For those that are new to SEO and the Online Marketing world, here are some tips to help you spot a phony SEO/Online Marketing firm.  Unfortunately, there are plenty of them out there and it’s just a matter of time until they contact you making compelling but fraudulent claims.

One method of finding you is through the use of Google AdWords.  However, there are spammers that send out an email to every address they can scrape.  Furthermore, they are very clever regarding this process as they address you by name and use your URL in the boilerplate copy.

Using  the common sense approach here will not only help you with SEO spam but spam of all kinds that flood your inbox.

If you see any of the following warning signs, Delete, Ignore, Hang-Up, or report as spam because it is all fraudulent! All of this effort is designed to do one thing and one thing only, take your money and produce no results.

Without further a due, here are the top 10 ways to spot a fraudulent SEO firm.

10)  They “Guarantee” 1st place or 1st page placement on Google.

9) They have been kind enough to “take the time” to review your site and think it’s fantastic.  However they cannot find you on the front page of Google and are “very concerned” about you.  They can turn this around with organic front page listings.

8) They will quickly build links from all over the web that point back to your site.

7) They offer ridiculously  low fees or just a one- time fee to get you on the front page of the search engines.

6) Want to redesign your site for “SEO purposes” without a valid reason.  Note:  There are still valid reasons to redesign a site that is search engine un-friendly.  However, these scammers never look at your site to determine if it needs a redesign.

5) Offers to provide massive traffic to your social media sites.

4) No Website listed or phone number is listed in their contact info.

3) They state you were contacted because you don’t place for your top keyword phrases even though they don’t know what your top phrases are.  Even if you currently have excellent positions in search, the pitch will be the same.

2) They use a free or third party email address to contact you. (@yahoo, gmail, etc.)

1) Finally,  the number 1 way to  spot a phony SEO firm.  They Initiate contact!  That’s right.  Any firm that is worth hiring will not use unsolicited email (SPAM) and/or phone calls.

A final point to consider, I have had people call me and actually state that they were from Google and could guarantee my company 1st place position,  not realizing they called an actual SEO agency.  When pressed with real questions about SEO, they crumbled and hung up.
I have also had customers that “went to SEO seminars presented by Google Representatives”  This will never happen.  A Google rep will never try to sell you an SEO package!
Legitimate firms have all the work they can handle which is driven to them by referrals, online articles, community involvement and of course legitimate SEO efforts.
The following are just a few of the real spam solicitations that flood our inbox. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
I have bold comments next to identifiers that should instantly raise a red flag.

———————————————–Actual Spam Examples———————————————–
Anatomy of a Spam Email: Subject – Phony SEO SCAM
From: [email protected]  (Throw Away Address)
Owner of YourDomain.com,
I would like to request your consideration for Search Engine Marketing opportunity with your Business.
Would you like to rank YourDomain.com on top page of Google Organic Search, for ANY keyword of your choice?  (Wants give us front page Rankings for ANY keyword – Impossible Claim)
1. Redesign YourDomain.com with Richer Content and W3C Validated.  (Our site already has Rich Content and Validated – Site Not Reviewed)

2. Optimize YourDomain.com  for top page ranking in Google, Yahoo & Bing by a link-building campaign at relevant Portals. (Again with the top Rankings.  Also, link building at the wrong portals can cause a penalty)
3. Promote YourDomain.com massively in Online Social Medias and B2B portals for direct inquiries from your Customers. (Social Media is built slowly through your actual customers . Social media is not a big drivers of traffic that converts)
4. Bring YourSite.com  to the top 5 Organic searches in Google, Yahoo & Bing, for any of your desired keywords. (Again with the top Rankings – This cannot be Guaranteed)
   Your Customers find you when YourDomain.com is on the top of Google. Having a beautiful Website as well as being on the top left of Google (#1- #5 Organic positions) is the best thing you can do for your company’s Website traffic and Online Reputation.
   Due to the recent changes in Google’s SEO policies, there are a lot of improvements for top page ranking of a Website. I can provide you a detailed analysis in the form of a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Report for YourDomain.com to let you know those areas of improvement.
   Sounds interesting? Feel free to ask questions or you can provide your phone number for me to call you.

