Ern Berck Digital

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80 percent of the experts selling SEO services are scammers.

SEO scammers

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“80% of the experts selling SEO services are scammers.”

At least.

Did SEO experts ruin the internet?

Probably. At least a lot of well-respected people in the search engine optimization (SEO) industry seem to think so — including Peter Kent, the best-selling author of SEO for Dummies. For years, he’s been telling people that part of the search industry’s reputation problem is that 80 percent of the “experts” selling SEO services are scammers.

“A lot of companies and individuals out there selling their services as SEO gurus don’t know what they’re doing or don’t really give a damn. I would take a look at their site and determine the firm had done next to nothing and had been charging thousands a month for years on end.”

— Peter Kent / The Verge

Cheap SEO audits are useless

Effective SEO techniques done properly by real experts — that won’t get you banned from Google — often cost thousands of dollars and take months (if not years) to get measurable results.

The typical Facebook ad selling $99 SEO audits will do absolutely nothing. Even worse are the free audits that lure you into buying a long-term monthly SEO plan that will do absolutely nothing for you, except drain your bank account.

Most of these audits are just simple website scans done by cheap automated tools that visit your home page, count words, look at headlines, and follow links. Then they spit out some spiffy report designed to scare you into signing up for a more in-depth analysis. It’s all nonsense.

How to spot an SEO scam

Uninvited offers for SEO services are almost always scams. Here’s how to spot them:

  • Guaranteed search engine rankings: No one can guarantee search engine placement because the ranking rules change constantly.
  • Unsolicited cold emails or messages: Legitimate SEO professionals don’t spam businesses.
  • Vague or generic claims: Emails often say things like “We love your website, but noticed some issues” without being specific.
  • Overuse of buzzwords and jargon: Scammers use terms like “proprietary ranking techniques” without explaining them.
  • Cheap prices: Doing SEO right takes time. Lots of it. If they offer you “SEO for $199/month,” expect zero results.
  • Inside information: Claims of access to Google’s search algorithms. Total nonsense. Nobody has access to Google’s code except Google, and they’re not sharing.
  • Fear tactics: “Your rankings are dropping! Act now before it’s too late!” is a common scare tactic.
  • Questionable reviews: If an SEO agency’s website is overloaded with dozens of flaky reviews claiming phenomenal results and 10x income gains, they’re probably fake.
  • Black hat schemes: Offers like “1,000 backlinks for $10” are spam tactics that can get your site penalised.

What to look for instead

If you’re absolutely convinced that you need search engine optimization help, look for:

  • Transparent pricing and deliverables.
  • A focus on long-term growth (content, site performance, user experience).
  • Clear explanations of strategies (no black-box promises).
  • Good reviews or referrals from trusted sources.

Our thoughts

If your livelihood depends on website traffic, you might be tempted to hire a search engine optimization “expert” to help improve your search rankings.

Don’t. At least not yet.

Since artificial intelligence (AI) exploded in November 2022, Google hasn’t been the same — and they never will be. The days of backlinks, keywords, pillers, headlines, schema, and valuable content are dead. If anybody in the web design or SEO industry tries to convince you otherwise, they’re either incompetent, misinformed, or lying.

So, first let Darwin work his magic to weed out the scammers before you waste your money on a dying industry.

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