As a small business owner, you likely do not have the time to do SEO yourself. You could hand if off to one of your tech savvy employees…however, they’re probably wearing several hats already, and likely haven’t spent the last several years learning about SEO.
Choosing the right partner to help take your site’s SEO to the next level is critical. It can either make or break your website (which can have an extreme impact on your overall business).
What do you mean it could break my website?
Many business owners just don’t know enough about SEO to realize the tremendous damage that could occur by a bad SEO company.
Most of the damage is done by SEO companies who use spammy SEO tactics (black hat SEO) that create hundreds or even thousands of spammy links to your website.
This runs the risk of getting your site blacklisted from Google, or moved to the 10th page (in both cases, giving you no traffic from Google).
In some cases these bad SEO companies are hard to spot. Many will offer “SEO Packages,” which are typically under $500/month. Please remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Signs you are being ripped off by a bad SEO company:
- You are given 3 SEO packages to choose from, all under $500/month.
- If you sign the contract by such and such date, we will lower the price to $400, $200 … $1.00 (you get the point).
- The company does not reside in the USA.
- They guarantee you rankings (for a very short period…and then Google blacklists you).
- The person talks really fast, and asks few questions.
- The sales person makes you feel bad about saying no, or guilty for not moving forward.
What to look for in a good SEO company:
- They don’t guarantee rankings.
- They are local and meet with you in person.
- They show you a road map of what they will be doing.
- Their methods are transparent (there is no behind the scenes trickery).
SEO is hard work and takes time. No SEO company can promise you ranking results.
That being said, there are a lot of good SEO companies out there. Most of the good ones will arrange a visit with you in person.
You are well advised to ask lots of questions, and use common sense.
More Resources:
If you’ve worked with a shady SEO company in the past, what are some of the things you’ve done to bring your site back to normal?
Share in the comments below.
