Good SEO can make you a ton of money, and it's a fact that if you know what you’re doing with it, you'll be getting a whole lot of awesome, free traffic to your sites for as long as you'd like.
Unfortunately, there's a lot of people out there that will promise you who-knows-what, take your money and deliver nothing but frustration. So…
Avoid these SEO Scams
Here's a quick rundown of a few SEO scams you absolutely must avoid on your journey to making some serious moolah online.
1. If it Sounds Too Good to be True, it Probably is
I am sure you know that saying and guess what? It's true.
I mean, if you're hiring some SEO guys to do SEO consulting work on your site and they're telling you that they'd get you the rankings you know are extremely hard, if not impossible to get, chances are they're scamming you.
2. When it comes to SEO, There Are No Guarantees
SEO is fun when it's done right, but the truth of the matter is that no one can give you a guarantee on Google's, Yahoo's, Bing's or any other search engine's placement unless they know the actual algorithm that those search engines are using to rank their sites.
I mean, you can surely work on getting to the top of Google, for instance, but there's no telling whether you're going to actually get there or not, so if someone guarantees you a specific placement, there's probably something fishy about it.
3. Words Don't Matter, Get Proof
Another thing that's interesting about the great majority of SEO freelancers and even companies out there is that for some reason they think they can simply say something and you're bound to believe it.
Whenever you hire them, instead of just making a decision on what they tell you, get some kind of proof that will show you that they know what they're doing.
The best thing to do is to ask for a track record. What websites did they optimize and for what keywords? How are those sites doing in the SERPS now?
Find out what you can before you do anything and then make your decision based on the facts.
4. Results First, then Payment
I generally don't believe in upfront payment for anything I get done. I don't know about you, but I've just been burnt way too many times.
See, if an SEO company or an individual freelancer is any good, they'll be fine with providing you the results now and getting your payment later.
Why?
Because if you think about it, what they really want above anything else is a repeat customer.
They know that if they do a good job on your site, you'll get back to them and ask to do more work for you.
On the other hand, if someone is trying to scam you, they'll demand that you pay upfront. My advice in situations like that is… don't go for it.
5. Don't Let Them Teach You, You're the Boss
The last thing I wanted to talk to you about is that many SEO people have a tendency to tell you what can and what can't be accomplished.
This is quite annoying if you ask me and extremely off putting.
I mean, you pay, you want something. It's their job to figure out how to get it to you, right?
Getting good freelancers to work for you can be quite a challenge and getting good SEO people to rank your sites can be even more complicated. Use the tips I've shared with you and you'll do just fine, though.
So, have you been scammed by any SEO freelancer?
I like all of your points except #4. There should be me some kind of payment upfront even if it’s not the entire amount. After all, even SEO people have to eat and have bills to pay.
Well, you are not wrong to say that, and I’m not wrong to say about getting results first then payment, because SEO stuff is not something you can guarantee and no one in this world can guarantee the position they will give you, so if there is no guarantee in doing SEO stuff, what’s the matter in letting me get the result before I pay.
Although, you might said, not all freelance will do that, but let me tell you, out of 10 freelancer at least 2 of them will do and let you see the results first before getting their payment, reason is simple, they know what they are doing and they LOVE their job. Aren’t you going to find someone who love their job or are you going to find someone who just WANT YOUR MONEY?
It’s your choice, although it will be hard to find one, but it’s not impossible, right?
Mitch has a really good point. I don’t know of many legitimate businesses who offer their services with payment on the backend. Just like any business, SEO has costs. One always assumes some risk when buying anything–SEO is no different. If the company buying the SEO services doesn’t trust the SEO company enough to agree to reasonable payment terms, then they should find a different SEO company. A good SEO company also has a good reputation and some past results that they can share (hopefully without violating client privacy agreements).
I have been asked to work on performance. I laughed all the way to the bank. A good SEO will happily do that. A good SEO will take some risks if you (the client) is willing to take some as well.
Nice article overall!
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Regarding #4 – I disagree. If you don’t like the results, either you read the advert incorrectly (misinterpreted it) -or- you really did get scammed, in which case you use your blog and Social Media to TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THE a**hole!
I have a post coming up on my blog soon (in June) about a company that gypped me – they do it all the time to people and keep getting away with it because the law actually protects THEM! I’ve been holding back because the police in the twon they operate out of are trying to see if they can muster any kind of case, but it looks hopeless!
I will have to look up on your blog in June, it looks like something interesting to read about your case because I had yet to handle any scam from a company, because the only scam I got was from individual freelance.
So early June or late June?
Well, I disagree on the 4th either. Actually, results can’t be achieved in just a month though. Sometimes, it takes up to 3 or more months depending on the levels of competition with the specified keyword, and sometimes it’s really hard to rank it on top. Well, all I can say to avoid further scam on SEO companies is to hire someone from a trusted outsourcing site such as ScriptLance and FreeLancer. This way, scammers are very much unlikely since a person’s online reputation is on the line.
