The Northwest has a reputation for being tech savvy, everybody knows somebody that works for some of the largest tech outfits in the world. But business people are not necessarily technical people; that's why when we hear about scam search engine optimization (SEO), we wanted to weigh in on the situation.

Internet scams are nothing new; they've been around forever, but one recurring scam we hate to see people fall for is scam SEO, but how does it work?
First of all, you have to know something about how search engines work to understand what's going on. Search engines deliver results to searchers based on keywords (search phrases), and an honest company selling SEO tries to consult their client to choose phrases that have traffic - search volume.

It's always a balancing act, weighing the volume of traffic a given search phrase has, against the competition from other companies that want to rank for that same phrase.

Dishonest companies use a play on words to give clients a false impression. They will say something to you like, "We guarantee you page 1 listing for three valuable search phrases!". They might even produce an impressive-looking report showing you why you are not ranking.  I was actually present on one such call and perused such a document with my own eyes. Well, does the "page-one" promise sound nice? Keep reading!
What they do is select three very esoteric phrases; for example, they might choose the following for a pizza restaurant.

Example Scam (Long-Tail) Keywords: Best new york city pizza with anchovies The very best new york pizza money can buy Totally awesome New York pizza pie

These are what are known as longtail keywords or key phrases . Basically, these are keywords so long that almost nobody (or even nobody) is searching for them whatsoever. Since nobody is searching for these phrases and they have no competition, it's effortless to get a client's business to rank for them - the only problem is that they are most often worthless. Of course, not all long tail keywords are bad, but, go on and raise your hand if this is how YOU look for a pizza spot. 
Scam SEO companies can do something no ethical SEO company can - they can guarantee you page 1, how? Why? Well, with no search volume and no competition, very little effort is needed to get anyone to rank for these phrases, but again, it's worthless. Our agency actually gets calls offering this "deal". *SMH*

Choosing Keywords Is an Art & Science
The truth is, choosing good keywords is an art form. It's a balance of budget vs. time .vs. traffic .vs. competition, and it's delicate and must be done with care. A true SEO campaign includes a wide variety of work ranging from content creation (writing) on up to link dropping, social bookmarking, and much much more. A quality SEO campaign is worth its weight in gold and should give durable and high ROI results. 


Google is getting smarter by the day and literally tracks all traffic going to your website. If you try to trick its algorithm by executing a strategy that is too aggressive, you can be penalized in your ranking. Too slow a strategy just leaves money on the table.

When selecting someone to go with for your SEO, whether you're in Seattle, Los Angeles , New York, or anywhere in the US, consider professionals who listen to you, understand your business and take the time to do it right.