Buyer Beware: Unethical SEO Practices

Posted by Michelle Harrington on Oct 7th, 2008

A few of my clients have been lured by big promises from companies/individuals from other countries offering cheap Search Engine Optimization contracts.  Recently I have helped some of my clients recover from the “fall out” from using these unethical SEO companies.  I’d like to share some tips on how NOT to fall prey to unethical SEO companies.

SEO is not universally understood and there are many strategies that are implemented that are called “SEO” when in fact they are actually methods that can be harmful to the search engine ranking of a website.  Everyone who has a website wants it to rank well for their targeted keywords.  That creates a huge demand for SEO consultants and a huge opportunity for website owners to be “sold a bill of goods” by unethical companies if they are not educated on what effective and ethical SEO is.

Lured by promises of increased traffic and high search engine rankings for cheap,  more and more naive website owners are signing contracts with people they don’t even know to handle the optimization of one of their most valuable business assets – their website.    It is so important that you know and/or have checked a company or consultant out before ever entering into an agreement with them or handing over the “keys” to your website.  There is just too much at stake!

I had one client who paid thousands of dollars to obtain the #1 position for her targeted keyword.  She kept telling me how excited she was to be #1 for this particular keyword.  I kept doing searches on different computers and never saw her website come up #1 or even on the first page.  Come to find out,  the company had installed software on her computer that always put her website in the number #1 position – so she saw it there but no one else did.   Once she realized she had been scammed she tried to get in touch with the company but could not reach them and was eventually told it would be a long and drawn out process to recover her investment.

Another client of mine using an SEO consultant from India had his website shut down and flagged by Google as “This website may harm your computer”, due to malware being installed on the site.  The client lost all traffic and access to the website until the malware was removed.

I’ve also seen directory linking schemes be implemented which raised the number of inbound links to the site and generated some traffic but then when my client canceled their monthly contract with the SEO firm, the inbound links to my clients site were removed.  My client had paid for a few years worth of what he thought was legitimate SEO work on his site only to find that whatever small benefit they had produced was taken away as retaliation for not continuing the monthly contract.  Reputable SEO consultants perform effective SEO strategies that remain even after your contract is completed.

Here’s a few things to remember when choosing or hiring an SEO consultant:

1. Reputable SEO consultants don’t spam you or call you asking for your business or promise #1 search engine rankings for your targeted keywords.   Most reputable SEO consultants don’t need to troll for business because they’ve already got steady growth in their customer base through word-of-mouth referrals or search engine traffic of their own.  Ethical SEO consultants also know better than to ever promise #1 rankings for any keyword – there are no guarantees of placement!  Ethical and effective SEO will identify your targeted keywords and get you ranking well for a wide range of those keywords to help improve traffic to your website.

2.  Get familiar with what SEO is (and is not) and review the Google Webmaster Guidelines BEFORE you start shopping for an SEO consultant, that way you’ll know what kind of questions to ask.  Don’t be afraid to ask what strategies the SEO will use to optimize and improve your website’s rankings.  If the strategies they suggest go against the Google Webmaster Guidelines – move on!  The last thing you want is to get your website flagged, banned or dropped by Google.

3.  Realize that choosing a reputable SEO consultant is really important. You are handing over the “keys” to your website to someone else – you need to know if that person is reputable, understands your business and is interested in your success (not just their own).  Ask other people you know who have successful websites who they use for SEO, check references and check the SEO’s own website, does it rank well?  Is it professional looking?  Are there contact phone numbers that work?  What are the quality of their clients’ sites?  Do a search for the SEO’s name or company name in Google, check the first few pages of results to see if anyone has had a negative experience with the person you are considering hiring.  If there is any question about their quality or ethics, I’d say keep looking!

4.  SEO is an investment in your website and your business. The optimization and link building that is done by an SEO company should not “go away” when your agreement ends.  There should be no retaliation for not continuing a contract.  Make sure that you ask a potential SEO consultant if the measures they will be performing for the contracted amount will remain intact if the agreement is canceled.

5.  Ask someone who knows - Don’t be afraid to ask your web designer or another internet marketing professional if they can recommend a reputable SEO company to you or review a contract you may be considering.

6. Hire someone you know or who is recommended by someone you know. I would suggest hiring someone you know who has a proven track record of success with businesses and websites similar to yours.  Always ask for and check a few different references.  Choose an SEO consultant who uses solid and proven SEO strategies that is familiar with your business and your industry and cares about your success.  Choosing an oversees SEO based simply on price could end up costing you much more than you bargained for.

Here are some more resources for understanding SEO from some of my favorite authors:

You Could Get Better Advice on a Plane – by Matt Bailey
Anyone who has worked for or run a small business knows how hard it can be to get good marketing advice. Everyone from the high priced consultant to the guy you buy your laptop from has advice on how to get ahead online. Most of them are wrong. It can leave a small business owner so desperate for advice, they’ll take it from anyone.  Read more….

Undersell Your SEO Service, Overachieve Your SEO Results by Stoney deGeyter
You’ve heard of people that are so good at sales that they could sell ice to an Eskimo, water to a fish and prescription glasses the blind. Every company wants to employ such a salesman for their products or services. Big sales producers such as this are invaluable to the companies that have them.  Read more…

Content is King, but Linking is Queen by Shawn Campbell
Ever wonder how or why your competitor gets better search engine rankings than you do? Does he know something you don’t? Well, maybe he actually does�And that’s where I come in. I’m here to unveil the secret tricks of the trade that may be giving your competitor that much-needed edge in search engine rankings and to show you how you can reclaim your position without skipping a beat.  Read More…

SEO is Not a Last-Ditch Effort, by Jill Whalen, High Rankings

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Author | Michelle Harrington of Emagine Web Marketing
Michelle is a web development and internet marketing professional dedicated to helping small businesses in Hawaii achieve success online. Michelle provides free advice, tips and how to's on the Small Business Internet Marketing Blog.

3 Responses

1. Megan says:

   October 8, 2008 at 3:11 pm

   This is a great article! You have touched on many points are so relevant to small business owners: everyone knows they want “SEO” but they often don’t really know what that means. I often think that the best SEO strategy is to have a site that is well-constructed from the very beginning.
2. Michelle Harrington says:

   October 8, 2008 at 9:08 pm

   Thanks Megan for your input. I concur, SEO should be done from “the ground up” when developing a website and website owners need to understand that SEO is also an ongoing part of maintaining an effective web presence.
3. Ryan says:

   October 29, 2008 at 6:31 am

   I have noticed more and more instances of fake press releases showing up on google lately.

   For example a company posts a link to a press release about being honored by an association, then they link to the associations website.

   You go to the associations website listed in the press release and find out through a whois that the domain was just recently created, and owned by the company who the press release was about.