Nowadays, local search engine optimization (SEO) has become critical to the success of many businesses—almost half of all searches on Google (46%) are searching for local information. As more people use mobile devices to search for services and products, local business owners have had to adapt their websites to focus on local rankings. But you need to be careful you don’t hire a bad local SEO agency without realizing it.
Unfortunately, because of the popularity and importance of local search engine optimization, dishonest SEO scammers are “benefitting” too. There are numerous fraudulent local SEO companies out there that are out to rip off small businesses.
If you want to protect your business from getting scammed, here are warning signs to look out for.
The warning signs you hired a bad local SEO agency
- Lack of communication
An honest local SEO company will want to work with you while creating a strategy that can get results; a dishonest company will do precisely the opposite. If you cannot get in touch with anyone at your local SEO agency or they keep dodging your questions, this is a warning sign. The exact same thing can be said if you keep getting passed around the office and talk to different people every time you call them.
- No reports generated
An honest SEO company will send you reports showing all the work they’ve done. However, if you’re not getting reports and you’re only getting excuses when you ask questions about what work has been done, there is a pretty good possibility that:
There’s been no work done. The work that was done used shady practices, like the use of private blog networks.
- No real local SEO work
Many SEO agencies have rebranded themselves as local SEO agencies, but continue to do the same work they would do for general SEO. They may generate reports, but there is no specific local work presented in their reports.
- Number one guarantees
Just like regular SEO work, if you see a guarantee that your site will be ranked number one in local search for any keyword, you are indeed looking at a scam attempt. This is because it is practically impossible to make this guarantee. Always look at the campaign strategy being used by the local SEO company. Any mention of a number one ranking is a huge red flag that the agency is dishonest.
- Bad leads
You build a website because you want leads. However, not all traffic is equal. When you receive leads from a different service area than the one you serve, the SEO company is most likely doing a terrible job. Search engine optimization can be very good about getting leads, but this is the case only when it’s done right.
- Promise of a specific number of links
High-quality backlinks are always significant for a site. However, this does not mean that getting a large number of links is a good thing. In fact, it is usually a sign that something is wrong. If a local SEO company promises you many links, but never talks about a strategy or never discusses link types, it’s most likely a scam.
Protect Your Business from A Bad Local SEO Agency
The best thing you can do when you work with a local SEO agency is to ask questions. The more questions you ask, the easier it is to figure out if the professionals are honest. Remember that at the end of the day, it’s your business and you are responsible for the work that is done on your website.
Do you need help? We have successfully delivered several projects including Website Design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Pay Per Click (PPC), Online Reputation Management (ORM), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and E-Commerce Websites for multiple companies and industries. Whether it’s Start-up or MNC, SEO Birbal is trusted one and all.
We are, One of Mumbai’s leading SEO agencies, we ensure that your website achieves TOP rankings in Search engines Google just by following the white hat SEO techniques. We offer our Local SEO @ Rs. 5400 per month!
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