28 replies to this topic

[alexi]

Well, I think I am stuck with a bad SEO company who will remain nameless. When I signed on with them, they were friendly, well ranked themselves, have some good published articles, etc. and within my price range, so I felt confident in their abilities. I am in a 6 month contract with them, and now, 2 months later, I am really realizing this was a mistake. Some of the concerns?

No real keyword analysis was ever done. They just took the 8 or so keywords I gave them. When I pushed them for one, it was a basic analysis of just those 8 words. They are supposed to add new keywords each mont (since I am paying them a mnthly fee) but that has not yet happened.

Their initial optimization was quite sloppy. Many titles are the same for most pages and not as targetd as I think they should be. Also, some of the tags are questionable, such as usiing the possesive form of the keyword (discount widget's). They never changed any content or advised me on how to do so (even though they said they optimized the content) They did say that the person who dod the initial work has been fired and they ahd their best person re-do it, but it does not seem to be much better.

Ranking reports-I had to ask for one over and over. When I fianlly got it, it was so basic-just 3 keywords and where they stand.

Links-that is one of the biggest things they are supposed to be doing. They can never give me an answer as to if they are getting me links and how many, etc. I do not see any new links.

I don't ever getto speak to the actual SEO person. Only their sales person, and now that I have strted complainging, the owner is communicating. however, communication is very slow. They can take days to respond.

I could go on and on. I complained once and was given a very nice apology told things would change, etc. I complained again to the owner, was given the same thing and at least an offer of one month half off. But they won't let me out of the contract. or they will, but I would sttill have to pay it out, which would be pointless.

The problem is, I trusted too much in what they told me, but the contract itself is very vague. It just has a bunch of legal babble and states very little about what they will actually do. So I don't really have a leg to stand on to legally get out of the contract. That is totally my fault and I have definitely learned a lesson here.

In the meantime, though, what should one do when stuck with a bad company? I think they are just too busy to take the time really needed to work on my site. I think I need to keep a balance between pushing them to do bettter work and not being so rude that they do even worse work. It kills me to see my money going down the drain.

Any suggestions on dealing with this company for the next few months?

[chrishirst]

While 2 months is a little soon to see any major results for organic SEO it does sound like sacking them would be a good move.

[Jill]

If you really feel like they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, you should document it all in a long email to them and tell them that you are firing them. Then don't pay any longer, and move on.

It's possible that they might sue you, but if you have good evidence documented, they probably won't bother. It's not going to be worth their time and trouble. If they do, you can decide what to do from there.

[alexi]

Chrishirst, I know it is pretty early to expect rankings to change. It is the lack of communication and general use of good SEO techniques that I am more concerned about.

Jill, that's pretty much what already did. I sent them a long e-mail stating all of the concerns. They said they would do better to communicate and offered one month for 1/2 off. I told them thanks, but no, I want to end the contract. That's hen they told me I could cancel the contract, but would still owe the remainder of it (as it states in the contract, unfortunately). They have me on automated billing, so I'm afraid they would just charge the rest to my credit card, and I don't know if I could win a credit card dispute since their contract was so vague in the first place. So I feel pretty stuck.

[SearchRank]

I am sorry for your bad experience. This seems to be happening more and more and it continually gives our industry a black eye.

I think Jill's advice is excellent. On the automatic billing, just cancel that card and get a new one. That will put a stop to it. You might also ask them for a refund because they essentially did not provide the service they had promised. If they refuse, do a chargeback. They will fight it for sure but you can do a second chargeback and even if they win both, it will cost them some fees to do so and maybe they will learn a lesson in delivering what they promise.

[qwerty]

As David says, this does seem to be happening more and more, or at least we've been hearing about it more often.

I think that when you're sent a contract and it seems vague, you need to do something about it before you sign. If they tell you it's just standard boilerplate, you have to tell them that you want it clarified.

And keep in mind that a contract between two parties is supposed to protect both of them. If it's there only to make sure the SEO gets paid, you're getting ripped off.

[Jill]

I'm not sure how automated billing works, but instead of cancelling the card, you may be able to first request that they take you off auto billing, and then notify your card company that you do not wish to pay any more automated charges from that company. I don't know if this would work for sure, but I'd talk to the card company and see if they can accomodate you.

Alexi, can you private message me with the name of the company? I'm hearing similar stories more and more these days, and I like to make a personal note of which companies can't deliver what they claim they can. I often get asked for referrals, and this info comes in handy at those times!

[meta]

You'll need to provide written notice the the credit card company, and probably state reasons. Give the credit card people a call to ask the proper procedure, then write your letter immediately. Make sure you actually sign the letter, and follow up with the credit card company to make suure they actually recieve it.

If the SEO company makes any charges that you do not feel you should pay, dispute the charge to the credit card company, in writing, with a signature. You will not have to pay while the credit card people investigate the dispute. If you send good documentation of the problem, they will probably find in your favor.

[josh1r]

Filing a comlaint with the BBB often yields decent results: http://complaint.bbb.org/

[alexi]

Thank you all for your advice. I wish I had found this forum before I signed on with the SEO company.

I think I am stuck for a while though. before I even posted this thread, that is when they told me they would charge me the whole contract if I cancelled. So I told them I didn't want to do that and accepted what they offered (half off one month).

It is a little more complicated too because after I signed on with them, I decided my site could use a re-design. I asked them first if this would be any sort of problem and if it would interfere with their work. They said no problem, have the designer keep the tags in tact and they would make sure everythign was OK when he finished. Well, when he finished, they said he undid some of there work. The web designer said no problem, tell me what I overlooked and he would restore it. They said they could not reveal their "secret formula of seo" and so could not tell me what he needed to change. So he was in a catch 22. They said they would fix it for one month's fees.

Anyway, now that I have complained so much, they said they would fix it for free in good faith. But it gives them something to use against me if I dispute their charges. I just don't want to end up cancelling the contract, then disputing and losing and owing them a ton of money for nothing.

I am communicating every concern by e-mail to keep a record and keeping track of how often they actually update my site so I will have a record in case I do dispute them ever. When they said I could not get out of the contract, I asked them to give me answers regarding each concern I have. That was Tuesday. Still no response whiz is not surprising. But at least I have it documented.

[qwerty]

They said they could not reveal their "secret formula of seo"

Yet another sign that you've got yourself a bad SEO company

[SanDiegoMedia]

This sounds very much like what was standard an a former company I worked for. Does this company still hold decent rankings for itself? Or has it dissappeared from the rankings?

[alexi]

I know, my web designer had to laught at the "secret formula" remark.

This company still has nice rankings. They are not the big company I think you might be referring to.

[Randy]

SEO "Secret Formula" claims always make me cackle. Not laugh, but cackle.

It's right up there McDonald's "Secret Sauce" on their Big Macs. It's just Mayo, Thousand Island Dressing, a little Relish and a touch of Sugar. Gimme a break. What's so secret about either?

[Jill]

Alexi told me who the company is and it's not one of the ones you usually hear about in conjunction with this sort of thing.

But guess what I got delivered to my email box today? Spam from this very company asking me if I wanted to get linked in with their spammy link farms!

Watch out where they link you Alexi...and watch out that they don't send spam on your behalf. I got two exact same emails from them, and one was to an email address that I don't even use for anything, which they had to scrape from somewhere ages ago.