Do You Know What to Ask When Hiring an SEO Company?

Last Updated: October 22, 2019

To ask the right questions of a prospective SEO company, you first need a baseline understanding of online advertising.

Unfortunately, if you’re a small, local business owner with little knowledge of online marketing strategies, then you probably don’t quite know what to ask.

That’s why Kim Lachance Shandrow’s article, “10 Questions to Ask When You’re Hiring an SEO Consultant,” is such a godsend.

In the article, Shandrow lists some of the big questions you should ask when on the hunt for a new SEO company or consultant. Even if you don’t necessarily know what these specific questions mean, exactly, she explains their significance and tells you what kind of answers are best.

Some of those questions are:

Do you follow Google’s best practices for webmasters?
Will you please explain your SEO strategies?
Are you specialized in local search?
How do you track or measure results?

And, for a real test, one trick question:

Do you guarantee number-one rankings? (If yes, RUN!)

To see the full list of questions and the rationale behind them, check out Shandrow’s article on Entrepreneur.com!

Important caveat: The last question in Shandrow’s list has to do with content ownership. She states that the business owner/client should be given full ownership of any web content the SEO company creates on their behalf. This is certainly true when that content is on the website owned by the client. However, if the content is created from scratch on a completely separate site owned and hosted by the SEO company, then this rule does not apply. So, make sure you’re clear on who owns the website URL and content.

And, for further reading, please check out the extensive research on SEO consultants from the pros at Ignite Visibility: “Hiring an SEO Consultant? 38 Questions & 12 Things to Look For”.

Armed with all this information, you’ll hunt down the ideal SEO company for your business in no time. Good luck!

How to Respond When Your Domain Is Held Hostage

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

From time to time, our team is reminded of a very depressing truth: Many SEO providers out there do scummy things.

The latest reminder? Just the other day, we were talking to a small business owner, and he told us how skeptical he was of the SEO industry. At first, we couldn’t understand why he was so mistrusting of us. But after some prodding, he revealed where his trust issues came from…

As it turns out, his last SEO provider registered his domain for him, and then held it hostage when he tried to quit. Since his whole online presence had been tied to that URL, his traffic and calls plummeted.

And the worst part? This didn’t even surprise us. We’ve heard versions of this same story dozens of times before.

In fact, we’ve even seen some SEO companies demand thousands of dollars in payment (a.k.a. ransom) before they give the domain back!

But instead of getting down about the slimy state of SEO, we’ve decided to turn our angst into action. In this blog post, we’re going to help you fight back against these bad guys by giving you advice on how to proceed when they hold your domain (and/or associated phone number) hostage.

What you’re about to find out will save you a ton of headaches and money going forward. Keep reading!

When You Can’t Get Your Domain Back

Unfortunately, as we mentioned, this scenario is not uncommon. But the good news is, you’re not powerless. There’s a solution. We’ve helped countless business owners in the same jam reclaim domains that were rightfully theirs to begin with.

The process involves working closely with GoDaddy (or whatever registrar you originally used) to prove you are, in fact, the business owner and that the domain is yours. This process is more successful when your business name is in the URL that was used in your SEO campaign, but it’s not a requirement.

In the past, we’ve helped business owners work with their registrar and obtain sufficient evidence that the domain belongs to them. The steps involved in obtaining access to your domain vary from business to business and will depend on the extent of your current online footprint.

However, in rare instances where there isn’t enough concrete proof that you own your website, you might have to rebuild your web presence from scratch. This means getting a whole new domain, wiping the slate clean on your web presence, and starting your SEO from scratch. This is not ideal, but it does sometimes happen.

Keep in mind, though, that starting over with a clean slate and a consistent URL is far more effective than clinging to a patchwork web presence with conflicting details.

Need help building your case? The specialists at Prospect Genius are happy to listen to your story and advise you on the next best steps. Give us a call!

When They Keep Your Phone Number From You

Along a similar vein, unscrupulous vendors and SEO providers have tarnished our industry’s reputation by withholding metered phone lines from former clients. It’s the same as what they’re doing with domains: They set up a metered phone line for your campaign, and once you quit, they refuse to give you access to that line.

This issue is critical because your metered phone number (alongside your URL) was probably the primary contact detail in all of your online advertising. By not giving you access to it, they’re essentially tying your hands behind your back.

Thankfully, the law is on your side here. FCC regulations forbid this practice. In fact, the FCC stipulates that if a phone number ever rings to your phone, it’s yours. So if you have a metered line out there that was ringing to your business at one point in time, then your old vendor or advertiser cannot withhold it from you without violating federal law. They are legally required to port your number when you request it.

Again, if you’re having difficulty communicating with them or convincing them they’re in the wrong, let us know. We can point you towards some information and resources that may help.

Simple Ways to Protect Yourself

Before we wrap things up, let’s make one thing very clear: It’s not your fault that a sleazy SEO company took advantage of your trust and acted spitefully against your interests.

Furthermore, it’s a natural response to mistrust other advertising teams after this kind of experience. We know how you feel. Nonetheless, SEO campaigns and metered phone lines remain critical marketing tools. If you want to bring in new customers and keep track of incoming leads, then you can’t avoid using them.

