There are many companies who seem to know little, if anything, about SEO, but are more than willing to take your money.  If an SEO offer sounds to good to be true, then walk away, because in most cases it will be a scam.  Never be tempted to respond to spam emails, offering SEO services.  What sort of reputable SEO company uses a spam email to get your business?

1. Guaranteed rankings

Many SEO scams center around some sort of guaranteed rankings. Claims like “Guaranteed #1 ranking on Google”, “Guaranteed first page ranking on Google”, “Guaranteed #1 ranking on all search engine” are simply impossible to substantiate (when referencing organic results). If you read the following article from Google, you’ll see a section titled No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Google goes on to say“Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings”. Since you’ve heard it directly from Google, you should make sure to avoid any company that offers such a guarantee.

2. They know someone at Google or have a special relationship at with Google

False! Again, no SEO company has “special relationship” or access to a “priority submit” for Google. Any SEO firm that makes this claim is simply lying to you.

3. Submissions to hundreds of Search Engines

So what. Google, Yahoo, Bing, and AOL accounting for over 95% of the search market. Just focus your attention on the ones that matter.

4. Offering FREE SEO trials

SEO is tedious and very involved. The process required to achieve great results requires days of work, and no legitimate company is going to do this for free. Additionally, if in return for the “free trial” they ask for your FTP username/password or ask access to your hosting account, just imagine what they could do. Avoid promises that sound too good to be true!

5. Ranking within 48 hours

We’ve already discussed the concept of guaranteed top rankings; LET ALONE adding a deadline to this promise. The only way to guarantee this would be with Pay Per Click (PPC).

6. The lowest prices SEO

If an offer sounds too good to be true, it is. As we mentioned, SEO is hard work and takes some serious time to do correctly. You’re better off learning how to do it yourself, rather than paying some “SEO expert” who claims that he can do it for an absurdly low price. You get what you pay for!

7. We work with someone at Google or partners with Google

No, they don’t, and no they are not. Google has no such partnerships in the SEO world. Plus, no Google employee would jeopardize their jobs by illegally associating with any such firms.

8. We know the Google Algorithm, we are Google Algorithm experts

The algorithms used by the search engine are complex and dynamic. At best, people may know about certain aspects (link popularity, content, meta tags, etc). By the way, knowledge of the important aspects of SEO should be a given if you’re in the SEO world.

9. Companies that refuse to discuss their methods of getting you a higher ranking, as it is a secret formula!

There is no secret to best SEO practice, but it requires a good technical understanding of how the Internet works, how search engines work and incredible attention to detail, coupled with dogged persistence.  Professional SEO takes time and should be regarded as an investment for the long term security and prosperity of your website.

10. SEO software that you can run to automatically optimise your website

You can search the web for all sorts of automated software that promises to get you a page one ranking in Google.  As explained previously, professional SEO is not something that comes in a box providing magical results, it takes time and it takes effort.

Google specifically warns against using the sort of software that will track your websites position in the Google search results.