10 Things "SEO" Specialists Don't Want To Tell You
You may have heard about SEO (search engine optimization) and not quite know what it is, but see it as an elusive black box that you need to grow your business.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about what SEO really is and how it is truly achieved.
This makes it easy for unethical SEO specialists and agencies to capitalize on unknowledgeable business owners like yourself, and provide them with unsustainable or costly quick fixes that don’t last.
To help you get a better understanding of what search engine optimization is and is not, in this article we will explain through the top ten things most unethical “SEO” specialists don’t want you to know.
1. True SEO is Easy To Understand And Not Complicated
The first thing deceptive SEO specialists or agencies don’t want to tell you is that search engine optimization (SEO) is not a complicated concept.
You have probably had conversations with SEO consultants, where afterward you left feeling more confused than before and with an overwhelming feeling that you need to just hire them to do it for you.
While it is not a bad idea to have someone else manage your website and SEO for you, it is not good if you don’t understand it. Just like with any other service, if you don’t understand what an SEO agency is doing for you, you are at their mercy.
For instance, you are probably familiar with this in your own industry. There may be some businesses in your industry that capitalize on the lack of knowledge that their customers or clients may have about their services and provide them with cheap quick fixes or low quality work.
Want to learn more about what SEO is? Read our article “What Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) For a Contract Service Website?”
2. The Kind of SEO That You Want is Organic SEO
There are two primary categories of SEO that you have probably heard about: Organic SEO and Paid SEO.
Organic SEO: A method of search engine optimization that involves creating genuine, original content built around customer questions and needs. This method provides sustainable growth and helps you increase the amount of inbound leads you receive over time.
Paid SEO: A method of search engine optimization that requires you to pay by clicks or impressions to place your listing higher in search results (as a paid ad). This method provides you with traffic while you continue to pay for it and goes away when you stop paying for it.
Blue Trade Media Tip: If an agency or “SEO specialist” tells you they can provide you with quick results or that you need to spend a certain amount per month on Google Ads, they are implementing Paid SEO for your business, not Organic SEO.
The best form of SEO for long term, sustainable growth and quality inbound leads is organic search engine optimization. Do you want to learn how you can start building organic SEO? Check out our blog “Top 6 Ways To Build Organic SEO For Your Contract Service Company Website.”
3. SEO Should Not Cost Tons of Money To Build
As we mentioned in the section above, some agencies will rely on Paid SEO strategies to show quick results and make you believe that you have to spend money on ads to achieve the results you want.
If you are speaking with an agency or specialist and SEO is starting to sound expensive (their fee + an ad budget), you are speaking to the wrong people.
We once spoke to a business owner of a supply business who hired a full-time “SEO specialist” who convinced them they had to spend over $100,000 on paid ads in one year. The business owner ended up spending well over $100,000 and did not achieve a proportional return on investment.
Fortunately, you can avoid doing the same by avoiding hiring agencies or specialists who will try to use Paid Ad shortcuts to “improve” your search engine rankings.
The truth is, businesses can achieve sustainable, long lasting growth by implementing organic SEO methods.
The most low cost SEO strategy is to hire an internal Content Manager (or content intern) and have them grow your organic SEO for you by creating original content for your website based on your customer’s needs.
Not sure of where to have a Content Manager or Content Intern start? Have them read our “Guide To Marketing a Home Service Business Digitally.”
4. SEO Is a Long Term Strategy and Real Results Take Time
Many SEO specialists tell you what you want to hear and say they can get you results quickly. The truth is, they can’t promise you super quick results and if they are, they are probably using shortcuts if they are getting you quick results.
Some shortcuts include keyword stuffing, paid ads, and link building (with bad links).
If an SEO specialist uses any short term strategies on your website to try to provide you with quick results, you may see results in the short term and then notice negative effects for the long term.
For instance, some of these methods work for the short term but then detract from the credibility or user experience of your site because they are designed to game search engines, not inform real customers on what you have to offer.
5. Keyword Density Is Not As Important As User Experience
As we alluded to in the section above, some agencies or specialists may try to use keyword stuffing to increase your rankings by building up the amount of keywords your website contains.