ScriptLance and FreeLancer had scammers and I had been scam before 3 times from people who agree in some job they promise me to do, but they never did and the best way to avoid me is they never reply to your email once the payment is up.
And although you are right to say you disagree #4, I guess it’s up to personal to decide, because finding SEO freelance is totally different from finding freelance who do writing and such, for one reason SEO is stuff no one can guarantee.
Look, as I had told Mitch, out of 10 freelancer at least 2 of them will do and let you see the results first before getting their payment, reason is simple, they know what they are doing and they LOVE their job. Aren’t you going to find someone who love their job or are you going to find someone who just WANT YOUR MONEY?
This is up to personal to decide what I stated above is always the safest road to not being scam.
Well, if that’s the case, then I guess it’s definitely tough to look for one who would deliver the work first before sending in the payments. Even huge SEO companies themselves asked for a deposit first right before the actual results could be concluded. However, they do ensure a moneyback guarantee once the expectations are not met hereunto.
As of your case in ScriptLance and FreeLancer, chances are, you could have chosen those contractors which have relatively low feedback rating or none at all. It’s always the best option to look for one with the most number of ratings yet with a credible one. This way one can be assure at the very least that scam is less likely to occur.
Ya that’s one good way to get a good guy to do the job, maybe I was new to getting an SEO dude to do a job, but of course this had happen several months back. As for now, I almost do whatever I can to really get the right guy for the any online job. I think too much freelancer nowadays and we are the one who is going to really research and get the real deal…
Absolutely ! 🙂 Patience is always a basic necessity for finding the right guy. It’s always hard to look for a real dependable one on the web these days. That’s why time is needed to further figure out which is which.
I just recently hired someone to SEO individual posts for me after their written, and right before publishing.
She’s not a company, but a fellow blogger/marketer that I’ve known for a few years. As for proof, I know she does well with all her own sites, and that’s what I was looking for.
We set on a specific price per post, and I pay once per month.
It’s only been 2 months or so, so I’m not real sure on how to check results…I do know I have been seeing a lot more comments on older posts, that means something right?
I’m not an SEO expert, so I do not know the good way to check, but if I were you, I will look at the comment and see where the author of the comment are link to, are they link to site that are in the same niche as you or just another spam site, I believe you know what I’m talking about and secondly I will type the keyword for that post and see where it ranked in search engine (Google).
Well, that’s what I will do, but if you want to really get the right way, is better to ask in the forum or maybe ask another person who you think is an expert in SEO.
Well, there’s at least one issue here Wong,
I always check the commenter links and deal with them accordingly; no worries there.
Honestly, not every post has an individual keyword. I write for the reader and just get my point across, she does the best she can for the SEO.
What forum?
May be Warrior Forum, or Digital Point, that’s usually where I hang out the most. You might be able to get hep with SEO, by going to “seomoz.org” there are tons of SEO Professional and Experts.
Well… if you trusted her to be the best, I think there is no reason why you wanted to check.
I do trust her, I only asked because you said “is better to ask in the forum”, and it sounded like you had a specific one in mind.
Actually, to be honest, I have a check list of stuff, I always do when hiring freelance and there is also a check list of stuff, I do to make sure the results are there, so you should keep handy of a check list, so that whenever you hire someone you will do what’s on the list and once the freelancer job is done, you will use the other list to check for the results, I mean this is the way I do even for trusted person because… well… for instance, this is sort of a procedure.
I’m intrigued, would you share your checklist?
Sorry, I can’t unless you paid me, I will show you the list… as you know not everything online is free, I can be a helpful blogger but I still need to eat 🙂
I was agreeing with you until #4. There has to be some down payment required. If you’re worried about being ripped off, then execute the campaign and progress to the next phase of the campaign only as soon as the agreed upon results have been achieved. Set milestones and demand results.
What you mean by “execute the campaign and progress to the next phase of the campaign only as soon as the agreed upon results have been achieved.” Care explain, because I’m really not very understand where you are going?
To me, outsourcing SEO is one of the toughest processes. There are so many things to worry about. Whether to trust them or not, is the proof real and so on? And with many SEO tasks results won’t show up immediately in which case you are forced to believe them and make a payment anyway.
Nice tips.
Cheers,
Jane.
That’s why there are only a few of them who actually could let you see results first before you pay them, I found a dude in Warrior Forum, and he said he will help me to get to the second page of Google for certain keywords, and once he get’s the result I will pay him upfront for the firs payment and after he will optimize my site for better search engine which I will had pay the full amount.
So, he did get the result of placing me in the second page of Google in a month and I pay him the amount of upfront and within 2 weeks he got my site optimize and I got rank on the second page of Google for a few keywords and that’s when I pay him fully.
Now, if I had another site I want to rank, I will sure pay him first because he had make me trust him and this is the sort of people you need to find.
Not those that always like to promise upfront and then when they can’t get the results, they will give you all sort of reasons tell that your site sucks.
