Spending time in the internet marketing and SEO space, you come to realize quickly that not everyone knows what they are talking about. From the guy claiming to be an SEO expert in the basement of his mom’s house to the web developer who thinks internet marketing and web design are the same thing, there are plenty of SEO “companies” out there who are just full of crap.
How do you sniff out the crap experts from the real SEO firms that will actually help your rankings grow organically? Like any good poker player in Vegas, you just need to know the tells. Here are some tips to sift through ugly and find the unmatched.
Is your SEO agency full of crap? Let’s “flush” out some details.
1. Your SEO company focuses only on Pay-Per-Click.
Some SEO firms like to pull the old “bait and switch” on potential clients by talking about SEO but trying to only sell pay-per-click advertising. Why do they do this? Because they don’t actually know anything about SEO. While online advertising management is a legit service, it is not the same thing as SEO. So if you are looking for SEO, don’t settle for just pay-per-click.
2. Your SEO firm doesn’t mention keyword research, title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and link building (just to name a few).
These are just a few terms that good SEO firms will use for their clients on a regular basis. If your SEO company isn’t applying these SEO terms to your internet marketing campaign, they are doing it wrong. And are probably using your money to buy Pokeballs.
3. Your SEO agency doesn’t start with keyword research.
Every legitimate SEO company will begin any regular digital marketing campaign with keyword research. Why? To rank for anything on Google, you need to know what you can rank for and what your audience is searching for to find your services or products.
4. Your SEO firm claims they will get you on the first page of Google right away.
Good SEO takes time. Legitimate SEO firms that spend time implementing quality SEO strategies will not see their client jump to the top of Google overnight. Instead, they understand the slow and steady wins in the race. So when Google’s algorithms change again, the shady SEO tricks that were used to get your site to the top of Google so quickly will inevitably fail. Google is on to the tricksy and will wind up ranking higher quality websites (with legitimate SEO strategies) first.
5. They claim to “know someone at Google” or “own Google.”
This one always cracks us up. Owners of Google aren’t calling anyone. Many fraudulent SEO companies will claim to know someone at Google. Remember: Google is a multi-billion dollar empire that prides itself on organic search engine rankings. It is highly unlikely that any SEO company claiming to be the best or the “top SEO company” can make Google do anything. Next time a firm claims to have Google in their back pocket, we recommend hanging up.
6. Your SEO company focuses on Search Engine Submissions.
This practice is not only old-school but also not very effective. The best SEO companies know that it’s not necessary to submit your website to the top search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing) because getting them indexed on the search engine is easy. It’s getting the site ranking high that’s the challenge, and focusing on search engine submissions won’t help this.
7. Your Top SEO company is still practicing old-school SEO tricks.
Any company that tells you SEO is the same today as it was 10 years ago is full of bologna. The Internet is an ever-evolving space, which is constantly going through updates and algorithm changes. You have to keep up with the times and adjust accordingly if you are going to continue to see SEO and digital marketing strategies work in the long run.
8. Your local SEO company only provides you with Google Analytics PDF reports.
While Google Analytics is a biggie and should definitely be included in client reports, there is much more to a proper SEO strategy/reporting than just Google Analytics. The reports legitimate SEO companies provide will include more detailed information on website traffic, keyword rankings, social media performances and any other digital marketing strategy being used (like email marketing and social amplification). Don’t pay someone to give you a simplified report that you could download yourself from Google.
9. Your SEO company does not return phone calls.
This problem usually happens with those SEO “experts” still living in mom’s basement. Although SEO can be done any time, it is easy to tell the difference between a real company and some dude claiming to be an expert by their professionalism. Are they returning your calls and emails? Is their email address more professional than [email protected]? Can you make an appointment at the office? If not, you might want to consider finding a more professional SEO firm for your business.
10. Your current SEO company plagiarized content.
This is a big no-no. Duplicating content is not only wrong, but Google penalizes sites that take content from other sites. You don’t have time to type up hundreds of onsite pages? Yeah, we hear you. But, that is not a good enough excuse to steal it. You need a team of stellar content writers. Guess what? We happen to know a few. You should call us, and we’ll introduce you.
11. Your search engine optimization company purchases links.
Buying links from other sites is cutting corners. While we promote fostering relationships with similar companies and guest blogging, buying yourself a backlink will bite you in the buttock. Search engines and search engine ranking can’t be bought. It must be earned.
12. Your SEO and internet marketing company shows no proof of improvement.
Yes, we did say good SEO takes time, but good SEO shows results. If you’re not receiving updates or any reports on the search engine optimization efforts, you may want to call your SEO expert and ask to see proof in the pudding.
13. Your SEO expert is your child.
Maybe little Billy knows more about the internet and social media than you, but that doesn’t mean he knows how to apply good SEO techniques to rank your website. If you wouldn’t trust your business to little Billy, you shouldn’t trust your business’s marketing strategies either.
Don’t settle for lousy or sucky SEO.
To learn what legitimate internet marketing and SEO strategy look like, set-up a free consultation with Post Launch, a—you guessed it—SEO company in Las Vegas. Come to the office to meet your team of SEO experts and see first-hand how a real SEO and internet marketing firm operates.
