So you think you need to hire an SEO consultant. Your website simply is not getting as much traffic as you would like. Well beware, there are some dodgy people out there who will promise you the world for a bit of cash!
The typical target of such sharks is the small business owner, who does not know much about SEO so can be targeted with fancy words and promises of number 1 rankings. As soon as you get your website up and running you will be inundated with emails explaining how they can get you to the number 1 spot. Take such emails with a pinch of salt, and before you hire an SEO take some time to do your research.
Fake SEOs target Small Businesses
Fake SEOs know that small business owners probably know nothing about SEO but will be tempted by promises of top rankings on google and will part with any amount of money to get more business enquires.
A typical business owner is not expected to be knowledgeable about SEO. So how do you go about choosing one? Choosing a SEO consultant or company for your website can be a tiring and overwhelming experience. Many SEO specialists will boast about guarantees of Number 1 placements on Google or using secret techniques, but how can you select a genuine SEO consultant? Well, here are just a few things to look out for:
Promises of Guaranteed High Google Ranking
If anyone tells you they will guarantee you a number 1 position on google or even guarantee a high position, then put the phone down and go elsewhere. No company can guarantee any ranking. Google’s algorithms are one of the best kept secrets. An SEO can only try their best to get you a higher ranking, they can use the best techniques to optimise your site combined with a lot of hard work. The best thing to do is to ask for examples of sites they have worked on and read testimonials from clients. If they have neither look elsewhere.
Very Low Prices for SEO services
Good SEO takes quite a lot of man hours depending on how large your website is. If a company is charging really low prices you have to ask yourself why? Therefore quality services cannot come as cheap as many companies charge. Be realistic, pay peanuts, get monkeys!
Special Secret Techniques
If a company says they have a special formula for getting you to the top of goggle, they are talking rubbish, especially if they tell you they cannot tell you how they do it. You should know exactly what they are going to do to your site, its is your website and you need to know what changes are being made…….just in case you need to change it back!
Dodgy SEO Techniques
There are many cheats SEO techniques out there but using them risks a ban from google. Google keeps on top of SEO cheating methods and doesn’t look on them kindly. Now as a website owner how do you know what is cheating and what isn’t well if is sounds “dodgy” it probably is, but you should do a bit of research and find out what are SEO techniques are classed as cheating. Some of these dodgy SEO methods are mentioned in my article “What is search engine optimisation?” , there are also Google SEO tips.
Using Old SEO Techniques
SEO techniques have changed over the years, not only do google find better ways of ranking pages, and making them more relevant to searches making some techniques outdated and pointless, but google also changes how they rank pages to stop the cheats. Ultimately things like “keywords” have become outdated. It is currently thought that google does not put much if any emphasis on the keyword meta tag, although some SEOs still insist on focusing on it. Yes, by all means leave it in, but its unlikely to improve any search engine ranking. Currently Google emphasise keyword density, having your keywords and phrases in the title of the web page, in titles within pages, in the content at a suitable frequency. Who knows if they will change this in the future. Make sure that your SEO company uses the newest techniques and the only way to be certain is to do a bit of simple googling yourself to find out and learn some SEO basics.
Finding a good SEO company is not easy!
Ultimately the best thing you can do is learn as much about SEO as you can. You do not have to know details, just find out the basics, learn about any dodgy techniques that will penalise your site and understand what a company plans on doing to your site. Its your website after all and you need to know how it will be affected by the changes. Good Luck!
You may also like to read:
- What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
- How to Choose a Web Designer
- How to get 50% more customers with a simple change
- What is Google Page Rank?
- Google Local Business Listings are Being Hijacked Again
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