Are SEO Businesses a Scam

So you are generalising a whole industry?
Mmm

Dayum, I wish someone told me SEO was a scam 20 years ago, right when I started learning the trade... guess I gotta destroy all those raving testimonials from ecstatic clients now.

...To be fair, I do see the OP's point, a lot of SEO's are frauds with no track record beyond making big promises and deliver nothing.

But not all SEO's are like that.

And it can be hard to spot the difference.

No legit SEO will promise first page results for a highly competitive term, and most SEO's I know refuse to take on a site that is less than 6 - 12 months old.

Questions > If I replaced..
"Search Engine Optimization companies"

with
"DURABLEOILCOM"


..would that mean that all companies named DURABLEOILCOM "are just a bunch of con men that rip you off etc.?


Of course not! Get the point?


Take into consideration that anyone with a business education seeking any type of SEO service are people with an offline and/or online business background and are familiar with two basic business terms (Business 101)..


"Caveat Emptor" aka "Let the buyer beware"

Nope DO.

Many legit SEO companies exist. Said companies promising long term results. Scammers promise quick results and we know only the clinically insane believe Google with its BILLIONS and brilliant work force can be gamed today. But legit folks help place your site over time using organic methods. Like bloggers and site owners who know SEO but with a company and laser sharp focus on one end.

Ryan

There are good and bad of anything you can name. The problem with SEO is that it does have a reputation for being the 'black hole' of Internet services. Hell, most small business owners can't even spell SEO, let alone know much about it.

That was a joke folks.

One thing I will tell you. I've never understood the fascination. I've never bothered with it, but most of my B2B work was local, so I used many advertising mediums that virtually eliminated the need for any SEO, whatsoever. The majority of my work came from cold-calling and referrals. If you want to be one of my clients, I insist that you work for me, as hard as I work for you. If you are meeting your clients needs, they are happy to do that for you.

That Yoast SEO plugin on my sites. Never touched it. I know you think that's crazy, but I survived and thrived by being a contrarian. As soon as I am told that I have to do something, just watch me. While watching, hold your breath. I find purple to be one of nature's most beautiful hues.

I never considered SEO important and I never got involved with it in any way with any of my clients. I wouldn't even refer my clients to anyone for SEO. Last thing I needed was someone else making me look bad. I felt bad for not doing it, but I warned them. All I ever heard, if they did hire someone, were horror stories.

I feel sorry for anyone trying to make an honest living doing SEO. As soon as a business owner knows the reason for your call, you're perceived as being a carrier of the galloping yun-yun, Can't be an easy sell. My hat is off to you.

In every niche there is Scams and legit so there are some companys are legit but for sure not promise you sparkly results they work with the long term and most people use black hat for fast results and that drive you to punish by google one day

Google does not, nor have they ever changed their algorithm in the blink of an eye.

The only people who have ever seen all of their work disappear instantly were spammers.

As for PPC advertising, it is definitely superior to SEO in a lot of ways. SEOs are going to argue with that but that is only because they are clueless about PPC advertising and have never had any success with it.

Ideally, they both work great together.

Since I have very little to do, to fritter away my time, these days, I think I am going to see if it's possible for someone who knows absolutely nothing about SEO could be capable to get a site onto the first page of Google, within 90 days - and keep it there.

I can't even tell you if this is a realistic goal, something that anyone who applies themselves should be able to do or if this would simply be a waste of time and money. Maybe I'll start one of those Warrior Challenge threads.

There are so few mysteries left for someone my age. Hell, I've even figured out, "What women want." :-)

So - who thinks what, about this little personal challenge? Worth trying or ridiculous? Remember who you're talking to. If you tell me it's ridiculous and can't be done, I will have to devote every waking moment to proving you wrong. That's how I accomplished most things in my life. Why should this be any different? :-) :-) :-)

Any bets? If I lose I'll verifiably contribute to the charity of your choice. If I win you have to refer to me as the SEO Stud Muffin in your signature for 3 months. lol

C'mon. I'm bored!!!

I do not quite agree, the algorithms of the work of such studios also try to be always in the trend of the latest innovations due to the "Big Brother". There are also many outreach companies in the SEOs of the industry that look more reliable

Getting Results through SEO in short span is not possible , some companies promise very fast results and dump the clients but not every company does that , we need to choose wisely and generally companies take 6 months minimum to bring it in first page, your point of view in SEO is very wrong.

Here's my approach FWIW:


1. Get your target web site in order first. What good is a lot of traffic if you can't convert that traffic to subscribers and sales?


2. Spend a little time optimizing your own site by following some generally accepted SEO principles regarding keywords, intuitive navigation, great original content, site index and linking, well laid out privacy policies, terms, contact info, etc.


3. Distribute original and valuable content to authority sites in your niche with a link back to your business. Make content distribution a priority on your daily (at least weekly) planning calendar.


4. Establish your brand and be consistent with it. Brand everything that leaves your shop. Give your traffic reasons to spend time on and come back to your site later. Ask your visitors to link to your site and invite them (with incentives you offer) to share details about your site with others in the niche.


5. Be original. Let the search engines find things on your site that are highly targeted in the niche and not found elsewhere.


Note: I am not saying you should never hire out SEO services. If you do, make sure you pay for documented performance as much as possible. As others have said, indexing long-tail obscure keywords that get you no traffic should not be what you are paying for.


The very best to you all,


Steve

No it isnt scam! But yeah there are so many fake ones and its difficult to distinguish between the real and fake.

Here we go, with the SEO Scammers thing. SEO is so misunderstood by the general public. Many people still think that just because they've used one of these off-brand drag and drop platforms on Godaddy to design their website that when you approach them about performing SEO on their site that you're lying to them or trying to trick them or something. Are there some scammers out there, yes. Are there SEO's that do a half-assed job out there, yes. This is the same situation for many other businesses so SEO shouldn't be singled out.
I've met quite a few business owners who don't want to do SEO to their site because it's "too expensive" but then they wonder why they're not getting any phone calls or interaction from their website. I just talked to a business owner who said that they just put of the site to have something to show people when they ask if I have a website but then in the next breath they complain about not getting any business. Many business owners don't realize how much money they're leaving on the table by not optimizing their website.
Many people want something for nothing or very little. Take the time to find a good SEO company and you will find that they can actually be a bargain compared to some other form of marketing.
Many businesses don't devote enough of their budget to marketing of any kind, so find a good SEO company to do what they do best and get some results. For an established business paying $2500-$5000 or more per month for SEO and other marketing should be feasible. For a new business with a small budget, you have to get creative about your marketing and see what an SEO company may be willing to do within your budget and add-on services as your business grows.
The scammers are going to be there in every profession, it's your responsibility to vet businesses as best you can. Sometimes this means you'll be wrong and get bad service and lost some money. That's part of the "game", the price we pay for success.
Stay Focused, keep learning, and keep it moving!!!

If they guarantee rankings I think it's unethical, but if they're upfront with their clients about SEO not being any guarantee then I think it's fine. If somebody tries to help a client achieve a better search ranking using SEO best practices then they should absolutely get paid for their time.

I don't think so that SEO businesses are a scam, Unless your company do the black hat trick and have high pays but they give you only small amount pay.

Hi mate what search term do you want to be found under please?

Gary

SEO should be the long-term one, PPC the short one. Would not say it is a rip-off since there are few services that helped me or my buddies out a lot and it wants short-term.

It's like any industry, there are good service providers and bad ones. Do your research, ask for testimonials, ask for results first.


If you want faster results, do PPC instead.