Today's Myth: If I pay this company to search engine optimize our site, then we will rise in the rankings.

This is the third post of a 5-part series on search engine optimization myths. Part 1 covered the myth of the magic formula. Part 2 covered the myth of the quick fix - "one and done".

The Myth: Pay Your Way to the Top

If I pay this company to search engine optimize our site, then we will rise in the rankings.

The Reality

Paying an SEO firm to improve your rankings is rarely enough, and can often be a complete waste of money. Buyer beware!

Search Engine Optimization is a relatively new expertise, and a lot of mystery still surrounds the topic. Unfortunately, this has opened the door for "snake-oil salesman" and others with questionable credentials to offer unsuspecting businesses deals that seem too good to be true. Just pay them their sizable monthly fee, and you're guaranteed "Top 10 Rankings" and "Tons of Traffic from Google." If only it were that simple.

Two Examples

Here are two examples I've personally experienced that reveals the shadiness of many of these "SEO" companies.

First, a client of ours had an experience several years ago where they were paying a sizable monthly fee to appear "on the first page of Google." It turns out, however, that the company did absolutely nothing to promote the companies organic search engine ranking. Instead, the company bought a couple of Adwords ads for our client. By spending a fraction of the money they were taking in on easy-to-purchase Adwords advertisements (which receive only about 1/5 of the clicks of natural search results), they were able to make a substantial profit while fooling a client into thinking they had achieved impressive SEO goals!

In a second case, my father was paying an SEO provider called to enhance his "local search listings." The monthly fee was substantial, just under $200. However, I know for a fact that this company was a sham, because my father forgot to renew his domain name, and his site didn't even exist for months. This unethical company actually charged my father three months during which the site wasn't even online - despite their claims to be "monitoring rankings."

The fact is, it is virtually impossible to just pay some outside provider and get lasting natural search results. An effective SEO campaign requires significant efforts to develop content, tweak individual pages, employ link building strategies. This takes time, and it cannot be accomplished by some third-party company that takes a $200 check every month.

So how can you identify such fraudulent or completely ineffective SEO techniques? Here are some ideas for top signs to look out for.

1. They claim to "Submit Your Site to Google." The idea that we need to manually submit our sites to Google is completely antiquated, there is no need to 'submit' your site to the search engines. You can sign up for Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo Site Explorer, and Bing Webmaster Tools, but this is entirely separate. Avoid any company silly enough to suggest "submitting your site" to major search engines.
2. They promise top ten rankings. I would be wary of any company who tries to make such a guarantee, unless they back it up with agreements that they won't be paid if they fail to deliver. The reality is that it is impossible to control Google's search results pages, so even the most talented SEO expert in the world can't (or at least shouldn't) guarantee to get them ranked in the top ten for their key phrases.
3. They don't have any work for you to do! It would be nice if SEO work could be completely outsourced, but it simply can't be. A consistent campaign requires content tweaking, the creation of link-worthy content, and active review of progress. Moreover, a truly effective SEO expert will want to tap your knowledge of your business to help identify competitors, industry trends, specialist jargon, and other important information.

There are plenty of ethical, professional SEO individuals and companies who provide excellent work, but unfortunately the industry as a whole is tainted due to so many illegitimate players. However, using these tips you can hopefully avoid paying in to the next scam. Just remember, simply cutting a check every month is unlikely to produce lasting results in the search engines. If you really want to succeed, you are going to need to put in time and hard work, and you are going to need to team up with a reputable SEO firm to help you along the way.

Anybody else have bad experiences with SEO companies? Please leave a comment so we can share your pain.