Protect Yourself
Unfortunately, there are many fly-by-night Internet companies that promise "#1 ranking" and a zillion other things. These scams usually fail to deliver the goods but somehow always manage to take your money. Regrettably, there is nothing we can do to stop these snake oil salesmen; however, we can help to educate you on a few key points.
When choosing a company to manage your online advertising and promotion, be wary of anyone promising quick results or #1 placement. Almost always these promises are backed by what the industry calls "Black Hat" tactics. These methods are considered illegal by the search engines and can seriously harm your business: once you are banned from the search engines, your business is effectively wiped off the Internet. SEO should be considered a long-term process, and reputable SEO firms won't promise you #1 rankings... at least not overnight.
Keep in mind that SEO can be either very cost-effective or very, VERY expensive for small businesses. If you want to be number 1 in Google, you may have to pay for thousands of hours of an SEO professional's time. The simple truth is that achieving the number 1 spot in Google requires a significant investment of time to do all the on-page and off-page optimizations. At Prospect Genius, we like to point out that the 80/20 rule applies to SEO, just like nearly everything else. You can spend a nominal amount of money to get 80% of the benefit of being number 1 in the rankings. That last 20% can cost you dearly, however. Frankly, for most small businesses you get more value out of basic SEO. Only you can decide what budget is right for your business, but we advocate starting out with the fundamental elements of SEO and working your way up from there. That's why our program gets you in the door at a very cost-effective rate and then allows you to add features later if your budget allows.
Don't just take our word on this matter. The links below are a great place to start your own research. This information should help you make up your own mind, so that no matter what company you decide to do business with, you do it with your eyes open and the knowledge to protect yourself from unscrupulous predators.
