Comments on: Be Wary of Shady SEO Deals

By: seo

seo — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:50:18 +0000

Well shady seo deals are running rife at the moment wth more people with less knowledge about the internet get on board with websites etc. Knowing a little about the subject that you are looking at getting professional help in does help but there is just a big opportunity for scamming people and it will happen unfortunately. Sad but true, let’s just hope people do some research into the are before employing anyone.

By: PB

PB — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:22:49 +0000

First off sorry to here the raw deal your family member got. This is the second article/post I have read today about bad deals. The last one was about a link exchange website sending out letters that were tricking the PageRank plug-in to report a higher PageRank with some html code. The bad site had no links in any search engine. This goes back to know something about SEO. So do your homework before making a decision. Getting a second or 3rd opinion my not be a bad choice.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:49:21 +0000

Man, that’s a nasty deal. I’ve been reading articles to better educate myself on when I work on my new site; this is something I hadn’t given much thought of before though, honestly. Thanks for posting though.

By: eBuzz Factory

eBuzz Factory — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:35:20 +0000

I agree with SEO Jedi. I feel it is our duty as SEO’s to manage client expectations and be realistic and honest about results. That is why they hire us.

Unfortunately I have lost potential clients who believe the-$50-a-month-you’ll-be-number-#1-for-whatever-keyterm-pitches.

-In those case I do MY due diligence in explaining my process vs. theirs.
-ALWAYS send them to Googles SEO Guidlines and hope they at least review.
-Most importantly, if they insist on certain keyterm, I realistically charge them what it will cost and explain why.

WE have to remember, they are not SEO’s, that is why they are coming to us. If they are stubborn, well at least you have good SEO karma for the effort.

By: Agent SEO

Agent SEO — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:24:40 +0000

I think there are two perspectives here, the lack of research and the ethical issue.

The client most likely didn’t do their homework when selecting not just the SEO, but the keywords that they wanted to show up for.

The SEO firm most likely gave them lip service and a bogus deal. From an ethical standpoint, this is as bad as you can get.

However, do not forget that as a professional SEO sometimes the client WILL chose they keywords (whether they are the right ones or not) and you have to stick to what the client wants, for better or for worse!

By: Dejan Petrovic

Dejan Petrovic — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:23:14 +0000

I believe most problems can be prevented if both parties are on the same wavelength in terms of goals and expectations. Transparency always helps build the trust. If you see that your SEO is withdrawing information or keeping things to themselves than you have reasons to worry.

By: SEO Jedi

SEO Jedi — Wed, 20 May 2009 02:35:19 +0000

I’ve found that one of the difficult things about SEO from a consultant point of view is coming to agreement with the client on terms that will be targeted in the SEO campaign.

The client’s inclination is to say “Hey I’m a microbrewery, I want to target the keyword ‘Microbrew’”. Well for an up & coming brewery, that will be basically impossible, so starting local will be the logical solution. ‘San Diego Microbrewery’

Managing the client’s expectations is so important, as in any industry, because its so easy to want to think globally when its just not within their immediate grasp.

By: Dwayne Watts

Dwayne Watts — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:53:31 +0000