Best Regards,
Sam  (Sam Who?)
SEO Consultant
———————-  (No WebSite)
———————-  (No Phone Number)
———————————————-Spam Email Example 2———————————————–
From: [email protected]   (Throw away Email Address)
Hi,
Would you like to be listed at the top of every major search engine such as Google, Yahoo! & Bing for multiple search phrases (keywords) relevant to your products / services?
Our Steps and the Activities to Rank You 1st Page on Google!  (1st page lie and cannot create a coherent sentence)
1. Keywords Research
2. Competition Analysis
3. Optimized Content Creation
4. Keywords Optimization
5. Back Link Creation/Link Building
6. Submission to Search Engines and Directories
7. Submission to Article Directories (Old SEO technique – no longer used in modern SEO)
We are a team of 80+ professionals which includes 50 full time SEO experts.  (Obvious Lie)
We are proud to inform you that our team handled 250+ SEO projects. We will be glad to assist you with offering our services. ( Probably true. Ripped of 250 people at least)
Contact us for the best quote for your website & we’ll place your website on 1st page Google ranking for targeted keywords. (1st page lie again)
Thanks
—————-
Kind Regards
Naveen Singh
Online SEO Consultant
———————–    (No Phone)
———————–    ( No Website)

——————————————————-End Spam Email————————————————–

The following is a list of the top question we typically receive from our customers, potential customers and interested parties.
#1
Q. How long will it take to get my site listed in Google’s natural or “Organic” listings?

A. This depends on many factors. Be aware that getting “listed” and getting good positioning in the search engine results pages (SERP) are two entirely different things. Getting listed is fairly easy but the most important issue is getting good organic positioning so we will discuss this here.
In short, it could take anywhere from several months to up to several years to achieve favorable positioning in Google.
Some determining factors on achieving good position are:

1. Web Site Optimization – Is you site optimized correctly for your relevant keyword phrases?
2. Inbound Links – Do you have many relevant, high Site/Page Authority links that point to your site? This is as important as the optimization itself!
3. Search Engine Friendly Site – Does your site have any barriers that would block search engine bots and prevent indexing?
4. How long has your site been online? The newer the site, the longer it will take to achieve good positioning due to all the factors listed here.
5. New sites generally have a zero or very low Page Authority. Established sites that rank at the top generally have a higher page authority. Page Authority is gained by building inbound links from authoritative and credible sites.
   You can check your site page authority and backlinks at Moz.
6. How much competition do you have? New sites in highly competitive categories have an uphill battle. There are no quick solutions so settle in for the long haul. With perseverance, proper execution, and lots of hard work, good results can be achieved.
7. Use “White Hat” or Ethical SEO techniques.
8. Have you submitted press releases for Web/News syndication, Setup a YouTube channel with your video, setup social media accounts? All of these are important aspects of modern SEO.
9. Are you keeping your content fresh by adding new content, articles, blogs on a regular basis? Search Engines love fresh, original content.
10. Have you built an XML Sitemap and submitted to Google correctly?These are only some of the factors that will effect how fast your site will get good positioning in Google.
    Beware: There are many unscrupulous SEO companies out there that will tell you they can get you front page positioning in two weeks. That should raise a big red flag with you. See our blog post on how to spot a Fake SEO firm.

#2
Q. Should I participate in the PPC (pay per click) or Sponsor links at Google, Bing/Yahoo or focus strictly on organic optimization?

A. Organic optimization alone is not a true “Marketing Plan”. A true online marketing plan includes sponsor link setup and management.
There may be a time when you can take your Sponsor links offline but if your positioning drops in the organic listings due to algorithmic changes, you still have a backup plan that can be quickly enabled to drive traffic to your site.
Many of our customers that have top listing in Google still keep their sponsor links enabled.

#3
Q. How much will it cost to participate in the Sponsor link programs (pay per click)?

