Once upon a time, an SME decided that it was time to include the digital platform in its overall marketing strategy. The company knew nothing about digital marketing and needed an external agency to help establish them on the internet.

They spoke to numerous agencies, each offering solutions which sounded amazing. For example:

• We will get you to the top of Google for all your keywords
• We will double your income in 3 months…
• We will manually build your links…

It sounded awesome, the company decided to choose a local SEO company near them called ABC.

The marketing manager at the SME and the agency representative both agreed the objectives. These included:

• Increase traffic to site via search engines by 150%
• Increase the quality of landing pages to increase conversions
• Work on social media campaigns to raise brand awareness.

A month into the campaigns, the marketing manager at the SME realised the lack of contact from the SEO agency. Doubts began to creep in his head about ABC, he had already paid £1000 for the first month and wanted to give them a chance.

Another month went by and very minimal work had been done. The promise of getting them in the top 10 for the initial 2 keywords hadn’t been fulfilled and emails were being ignored. Serious doubts were running through his head, ‘have I made a mistake by signing up with this agency’. They had now paid £2000.

Some of you may be familiar with this story. Unfortunately, everyone is claiming to be an expert in digital marketing. They promise the world but deliver very little. From web design companies to media agencies, they are all claiming to be specialists in the art of SEO.

So how do you spot a rogue SEO company:

• They will promise you number 1 position for your keywords on the search engine. Not even the best SEO agency can guarantee a top position.
• They promise to deliver instant results. This is not possible without dodgy black hat tactics which can damage your website’s credibility on the internet.  A good company will tell you that digital campaigns are a process that requires hard work and dedication.
• They don’t provide reports. A good SEO company will be able to provide well thought out and understandable reports on a monthly basis.
• The lack of original content on their site. A lot of these rogue traders don’t have content or it’s just rehashed gobbledegook from other sites. A good digital agency isn’t afraid to share knowledge.
• A good SEO company is willing to walk away. The top SEO companies won’t be pushy with the selling. They will be patient, ask questions and listen to your problems. Sometimes, they will even decline a job if they believe that they can’t help.