least 20 people who have been scammed by incompetent or dishonest SEO firms. Many have lost thousands of dollars in prepaid fees and have no results to show for it. No increased rankings. No additional traffic. Nothing. One gentleman paid an SEO firm $10,000 to “optimize” his site. He was promised “tons of traffic.”
Don’t pay people to optimize your site. These days, SEO projects should focus more on link building. Building incoming links to your site takes time and connections. Optimizing a site is so fast and easy that the SEO firm should throw it in for free. Don’t pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for a 30-minute project. Also, don’t pay for “search engine submission.” This is another scam that people pay for that can be done with one simple click. It takes mere seconds and people pay hundreds of dollars for it.
The SEO scams are so prevalent that it makes it tough for an honest SEO guy to convince anyone who has been burned to try again. In fact, some who have been taken no longer believe SEO can be effective to improve rankings. It certainly can. Their SEO guy was either incompetent or dishonest. The problem had nothing to do with search engine optimization.
Fair enough. I would feel the same way if I lost my hard earned money to a virtual crook. So, I’ve turned the tables on the SEO industry and decided to run my SEO business more like a restaurant. I cook up the results. You consume the improved rankings, then pay for the service. If I deliver an undercooked steak, you get to send it back, or walk out before you have even shown a credit card. This turning of the tables is appropriate given the status of the industry. It is full of crooks and the honest SEO firms need to face the facts and be accommodating.
Will your SEO firm accept payment only after you get to page one for your keyword? The next time a slick SEO firm approaches you with big promises, turn the tables and offer to pay their fee only after they produce all those big results.