I think it’s obvious you’re not in the United States because there’s not a single SEO person, including me, that would even begin doing the work without a deposit amount of some kind. Your 2 out of 10 might work where you’re from, but we just don’t do things like that here. I wouldn’t even talk to anyone that tried to pull that one on me.
Sorry, how can you say no one will do that? Does you know every SEO freelance in the US? If so, then I had nothing to say, because don’t try to say something so big when you had no idea if there is someone out there in the US that actually does give result before payment.
I can say it and I did say it. If you’re going to stand behind your statement then I’ll stand behind mine. I don’t know why I’m the only one you want to argue with since every other person that’s responded to you hasn’t liked #4 either. Just asking, but in whatever your profession is do you do all the work and wait until your results to be paid?
Do you really dishonor people who do SEO work that way be assuming they’re not worth being paid to do work when you also state at #2 that there are no guarantees? Circular reasoning; no guarantees, so someone puts 3 months of work into a site that, for whatever reason, doesn’t improve to a hoped-for point and they don’t deserve to have been paid a single cent? That’s supposed to be fair?
Well… I did not argue with you, in the first reply, I already said what you said is not wrong and what I said is not wrong either and lastly I also said is your choice, and now you telling me I’m arguing with you? Look, I did not write point #4 for no reason, I had been scam before and finally I did find someone who get me a small results before I pay him, that’s my experience that I went through, do my experience in point #4 offended you did I say something bad about you? If you clearly see what I write in reply, I DID NOT OFFEND YOU IN ANYWAY! So, please if you aren’t happy with any of my reply or any words I wrote, I don’t mind you leaving or worst telling others I’m bad.
And to answer your first question, I had been marketing online for 4 years and I only got paid handsomely just last 2 years, so it took me to work hard for 2 years to be paid, so answer “results first then payment come”
Second question: What about you pay someone to rank a site and in 3 months, it never got rank? Is that suppose to be fair to you too? You doesn’t had to reply me, just ask yourself and answer that in your own heart, because I’m not here from trouble I’m here to tell readers what I went through and what I had experience.
OMG
What’s wrong with asking for some results first? Any professional would be glad to go ahead and prove themselves. If we are in business we take these risks everyday.
This article is not bad mouthing SEO guys. Wake up! There are scams everywhere and this guy is entitled to be wary.
SEO just happens to be one of the biggest scams out there and everyone is claiming to be an expert! Why deny this? I am in Australia and to say it does not happen here is just stupid! It can happen anywhere!
It’s just like computer repairs and car repairs, the average person would do well to be wary!
Ya, ur right, anything can happen especially SEO scams, for example recently Godaddy got this stuff call Search Engine Visibility, I though it will be a nice program but when I heard reviews from most of the blog and also forum, it’s just almost a scam, telling you to sign for something I’m not sure about it… It’s just stupid and can you believe it’s Godaddy, a reputable company online…
I agree with the others–I was with you until point #4. As freelancers, we have to protect ourselves. I’m a freelance writer and editor, and I don’t begin a new project without a deposit.
Clients have a responsibility to check out freelancers before they hire them too–they should look at past work and get to know the freelancer before hiring.
And, as surprising as this might be, the truth is that MOST professional freelancers (writers, SEOs, etc.) will require a deposit before beginning a project. Only amateurs work on a promise.
Yes, I do agree with you – professionals sure need deposit, but all in all accept SEO freelance, it is something we need to consider especially if the freelancer is doing everything by himself.
SEO is something that cannot be guarantee, it is not like you work on it, you will be rank position you did want, I have a dude who does SEO for me, and of course, the first time round he produce a small results for me, which I paid him after the results came which is one month, and after he demands an upfront for the rest of my site, which I trusted and paid him. So what you think? Is he a professional?
Really informative post. There are many scams in SEO business. With only proofs we should hire them, otherwise they will rush away from us without completing anything which they promised 🙂
Thanks, and for point #4 which not many will agree with, you should take your decision in making whether or not you will pay upfront the money or see a small result before paying.
Very true Ileane. There are many scams like this which have been going on in the recent times with claimed SEO firms promising too much at a small price ending up to be just mexican standoffs. So, its better to go organic,than to lose your money going for a quickie!
Thanks for the heads up Ileane. I know for sure that SEO has no guarantee. There are very few factors that you can take full control with when it comes to link building and internet marketing. I recommend that every one should take the effort to learn and not just depend on SEO firms.
Whenever I hire freelancers for SEO works, I usually become so meticulous that I wouldn’t be satisfied with one proof such as having to know the websites that they have optimized but I also do a little homework about their background and the quality of their services and the level of satisfaction that other customers have experienced with them. I have hired an SEO freelancer once who was very willing to discuss the business in person and that’s one thing that I think is crucial in preventing SEO scams. I’m just thankful that so far, I have not experienced being scammed in SEO.
