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Watch the Avoiding SEO Scams and Cons explainer and get a head start in your knowledge before completing this text element!
Module Text
Missed the explainer video?
Watch the Avoiding SEO Scams and Cons explainer and get a head start in your knowledge before completing this text element!
SEO isn't always easy - it can take weeks or months to get results. Shark SEO agencies prey on people when they hit lows by promising amazing results for $thats-not-a-huge-amount-what-do-i-have-to-lose.
How much is that exactly? Well there's a shark SEO agency to fit every budget so if $5,000 per month is too much for you there will be one that offers the same for $2,000 per month and so on.
Most of the time what they do is useless but they know $thats-not-a-huge-amount-what-have-i-got-to-lose is also $thats-not-enough-to-make-it-worth-suing-to-get-my-money-back especially if they are located on the other side of the planet.
Here are a few red flags that let you know you are dealing with a Shark!
Click each point to reveal more details
Search engines change how they work all the time and competitors can change their websites at any moment so nothing is guaranteed in SEO. Check for:
If a SEO company or contractor starts showering you with jargon you can be sure they have something to hide. Search Engine Optimization work can be explained in every day English.
These don't exist. There is no reason for a SEO company to hide what they do unless they know it is a short term result full of risks
If someone does not want to be transparent with you, don't start sharing your $$$ with them.
Claiming to know someone on the inside of Google or Bing which tells them how the search engines work is a favorite line of many Shark SEO companies.
It sounds great but of course there is no way you can verify it .... and they know it!
If shark SEO companies can't get you paying monthly they will try and draw you in with one off services that seem very affordable (usually $50 - $100).
Click each image to reveal more
You've probably heard content helps website rank higher but in reality only high quality content that attracts links is the long term investment.
Search engines are getting better at spotting the $50 article of drivel with a link in it.
Despite the fact that Google has banned thousands of sites which buy lorry loads of links there are still scammers out there selling them to those who don't know better.
10,000 links for $90? Think about it.
Some scammers claim to have networks of blogs which Google does not know supply links for a fee (usually for around the $100 mark).
It's true ... for a while ... but when they come crashing in the penalties can be handed out far and wide bringing your site down with them.
Shark SEO companies practice something called Black Hat SEO - SEO techniques which are break the terms and conditions of the major search engines.
Sometimes what they do can work for a while ... until your website is rumbled by the search engines. In the worst case scenario your pages end up banned from the search engines.
This course will give you the basic knowledge of SEO needed to avoid the cons and hold a sensible conversation with a SEO agency so you can quickly get a feel for who you are dealing with.
Complete all 12 modules and they won't be able to bamboozle you with jargon. What's more you will already know some of the real issues affecting your website so you can instantly assess their competency.
Sometimes someone carries out SEO on a website, is successful and reckons they have found the one true search engine optimization method.
Not truly a scam and so harder to spot than a shark but you'll know a One Trick Pony because they will obsessively talk about one type of SEO and when you try to discuss other techniques they will quickly discount them.
Has this module highlighted issues with your website or SEO work but you don't know how to resolve them?
Be aware that all that glitters is not gold but there are plenty of people out there who would like to persuade you otherwise.
Now you know how to avoid the most common scams aimed at website owners and spot amateur SEOers instantly its time to double check your understanding.