Are you worried about SEO scams?
In this guide, I’ll cover 5 ways to avoid SEO scams that could destroy your website.
…And potentially cost you thousands of dollars.
This article will save you time, money, and energy.
Sadly, thousands of website owners have already been burned by SEO scammers.
So if you want to protect your business and grow your website – without getting burned, then this article is for you.
I’ll also cover some bonus tips on how to easily avoid SEO scam artists.
5 SEO Scams You MUST Avoid
1. Guaranteed Results
Tip #1 is to avoid anyone SEO (Search Engine Optimizer) that guarantees results.
Too many SEOs guarantee they’ll rank your website #1:
The biggest problem is that when it comes to Google, no one can guarantee you this.
It’s impossible.
Why?
Because there’s so many factors outside of your control when it comes to Google.
You’ve got:
- Competitors
- Algorithmic updates
- Thousands of websites to compete against
…Which means that no-one can guarantee the number one spot.
They’re either lying or misleading you, and that’s a huge problem.
Can you trust someone who’s willing to mislead you?
I don’t think so.
That’s why you have to realize that no one can guarantee results with SEO!
So what should you do instead? Hire an SEO with:
- Proven results
- Good case studies
- Respectable reviews
- And an SEO strategy that’s proven to work
2. Toxic Backlinks
Backlinks will make or break your website.
They’re the most important ranking factor for SEO.
At the same time, they’re the #1 reason why websites get penalized by Google.
So you have to be very careful with the type of backlinks you build:
Because you can build backlinks the right way, or the wrong way.
If you don’t build the right type of backlinks, you’re the one who’ll get burnt.
Some SEO scammers may offer you “1,000 backlinks”:
But most of these will be black hat, low quality backlinks that you don’t want to your site.
So you have to be very aware of the type of backlinks you’re getting. Avoid:
- PBNs
- Blog comments
- Spammy forums
With my own clients, I’m very transparent about the way I build backlinks.
I explain the whole strategy before we start working together.
3. Unproven Results
Next up, don’t hire an SEO with unproven results.
They may be great at selling their SEO to you:
But at the same time, if an SEO expert has no proven results, then how do you know that they’re actually good at their job?
So how can you vet your SEO?
- Check their case studies
- Look at their reviews/testimonials
- Make sure they’re confident in their abilities
Plus, here’s one thing to bear in mind:
A good SEO has their own websites they’re already making money with.
Why?
Well if they can do it for their clients, then they can also do it for their own websites too.
Hiring an SEO without their own projects is like hiring a chef who won’t eat their own food.
4. Lack Of Transparency
In SEO, transparency is everything.
You should understand exactly:
- What your SEO’s strategy is
- How they’ll implement it
- How your SEO will get the results that you need for your website
If you don’t spend the time to understand this, you’re taking huge risks.
So you might say “I don’t need to understand SEO, it’s too technical”.
But you should have a basic understanding of how SEO works.
Because if you don’t, then it’s very easy to be mislead by an SEO scammer.
For example, your SEO may be hiding something from you, and you don’t even know it.
So that’s why it’s so important to ensure transparency and honesty.
You should ask yourself:
- What’s your SEO working on day to day?
- How will operate?
- Are they being honest and upfront with you?
When hiring an SEO, it’s like the opposite of a magician:
A good SEO always reveals their tricks.
Because they’re honest, transparent, upfront and open with you.
If they’re not doing that, then how can you trust them?
5. Pay Cheap, Pay Twice
So onto my final tip, and this is huge.
But first, let me ask you a question:
Do you want the Toyota Prius or do you want the Bentley?
Because when it comes to SEO, the cheapest option is usually the worst.
Why?
When it comes to SEO, no self-respecting freelancer or agency will offer low prices.
SEO requires so much thought, attention and care if you’re doing it right.
It really requires a lot of time and a lot of energy to make sure you get results.
And that’s why no SEO freelancer or agency will offer cheap prices.
You really have to ask yourself do you want cheap – or do you want quality?
It’s a mindset.
For example, my clients are ready to invest in the future of their site.
I’m not the cheapest link builder – far from it.
But at the same time, the links that I build generate a much higher ROI with SEO.
So focus on making sure you buy quality not quantity.
Don’t go for the cheapest price.
Buying cheap will only hurt your website, and it’s a very poor mindset to have.
How To Spot An SEO Scammer
Now, before you hire anyone, let me explain 3 ways to spot an SEO scammer.
Here goes…
#1: Login Details
Make sure that if someone asks for your website login details before you hire them, you’re very careful about the type of access you give them.
You can easily change a user’s access rights on WordPress.
#2: Google Relation
If an SEO claims to have a ‘special relationship’ with Google, don’t hire that joker.
No SEO has a special relationship with Google.
Plus Google is very secretive about the algorithm they use for ranking websites.
#3: Ambiguous
If your SEO doesn’t clearly explain how they’ll grow your website with SEO, they’re being ambiguous for a reason.
That’s a huge red flag, and you probably shouldn’t hire them.
