If you’ve ever wondered “is SEO a scam?” — you’re not alone. Plenty of business owners have been burned by SEO providers making big promises but delivering… well, not much TBH. In this episode, I’m going to unpack some of the most common red flags to watch for, so you can protect your business and still get the real benefits of good SEO.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts.
If this episode’s got you thinking “I’d like to learn how SEO actually works, without the jargon or showboating,” I’ve got something for you. Grab my on-demand workshop, SEO First Steps — it’s a friendly, no-nonsense introduction that shows you what really matters for your website. You can get it at https://loukoz.com/seo-first-steps/ — I’d love you to check it out.
Ready to finally understand what SEO really involves – without the complicated tech jargon? Jump in to my 1 hour workshop, SEO First Steps.
Transcript:
Good SEO should help your business grow, but a lot of what is sold as SEO is just smoke and mirrors.
In this video, I want to tell you about five red flags that will waste your money, waste your time, and ultimately slow down your business growth.
All right—yeah, this is a podcast and a video, so you can pick your flavour: listen or watch and listen.
Hey, my name is Lou. I am a web designer and digital business consultant. I often get called in to give a second opinion on some SEO work or a proposal that’s been done for a business—whether it’s agency, freelancer, or even an in-house setup. And I keep seeing the same issues.
So let’s go through them.
Red Flag #1: Lock-In Contracts
What this can look like is a 12 to 24-month lock-in contract: an agreed amount that you have to pay over this time in exchange for SEO services.
And it doesn’t really give you any exits. It doesn’t give you any flexibility or room to adjust things if it’s not working.
Why is this bad?
Well—you’re going to be stuck. You’re going to have to pay for this contract, unfortunately, and I don’t want that to happen for you.
What’s the alternative?
Look for someone who offers a month-to-month service. If they’re confident about what they do, they won’t have to lock you into a 12 or 24-month period.
Red Flag #2: Bad or Confusing Communication
What does this look like?
This can look like your person or agency taking days or even weeks to get back to you.
Now look—I am willing to give a little bit of grace to a solopreneur or a freelancer, a one-person team. They’re often juggling life and business, so I’ll give them a bit of grace to take a few days to respond—and I expect that as well.
But having to wait a week for a reply is just not on.
If it’s an agency—yeah—when you’re paying for an agency fee, you are paying for more than one person to look after you. So if your person who’s responsible for communicating with you doesn’t respond or can’t respond within a day or two, then the next in command or someone else on their team should be responsible for getting back in touch.
As I said, with a freelancer, I’d expect a response within a few days. I’d give them a bit more grace, as I said, because they’re probably juggling a lot of things.
Confusing Communication
It’s perfectly reasonable to not understand how things work, but I would expect some kind of clarity or explanation of the work being done.
For instance, when I take my car to the mechanic, I might not know how to put things into my car, but if they tell me, “I’m replacing the oil so that blah can work better,” I can agree with that.
But if you’re being told, “Oh, I’m going to get you 50 backlinks”—okay, so what?
Make sure that whatever they’re telling you they’re doing is actually something that means something to you—or at least you can understand how it helps.
How to avoid this
Before you sign up with someone, go and check out their testimonials—and in particular, look at what their clients say about how they communicate.
Red Flag #3: Numbers Without Strategy
What does this look like?
This can look like, “We’ve got you 50 backlinks. We’ll get you 5,000 words.”
Okay—so what?
Why is this bad?
Because they’re just numbers. They’re just showing you a number that is increasing month over month.
And when I see results like that, I’m like—all right—look, being promised an amount of something is kind of meaningless. What matters more is how the work that is being delivered to you fits in with your brand strategy, your brand message, and your marketing strategy.
What to look for
Make sure that you are being told why this is happening—why you’re getting backlinks or why you’re getting a number of words. Why is this being done, and how does it connect to your business outcomes?
As for me, I don’t think the number of words given to you is as important as what is being said and delivering that message appropriately.
