My company is operating for, knocking wood, 20 years. We have worked with about a handful of SEO agencies, including some prominent ones, with budgets comparable to what is mentioned in the article. None of them have delivered anything tangible. Temporary increases in inbound leads can be attributed to changes in Google algorithms - they were followed by equivalent decreases. Overall, I'd say that the most fruitful effort for all that time was adding unique content valuable to fellow humans.
An SEO scam: $62k later
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Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#221) SEO works best when you create real content targeted at real users 2) SEO works best when its not your end goal 3) Google knows this and is smarter than your SEO agency. Ditch the agency and simply create legitimate content your users find valuable and google will rank it. It might take more than 12 months for everything to rank and pay off. But that's life. Google Ads exists for people looking for immediate resul…
That is a nice theory many (especially google) would like me to believe, but if that is the case, why majority of my google first page results can be classified as SEO spam?
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#23Surely this is some link bait as an SEO play? A company that says "Tinloof is a technical SEO agency that conducts audits, and implements the necessary optimizations on websites and ecommerces to rank higher on Google and other SERPs" and puts out this content would be shooting itself in the foot reputationally otherwise? Surely....!?
Good catch. And don't call me Shirley.
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#241) SEO works best when you create real content targeted at real users 2) SEO works best when its not your end goal 3) Google knows this and is smarter than your SEO agency. Ditch the agency and simply create legitimate content your users find valuable and google will rank it. It might take more than 12 months for everything to rank and pay off. But that's life. Google Ads exists for people looking for immediate resul…
Yes. Shown clearly in their legitimate post about how they lost a lot of money paying for SEO
Maybe they’ll get a lead or two from being on the front page of hacker news? :-)
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#25After about 2 years, I somehow started getting Google traffic to one of my websites. It wasn't much, maybe 1k to 2k views a month.
I didn't touch the website at all in those 2 years and when I started getting traffic from Google, I decided that maybe I should setup the Google search console SEO best practices.
I went through their entire checklist and my traffic went to flat 0. I scored a perfect 100 across every category on their web page insights and my reward was getting completely delisted from all of their search results.
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#26Aside from *don't outsource core competencies* (for a myriad of reasons)
From https://tinloof.com/services/marketing-websites
> Your website goes beyond being a mere informational digital touchpoint - it is a reflection of your brand's values, ambitions, and unique identity.
> It presents a compelling narrative that captures users' attention, fostering a connection that transforms casual visitors into dedicated customers.
Everyone: Walk your talk.
Edit:
Holy moly. The page linked above loads 45MB of stuff through 10s of files. I'm not sure that's We also optimize website performance.
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#27That's a good article, it would be a benefit to all if there was less inane shit generated just to boost up the Google page rank. Some things aren't even worth searching for anymore.
Agreed. ChatGPT or the alternatives are suddenly now the place to go when you want an answer to something.
Going to Google involves wading through crappy content, cookie banners and "sign up for our newsletter" popups.
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#28I suggest vetting your service providers more thoroughly next time...looks like you were saddled with a company stuck 10 years in the past :)
Which techniques would you say are worth persuing at this point?
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#29> If this is what it takes to rank on a search engine, then there's something wrong with the search engine itself.
This is so true.
We also engaged with a PR agency, but we were lucky to cut the cord just after two months. I don't blame agencies, they play the game.
I blame Google for gamification.
Re: An SEO scam: $62k later
#30The bottom line seems to be: Be careful of agencies!