Lady’s luck on your side… lol, I got SCAM by SEO dude back then, that’s why now I know how to get a real good deal out of them. I think being a good SEO freelancer, is just like what you said, sitting down discussing over in person, but of course not all will be able to sit down in person with you, so is best to check his background and also asking question to see if he did reply a detail and good answer or just a sentence just to put you off….
I might have agreed with you about upfront payment for SEO work – until you included that statement. It’s a generalization that leads inexperienced marketers to believe that anyone that asks for upfront payment is trying to scam them, and that’s just not true. I’m a freelance writer, which is different than someone who provides freelance SEO services, but I don’t like to write for people who won’t pay me up front because they might be trying to scam ME.
A better answer is to either pay 1/2 up front and the balance on completion or have all of the money held in escrow somewhere until the job is complete.
Sorry, you might have got mistaken, this post is written especially for SEO Scams, so everything in this post had nothing to do with other freelancing job. So, I do appreciate that you understand, the main topic and subject that I’m targeting as I know what you said is right about being a freelance writer.
There’s a pretty good debate going on when to pay, I say it depends on the size and length of the job…..as well as if it’s a one-off or continuous job.
Me for example: I have an outsource that optimizes my posts individual.
I write the post, stick it in opening mode, she goes in and optimizes it, and I then publish when ready.
I pay once per month.
I can’t pay ahead of time, as I have no idea how many posts I’ll write that month. Paying individually would be stupidity, especially if Paypal took fees each time.
This is an ongoing job, she knows there will be a monthly payment until I either quit blogging or die. lol
The other point, which everyone should strive for, is this is someone i already knew, liked, and knew she did good work previously.
Well… actually this is personal decision, so I won’t take it as anyone should ask for results before payment, but from my experience especially in hiring SEO freelance, it is something everyone should consider as, there are more and more scams like this day by day, you might pay him upfront, but if he never get’s the results for you, what you do? Let him go with your upfront payment? Well… don’t take it serious, that’s just what I think.
But if you trusted the person or if you already knew the person, then most probably you won’t get scam but unless you doesn’t know the person, then sometime you just had to consider point#4 before you make up your mind.
If I ever actually decided to go with an unknown, I would not pay upfront. maybe a smallish deposit if it is a lot, but not much.
If that were the case though, I’d probsbly have the person break it into pieces, and pay that way.
Breaking it into pieces, it’s also a nice way to do it too. I might consider that in my check list, thanks for the idea.
Another example of why comments count! lol
You’re welcome. 🙂
Everyone seemed to disagree with #4 and I joined them too. It hurts me to read “Results First, then Payment” . Well, payment should agreed upon by both parties and getting payment per output basis is a fair way for both. Sometimes, it’s not the freelancers or an SEO company makes a scam sometimes and most of the situation I’ve heard, it’s client who scam.
Hey SEO is not easy but when you hit it successfully, it will run and benefit you long termed.
Well… usually I always bring down to a decision which actually both parties do agree, especially doing for search engine stuff. I mean if the freelance think I’m going to scam him, then is okay for me to let go.
There are so many freelancer out there, I mean getting the right person is not easy, but for the benefit in both parties especially SEO job, I usually had to do it my way.
I’m not saying everyone had to agree with me, I think this is a personal opinion and decision that each and everyone should choose.
Above is just what I experience so far.
OK. I have to put my two cents in here as I too, do not completely agree with #4. I do SEO work myself for some clients and here is my side of the story.
“Unless, they have been recommended by someone I know or, there is some sort of compromise on both sides, I will stay away from the project, period.”
The reason why I am saying this is that there are other forms to ensure that a job does not go unpaid. I totally understand why someone who will hire somebody will prefer not to pay upfront, but on the other hand, what guarantee does a SEO professional (or freelancer for that matter) have, that he/she will receive payment once the job is completed? I mean, if you were the one offering the service, you might also want to get something upfront to cover for your costs, right? Obviously if we are talking ridiculous amounts of $$ probably, I won’t even bother, but then again, serious work, requires serious investments and some risks has to be involved, from both parties. There is no such thing as cheap SEO services. Its all about price/quality ratio. You get what you pay for…
One way of dealing with this problem is to use an escrow account to ensure that both sides are serious, if you are doing this directly without the intervention of a network like freelancer, odesk, etc. If you are doing a job via a network, this really does not constitute as a problem, as these networks hold on to the money upfront, and ensures that both sides get what they proposed themselves to do. Either way, most of these networks even encourage you to set up a small % of payment upfront. Why do these networks require upfront payment? Because both sides have to be serious.
I have seen too many people offering SEO services that are too good to be true and if they do manage some sort of magic to get “any keyword or phrase” ranking high on the SERPs, it will most likely be there for a very short period of time. SEO is not instantaneous, thing. It is an ongoing process and continuous work has to be done to keep up with changes in many factors, such us, user behavior, search engines algos, ever growing competition, you name it. Ranking #1 for a term that no one uses is easy, but try doing that for a highly competitive keyword and results can be very difficult to obtain, let alone guarantee.
