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Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags



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Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags

Most businesses run into problems when it comes to search engine optimization, so they outsource the work to a freelancer or business to do the work.  Most of the time it works out well, but there are a few times that you will run into false SEO services who only want you money and don't really study how everything works.  Sure they will do the "work" but it will likely not show the greatest results and will likely get you some sort of penalty in a short amount of time.

Great SEO experts are still in the dark about how the search engine rankings work exactly.  So that's why in this discussion I'm going to be going over some answers that should throw up a red flag if you're ever looking to hire an SEO expert or company to do the work for you.


7 Red Flag Answers


1. I know exactly how the algorithms work
I've actually done studies and messaged hundreds of SEO companies and asked "Don't you need to know how the search engine algorithms work in order to increase my rankings?" and most of them will respond with something along the lines of
"Well that's true, if we did know exactly how the algorithms worked we would all be millionaires.  We do have an understanding of how they work because we've done years of testing and worked with other SEO companies to get the best idea on what works and what doesn't.  We understand what needs to be done, but no one knows exactly how the algorithms work."
And then you'll get the random company who says "I know exactly how the algorithms work and I can guarantee you top rankings.  Hire me now!"  If this company really knew how the algorithms worked, they wouldn't be charging $10 to $100 a month for their services lmao Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags  They would be working with billion dollar companies and charging $10,000,000 a month at the very lowest Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags


2. We can rank any website in any niche
Now this can be true because someone can target an extremely long tailed keyword and say they ranked you #1 in a competitive niche, but that's just a loophole.  Good companies will never tell you that they can get you ranked in any niche because it simply isn't true.  Now if you had a large budget, in the 100's of thousands per year, then it's possible you could get ranked much quicker than normal.  But if you have a budget of $500 a month then I wouldn't get too excited about how quick you're going to rank for keyword that gets 500k searches per month.  It simply won't happen with you budget and a good SEO company will tell you this.


3. SEO is the only thing you will need
Yes, SEO is definitely a great way to increase your rankings and bring in traffic which will turn into sales.  No, SEO isn't the only thing you need when it comes to your website and generating sales.  Small freelancers who are getting a client here and there will only offer SEO, so of course they will tell the potential client that SEO is all they need.  Talk to a big time company and they will tell you various things that you need such as Social Media Marketing, PPC campaigns, branding campaigns, etc. 

Yes, SEO is what you need, but it's not the only thing you need.


4. The more backlinks you have, the higher your rankings will be
NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
This is the opposite of what you need, it's sooooo false that if you do go with someone that tells you this, your website will be slapped so hard by the search engines that your ancestors will feel it lmao Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags

If you're getting 1,000,000 backlinks built each month, you will have a penalty quicker than the campaign can finish.  No website is getting this many quality backlinks, and for that reason, you shouldn't be getting this many either. 

If you were thinking that 1,000,000 backlinks to your website will help you overtake your competitors, you're dead wrong.  If you purchase something like that you might as well delete your website and start over with a fresh domain because it will be easier to bounce back than have to go through all of those links and disavow 99.9% of them lol.


5. Duplicate content is fine to put on your website
Google and the other search engines only want to publish fresh content within their search results.  You may not necessarily get a penalty for doing a copy/paste job when it comes to finding content on other websites and putting it on yours, but it definitely won't help you out as much compared to just investing some time into your writing and having 100% unique articles on your pages.

Try to avoid being a "Syndicate" as well.  If you want to be serious about your business, then get serious about your content.  If you want to be a syndicated website, write up your own small snippet of content and place it on your pages, then link to the other article you're talking about.  This way you have unique content on your own pages and you're not seen as an automated website lol.

Any SEO expert or Company that wants to use "syndicated" content on your website, tell them to "bugger off"!  You only want fresh, unspun, content going on your pages because that's what you need.


6. I can guarantee that we will get you #1 rankings on Google
If you hear this from an SEO expert or company, just ignore them for the rest of your life.  There is absolutely no way for them to be able to guarantee you #1 rankings for anything.  They do not work for Google, and even if they did, they couldn't get you top rankings for everything you wanted Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags

Sure, we know plenty of methods on how to increase your rankings, but no good SEO expert or SEO company will tell you that they can guarantee #1 rankings on Google.  This is because we don't hold all the cards when it comes to your rankings.  You're at the mercy of Google when it comes to ranking higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), and we just show them that you're worthy of top rankings lol.


7. All you need to do is listen to Google
Well this is good and bad at the same time.  99% of SEO experts will tell you the same thing because we know that you need to abide by Googles guidelines, but what they usually tell us is to push money into a PPC campaign lol Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags

You don't need PPC at the beginning if you don't want to try it out.  Yes it does bring in a good amount of sales in a short amount of time, but when you run out of money, the sales dry up.  SEO is what you will need, but it's not an all in one solution to make you successful, like how I mentioned above.



In Conclusion:
Remember that you are in charge of your website, so you will need to find the right SEO expert or company to work with you on achieving top results.  Increased rankings won't come overnight and a good company will tell you this.  Normally I tell my clients they might start seeing a nice boost to their rankings around the 3 month mark, but don't write that on their calander because it could be closer to 6 months Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags  Burn these answers into your brain so that when you hear them, you will avoid using that expert or company on your campaigns Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags



Remember to follow me!
https://www.seoclerks.com/user/Razzy


Thanks!

