Receiving ridiculous emails is par for the course when you have an online presence. The Internet, after all, is filled with scammers of all shapes and sizes. From all indications, no one’s immune from them, not even people over at Google.

Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team and the search engine giant’s resident SEO guru, shares in his own blog an email one of his colleagues got. The email is offering—of all things—to improve Google.com’s organic search results through their SEO services. In short, the company is offering SEO for Google. Major facepalm, indeed.

Unsolicited email offering effective SEO services

This unsolicited email offering effective SEO services is incredibly funny, especially considering where they sent it to— the search engine itself  – LOL. Here’s how it goes:

I was on your website www.google.com and wanted to shoot you a quick note. I think I can make a few changes (aesthetically and/or SEO – wise) to make your site convert more visitors into leads and to get it placed higher in the organic search results, for a few of the select terms.

This is NOT like one of those foreign emails you probably get in your inbox every day. Just to be upfront I have 3 agents that work with me for development /SEO.

I would just need to know which (if not both) services you’re open to checking out information about, either web design or SEO. Would you be open to seeing more brief info / quote for what I would like to accomplish?

Regards,
XXXXXX XXXXX

While in itself this is just so funny and ridiculous, it has a more sinister side, too.  These emails are sent en masse to pretty much every website email, with similar claims. And too many website owners who don’t know that much about the way things are in the Internet and respond positively to it.

Some end up hiring whoever sent this unsolicited email to implement effective SEO services for their website. While there’s a minuscule chance they’ll indeed be able to deliver effective SEO services – kind of like winning Lotto, the chances are your website will actually get hurt.

Do solid background checks first

Just like with any unsolicited email, when an email similar to the one Cutts shared enters your inbox, you should instantly be weary about it, especially when it begins to tell you some “startling facts” about your site. If you can’t ignore it and would like to check it out, the least you can do is do some solid background checks first, speak to existing customers and get at least one more quote from a reputable company in your city or town.

You wouldn’t want to engage the services of an SEO company that will probably do more harm than good to your site with techniques that Google frowns upon. Keep in mind that as of late 2012, the search engine giant has started penalising bad SEO practices, so you stand to lose more than just whatever fee the SEO service is charging you.

Click here to read Matt Cutts’ full post.