On the other side of the fence, there are those clients, that require ridiculous expectations and are only willing to pay $300 for a 100% guarantee from the service provider that they will get the #1 spot. Those, I tend to stay away from. That’s trouble in disguise and a disaster in the making.
In a nutshell, I believe that what Mitch is trying to say is that in order to do a serious job, both sides have to compromise. Somewhere in the “middle” will be just fine. If it does not work, then, move on. This is business….
Whew, that’s a lot of two cents 🙂
Well, I had never disagree with Mitch saying paying upfront is wrong, is just that his promise of saying “obvious you’re not in the United States because there’s not a single SEO person, including me, that would even begin doing the work without a deposit amount of some kind.”
I mean this is just over-promising, how in the world can he know no one will do that? Again, I’m not going to go further, I think you know what talking about.
There are sites or network that holds the payment from both parties, of course, I don’t mind paying upfront because the other party won’t get the money either unless his job is done, so… what if it’s a freelancer that work alone, well… when it comes to this, usually I will had to do it my way, if the lone freelance can’t accept then I will move on to another one.
That’s how I do it. So this is what I experience when I hired freelance to do my SEO job.
I completely disagree with #4. Many SEOs would be completely ripped off if a) there was no upfront payment, and b) we only got paid if the client completely liked our work. Don’t get me wrong, most clients love our work. But we all know there’s an unscrupulous element that will always say they don’t like it so they don’t have to pay. Would YOU work for free?
Well, of course I won’t work for free to be honest with you, but if I’m going to be a freelance, I will join a network where the payment would be hold by the network site… so the other party will pay first but I won’t get it until it is done… hope you understand… As for point#4 I mention above is… if you are going to hire a freelance from a forum like Warrior forum, usually here’s what I will do… I will discuss and make the agreement with the freelance to show me some small result first before I pay, if he disagree, then I will move on to another one, of course… the percentage of getting one is low, but that’s what I will do.
But anyway, above are what I experience, so it’s okay if you think is not right as this is all personal view… oh… thanks for the comment feedback.
Well, I feel bad that you have been burnt several time. There are several people that outsources work to people from other countries. If you are looking for these type of people, you need to train and teach them how to do good seo. I think, that takes time. But hiring professional seo will certainly ask for a fee since they have proven track record from their clients as well.
Yes, lady luck wasn’t on my side, so I’m pretty burnt, that is why point #4 is only to my advantage, but I think new Mitch just found a solution to the problem, and I will consider his suggestion for my next outsource for SEO freelance.
Great tips though I can’t really ever see my SEO service provider settling for the results first payment second strategy, I do agree that providing proof that they can competently carry out the tasks is essential however, good overall tips thanks.
Well… it’s all personal views and decision, so, I do respect what you said, as many doesn’t really agree of getting results before payment, but since I got scam before, so to play safe, I rather they give me a small result before I can hand the money in, if disagree I will move on… Especially SEO freelance…
Hi Wong Chendong,
I’m the “other” Mitch, weighing in.
I can see both sides of the #4 flashpoint. As you said, it’s neither fair to work for free nor fair to pay for something and not get it. The contention on the freelancers’ side is financial protection, while the contention on your side is one of consumer protection.
Simple solution: escrow. I used to sell real estate and I also used to freelance on Guru.com. Believe me, it’s worth having a reputable third party account for the funds and the rules for disbursement (or refunding).
Do you know if anyone is doing this in the SEO industry? Like Mitch Mitchell said, it’s not a good plan to work without a deposit. It should be simple enough to put that deposit with in escrow. To be fair, though, I have seen some SEO practitioners advertise their services on a pay for performance. Just now, I did a search and found an interesting article. I hope Ileane doesn’t mind my linking to it 🙂
http://www.promotionworld.com/news/press/100203-Pay-For-Performance-SEO-Can-Cure-Advertiser-Pay-Per-Click-Addiction
Cheers,
Mitch
As I have said to Patricia, if any network is able to hold the payment, then I will be willing to pay upfront, if it’s a freelance from a forum then I will go for point#4, but of course I’m not saying anyone is wrong about which decision to take, it’s just that from my experience that I had been scam a few times by lone freelancer, that’s something I will undertake.
Oh thanks for introducing escrow, which I will take a look into it and also the link to the article. 🙂
“New Mitch” has spoken. lol
Ha… Yes another Mitch adding weigh in to support your answer. By the way.. good to hear from you again… peace
Remember if you get spam or “cold” emails they are not that good at their job. Think about it why would they be emailing you out of the blue if they were so “good ” at their jobs. I get these all the time because I do and know a ton of SEO, but it is kind of funny to mess with them.
Good point their is no guarantee, and my advice to any newbies out there would be to start with someone with a low end fee and if you like their work increase the payments. Remember SEO work can take 30-90 days to show results. This will minimize your chances of getting burned.