Keyword stuffing is different from true keyword strategy because it does not add useful information to your site and instead dilutes the quality of your site.
The image above is directly from Google’s spam policy for web search. As part of their algorithm update, they have trained their search engines to identify keyword stuffing as spam.
The keyword stuffing method may have worked before 2003, but is now a thing of the past. That is because Google and other search engines (like Yahoo, Bing, GoDuckGo) are now built to reward original content that is created to provide an informative and enjoyable user experience for searchers.
6. They Don’t Have The Inside Scoop or Secret Formula
Many SEO specialists want to claim they have inside knowledge about algorithms or can provide you with solutions that others cannot.
Everyone has access to information about algorithms, even you. If an agency or specialist tells you they have exclusive access to insights, they are lying to you.
Additionally, if an SEO specialist claims to have a secret formula for getting you to rank high quickly, they are probably using a shortcut to get you there that could have diminishing returns for the long run.
The biggest thing they don’t want to admit is that you could hire someone internal to build your SEO in a more organic and sustainable way.
7. Their SEO Strategy Does Not Work For All Industries
Another big claim some agencies may make is that they have a consistent SEO strategy that can work for all industries.
While there are definitely concepts that can be applied across the board, there are still nuances to how you want to implement an SEO strategy for any given business.
For instance, you wouldn’t be able to apply the same SEO strategy to a contact service business that you would apply to a software company or a real estate business.
The audience you are marketing to is different, the type of service is different, and the information you will want to highlight is different.
If a specialist claims that their SEO strategy for X industry can be applied to your Y company, they aren’t giving enough credit to the nuances between industries and businesses.
8. They Can’t Guarantee Search Engine Ranking
When trying to convince you to choose them to do SEO for you, an SEO agency might try to tell you that they can get you ranking at the top of the page for any keyword you want.
While getting your website to rank at the top is the goal, no agency or SEO specialist can promise this and if they do, it might mean they are using an unsustainable shortcut that will provide you with negative results in the end.
Google is the only one that can determine whether you rank highly in search results. All this means is that you have to play by Google’s rules, which are actually pretty fair.
Their rules (stated in their algorithm updates) are centered around searcher experience. If the searchers are finding what they want, Google is happy.
To get the searchers what they are looking for, Google rewards companies that focus on searcher experience and education with higher rankings in search results.
9. Local SEO Is Key If You Are a Contract Service Business
Another thing some SEO specialists may do is try to downplay the importance of local SEO. That is because local SEO is competitive and not always any easy thing to rank for.
They may tell you local SEO is not as important either because they don’t know how to help you optimize for local SEO, or they don’t want to put in the work optimizing your website for local SEO in an organic way.
If you own a contract service business, local SEO is key to getting your business in front of customers. When customers search for services like yours, they will be using search terms like “HVAC repair near me” or “Plumber in [insert city].”
Organic ways you can optimize for local SEO include: mentioning the cities you service, providing city specific information about your services, optimizing for local FAQs (e.g. how much does an electrician cost in [insert city]?), claiming your business on review sites (Angi’s, Yelp, etc.), creating location pages, and optimizing your Google My Business.
10. SEO Cannot Be Built Off of Set and Forget Approaches
If an SEO specialist tells you that they have a quick, one time solution to build your SEO, run. Good search engine optimization takes time and continuous effort.
Additionally, algorithms are constantly being updated, so what worked in the early 2000’s won’t work now.
One of the new requirements added to the algorithm is the need for freshness, meaning new content. This can either be achieved by adding new relevant pages to your site, posting blogs, or adding updates to your Google My Business profile.
If an agency tells you that you only need one major SEO project to get your site ranking for the long run, they are lying or have not been following the algorithm updates for the past 20 years.
Implement a Digital Strategy That Builds SEO Organically
The biggest thing to remember is that search engine optimization is a straightforward concept that most people can understand that true SEO takes time to build.
The best way to ensure you do not get taken advantage of is to educate yourself on methods for building sustainable organic traffic (organic SEO), so that you can spot when specialists or agencies are trying to propose the more expensive route.
Are you thinking about hiring someone full time to manage your contract service business website to improve your SEO? Have them check out our “Guide To Marketing a Home Service Business Digitally.”
