To avoid getting scammed by a bogus digital marketing service, watch out for these promises and guarantees.

“Your website will be ranked #1 on Google in 30 days or less”

It would be best if you looked out for anybody who claims they can give your website a boost to the number one spot on Google in 30 days. While not impossible per se, it is improbable to happen for non-branded competitive keyword search items.

Some scammers will use “black-hat” techniques to give your website a quick yet artificial boost that Google will most certainly penalize after, and your page ranking will be worse than when you started. Other so-called experts will use obscure keyword phrases that aren’t related to your business at all, and your listing will be number one for sure, but in Nowhere, Idaho.

Did you know that some companies even offer services like negative SEO? This is a method of taking out the competition by providing lots of spammy links and eventually getting them penalized. This sort of thing is best avoided, as it can land you in trouble and ultimately compromise the integrity of the search engines and their results.

  Tip: If someone offers you this kind of service, be wary and ask them technical terms of how they’ll do it. Chances are, they’ll spew a bunch of nonsense, or they’ll say they use proprietary technology. A good SEO company should be able to show you examples of the progress they are making with other clients or even their own website. Content SEO is the most effective method today, and when you hear those words you know they are trustworthy.

‘As Seen In Claims’ and Fake Reviews

There are digital marketing services that have professional-looking websites complete with customer testimonials. The cherry on top, however, is the “As Seen In” part of their page, where they have been supposedly featured on CNN, Forbes, and other media companies.

For starters, testimonials and reviews can be faked or bought. It’s also easy to pay for a premium press release that’s sent out to the top news and media outlets and BAM! Their company seems like they’re a big deal in the industry when they’re not.

  Tip: The Better Business Bureau (BBB) Review and Rip Off report is your friend, and all you need is to search for the company’s name there. You can also Google the company name or owner with the words “scam” or “reviews.”

Social Media Likes, Paid Traffic, and Followers For Sale

There are services out there that allow you to buy social media followers and traffic. Most of these will scam you outright, while others will deliver and give you the followers you paid for, but there’s a catch: quality. Your new “followers” are nothing more than dummy accounts with no real people behind them, which means they don’t add any value to your brand.

The downside is that when people realize you have a bunch of fake followers, you lose integrity by trying to appear more popular than you are. Paid traffic services on the cheap are just automated traffic bots that mislead people into clicking through your website.

  Tip: Try growing your brand organically by posting regularly and engaging with everybody.

Automatic Curated Content

Any digital marketer worth her salt knows that you need to give your audience authentic and relevant content that provides value if you want digital marketing to drive your company’s bottom line. There are no shortcuts. Companies that offer you scheduled “curated” content so you won’t have to write another original article can end up hurting your brand. BOOSTING on Facebook will lower your algorithm so low that you have to keep PAYING FACEBOOK MORE MONEY to get any readership! There are ways around Boosting. Facebook’s only Goal is Profit – not content.

Their writers aren’t often subject matter experts, and the content will lack the passion of someone who is part of your business. Curated content is acceptable, but should only constitute s small portion (20 – 30 percent) of your overall content.

  Tip: You or someone in your company who knows everything inside-out should be creating articles, blogs, videos, infographics, and other communication media that tell your brand’s story consistently. Unique content that’s 100% original is what customers want to see and what Google’s new SEO algorithm values.

“Your Website is Broken” Scams

If someone gets in touch with you to tell you that they have spotted a weakness in your website and that they want to help you to fix it, you should have your guard up. In many instances, this is a way for people to try to make you panic, and then they will swoop in and sell you their services to try and fix the error.

Scams like this are as old as time. They are designed to make you anxious about losing the hard work you have put into your site. While security online is vital, somebody emailing you to try and make you panic about something you haven’t done should make you wonder about their motives. What do they want from you?

  Tip: Make sure your website has all the necessary security and safety measures, and is hard to hack. Plus, make backups of your site regularly so you can restore should anything go wrong.

Long-Term PPC and SEO Contracts

If a company says they will only tie you into contracts that are 12, 18 or 24 months long then this could be cause for concern. Tricky Marketing Strategies can sometimes be made to work in the short-term, to tie you into a longer-term contract.

Once you have agreed to pay every month then they will reduce their spend and the time they are working on the contract. You will have a full year or two to continue paying them and it might be hard to get out of the deal you made.

If a company is good at what they are doing, they do not need to tie you into long-term deals. Ask yourself why they might be so keen to upsell and get their claws into you. Ideally, you will be able to cancel your contract flexibly if you want to at any time.

  Tip: Compare what other companies offer in terms of contract lengths. If someone refuses to take on clients on a month-to-month basis then it might be that they are trying to get your money long-term without actually having to do a lot of work. Some contracts have a “hidden renewal bonus sum included” where they will automatically renew you in 2 years or else you lose your website. They might look like the real deal to start with, but if they know you will still be paying them in 20 months time, they might cool off on how hard they are working.

Conclusion

There are plenty of “experts” and bogus digital marketing companies out there that are angling to get your business. Scammers know that the battleground is fought online now, but not all organizations have the budget to pay for online marketing services, which is why they offer cheap products that are often too good to be true.

Since many marketing executives are busy and owners don’t know much about digital marketing, they jump headfirst into an agreement with a scammer who’ll offer the moon but ends up with disastrous results.

If you need to boost your online presence, hire an experienced consultant with a proven track record of success, and one that can be vetted by other business executives. A seasoned marketing consultant can guide you through the ever-changing landscape and trends of the digital marketing world, without running the risk of getting scammed.

About the Author!

David Lukić is an information privacy, security and compliance consultant at IDStrong. The passion to make cybersecurity accessible and interesting has led David to share all the knowledge he has.

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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.