In recent years we have seen an explosion in the demand for online marketing and SEO services and in order to meet this demand we have seen literally hundreds if not thousands of new SEO startup companies appear. Unfortunately some of these companies use some less than savory tactics to try and improve your search engine rankings. In our industry these people are often referred to as cowboys.

So What Should You Look For?

How can i spot one of those pesky cowboys? Companies use many underhand tactics and some of the most common ones have been listed below so that you know what to look out for.

• Guaranteed No1 Rankings – This is an underhand tactic as people without SEO knowledge will think this is an excellent offer and take up their services. Industry insiders know that this simply isn’t possible as don’t know exactly how the search engines will change.
• Swapping Hundreds Of Links – Many cowboys will gain hundreds of links by swapping links with other sites. These are often irrelvent and damage the reputation of a site. In some cases your site can be seen as a link farm. Cowboys do this as they think that any inbound links are good for a site.
• Creating Numerous Mini Sites – This is one i come across quite frequently. A cowboy will purchase numerous domains and create lots of mini sites with the intention of creating lots of cross links. Google is clever enough to spot that you are using this tactic.
• Hidden Text – Some companies may want to place hidden text on your pages or fill them with keyword repetitions. This will be likely to result in a ban from Google.
• Use Cloaking Techniques – So they show the user one thing while showing the search engines another. This is extremely dodgy.

These are some of the dodgy tactics used by cowboys and believe me there are plenty more. Another thing i have noticed in my time as an SEO consultant is that there are companies out there who offer SEO services but they simply just don’t understand it. I find that web design companies are the most guilty of this. They seem to offer SEO as an extra service but don’t understand the nature of the beast. They just implement some very basic tactics. I feel this can be as equally detrimental to our beloved industry.

Another tactic web design companies use is to contract the services of a reputable SEO company for one job and then simply replicate the tactics used on to their future clients. The times i have seen them get this horribly wrong is unbelievable. Sales guys in SEO companies need to be able to spot these people.

I could create a long list and name and shame companies using such tactics however i have decided for the time being i will not do so. In conclusion avoid the cowboys at all costs as they will get you banned and leave your online assets in tatter.