As a business owner, you’ve received your fair share of scam emails. Aside from the typical “Congratulations, you’ve won a million dollars, but I need your bank account to send it to you” scams that everyone receives, business owners are also especially vulnerable to search engine optimization (SEO) scam emails.
Due to its high value in today’s e-commerce world, SEO is a hot ticket item right now, and there are plenty of scammers ready to take advantage if given the chance. But how can you know if an SEO sales email is legit or just another scam? Watch the email addresses!
How to Spot an SEO Scam
Suppose you receive a seemingly legitimate email for SEO services. It includes information that pertains to your specific business, as well as the entire appropriate e-commerce lingo. The company offers to overhaul your website and spruce up your SEO at an attractive price. You find yourself tempted to reply.
What is the easiest way to know whether or not you’re dealing with a scammer? Look for clues in the email address to spot SEO email scams.
- Check the Domain
It is considered common knowledge that all business-related emails should be sent from an official work email address, matching the sender to the company she represents.
If you receive an email from a Gmail address, or another free online e-mail provider, odds are good you’re dealing with someone who is unprofessional at best and a scammer at worst. If an email address does not originate from a business website domain, be careful.
- Google the Address
Another clue to the legitimacy of an email is what happens when you perform a web search on the email address itself. For instance, if you were to plug my email address-[email protected]-into Google, you’d get over 150 results, all linking me back to our company. This shows history attached to this e-mail address. History is something that most scammers lack since they have to change things up to prevent being tracked down.
Most often, fly-by-night SEO companies that aren’t particularly professional or well established use disposable email addresses from domains such as Gmail.com. A search that yields no results is a red flag. This suggests that it is not a long-term address and the sender changes his email frequently. These are both strong indicators that you’re not dealing with a business that’s completely professional.
It should be said that not all email addresses that originate from domains such as Gmail are scams, but odds are good that any SEO company using such an address is not particularly professional. A company that is serious about establishing itself as a legitimate SEO business will spend the money necessary to present itself in the most professional way possible.
You Can Count on Artonic
If you need a genuine business to help you with your search engine optimization, Artonic is the company for you! Our marketing department offers a variety of high quality SEO packages to fit your needs and your budget. Our SEO campaigns are customized for each client and generally include:
- Quality link-building activities to increase traffic
- Professional blog articles written, distributed, and posted
- Press release creation and distribution
- Website conversion analysis
- Website improvements for more traffic and higher conversions
- Posting on social media networks and monitoring comments
- Team brainstorming to develop strategy and goals for campaign
- Outside of the box mentality to discover the most effective ideas
- ROI tracking, phone call tracking, form tracking, content effectiveness tracking
- Detailed report each month with copies of all articles, press releases, website changes, analytics highlights, keyword ranking report, ongoing strategy, and more!
If you want to discuss your SEO options or learn more about how to avoid SEO email scams, contact us. We’ll meet to discuss your needs and goals, and help you make a decision as to what’s best for your company – not what’s best for ours.
Visit www.ArtonicWeb.com; Call 517-902-7851; email [email protected].