Is SEO a scam?

First, let me answer the question of what is SEO. SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of making changes on your website that will increase it’s visibility in the search engines. Some of those changes include on-page optimization, where we optimize each page for specific keywords. Other tactics include creating submitting and verifying your site in Google webmaster tools, submitting an XML sitemap for faster indexing, and setting up a Google local page if you are a local business. There are a lot of different things we can do.

Why would anyone think it’s a scam?

I get emails on a weekly basis with someone trying to sell me SEO services. They have subjects like, “Increase traffic to your site by 200%!” Not only do I get these, most of my clients get them too. They are spam, and if you’ve read my blog for a while or you know me, you know I hate unsolicited solicitations. With the frequency with which these come, and the promises these people make about how much they can increase your traffic or how they can get you more leads, it does make it seem like SEO is not for real.

It’s not a tangible thing you can see. If I design your website, then at the end, you can see and use your website. You can’t really “see” what we’ve done for SEO. And since SEO is not an overnight success, you won’t see the benefits of it immediately. This also leads people to wonder if it’s a scam.

How to detect an SEO scammer:

• They guarantee you #1 placement in the search engines. Sorry, but anyone who makes this guarantee shouldn’t be trusted. We work with Google’s algorithm to try to get your site in the best strategic position… but we can’t make guarantees.
• They guarantee you a certain percentage of traffic increase. This one irritates me almost more than the guaranteed placement. I knew someone who went on Fiverr and paid $5 for a guaranteed increase in traffic. And true to their word, a ton of traffic went to their site. And they didn’t get a single conversion. It’s not about *more* traffic (unless you sell ads) – it’s about the *right* traffic. If you rank #1 for the keyword “dogs” but you are selling tents, there isn’t a lot of benefit to that. More traffic doesn’t alway spell success.
• They tell you your site isn’t ranking well. Most of these cold emails have no idea where you are ranking. I had a client who actually was ranking #1 for his keyword, and he got an email from some foreign SEO company telling him he wasn’t and he started to freak out before I reassured him that this was spam, and it probably got sent to 1000 people at once with the exact same message.
• They offer to buy backlinks. If a company is offering to buy backlinks for you, run, don’t walk, the other direction. Having spammy backlinks will actually devalue your site in the search engines!

Things to look for from an SEO company:

• They should ask a lot of questions. That’s right, it’s important they understand your business and your needs, and they should be asking questions to find out about it, asking about your target audience, your website goals, and more.
• They should ask for access to your site, your analytics, and webmaster tools account (if you have it.) We can’t work our magic with no access or no knowledge of how your site is performing.
• They should tell you their techniques. It’s not a secret. We know what Google wants us to do, and we only use approved methods to increase your presence. We’ll walk you through what we do so you understand our strategy.
•  They should have recommendations for improvements to your site. Now, I know SEO is different from web design, but your website needs to be user-friendly in order for any new traffic to meet your goals. If you get more traffic, but don’t have a contact form on your website, then nobody can contact you. A reputable SEO company will tell you where your website needs to change to increase conversions. They should be evaluating your site for anything that could hinder your SEO performance and be making recommendations for changes.
• They won’t offer guarantees. Sorry, the rules change all the time, and nobody can guarantee results.

When not to freak out:

We had a client who was very upset after we did his SEO because when he Googled his favored keyword term, he no longer saw his site in the results. He was really upset by this. And I can see why he might be… but we were able to show him his analytics and that conversions to his website had gone up by 50%. What you may not understand, and what a good SEO company will, is that different keywords will bring traffic to your site. You may want to rank for “hot tubs” but we may understand that “hot tubs” isn’t a great keyword term to optimize for, and instead we pick an alternate, such as “six person hot tubs” or “nevada hot tub sales.”

If you notice your traffic decreases but your sales go up, that’s a good thing. More traffic does not mean more conversions. Once upon a time, we had a client who had an e-commerce store selling personalized items. She didn’t want to pay for SEO, so she did a little research and decided to run some Google ads. Running ads isn’t a bad idea, but since she didn’t know how to pick proper keyword terms, she chose ones that had the biggest searches. One of her choices was “baby.” She chose “baby” because she saw it was one of the top keyword searches in Google. And she wasn’t wrong, it WAS a top keyword choice. Two hours later her budget was gone and she didn’t have one sale.

The reason is because people searching for “baby” might be searching for anything from childbirth to baby clothes, and everything in between. What she should have chosen was “personalized baby bibs” or other similar keyword terms. Yes, she’d have had less traffic but more sales.

The Truth

The truth is, Google WANTS to give it’s searchers what they are looking for. Sometimes websites need help so that Google and Bing know what your website is offering, and show the best results.