Although it’s very easy to find a reputable business when seeking the best white hat SEO services, there are several other businesses out there looking to get your attention who only offer black hat services in return. We should all know by now that, while black hat methods offer a quick and effortless way of getting noticed in the most popular search engines, it will always come back to bite those that do take advantage of such methods. Therefore, sticking to white hat methods by using the most established companies out there should always be the way forward. If you’re unsure whether you’re doing business with a white hat or black hat company, have a look at some of the helpful tips below that will help you steer clear of them.
Sounds Too Good to be True
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The same should be considered when looking for the best SEO services. If a company can offer you top place in Google for highly competitive keywords and within a good timeframe, then you’re likely looking at a company that either uses black hat methods, or a company that is just saying they can promote your websites but can’t do it to a professional standard. If you’re excited about quickly handing over the cash for their services because they seem too good to be true, they usually are and you’ll either lose your cash to a scammer, or you won’t get the professional white hat SEO services you seek.
Considerably Cheaper Services
As stated above, black hat methods are a lot easier and quicker to implement, which is why the likes of Google and co do not allow such methods to be used to promote websites. Cheaper services will be offered by black hat services because they know they’re going to have an easy time providing the specific services you require. However, cheaper services aren’t always good to consider – as they could easily be black hat services or simply provided by services that aren’t as professional as they make out.
Poor Online Reviews
One of the biggest giveaways when it comes to finding out you’re talking to a black hat SEO company is that they’ll have a lot of poor reviews on Google and the like. They may, of course, also have plenty of good reviews if they have provided a new service to customers, but they’ll find out eventually that they’ve only been taking advantage of hacking services. Just type the company name into Google and you’ll have easy access to plenty of websites that provide reviews from real customers. Bad reviews will always give you an easy idea of who you’re dealing with.
No Detailed Service Structure
What you will often find on a company’s website is a lot of “we can get you to the top quickly”, rather than a specific list of the services they provide. If this is the case, the company you’re dealing with might not specifically be who they say they are. In fact, they might not know a great deal about SEO whatsoever – they’re just looking to take your money and run. Being able to find the information you require easily from simply accessing their website is important. If they do not have all the information you need, you should probably look elsewhere for white hat SEO services.
New Businesses
Hackers offering black hat SEO services often get found out by customers, and that means they have to start again in business. They’ll look at a new domain, business name, and a completely new website to pull the wool over the eyes of their customers. They’ll always act professional and will likely look like a professionally established white hat SEO service, but that might not be the case. Do a little bit of research such as a who.is check on their domain name. This will tell you who owns it and when it was registered. This step doesn’t mean all new businesses in operation aren’t going to provide a reliable service, it just means you should be extra careful when dealing with them. Once you’ve done your research, delve further into their business addresses to see if they’ve owned a business previously under a different name. The same goes for using domain tools to see if they own other domain names and websites – there’s plenty you can do here to ensure you’re well looked after.
Poor SERPs Themselves
If an SEO professional can offer several white hat SEO services to customers like you, how come they can’t take their own website forward in the search engines? This is one of the most important points to consider when it comes to researching a company to provide the reliable services you require. You must remember that opting for the wrong professional (or non-professional) when it comes to white hat SEO services not only has a risk involved in terms of losing your own money, but you could also lose your website to poor search engine rankings that you’ve worked so hard to manage. In worse cases, your website could be banned by the search engines altogether, making the domain you own unusable if you’re targeting organic traffic. This means your website also loses considerable value, so you not only lose out on the money you pay upfront, but also in other areas. Therefore, taking a look at an SEO company’s SERPs is a good way to understand how they operate.
Ultimately, picking the wrong SEO “expert” could cost you a lot of time and money. Black hat hackers don’t care about the value of your website or how long you’ve worked to get it operating; all they care about is earning money for themselves so they can take their own websites forward. If you’re actively looking for a white hat SEO professional to help your website flourish, ensure you take the above tips into careful consideration so you can stay clear of those who’ll only waste your time and money.