• Run For Your Life (Grab Your Money, Too!) •
• Another Real Life SEO Con Job •

I posted the other day about an SEO firm that got fined by a Washington judge for ripping off clients because they “guaranteed” top ranking positions.

As I stated in that post … RUN FOR YOUR LIFE if any SEO consultant or agency promises you top rankings. NOBODY on this earth can ETHICALLY promise you that your targeted keywords will obtain top rankings! Plus, month after continuous month as so many of these unscrupulous people will claim.

Yes, it IS POSSIBLE to maintain top rankings (I have examples that I provide where I have accomplished that) for a very long time, but no ethical SEO consultant will ever make a flat-out promise like that.

Well … lookee here my friends … look what I innocently stumbled upon this morning while doing my usual research:

Take a CLOSE look at these screenshots. Take a CLOSE look at what is stated and what the monthly fees are. Do you think this reeks of a con job?? I sure do.

The only thing I don’t get is the fact that top rankings (especially for keywords that really do receive traffic) cannot be guaranteed, thusly within a very short amount of time, clients will likely see a drastic drop or total disappearance of their rankings. I know WHY he has to offer a guarantee (builds a comfort level for the potential client), but how CAN he offer a money back guarantee and stay in business very long?? Get my drift here?

I would think every (smart) client would end up DEMANDING a refund rather quickly!! Maybe there are enough gullible people out there that will continue to pay month after month, so he makes more money than he has to refund?? Beats me!!

Anyway … all he will be able to achieve for the long term is possibly top rankings for obscure keywords that have basically little to no competiton (and also not being worth anything as far as generating traffic to the client’s website). Who is going to continue to pay for that month after month?

This has GOT to be a fly-by-night type operation. You know, I am almost tempted to call this guy and see exactly what he is promising. I’d like to see how he will make this blog rank highly over-night! And month after month, too! After all, this niche I’m in, the niche of SEO, is brutal competition-wise. (I cannot brag to you yet of top rankings. I am being honest with you!)

Anyway, I just had to show this to you. This site looks genuine enough, but there isn’t one other page of information to it. Whatever link you click on, you stay on the same page. That kind of sends up a red flag, too.

And I too can write the most glowing of testimonials in a matter of minutes if need be (hint-hint).

Because I don’t want to see any new web owner get taken by SEO con artists like this guy … I am posting this to educate that whatever SEO consultant you are thinking about using, please make sure “top ranking guarantees” are NOT in that consultant’s vocabulary.

• Unethical Washington-Based Company Gets Big Hand Slap •
• Cannot Offer SEO Services Anymore •

I just had to post this. YOO HOO! A Washington State judge has slapped the hands of a [expletive not inserted] web design firm that has bilked un-godly amounts of money from honest clients by promising top search engine rankings thru their SEO ‘magical’ services. Their poor clients believed the hype that for XX-amount of dollars, this firm could GUARANTEE top rankings. Read all about it here.

Oh, boy, this makes me sick as an ethical SEO consultant! RUN… do you hear me? RUN away from any firm or any SEO consultant that promises you this!! Nobody, do you hear me, NO BODY  can promise top rankings.

We have no control over the algorithms that the search engines use to determine ranking positions.

If I only had a tiny portion of the clients (and the money they paid for the deceitful SEO service), I’d be rich. I’d be sitting on a sandy white beach on a gorgeous island, sipping an iced tea.

Sigh … if you want ethical, honest, no-hype SEO services, then please contact me. I’ll be most happy to answer all your questions and even give you a brief overview of how we could work together to improve your website.

• Have You Done A Great Job Writing Compelling Tags? •
• Title & Description Tags Need To Grab A Searcher’s Attention •

If I’ve tried to drum anything through my readers or clients heads about search engine optimization techniques, it’s how very effective optimizing each page’s title and description tags can be. Many times this basic SEO attention to each page can make a huge difference in the keyword rankings.

How about taking a look today at your most important keyword phrases and their ranking positions in Google. How are those keywords doing? Are they in the top ten?

Even if your keywords rank #1 … I strongly suggest you still keep an eye on the wording and keyword placement your competitors are applying to their titles and descriptions. Always keep a couple steps ahead of them. Never assume once you’ve achieved a top-ten ranking that you’re there for good!

Compared to your competitors’ titles and descriptions, how do yours compare?

Make darn sure you’ve written your titles and descriptions to be more compelling and interesting. You want to GRAB the searcher’s’ attention immediately while they’re skimming over the results.

A good thing to do is to ask a friend or two’s opinion on your writing skills. Let some other “eyes” read over your tags and see if what you’ve written really is compelling or not. They might even have a better way of saying what you need to say! And their constructive criticism will be well worth it. After all, you DO want higher rankings, don’t you?

Bottom line … if all you’ve done is merely stick your keywords within a sentence in your titles and descriptions, versus really providing the searcher with a compelling title and description, well hop to it! Rewrite your tags immediately before you add any new pages of content to your site. Put a lot of thought and consideration into your efforts this time. It’ll pay off many times over.