Razzy

Comments

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anwebservices
This is so true and all 7 mentioned points here are false, but many clients are desperate about winning in SEO rush, specially to beat competitors, so they believe in promises by (so called) SEO experts, who looking only to squeeze money out of their pockets. Well since most customers don't know enough about SEO, they have to believe someone and give it a try, but bad thing is happening if their SEO provider really made mistake and do it all opposite then it should be. Like you mentioned as much backlinks as possible, which can kill any SEO efforts if they come from low quality websites



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Corzhens
Some marketing guys always mention that mistake about beating the rival or competitor. I think it is unethical to raise your hand in saying about your good quality and at the same time you mention the low quality of the competitors. Even outside the SEO topic, I don’t really believe such guys who talk with braggadocio because I know of such people who will try to convince you with empty promises.



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kgord
Thanks Razzy, as usual you have hit the nail on the head I think. There are many things that SEO experts can do, but they should not make promises that they have no business making. It is just one of the things that you have to ferret out, what you can realistically expect from an SEO company.



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JoeMilford
Another great one from Razzy. These are great pieces of advice which can really help the newbie like me and all of the newcomers out there trying to expand their knowledge and success in online ventures. It seems that ONE RULE always turns out to be true, in almost everything--if it sounds "too good to be true" then it usually always is, right? I am definitely against putting duplicate content on any of my sites. Why would anyone consider my site a unique place to visit if I am not producing original, viable, unique, quality, and useful content? I also appreciated points three, six, and seven a great deal here. Thanks.



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wiseagent
These tips are extremely valuable, especially to the newbies who usually arrive wanting to plan a world inside their minds and end up frustrating once they realize that things don't happen as easy as they imagine at first.



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DarthHazard
Number 6 is probably one of the most important signs. Proper search engine optimization experts will not guarantee 100% that they can get you to the top of the search results for your niche. Like you said, you are at the mercy of Google. Because of that, most experts will just tell you that they can improve your search engine optimization and thus help you to rise amongst google search results.



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Baburra
I agree. I think in some cases guaranteed results can be appreciated but most of the time an actual expert will not promise anything especially when there are lots of variables beyond their control that are involved. Most of the time, I have a harder time trusting people who exude too much confidence and I almost always favor the ones that are the most upfront about their shortcomings or limits because then I at least will know they are being genuine.



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wiseagent
All these examples you mentioned are absolute truths and they really should be avoided at all costs. but it's a shame that many people prefer to follow this path thinking they will achieve good / great results in the future.

It's a shame that there are so many people who take advantage of others and work only for themselves.



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vinaya
Well said. I have been in touch with a couple of SEO experts who have claimed to do one of the above. Well, I am not an SEO expert, however, I know how SEO works. I have even attended an SEO course. My SEO skills are rudimentary though. There was this guy who said he will make my website #1 on Google. I asked how he is going to do this. He said he will be providing backlinks and update keywords. I knew these two steps were not enough to make #1. It is also true that not every website can become #1.



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overcast
I think I have met many those told about the algorithm. I can tell you that a lot of people ended up listening to such SEO expert and managed to get clickbait and the fake news website. And now google is going to surely attack on such clickbait type of the websites. You can see that is going to affect the business. And on that note I'd surely be concerned about the quality of the website. SEO advice is cheap. Execution of the advice and implementation on the smaller scale is lot harder. So it does take time for those things.



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Baburra
I agree, and thankfully I have not come across any service providers that have said any of these things. I am fortunately knowledgeable enough at least to see these as red flags but I know many people or the average person would really not notice it at all which can be a big waste of money on their part if they do choose to do business with these people. I think the biggest red flags are saying that they know the algorithms and that it's the only marketing you would need because it really shows that the person selling the idea has no idea what they are talking about.



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Tronia
This is an absolutely amazing post that all website owners should read and learn from. With the increase of SEO popularity, especially recently, you can find so many SEO "experts" that honestly have no clue about what they are doing.

You listed all of the red flags and if you meet somebody that says those, just avoid them for your own sake.



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jaymarenage
This is an amazing post/blog iv'e ever seen personally. I don't know if that's true or not but sure thing was it is amazing Pretty like mommy. but really i don't know what i'm saying i just want to have a points -_-. Avoid any SEO expert who says one of these 7 red flags)



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rhombus
The sad fact is that there are a lot of SEO experts available that to remain competitive they will promise the earth. A large percentage of business users who engage their services do so because they don't understand how it works. With the huge amounts of information available online, more and more people are trying to find SEO work as it seems easy with high returns.



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Corzhens
That first point about an SEO expert saying that he knows all about the algorithm of the search engine is a lie outright. I have been reading in so many discussions in this site that the algorithm of Google is one of the best secrets in the world just like the best kept secret of the Coke formula. And no one can claim knowing the Google algorithm because there was an interview of a Google tech who said that the algorithm changes but there is no exact period which means the algorithm can change once a week or even once a year.



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jaymish2
Great advise. I totally agree. Many freelancers get into a lot of trouble for telling these lies. How do you know the algorithm when google staff don't even understand it? I also agree that if you back link too much as touted by some 'SEO' experts your website is dead in the water. I think before you take on a client you should explain to them the uncertainty of SEO and google as a whole. They should understand this and not expect miracles overnight. Give a time frame for ranking. I would give 6 months, this will take the pressure off you and allow the site to grow organically which is much better for the website in the long run.



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