How to Protect Yourself from Shady SEOs

According to a poll done on SEOroundtable.com (over 500 participants), 94% of websites who were hit by Google's Penguin algorithm update did not fully recover. And what did Google have to say about websites that were hit? If you've cleaned and still don't recover, ultimately, you might need to start all over with a fresh site. Yes Google is recommending you start over and get a new site. Can you afford that? What business can?!


And here's the problem. You're on the hook for what someone else does to your website. If you hire an SEO or some agency to outsource your work... you're still at risk for their bad behavior. The best investment you can make is in yourself. Because then you'll understand how the game works, and know when someone is telling you the truth or if they're going to take risks with your website that you literally can't afford.

Here's how...

The Most Important Tool You’re not using. Google’s PageRank doesn’t mean much anymore. It used to be really important. but the world is more complicated today. Google’s algorithm has evolved tremendously, and it takes more sophistication to understand what's going on.

Open Site Explorer shows you any website's "link profile". That means you can type in a website (like your own or a competitors), and immediately see how strong it is in search engines. And then you can also drill down into the individual links of each website. This tool gives you a wealth of data. Too much to cover in detail here. (But I'll go in-depth in my SEO training program.) 

But here are a few things you can do with it:

• Evaluate your own strengths and links: You can use it to evaluate your own links and website strength. 
• Spy on your competition: You can see how you stack up against other websites, and compare the quantity or quality of measures
• Identify new opportunities: And you can identify new websites that will probably link to you

Which Costs More: Education or Ignorance? There's an old saying that goes: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." But here's the thing, Marketing is also an investment. It might show up as an expense on your P&L, but it's an asset that generates future sales. Without it, you'll have no money to count on that P&L!

Peter Drucker, the father of modern business management, said:

"Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only two--basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."

And online, SEO is one of the best investments you can make. Market research giant, Forrester, has repeatedly named it as one of the best channels to acquire new customers. Here are two quick examples:

1. Entreprenur.com Magazine: After implementing a three-stage SEO program on their content-driven website, they saw a return of over $2 million dollars PER MONTH (calculated by determining the revenue from additional number of click-throughs since they began the SEO program, minus the SEO expenses incurred). Here's the proof.
2. Victoria Inn: But SEO doesn't just benefit large brands. The Victoria Inn is a small resort located in Ontario, and they wanted to drive more direct bookings on their website. After investing in SEO, they received "370 top ten ranking positions and 152 #1 ranking for an 85% increase in reservations bookings". Proof.

And you don't need a big budget, or large staff to see results like this. The same strategies are applicable to any business. And if you follow roadmap, then you'll set yourself up for long-term success. Despite what Google does to their algorithm.