Garen
Yes, that’s a good advice, damn… should have known you earlier, I mean I already got scam, so that’s how this guest post is what I experience and what I’m going to do.
Actually, I’m not all that happy about #4 either. I haven’t the time to read all the comments so I apologise in advance if someone else has already mentioned it. I also agree that someone should get paid for the work done. Perhaps what one could do is agree on a price for the work with a nice bonus if the targets are met?
Well, ur not wrong to say about point #4, almost everyone here disagree, but why I still stand still, because 2 reason… I had been scam before and it is not a very happy ending especially SEO freelance and Graphic Designer. Secondly… there is such company that actually give results first then payment,
So that’s what point #4 is all about.
There’s one question I have that I didn’t see an answer for. I’m new at professional blogging so I don’t know how much a SEO person would charge. Can you give me some idea on this?
Well, I’m not going to tell you how much an SEO person will change because different SEO job or person charge at a different price, the best is to go to Warrior Forum and then go to Product and Service Thread and you will see all kinds of of freelance that charge a different price for certain SEO job.
By working with a SEO company, you can’t say result first and payment later. No, you can’t. Moreover, of course they can’t guarantee to you as the good result but they can guarantee for full refund if the job can’t done.
Well… there is an SEO Company that does give results first before payment and it can be found in Warrior Forum, but anyway… you are not wrong to say either because, not much people actually know about the possibilities of point #4, as most of them think we had to put down some upfront money in order to get work done.
Hi Wong,
Funny thing, point #2 (no guarantees) sort of contradicts point #4 (pay for performance), don’t you think?
Most (real) professionals more or less tell you what to do. Actually, that’s what you pay professionals for. As differentiated from an employee or contract worker who you provide almost all direction and they do your bidding. But if you simply hire a “freelancer” to do tasks that you’ve pretty much outlined, I supposed that is a bit different than hiring an SEO professional. At any rate, whenever you can learn something, that’s a good thing.
Of course, ur right about learning something and I do agree that’s a good thing, but I have came across some freelance that ask over to many stuff that’s out of the line… To me… I’m not going to say anyone is wrong or anyone is right everyone had it’s opinion of certain event that they have experience, so that’s how I wrote this post.
I don’t believe in renting SEO guys. We can learn SEO from many other blogs and then implement in our own blogs.
You can learn Plumbing and Electricity through books Isha, but I always advise hiring someone. 😉
I quite agree Dennis (re hiring seo guys).
Re #4, let’s step on the SEO guys’ shoes. They need to avoid being scammed too. Maybe a bi-weekly payment and a daily report can work fine for both parties. Another thing is to run a 10-day trial period for their SEO performance. You may both agree that the trial will be paid or not. Then after that period, you can assess their performance and decide to hire them or not. Take note, in most cases, 10 days is not enough to see good results so you will just base it on how well they perform.
Actually, I had found a company that does SEO stuff without you paying them upfront, I mean they had got a good reputation from their effort, just read my commentluv link and you will know what I’m actually referring to… oh thanks for reading my guest post and also… sorry for the late in reply…. 🙂
All good advice but I cant agree with the last point (tip 5).
I encourage my customers to learn the basics of SEO as I think it is more rewarding for them to know what I am actually doing.
SEO can be very hard to some people to understand and not understanding often leads to confusion and then anger; which can result in an unhappy client.
If you teach them the basics, or explain what you are actually doing, it is best for all.
Hey that’s one good idea, I mean, I had yet to see any SEO dudes that actually tell me what they will do to get results, though SEO stuff are not guarantee work, but still if any SEO dude would at least let me how SEO is going to work out and how he is going to do to get me good SEO, I think I will likely pay him upfront, hahah… that’s really a good idea, I had never thought of… thanks! 🙂
@Old School jungle, I agree with you. In other case why to hire a SEO
All The best
Well… so you don’t have to do those technical stuff… if that’s what you mean:)
I disagree with your final point. Most SEO scams I have seen have worked by pretending that SEO is more complicated than it is, so they can do very little work for the money. However, I believe that SEO can easily be understood by the layman and so an SEO should be able to explain to the client exactly what they have done for their money. If a client understands what an SEO is doing, then they are far less likely to be ripped off.