A. Cost to participate in Sponsor link AKA Pay Per Click plans such as Google Ad Words and Bing Ads, which deliver sponsor results to many search engines and Websites, is based on several factors.
We must determine the number of phrases you wish to promote, the cost per click of the particular keywords you wish to promote, the position you wish to maintain, the competition for the phrase and the frequency of the clicks. Therefore, it’s virtually impossible to determine the exact budget amount you will need initially. However, we can we can work within just about any budget you set.
Note: AWSP does not charge any Agency Fees for managing your PPC/Sponsor link accounts! Many SEO agencies charge a 15-20% agency fee for all your PPC activity. If your budget is $10,000 a month, the SEO agency could charge you 2000.00 just in fees on top of the other marketing fees.
AWSP charges a flat monthly fee for managing your account.

#4
Q. Google is the only search engine my customers use. Why should I submit to the other search engines?

A. While Google is overwhelmingly the #1 search engine right now, you cannot discount the traffic you will receive from Yahoo and Bing. These are still very viable search engines that are used by millions of loyal followers. Current Stats break down something like this:
(Estimates as of 2018)
Google: 92.7%
Yahoo:  2.32%
Bing:     2.17%

Consider this, Yahoo is still one of the Webs top portal and Bing is owned by the top OS software developer (Microsoft) and searching with IE using the Address bar defaults to the Bing Search engine.
Therefore, If you are not in these search engines you are losing market share.
We have always been surprised to see the traffic from Yahoo and Bing when comparing analytics on multiple sites. Another way to look at it is “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.

#5
Q. Do I really need to submit to any directories?

A. It depends. If you have a new site with few or no inbound links, limited directory inclusion is important to get some links built to start your inbound linkage profile. Targeted Directory inclusion builds inbound links that increase your credibility with Google. We limit inclusion to only a few of the oldest and trusted authoritative directories.
On the other hand, if your site is older and already has a good linkage profile, directory inclusion is typically not needed or recommended.

#6
Q. Will you optimize our site without including us in the directories or doing any link building?

A. Yes. However, it will be up to you to perform your inbound link building.

#7
Q. Why should I pay for an organic optimization plan once I gain good positioning?

A. Good organic placement is a moving target. It is not like a static “Yellow Page Ad” that never changes. Organic positioning is never guaranteed and always subject to change.
Once you stop worrying about your great organic placement, your competitor hasn’t and is still working to overtake you.
We monitor organic placement of our customers and continually make recommendations that will help them maintain good organic positioning for their phrases. We also maintain the inbound links, making sure they are renewed and not dropped. In addition, we perform code tweaking, keyword phrase additions, page additions and ongoing consulting on the latest algorithm changes that affect your site. Optimization is not a “submit and forget” proposition. It’s an ongoing process to stay on top.

#8
Q. Can you optimize my page for my top 20 keywords?

A. No. A single page cannot be optimized correctly for that many keyword phrases. The general rule of thumb is one keyword phrase per page and the maximum of two. We generally optimize sub-pages for your other relative keyword phrases. If a page does not exist that’s relevant to the phrase, we may create a new page specifically for those phrases.

#9
Q. I know inbound links are important so I hired a linkage company to build additional links for my site. However, I have not noticed any results and my Page Rank has dropped. What Happened?

A. You have probably been penalized by Google. Most of these “Link Builders” will list your site using linkage schemes that will include “Bad Neighborhoods”, Link Farms, Blog Comment spam, Directory spam or just pages that offer no real benefit. Make sure you know up front where and how you will be listed. Also, beware of low costs services. These are generally automated processes and will not produce any results and will most likely have a negative impact on the placement of your site in the search engines. As a general rule, we do not recommend ANY link building companies.

#10
Q. I receive a lot of email requests for reciprocal linking. Should I participate it this?

A. Generally speaking, no. 95% of all these requests are SPAM. Furthermore, the pages that will actually link to your site are typically buried deep within the linking site and offer no benefit to you.
Another tactic that link spammers use is to remove your link at some point in time leaving them with only inbound links which is the most favorable.
The exception to the rule is exchanging links with an industry relative site that is legitimate. Do they have a phone number? You may actually want to call them and discuss the exchange and negotiate for position.
Link exchanges should also be equal. If their link is one click off of the front page, yours should be too, not buried 5 pages deep in a site directory.  We generally don’t see much of this anymore.