The Internet is full of scams, and the world of search engine optimization or SEO is no exception. There are thousands of SEO companies out there who offer a lot of things that border on the ridiculous, but entrepreneurs who have very little knowledge about how SEO works might believe.

In an article for SearchEngineJournal, Jaydeep Dosi writes about a few of these SEO scams and how to spot them. Let me summarise and add to it.

SEO scams to avoid

SEO Scam #1: We Can Guarantee You Page 1

Dosi rightfully says you should not believe SEO companies that guarantee a first page ranking.  The reason is that no on this planet can actually do that.  Google keeps updating their algorithms and your competition wants to be at the top spot, too.  So how then can you expect that your SEO service can guarantee to you that you will be on page 1?

SEO Scan #2: We Submit Your Site To 100s of Search Engines

Really? What are they and why do they matter?  Who cares if you have been submitted to xyzblipsearch.com or not?  Google (and Bing) are where the music plays. So if someone offers you this kind of submission service you already know that it is worthless and most likely indicates that the rest of their service may be equally useless/non-existent.

SEO Scam #3: Your Website Has Been Analysed To Be Missing Out On Traffic

Of course, every website could potentially get more traffic.  Just like you could eat better, exercise more and generally be a better person. I get emails and phone calls like this, too. But this does not imply that the service they are offering can actually fix the problems and get more traffic.  It is very different to say “You should get a link from the front page of Wall Street Journal for your link profile” or “You should get 10,000 targeted fans on Facebook” to actually being able to deliver that.

Scam #4: SEO Companies With Inside Knowledge

Entrepreneurs should also steer clear of SEO companies that claim they have a Google insider working for them.  Seriously, Google is working feverishly on plugging any kind of loopholes, so even if a company had a direct line to a senior engineer from Google – if he was aware of a loophole, they’d be working on fixing it asap.

Google rolls out tweaks and changes to their search algorithm pretty much on a daily basis. And roughly every 3-4 months there is a major update. So even IF someone knew of a loophole today, there is no guarantee that it will be there even just tomorrow!

Click here to read the full article. Careful readers will notice I dropped one scam that Dosi mentions and added a favourite of my own…

Which scams have you noticed SEO companies try and bait you with?