For those that don’t know SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is quite a complicated subject but in the simplest of terms it basically involves optimizing a website so that it performs well in search engine result listings.
That may be stating the obvious but the whole concept of SEO can confuse many website owners and the SEO industry has evolved into a very profitable industry for companies specializing in providing SEO-based services.
Sadly, as with any popular and profitable industry this has attracted the sort of people that are more inclined to provide exploitation and misdirection than honest proficient services. Just as internet marketing produced an undesirable gaggle of quacks and placebo promoters, SEO has its own collection of scammers ready to take your money with one hand and offer you nothing but shallow promises and inefficient services with the other.
Here is a helpful guide to some of the many guises that inept SEO service providers may take:
The Beginner’s Guide to SEO Scammers
1. The SEO Jabberwocky
This is an SEO company that will hide its complete lack of skill behind fanciful industry buzzwords, or techno-jargon that has no real meaning. The purpose behind this is simple: Make it sound like we know what we are talking about by using terms that sound incredibly complicated. In reality, these terms are:
Complete gibberish
Made up
Irrelevant to the subject
In nearly all instances they are intended to deflect attention away from the fact that the SEO scammer has not got a clue what they are doing, or is going to provide an inferior service for a premium price.
SEO Tip: If you ever see the term ‘proprietary method’ run and don’t stop till you are out of reach of their verbal diarrhea. This term implies they are going to do something incredibly technical to boost your website visibility but actually says nothing about what this hocus pocus method entails. This is because there is not such method. They have a whole load of nothing.
(Pointless but true: For anyone not familiar with the term ‘Jabberwocky’ this was a poem by Lewis Carroll that included the use of nonsense words. It also featured the prominent use of portmanteau. Look that one up for yourself!)
2. The Acronym Addict
This SEO specialist loves acronyms more than he loves lying. Possibly, it’s a close match. Without pausing for breath the acronym addict will submit you to a barrage of:
‘ROI, LSI, CTR, PPC, PFI, PR, SMM, SEM, B2B, B2C, CMS, CPM, CPC, FFA, GYL, PPA, RLT, SE, SERP’
Don’t feel worried if you are not sure what any, or all, of these mean. Be more worried that the SEO scammer hasn’t got a clue either. People rattling off these industry acronyms may sound like they know what they are talking about, but not everything is as it seems.
Always question any potential SEO provider about these terms, what they actually mean, and how they will help your website achieve positive search engine rankings. If the SEO provider changes the subject, uses even more acronyms, or simply runs away, you have your answer.
3. The Weakest Link
Many people turn to specialist SEO companies that promise to create a winning link portfolio for a website and send it rocketing to the top of the search engine rankings. Unfortunately, many of these link specialists talk a good fight but rarely produce real results. In many cases they will use underhanded link practices that will result in damage to website reputation and hamper any hopes of a decent search engine position.
Here are some examples of the kind of services you can expect from a SEO link-building charlatan:
1. Using automated software to mass-submit anchor-linked blog comments to thousands of blogs. This is cheap comment spamming. Chance your site will be on the end of a spam complaint = PROBABLE
2. Using link farms/exchanges to produce lots of unrelated, low-value reciprocal links that are garbage. Search engines frown on link farms. Chance of your site getting de-indexing or sandboxed = QUITE LIKELY
3. Outsourcing the link-building to low-paid oversea workers that then provide a horde of links to irrelevant sites. Links from a Swedish refrigerator company will not improve the link reputation of your Guitar Memorabilia website. Non-relevant links are pointless. Chance of your site becoming red-flagged for being a possible link farm = HIGH
Dodgy SEO link-building scammers charge per thousand new links. A reputable SEO provider knows that it is quality not quantity that counts in the case of backlinks.
If someone offers you 10,000 new backlinks for $200, go take that $200 and buy yourself some stunning designer shoes. Your website will remain in the same search engine position either way. If you are going to blow $200, it would be nicer to end up with some fancy shoes.
SEO Is Not Mystical
SEO can seem complicated. Or at least it can be if you let it. There are many people that purposely promote SEO as a specialization beyond the reach and scope of mere mortals. It is not alchemy. There is no SEO magic circle. Basic SEO is a matter of common sense and requires learning a few simple search engine principles.
Yes, there are more in-depth SEO techniques that will require more knowledge and in some cases it may prove cost effective to invest in a decent SEO software program, or employ the service of a reliable professional.
If this is the case, the program or company should not try to bedazzle you with technical jargon and they should not be promising miracles that saints would struggle to pull off. If you decide seek professional help look for realism, integrity, proof, and most importantly look for someone that uses real words.
For More On Internet Marketing Scams, Visit My Blog At http://truthsinmarketing.blogspot.com/
Thank You and Good Luck,
AnnieSoul