And when it comes to backlinks—I’m not going to tell you that 100 backlinks are better than 50 backlinks. The amount that you get is not important—it’s the quality of what you get. And I would much rather you have meaningful connections to other websites rather than chasing some kind of bigger number because that sounds better.
At the end of the day, it’s the quality of the connections to your website that matters—and how meaningful and relevant they are—not the volume.
Red Flag #4: No Adaptability to Change
I don’t think many SEO providers talk about this, but this is a big one—being proactive and adaptive to what’s going on around you.
What does this look like?
It looks like plotting along with the same agreement that you decided on 18 months ago.
Why is this bad?
Because the world, the internet, your business, your competitors—they’re all changing. Circumstances change in the world. Technology changes. AI does different stuff.
You and the person you’re working with have got to be prepared to pivot when needed.
If you keep plotting along with the same plan that you agreed on 18 months ago, two years ago—if you just keep plotting along with the exact same plan and not bearing in mind how stuff is changing in SEO, in the landscape of the internet, AI, and all that—it could be detrimental to you. And if your service provider isn’t working on this with you, then they’re doing you a disservice.
How to avoid this
Make sure that you ask how often the plan will be reviewed. And make sure that you ask—are you keeping an ear to the ground on opportunities and how things are changing in the SEO and online landscape?
This is the only time that I’m paying attention when online marketing people are saying, “Adapt or get left behind.”
Red Flag #5: You Don’t Own Your Assets
What does this look like?
This can look like not having access to your own Google Analytics, Search Console, and things like that. Those things are yours—and you should be the rightful owner of those accounts.
Why is this bad?
Well—it means that you’re at the mercy of your service provider. And if things go pear-shaped, you could lose access to all of your helpful data that’s informing your SEO plan.
What to look for
Make sure that you own your Google accounts. Make sure that you own your web hosting, your domain—you have access to these things and those accounts are in your name. And that you invite your agency or your service provider in as a collaborator.
If you are unable to access these things yourself—and especially if you are not the admin of these accounts—I’m going to be a bit concerned.
Make sure that you own those important pieces of property. Those are your business assets—you’re just inviting the agency or SEO freelancer in to help you.
Wrapping Up
SEO should not be vague or confusing. You should feel like you’re working with a partner who is interested in getting to know your business and staying abreast of what’s going on in the world around your business and the internet.
If any of these red flags sound like something that’s going on for you, maybe it’s time to start shopping around.
Have you heard about any of these red flags yourself? I’d love to know about them—let me know in the comments. And if you found this helpful, please hit subscribe for more no-fluff, straight-talking digital marketing advice.
Want to Learn What SEO Actually Involves?
Hey—are you potentially looking at getting someone to help you with implementing SEO on your website, but feeling unsure about what exactly is involved or what to look out for beyond just these red flags?
And I mean specifically—when it comes to actually doing the SEO work—what is involved, and what sort of jobs they should be doing for you?
Because I recognise that there’s a lot of SEO providers out there who will tell you that they’ll offer on-page, off-page, technical, backlinks—and if I know you right, I have a feeling that those words—technical, on-page, off-page, black hat, white hat—those things probably don’t mean anything to you.
Well, I’ve got something for you.
I’ve worked on this guide—consider it like a handbook to SEO, but without all the technical gobbledegook, without the technical words.
What I’ve done is I’ve created this program to explain what kind of SEO work is involved in your website depending on what type of website it is. And I’ve created this in such a way where I use the absolute bare minimum of technical words.
What I’m hoping to grant you is some understanding and knowledge of the work involved in SEO.
It’s called SEO First Steps—and it’s not long or complicated at all. You can smash it out in an afternoon or when you’ve got a bit of spare time, and yeah—just spend a little bit of time getting to know what’s involved in SEO.
I’ll include a link in the description of this episode.
Happy advertising.
SEO First Steps – Your fluff-free guide to getting started with SEO – Check it out