5 Ways To Know if You’re Dealing With a ‘Shady’ Google SEO Consultant

It’s a great relief for small and medium businesses to find Google SEO consultants specializing in virtually every trade nowadays.

However, you have definitely heard stories of unscrupulous consultants and agencies that had ripped off and never delivered excellent results to their clients. Unfortunately, every business faces this true and sad reality today.

To avoid these scammers, most businesses trust big-name consultants to help with their search engine optimization needs. However, these specialists can be quite expensive. In fact, they will often favor high-budget projects to maximize their workload.

If you need to work with a new prospect, you can use these five questions to know whether you’re working with a reliable agency.

Reviews are a Complete Contrast of Company Claims

Before you use the Google SEO consultant’s free website consultation service, check out review websites and forums to know more about these companies.

Most of the time, you’ll find positive reviews about truly reputable consultancies and agencies. However, if you find plenty of negative reviews about the agency, then reconsider your prospect and find a new company.

Refuse to work with companies with overwhelming negative reviews that contrast their company website’s claims and case studies. Additionally, you can ask the clients the prospect features in their case study if the results are true to the prospect’s claims.

‘Too Good To Be True’ Case Study Results

Almost every Google SEO consultant understands that data-backed information is the best way to go with company marketing. True enough, amazing high-figure or doubled expected results will capture the interest of small and medium business owners.

Additionally, if the prospect’s data proves believable with measured metrics, then SMEs will definitely want to work with this prospect.

Unfortunately, even with data-backed claims, some results they claim can be too good to be true. The only way to know is to speak with the client they worked with who received these amazing results and verify it.

Extremely Old Data to Support Their Best Practices

Data is a powerful medium because many audiences want ideas and solutions with evidences. Your prospective Google SEO consultant may mention data and methods they used that worked in 2014-2015. In fact, they might add that they won an award because of their groundbreaking work and even their client during the time attests to it.

While not entirely a sign of shadiness, it is better to work with a consultancy that can present more recent results than ones with ages-old data. The reason for this is Google and other search engine algorithms have changed through the years and will continue to change. Therefore, what worked in 2014 may not work in 2019 onwards.

Requires No Involvement From Clients

A true sign of shadiness is when your consultant claims that you don’t need to get involved in the entire SEO process. Any good agency knows clients want regular updates and involvement in the entire process. As a client, you want to know what you’re paying for and where your money is going.

You’ll want to see if their procedures are legitimate. In fact, it pays to know how your digital campaign’s overall performance is going on a daily or weekly basis. It is possible the SEO company is using “black hat” or illegitimate strategies, which is the reason they don’t want to involve you in the process.

‘We’re All You Will Ever Need’

There are over 200 plus factors that Google and other search engines consider when placing a website as the top search engine result. It’s not just about the website traffic or low-competition keywords the agency uses.

If you’re working with a digital marketing company, it is possible they’re all you’ll ever need. However, an SEO company isn’t everything you need to get on top.

Wrapping Up

An excellent consultant presents the most recent case study with positive results to their new clients. In fact, their previous clients will attest to their performance and work ethic. By remembering these five points, you’ll definitely avoid working with a shady SEO consultant!

Original Content Source: http://shadownetmc.com/5-ways-to-know-if-youre-dealing-with-a-shady-google-seo-consultant/

Five Signs Your Search Engine Marketing Consultant Isn’t Worth Working With

It is fortunate to consider we’re living in a world where you can find a search engine marketing consultant just about anywhere. In fact, it is advantageous if you consider how some big-name agencies prioritize high-budget projects and leave you with unsatisfying results.

It pays to know if your prospective consultant or agency is worth working with. True enough, they have all the time and resources to work on your campaign with a limited budget. However, if they fail to achieve the results you need, then they’re as much a waste of time and money as any consultancy that shuns your projects.

Make sure to avoid agencies or consultants with the following traits listed below.

No Good Client Reviews

You’ll want to see positive reviews on your prospective candidate. True enough, if you fail to see any positive reviews, then consider it a red flag not to work with them.

Search engine marketing consultants thrive on results-based work. Therefore, they need to deliver client-expected results. If they fail to do so, then it means they’re bad business.

However, you may want to consider hiring companies without any positive or negative reviews. While these companies are fresh, it is possible they’ve experimented with self-funded and initiated projects to achieve their intended results.

They Can’t Give You a Good Case Study

You want to see results. Therefore, you’ll want your agency to have achieved excellent results for any past client. If they cannot provide a complete case study — even ones from their self-funded or initiated projects and experiments — then it’s highly-likely they cannot give you the results you need.

Case studies do not only show data-backed evidence backing up their work achievements. Additionally, it indicates how much the search engine marketing consultant is truly willing to learn more and become passionate about search engine marketing.

Can’t Answer Your Knowledge-Probing Questions Properly

If you feel as if your prospective search engine marketing consultant is dodging the real answer to your queries, then consider this a red flag. As a business owner, you can have done research on search engine marketing and want to clarify a few things you read.

Therefore, answering unclear topics using the help (and possible free consultation) of your prospect consultancy helps show you their knowledge level regarding the service they intend to provide to you. Failure to do so definitely makes them unworthy to work with you.

An Unconvincing Free Consultation Result

One of the most crucial questions agencies need to answer is how well or poor your website and onging campaign is going through. While there is no right or wrong answer, an informative and value-adding consultation answer makes or breaks their deal with you.

If they tell you that your website is doing poorly without any data or investigative information to support their claim, then they’re not worth working it.

Agencies do not simply say a website does poorly without any additional information. They will impart a certain bit of knowledge and present to you a small part of their solution. In fact, the full solution is available to you only if you agree to work with them (and this is considered fair.)

Nothing Value Adding from Blogs and Newsletters

Most of the time, you’ll find these companies’ blogs full of value-adding information. Many agencies will have blogs giving you a full introductory course on search engine marketing, digital marketing, social media, and more.

However, if they only have basic knowledge in their blog, then it can only mean it is their only particular knowledge level. Find another prospect to work with.

Wrapping Up

It’s easy to fall into the “bargain deals” trap of some SEO agencies. However, even if you’re just paying a small fee, it becomes a bad investment if you repeat the same mistakes in choosing an agency over time.

By identifying these red flags, you can avoid any poor-performing SEO agency and get an agency that has a decent price and guarantees excellent results for any of your campaigns.

Original Content Source: http://www.metrocommserv.com/news/five-signs-your-search-engine-marketing-consultant-isnt-worth-working-with/