Yes! You need the expertise of an SEO agency to build a solid online presence for your business, drive more traffic, and, most importantly, generate more leads. However, your business might suffer more loss if you commit your investment in the unprofessional hands of the wrong SEO agency.
The fact is, it is better to invest your efforts in getting new customers for your business on your own than hiring an incompetent seo agency. That one step can pose a lot of harm to your business.
From first-hand experience, I have seen several small business owners who have spent thousands of dollars on their businesses at the top of significant rankings but later realize that they have just wasted their hard-earned money.
Of course, there are many expert SEO agencies with proven results to their credit like https://p1.com.au is one of the best in Australia. But, some of them are just out to pray on business owners who do not understand how SEO works and rip them of their money using black hat techniques.
So, how do you know that your SEO agency is destroying your business?
Here are ten things to look out for to judge the progress of SEO efforts.
Ten Warning Signs That Your SEO Agency Is Hurting Your Business
1. They can’t show their SEO Techniques
You don’t have to assume that your SEO agency is doing the needful; they should have tangible things to show you about the SEO techniques and strategies. Forget about the average results or the initial rise in rankings. If your SEO agency cannot provide facts and figures showing how they conduct their SEO practices, I’m not afraid to tell you that you are working with the wrong agency.
Meanwhile, your expected SEO results might not materialize within the first two to four months, so it might not be ideal to start demanding results too soon. However, your SEO agency needs to give you a detailed, tangible report of what they use your money to do while waiting for your site to soar to the top of the rankings.
Here are a few deliverables your SEO agency should provide in the first few weeks of your practicing:
- An SEO audit of your website
- An analysis of your website link profile
- Optimized content on your website
- Some engaging articles that have been published on other websites or blogs with links to your site.
The above proofs show the agency is doing something tangible that will bring your expected results.
2. They are not asking for anything
If your SEO agency is doing good stuff, they would need your help. So. If your SEO agency is not asking you for anything, that’s a warning sign that the agency is just taking your money for nothing. Worse still, they might be adding linkbacks from their already existing vast network of spammy files.
Since you are the owner of the business’s website, they would have to you for the following:
- Admin access to your CMS
- Admin access to Google analytics
- Access to social accounts
- Access to Google Webmaster Tools
- Past audits
- A list of target keywords
3. They are not suggesting any improvements
Like I explained in point 2 above, you and your SEO agency are business partners. Ther will have to work with you to be successful.
Your SEO agency must be asking you to do certain things from time to time to effect progressive improvement on your site. If they are not just doing everything alone without you anything, they are either up to something fishy or not doing anything at all.
Some unproductive SEO agencies often don’t do what they promised at the beginning of the contract. They often point some linkbacks to your website, sit back, fold their arms, expecting their puny efforts to bring good results. They are not interested in doing the required nitty-gritty of SEO. Instead, they will give you some fake results that make you think your site is doing well in rankings.
4. Your site gets a manual penalty
A manual penalty is something you would never do with your site. When it happens, it is a clear sign that your SEO agency has not been doing a good job all the while. How do you know your site has gotten a manual penalty? You will either receive an email or a GWT notification.
If you get a manual penalty after a few months of your SEO practices, you need to get suspicious and demand to know what it is they have been doing. However, getting a manual penalty does not necessarily mean your SEO agency is unprofessional. And, it might also be their fault. So, you need to swing into the right action when you get a notification of a manual penalty.
5. Your website ranking drops
You need to know that site ranking drops for many reasons, so you might not necessarily need to blame your SEO agency for it when it happens. However, if your SEO agency is performing illegal actions, it might get your site penalized, causing your site ranking to drop.
Hence, you must know what your SEO agency is doing and let them give you details of their SEO practices.
6. Your site traffic drops
When you notice that your site traffic drips, it could be a result of an algorithm penalty, and that is one of the worst things that can happen to your site. However, site traffic drop might or might not be your seo services fault. Nevertheless, it is a warning sign that something is wrong with the SEO agency’s practices.
7. Your site is ranking for wrong keywords
It is suitable for you to know your target keywords and recognize how Google Analytics uses your longtail keywords to drive traffic. If you notice that your organic keywords change in ranking, you might be gaining traffic for the wrong keywords. And, that could be a terrible mistake from your SEO agency.
Your goal is to earn targeted traffic. What is the essence of driving in the wrong customers who might not even be interested in your product or service? You need to speak with your SEO agency immediately you notice wrong traffic on your site. It might be a result of careless actions for your SEO agency.
Final Words
Your SEO agency might bring fortune to your business but can also make things go from bad to worse if anything goes wrong with their SEO practices. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to monitor the operations of your SEO agency to know if they are doing the excellent job they promised at the beginning of the contract.