SEO is Still a Shady Industry

[JoyHawkins]

I really enjoyed this post from Patrick Stox. Obviously I talk a lot about GMB spam and the issues in Local but it's nice to be reminded that SEOs use practices that are frowned upon a lot in the non-Local space as well.

Unfortunately these practices still work...well...especially when Penguin hasn't refreshed in 1.5 years.

I often tell clients for every 1 good SEO company there are 10 bad ones that will use practices that could damage the business long-term. As much as I distrust used car sales reps, I think SEO reps might be worse these days.

 

[James Watt]

I love his picture.

Some of those stories are crazy though, I thought I've seen some poor choices from shady companies before. Especially things like using a client's login to leave yourself a review... that's just insane, I can't imagine how embarrassing it'd be to try and explain what the heck you were thinking after getting called on something that audacious.

No surprise though, as you pointed out Joy, SEO companies aren't always paragons of virtue exactly.

 

[JoyHawkins]

No. Unfortunately they're more about "let's make money", kinda like used car dealers

 

[mborgelt]

I'm often shocked at the lengths some agencies and SEOs go to in order to get their clients performing. One of the most frustrating problems I've come across in local search is an agency holding client logins and website information hostage until the end of the contract. The fortunate part about this is that if you are offering a legitimate service you can demonstrate your value miles beyond what shady SEOs can.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I read a comment today on this article that cracked me up.

"What's the point of even disavowing when they haven't even run Penguin for almost 2 years? LOL... what a f-ing joke! The SERPS look like sh** at the moment, completely irrelevant results for a lot of terms across the board."

I don't necessarily agree with his first point but frankly kind of agree with his point about the fact that the SERPs look worse lately b/c Penguin hasn't refreshed.