It’s probably your worst nightmare. You decide to try SEO on your site. You approach a professional SEO firm, as you’re aware of the technical nature of search engine optimisation. You pay for the SEO process and your site is put online, with the assurance that your rankings will soon appear. They do, but some months later down the track your site is kicked off the index and the SEO company is nowhere to be found.

This scenario is not a fantasy. Hundreds of businesses have had to pick up the pieces after the work of a bad SEO company. Basic research before you talk to a company, such as browsing their site, Googling their brand and watching out for them in forums will help protect you as you go in. You can talk to us at SEO Consult when you’re concerned about the SEO process. Knowing the warning signs of a bad SEO company is another way to protect your business.

Case study: hidden links

Some SEO companies have set out tactics on their clients’ websites, later discovering that these broke search engine rules. This is almost as bad as finding out your SEO company deliberately damaged your site, as it has the same effect.

Some companies mess with their clients’ sites for their own gain. One company confessed several years ago to placing hidden links on their clients’ pages using a one-pixel, transparent image as the link anchor each time. While the images were planted before Google began to crack down on hidden links, the penalty was applied to all of the client sites and to the company, which had hidden the links to boost its own ranking. This can spell disaster all around.

In this particular case, the company did what it could to amend the situation. It approached all of its former clients and removed the links, eventually applying for re-inclusion on Google’s index. The company itself paid the greatest price for the offence, as its site was off the index for a year all up.

How to spot the baddies

Such stories might make a timid business hesitant to place their trust in any SEO firm. Happily, the internet makes the SEO industry a fairly transparent one. SEO experts are more than willing to discuss and uncover underhanded operators, and this is a good sign for consumers. You can be fairly confident that with a little research you can find out the baddies before they get their hands on your site.

The comforting thing about these kinds of situations is that for underhanded SEO pros, crime doesn’t usually pay in any case. There have been bundles of cases over the last ten years where a bad SEO company has been penalised by Google, and quite frequently companies get taken down alongside their clients. This provides further motivation to every SEO company to play fair; as unfair play will make their own business will suffer. A good SEO company will have experience and is willing to answer questions.

Get Involved