Today I am taking a break from my regular posts of SEO content to talk about the worst thing about SEO... Scammers. Just like in any lucrative industry there is the temptation for scammers to enter the market, but SEO is a particularly nice industry for the greedy thugs. Because it is constantly changing, and every business needs it, there is a lot of room to profit off the ignorance of clients.

Believe it or not, Google.com even receives spam emails from would be SEO scammers, offering to optimize their site Read about SEO on Google.

This creates an enormous amount of distrust, even for the most legitimate SEO firms, and SEO freelancers out there. As I have fallen victim to this, and spent countless hours explaining, and re-explaining the work that I am doing, I am hoping to save myself, and other legitimate SEOs out there some valuable time in the future with these 5 Guaranteed Ways to Spot SEO Scams.

5. First Page Guarantees - First page guarantees are honest, if the gray area is still honest. It is actually possible to guarantee first page ranking, but only if you promise it for unusually obscure search phrases. The business name, or 5-6 word phrases will often appear on the first page of search results, without any SEO work at all. But the white honest SEO admits that there is nothing anyone can do that will guarantee first page rankings. If you see the promise, head for the hills, or at least click on to the next SEO firm out there.
   
   
4. Overly Cheap Prices - If you find people who are willing to do your SEO for under $100 per month, look closely at the services they offer. Real SEO requires creative thinking by experts who understand the industry inside and out. Experts aren't cheap, they never have been, and hopefully they never will be. The value a real SEO expert can provide to any business is priceless, whether or not it has made the Credit Card Commercial yet or not.
   
   
3. Clarify Big Numbers - This tactic playse on the "Perceived Value" of a service. "Thousands of links," and "Your site will be submitted to thousands of search engines," both sound great. Both are possible in the gray area of honesty, but neither will do much for your site., but neither on will do much for your site. ALL search engines will find your website naturally, and even 100,000 worthless links are still worthless. You need quality links. Ask how many page rank 4-5 or even higher links they will generate for your site. As in most things in life, Quality, not Quantity make the difference.
   
   
2. Demand Transparency - If you don't feel like your SEO firm is being up front with you, they probably aren't. Now, please respect that just as in any business relationship, there needs to be a certain degree of confidentiality. Things like Costs, Tools, and other resources should be up to the SEO firm to disclose. But an SEO who doesn't explain what they are doing, and more importantly, why they are doing it is a major sign that you need to head elsewhere for your SEO. Any SEO information you need, you can find online anyway, but like other art forms, SEO is creativity on the solid foundation of what works.
   
   
1. Professional SEO Audits - Find a trustworthy SEO professional to audit the SEO work that has been done to your site. TheSniche.com has pioneered a service that called SEO auditing. If you feel like you have been the victim of an SEO scam,put your mind at ease for about $100. Get a professional, unbiased perspective on the actual SEO status of your site.
   

Bottom line, there are hundreds of white honest SEOs out there. Be careful of the scams that are out there, but don't let the few bad apples poison the orchard... corny perhaps, but it paints the picture I want.

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