Don’t fall for the slick sales-pitch or the expensive offices – Here are 10 things to help stop you getting ripped off
So, you’ve either paid for or are considering paying for search engine optimisation (SEO services) but you’re not sure what to expect or how to measure the results. This article helps dispel a few myths, and talk about the pitfalls to watch out for to make sure you get excellent, tangible results and value for money when you hire and SEO company. Follow the advice here to help stop your website getting penalised by Google, make sure you don’t get ripped off and help make sure to don’t spend more than you need to.
1. There are keywords and there are keywords
It’s easy to get to page one of Google. Here is a quick example: if you do a search for ‘jfjfjf’, right there in in position one, page one of Google there’s a YouTube video uploaded by someone called ‘GRRRRRR145’. If you’d like me to get you to page one, position one for the keyword ‘jfjfjf’, no problem. Of course I can do it for you… but what is the point? Just as I wasn’t searching for a video of a girl talking after breathing in helium when I typed in that phrase, neither will your potential customers be using that phrase to find your products and services.
These poor quality SEO companies might get you to position one, but it will often be for the wrong phrases (keywords). It’s not a coincidence that there is very little competition for some these phrases – it’s because no one is searching for them and that is why it’s so easy to get you right up the rankings for them. This is what a lot of poor quality SEO companies will do when they promise you page 1 for your website.
If you’re going to get to for first position on Google it needs to be a relevant search phrase or there is no point. Agree your keywords in advance, monitor their position, and make sure they’re words your customers will actually be typing into Google to find your products and services.
2.The SEO effect often stops shortly after you stop paying for it
The poor quality SEO companies will give you an endless list of SEO activity they will provide for you, but in reality, they’re often just focusing on inbound links. Why? Because that’s not only easy but it’s the way it’s always been done and the only way most of these companies know how to do it.
The problem, however – and it’s a very serious problem – is that as soon as you stop paying for link-building, the effect starts to disappear. For example, high quality on-site SEO and articles linking to your site from high-quality sites will give you an excellent long-term increase in the Google rankings. poor quality links will at best do nothing for your long-term SEO and may even damage it by getting you penalised by Google
When it comes to link-building, focus on quality not quantity.
3. They’re trying to deceive Google
Google has become clever enough to spot the type of SEO that poor quality sites create for you – because it’s effectively attempting to deceive Google. Now, more than ever, trying to deceive Google is a very bad idea as you’re likely to wind up getting penalised for it. Inbound links should certainly be part of your SEO strategy but they have to be natural links from high quality (and preferably relevant) sites. The poor quality SEO companies unfortunately don’t discriminate between good and bad sites.
Not all links are valuable – poor quality inbound links can have a very serious detrimental effect on your Google rankings
4. You can’t pick an SEO company based on price
Cheap SEO isn’t necessarily bad SEO just as expensive SEO isn’t necessarily good SEO. That friendly, chatty guy you know has unfortunately just baffled you with bullsh*t. he’s told you that the SEO his company does is better than the SEO services provided by the ‘other’ companies, however, ultimately, you’re just going to get the same SEO as if you’d bought from the cheapest company you could find.
Unless you get regular reports with tangible results showing you clear methodology, you won’t know whether you’ve been paying for good quality SEO or poor quality SEO until it’s too late.
5. Google wants your site to be good quality, which doesn’t mean contrived inbound links
If you’ve paid for SEO services in the past and have had a bad experience, there’s a good chance probably got the ‘poor quality’ stuff – probably at best just some poor-inbound links and not much more. Poor quality purchased links are effectively an attempt at deceiving Google and Google is smart enough to spot this and you may get penalised for this loosing position in the rankings.
This about it like this – good quality SEO is about helping your site communicate well with Google – communicating your sites subject, purpose, products, services, geographical area, etc. Poor quality SEO is cheap attempt to manipulate Google into thinking your site is more important or authoritative than it really is. A poor quality site not only reflects badly on your business but also ranks badly. Therefore, logically, you should focus on quality with everything you do including your SEO
A good quality site provides a good user experience. One of the things that adds to the user experience is good quality content. This is the first step in helping build natural, organic links. Of course, not every business is going to be able to get natural, organic links, but it’s something to bear in mind.
If your site is built properly from the beginning, including good quality content, your site will naturally communicate your products & services clearly and therefore organically reflect its importance in terms of communicating with Google – no need to further SEO, Google will already have a clear picture of your site and rank it accordingly. The problem with most SEO in its current form is that is attempting to make sites appear more important that they would otherwise have appeared. obviously, Google doesn’t want this to happen!
To conduct search engine optimisation properly you need to communicate clearly with Google, not attempt to deceive it.
6. It’s really not rocket-science, or witchcraft, or magic – SEO is very simple
Falling for the SEO companies ‘slick sales pitch’ about how their ‘technical approach’ is better than everyone else’s is probably just BS to get you to sign up. You do and you’re then immediately passed to some spotty 17-year-old account manager. And going with the company with the expensive offices means your money being spent on their business rates when it should be going on your website SEO.
The reality is that SEO is not particularly complicated and doesn’t involve any ‘magic’. What it does involve though, when done properly, is a lot of time. Optimising images, re-writing content, creating SEO optimised articles, building good quality links, doing the search engine hand-shakes, etc. are all very time consuming which is where your money should be going.
Don’t fall for the salesman, speak to the guy who’s going to be doing the leg-work to make sure they know what they’re talking about and you’re going to get value for money.
7. There is website traffic and there is website traffic
What use is a million visitors to your site if none of them are your target customer? Failing to do a comprehensive competitor and search analysis before beginning your SEO campaign might mean you get it completely wrong and wasting money could be the least of your worries!
Badly optimised images and a badly optimised site combined with a lot of traffic can, for example cause your hosting account to become suspended or maybe worse!
Optimising your on-site content and focusing on the correct key phrases from the start of your SEO campaign will mean you’re much more likely to get the right visitors to your site and you’re less likely to have server problems.
8. Google continues to become smarter at spotting poor quality SEO
From what I have seen over the past few years, I would say that this year is probably the last one you’ll be able to get away with poor quality SEO that focuses on link-building.
Google continues to become smarter and, as we’ve seen earlier in this article, it doesn’t like to be deceived… but more importantly; don’t deceive yourself that poor quality SEO is anything other than attempting to deceive Google!
Unless you know you’re getting high-quality SEO services, you are taking a very big gamble with your website!
9. Protect your professional image
Your reputation is vitally important and therefore you need to protect it. Allowing someone else to write and publish information about your company, pertaining to have come from you and without you having approved it could be asking for trouble.
Are you sure the articulate guy who sold you the SEO services in the first place is the one also doing the writing? How much do they actually know about your business? How much time is spent on quality control?
Simply focusing on quality as opposed to quantity gives you much more opportunity to make sure the information being published properly reflects your business.
10. On-site SEO is your number 1 priority
Every house starts with its foundations. Obviously, you don’t invite people round for a house-warming party until it’s built – that would be silly! And this is the same with your SEO. Failing to get the basics done properly at the start means you’re throwing away your money.
Start with the foundations and build from there. The irony is, simply getting the basics done properly in the beginning will often mean that you don’t even need to spend anything on any further SEO!
Get your website properly optimised and continue creating good quality content for it before you start your inbound linking SEO
How do I get good quality SEO help & advice?
For high quality SEO and making sure your web development is done properly, call Seven Creative today on 0114 383 0711 or contact us through the contact page
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