7 Warning signs to send your SEO “expert” packing.

7 Warning signs to send your SEO “expert” packing.

In these sticky economic times, companies all over are looking at their websites to get more out of them, and quite rightly so. Make them work like a paid employee, and make them accountable.

So how do you find a reputable company to do your SEO job for you? Well I can tell you what to look out for in a bad one with the seven points below, so if you come across these, steer clear.

• Suggesting specific keyword densities by “stuffing” as many into the text as possible. Google will definitely pick this up as the Google robot is very intelligent, more so than the average person. Yes you must include your keywords but it must be kept natural, no more than 3%, so only 3 keywords per 100.

• Keep away from companies that offer to submit your site to all the directories. There are three main ones to use which you can easily do yourself. The rest may not be worth as much as you are told they are. Don’t be fooled by the line “directories no one knows about”. If no one knows about them, who uses them?

• Buying links is quite common, but a word of caution. Rather than spending $1000’s of dollars on links, first spend some time brainstorming where in your industry you can get free ones from, such as trade sites, governing bodies, and sites that compliment yours. Use these to leverage off in the first instance. If you do buy links, make sure they are worth more than you are paying for them.

• If anyone offers to submit your articles to Digg or other social sites, and then get all their mates to “Digg” them for you to get the article to the front page. You may succeed in the short term, but Google could see this and possibly ban your URL.

• Hidden text is a no no. If someone suggests to you to write a list of keywords on the top page of your site in white so the human eye can’t read it, Google certainly can. Again, a possible black tick from Google. Tricking search engines is not wise.

• The SEO expert should be able to explain what has been recommended and why is lay mans terms, easily understood, and not just because they say so.

• Secrets. Like this article, keep it open and give a little away for free. Why not try us?