One of the most frequent questions we get from small business owners is in regards to so called “seo firms” that promise to deliver front page listings for just $99 or you pay nothing. Now on the surface this seems like a good deal and a no brainer but when you go deeper into their services you’ll probably find yourself running the other direction.  SEO firms that offer this type of low pricing and outrageous guarantees fall into 2 categories:

The first is the seo firm that is nothing more than a flat out scam, it may sound cliche but if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. The way the scam works is that you are presented with a contract that states your credit card will be charged $99/$199/$299 etc only if the seo firm manages to get your website on the front page of google for your desired keyword. The contract is worded in such a way that any small business owner would jump on the deal because it sounds like there is absolutely nothing to lose, but the problem is that the contract is so vague that it doesn’t mention HOW the site will achieve those front page rankings. What ends up happening is that the SEO firm simply takes your website, plugs into google’s paid advertising platform (adwords) and 5 minutes later there you are on the first page. They take a screenshot of your new “rankings” as proof and then bill your credit card for their fees and take down the ad from adwords and 5 minutes later your “rankings” are now gone and it didn’t cost them a single penny. When business owners find out what happened they do the natural thing and file a complaint/chargeback with their credit card company but since the contract was so vague and the “seo firm” has a screenshot of your 1st page rankings the “seo firm” ends up winning the dispute and gets to keep the money. As of today (5.11.2010) we have yet to hear of anyone winning these chargeback disputes against “SEO firms” that use this tactic.

The second type of scam doesn’t hit your wallet directly, but it can affect your rankings in a negative way. What some seo firms will do is make a really nice contract that unlike the first type of SEO firm states exactly how they will achieve your rankings (by using organic search engine optimization) but they will also require administrative access to your hosting account and domain. Once they have administrative access they can add/edit/delete any files they want and suddenly you find that your website has been transformed from “Little Mama’s bakery” to a what is known as a “link farm” where you are suddenly linking to online casinos and adult websites. Essentially the goal of the seo firm is to use your trust of promising to pay them later if they succeed for the financial gain of their other clients (who are paying large sums upfront).