Well, thought you should agree with the last point, because just like you said SEO can easily be understood by the layman, though they can teach you, but still you are the boss, I mean you pay them to solve your SEO problem, they shouldn’t give you more problem by teaching or telling you what to do, right?
those are very helpful tips regarding SEO scams.
there are so many companies out there that guarantee this and guarantee that and then when it is time to get your money back (since they didn’t deliver on their guarantee) you can’t get a hold of anyone.
my question is, if i ask an SEO for their track record, how do i know that they have actually done work on that website? for instance, who’s to say that an SEO company wont claim they worked on sites that rank high when they really didnt?
thanks
Well, that’s the way business is being play in this world, but if their track record shows 100 proof that they succeeded in doing the job well done, I think we can believe this company can do a great job, if the track record is about 2 or 3 then we should be more careful… like I say… that’s the way business is being play…
I am agree with you, but i am not agree in 4 step. payment option. You have told first result than payment. Can you tell me how a SEO company or SEO freelance will believe that company will right pay after give result. can you answer this comment. I am waiting your mail
Well, I assume you are not happy with what I wrote on number and do not believe in result then payment and think no one or no company will do that…. well… read the link on my commentluv, and you will know… I know what I’m talking about since I had proof it right….
well i was thinking of hiring a SEO for my blog. But then i decided to work on my own, Thanks for sharing, i will keep these things in mind while hiring a SEO. Happy Blogging 😀
Well… if you know how to do SEO, then you won’t be need to hire… good for you…
Well, though overall it was a nice and informative post. But just amazingly wondering at point number 2 and 3 where you have stated that SEO offer no guarantee while in the next point you have said that ask for proof? Just wondering at this point if you could make it clear for me, will appreciate it a lot. Thanks. Keep on posting. Best of luck.
When I said no guarantee, it means when you hire someone to do SEO, that someone cannot guarantee your position in the search engine, so all they said is “improve” and when I said proof, it means that someone you hire had to proof his work for other clients. Hope you understand…
You must firmly believe that there is really a scams in seo. This tips on this post are effective on how we can avoid them. The author has a keen observation regarding this matter . This was made to be aware on what those scams can do. Don’t be fool with those sweet promises .We know that there is no exact guarantee when it comes to seo. Because it is hard for everyone to determine the actual algorithm which is vital in obtaining high page ranking.
Thanks for your comment and support, and yes no one unless or may be you work in Google, well who knows what he or she will do with the search engine…
I’ve seen point #1 applicable so many times on various webmaster forums I am part of. I don’t pay for SEO (I’d rather do it myself for FREE!), and I see a lot of these so-called SEO gurus and companies promising you the stars and the moon.
It’s really quite sad to see how many people fall for these sort of things, but I guess it’s the price they pay for being lazy and wanting instant results in search engines.
Well, to be honest, I too hired someone to do SEO, but I do not go over board like paying him a big sum of money to do something he said he can “improve” I always pay him a small amount on SEO he can proof to me… That’s the way I did for all SEO work I outsource…
You are right on the money when you say “If it Sounds Too Good to be True, it Probably is”. I have seen too many services that say “We will build 1000s of links for you without you having to lift a finger”. Adding 3500 profile links within 1 week of starting a new domain is not the answer to getting onto Google Page 1. The only thing they manage to do is to penalize the site and bury it in the nether world.
Long ago I always thought this was true but when I hire someone to do it… guess what, he did make 1000 link profile but it wasn’t counted because when I check with Alexa, my links only increase by number of 5… can you imagine you having 1000 profile link and only got 5 links that’s counted… till today it is still the same..
Thanks for your comment and support for my post and yes, those scams are always there and I do hope anyone starting out could at least know the basic of outsource… since I’m a victim before…
Nice set of advice! The best thing to avoid scams is to let the SEO applicants undergo training. No matter what work experience they have, some of them may come to you just to get and adopt strategies of your team and back out after getting information they need.
I had never heard of adopt strategies of your team and back out after getting the information they need, had you experience that before or are you one of them?
Thanks for the heads up on all the signs of an SEO scam. I will keep an eye out for them.
No problem and thanks for coming by reading and commenting:)
I have to say, it’s a rough world for those of us that offer SEO in any flavor nowadays.. But I understand!
All my clients currently are SLA clients so they pay up-front and monthly. That said, I agree that sometimes you don’t want to pay up-front. What I recommend is a deposit offer or avoiding any sort of contract until you complete a trial period. Even the best SEO work will not get you real results until two or three months pass.
Sure, you can get placed on the top pages for Google and your favorite search platforms and listings.. But that does not drive results all the time, right? I look at SEO very differently than most.
It may be worth saying that some SEOs ask for cash first because they pay others to do a lot of the legwork and buy links. While this is a viable approach for more affordable SEO, it’s mainly aimed at driving traffic and ranking, but little else.
For me, it’s more about Inbound Marketing and doing fun things with that traffic and all the metrics that come with it!
Now, speaking of proof, I am pretty proud to say that my guest blog article on Unbounce.com entered the TOP 3 SERP positions on Google in the first day it was up. Part of it was URL structure/optimization and pinging key lists, crawlers, and directories. I had a pretty “niche” topic too and, surprisingly, not many backlinks showing up via blogsearches and such.. but I’m all over the social platforms.
That goes to show you that the social signals are bigger than ever now.. So this is the part where the social media enthusiasts do a happy dance! ;o)
Anywho, if you want more tips on DIY SEO and how to find SEOs that are the right fit for your goals, check out my guest blog here….
http://unbounce.com/seo/the-adaptive-seo-approach
…I will following up with other guest blogs, including one on SearchEnginePeople. What I hope to do is remind the other SEOs not to be so spammy and crazy when it comes to pitching people… Focus on helping people and earning trust, darn it!
