Warning Signs of A Bad SEO Company

How to spot the bad companies from the rest

by Donna O'Hanlon
of http://www.oyster-web.co.uk

Last updated: 12 Sep 2007

There is a wave of SEO companies coming out of the woodwork that can impress you with their ability to talk the talk, mainly due to the wealth of Search Engine Optimisation information available on the internet. How do you define the difference between someone who can talk the talk and a reliable seo expert?

Here are some warnings that indicate your seo isn't all he/she is cracked up to be.

1. The seo company regards PageRank to be the key to high rankings: Achieving high PageRank should not be the main goal of a professional seo project. A reputable seo professional will realise that high PageRank will be the result of a well implemented seo campaign. PageRank will not increase Traffic or sales, so any seo company that focusses on achieving high PageRank should be avoided.

2. The seo company's site, or that of any of their clients sites have the same Title Tag on each webpage: The title tags on a website is one of the most important things to get right from an seo point of view. Therefore if the seo company doesn't even take notice of focussing the title tags on each page, then they are definately not worth getting involved with.

3. The company believes that either link building or Content is the 'be all and end all' of an seo campaign. An seo professional considers all factors of a seo project. Why should you pay for a link building campaign if you already have a lot of valuable links on your site? The same goes for original, well-optimised content. You may need one or the other, or possibly both, but do not let any seo change anything that doesn't need it.

4. When it comes to Google algorithms, there is a certain relation to the age of a site, and also trust is a big factor when it comes to the search engine. If an seo claims to achieve results for your site in a timeframe any less than 9 months, they are either unprofessional or lying. So regardless of what any seo company tells you, the long term results are the most important to focus on.

5. You should be able to obtain references from an seo company. Do not put the future of your site and business in the hands of a company who you are unable get familiar with.

6. Do not pay attention to the companies that tell you that unless you have a listing in DMOZ, then you will never achieve high search engine listings. There are many successful sites that do not get accepted into this directory. Submit your site to the Directory and if you do not get a listing then move on. There are many other good directories that will accept your submission.