Hope you don’t mind my super-long comments.. That’s kinda how I roll! ;o)
I got to say sorry to you as my reply came way too late, and I do not mind your super-long comment as you pitch it down to asking me to read you guest post which actually benefit me in learning more about SEO.
Hey… I think social media marketing is still better then SEO, that’s just what I thought 🙂
I am agree with you. You need patience in this industry for better result.
Not sure patience is the word to use… I think trust is the word to use 🙂
If you want to be a successful blogger your really needs this tips.. Thanks for sharing it to us.. Keep up the good work!
Not really… but at least you don’t get cheated 🙂
If you decide to outsource your SEO efforts, then hire talents that you can trust and let them do their job.
Well… how many talent can you trust if everyone tells you they are talent?
I like this article quite a bit as it provides a very necessary public service for new and older business owners. When I was doing the research for The Little Book of Scams: Swindling for Fun and Profit, which delves into the negative use of persuasive psychology, I noticed that these SEO and related internet scams focus on the mental trigger of the desire to be “in on the secret” or “I shouldn’t be telling you this.” I have a few websites and week never goes by without some loser spamming me for an SEO scam. Two of the telltale signs, they have no website to point you to and use a free email account which is highly suspicious for a company involved with web development
Ya, that’s the way SEO scam are, so is better to be careful in believing them and watch out for those that uses mental trigger to suck people into their scam.
As differentiated from an employee or contract worker who you provide almost all direction and they do your bidding. But if you simply hire a “freelancer” to do tasks that you’ve pretty much outlined.
Yeap! It is really true. At first they promise “golden mountains”, then want more money, couse the result will be excellent and in the end – start to teach u what to do and how to do…Usual situation for the most part of SEO agencies.
Haha.. that’s the way I had experience when I hire a SEO freelance to do the work for me and in the end I’m doing the work… sound stupid to me…
Nice article. Well put and simple. However, I have to disagree with your last point (#5) a little. While I agree that SEO professionals (like myself) are responsible for delivering results for the contracted amount, I find that educating the client a little helps them to feel more comfortable. SEO doesn’t have to be a black box. I don’t waste my clients time by explaining what can and can’t be done in great detail, but everything has a cost/ benefit/ time/ quality balance. And it’s good for the client to know a little about the process that’s tied to the goals we’ve laid out. Lastly, I’ve found that clients who can’t take a few minutes to discuss what we’re doing are not truly engaged in their business and will turn out to be bad clients. In fact, when I encounter a potential client who won’t spend a little time I usually turn them down immediately. We partner with our clients and that requires passion and dedication on both sides. Without a mutual investment the relationship has no chance.
Hi Wong. I actually feel like quality is very important. But I came across some clients/people who actually ended up not making the full payment while I was working on an SEO. I guess that is unfair, don’t you think so? I am not blaming them, may be I did make a severe mistake; but I do deserve at least part of the payment, right?
I was good on SEO. That’s why I made lots of mistake in my first blog. Now, I know how to rank. Your article make it more clear. Thanks for share.
I agree with 1-3.
Regarding 4#, I believe that a client could pay some money upfront and the rest after the SEO tasks has been completed, this is fair.
About 5#, as a customer you are ‘always right’, however you need to listen as well, after all, you have chosen to buy a service from a professional. If it’s a serious SEO company, you can discuss about different possibilities, in the end it will depend on your budget.
Great post on SEO and SEO scams! I wish I had read something like this before getting scammed! Thanks for posting this and I hope a lot of people find this when researching the calls/emails/letters they receive and save themselves before loosing time, money, or worse yet having their online reputations permanently tainted by the companies they hire getting their sites blacklisted and forcing them to close and start from scratch!
I have a horrible experience with another SEO company so I created a blog as well. I hope these blogs warn people about the bad business practices of companies like these!
Dave
There are so many “Freelance SEO Experts” online that really have NO CLUE what they are doing. It’s really sad in my honest opinion. I know there is no official book or course to study, but the amount of people who use bad SEO techniques and don’t know about it is ridiculous.
Most of these guys will get you temporary results with over optimized strategies that end up getting you sandboxed. Then, month by month you spend money on this “expert” to get you temporary results while behind the scenes you’re getting no long term love from google.
I had a page that was sandboxed and I had no clue because every 2 weeks I would recover and get higher and higher in google. Then this Oct, when the EMD update hit, I was slapped bad!
Do your own research and only order what you need. Also, double check their reports. I’m at a point where I can confidently say that I know more than 90% of these so called experts. I just don’t have the $ for all the fancy tools.
Thanks for this wonderful information you have provided here. I just wanna ask you one thing. If i am doing SEO for my post. Then how much maximum keywords can i use in all in one seo plugin. Please reply to this, i have found many places, but can’t get answer to this particular question.