So, instead of forgoing online marketing altogether out of fear, you can take a few simple measures to protect yourself the next time around:

Ask your prospective marketer what their standard cancellation procedures are.
- If you own the website content and domain, how will they return these assets to you upon cancellation?
- If you purchase a metered phone line, how will they port the number back to your phone?
Make sure you have a contract with your marketer that clearly states you have ownership of all website assets (domain, images, content, etc.) upon final payment.
Ask your marketer which company will be hosting your website and get that company’s contact information.
Ideally, you should buy your own domain in your name so it’s 100% yours from the beginning. (GoDaddy is a popular domain registrar for this purpose.)
- Note: Some SEO companies prefer to register your domain under their own account so they can monitor your website and receive alerts. This is usually done as a service that you purchase so you don’t have to monitor everything yourself. In this situation, being 100% clear about cancellation procedures (including how you can transfer domain ownership) and having a signed contract are crucial.

Prospect Genius Is Here to Help

Of course, even your best efforts sometimes aren’t enough to protect you from a particularly nasty or vindictive agency. If you find yourself stuck dealing with such an agency, call Prospect Genius for help right away. We’ve been working in this field for more than a decade, and we’re very familiar with the laws around these topics.

Keeping our industry honest is something we’re passionate about. We’ll be more than happy to help you protect your rights however we can.

And, hey—if you want to work with a company that won’t hold your web presence hostage, you know where to find us.

Keep Everyone in the Loop About Your Online Marketing Team

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

It’s amazing how much damage one, uninformed person can do.
Whether it’s unnecessarily delaying important work, canceling your online marketing services, or hiring a second SEO company because they weren’t aware you had already hired one, the fallout can be serious.

Why They Must Know About Your Online Marketing Team

When you’re showing a new employee the ropes, don’t leave anything out. That includes your online marketing team.
Whether you’ve hired a new office manager or anyone else who might be answering your company’s phone, make sure they’re aware you work with Prospect Genius. And that goes for any other marketing companies or service providers you may have hired.
If new team members don’t know about us, they may assume we’re just another agency calling and annoying your business—which is a perfectly understandable assumption, given how often you receive these types of phone calls.
But we’ve seen firsthand the kind of damage that can happen when someone on your team isn’t informed about your partnership with us.

Cautionary Tale #1

For example, we recently had a client who became too busy with incoming work and asked his wife to help out with administrative duties.
One day, she was looking over the business’s budget and financial statements and noticed payments to Prospect Genius. Not realizing who we were or what kind of value we provided to our client, she decided to cancel our program to save money. Unfortunately, as a result, the business’s web presence quickly plummeted and they stopped receiving the 200+ calls per month they had become used to. Several months later, when the client discovered what had happened, he signed back up with us. But a lot of time, headache, and business could have been saved if he had let his wife know about Prospect Genius from the get-go.

Cautionary Tale #2

Another time, we had a client who hired a new receptionist to handle the influx of customer calls.
One day, we called with a routine question about our client’s campaign. The receptionist was confused because she didn’t know anything about Prospect Genius. Assuming we were just another advertising agency trying to sell to her employer, she dodged our question and ended the conversation by hanging up on us. Again, this reaction is not unusual or unexpected when you receive a sales call—but this was already a paying client. We just needed to clear up a minor issue with their existing campaign. But because we weren’t able to get the information we needed, we couldn’t move forward with our work.

Prospect Genius Will Do the Educating

In most cases, your online marketing team will be happy to send you informational materials to pass along to your new employees.
However, Prospect Genius takes it a step further. Not only will we send a packet of information about our team, but we’ll even get on the phone with your new receptionist or office manager and bring them 100% up to speed. We’ll provide them with a thorough orientation of exactly what we do, and we can even show them specific data about your campaign’s performance.
This way, you know that you’re giving out complete, accurate information about your marketing and that everyone is on the same page.

Give Us a Call—We Can Help!

By keeping all of your team members in the loop and fully informed about your online marketing team, you’ll prevent a lot of aggravation in the short term and a lot of potentially lost business in the long run.
Call or e-mail us today to request an informational pamphlet or personal orientation for your new team member!

12 Reasons Using Multiple SEO Companies Is a Terrible Idea

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

You’ve heard the saying, “Two heads are better than one.” You’ve probably heard it too many times to count. It’s so ingrained in our minds, in fact, that we apply it to virtually every situation we find ourselves in.
However, there are many scenarios in which two heads are NOT better than one. Online advertising is one of them.
If you’re working with one SEO company and decide to hire another one, you won’t be doubling your chances at success. You won’t promote your business twice as fast. You won’t get twice the number of leads.
All that happens is you waste your money and destroy the performance of your campaign. Truly, using multiple SEO companies is a terrible idea. Here’s why.

1. You’re paying for overlapping services.

Why pay for services from multiple companies that are all doing the same thing?

2. You’re paying twice the cost for half the result.

Working with more than one SEO company at a time will weaken your online presence. So not only are you paying double what you need to, but you’re also getting very little out of it.

3. You’ll draw suspicion from Google.

With multiple companies working on your advertising, your listings will be updated very frequently. This looks fishy to Google. Nothing good happens when Google is suspicious of you.

4. You could be penalized by Google.

Google will likely view your listing as spam if there are frequent updates from several different locations. And, as you know by now, Google takes spam very seriously. This could lead to your business plummeting in rankings or even getting suspended entirely.

5. You could end up with multiple Google listings.

With more than one company advertising for you, there’s a risk that one of them will create a new Google listing for you, even if you already have one. This may sound like a win, but it’s not. Unfortunately, “The more the merrier!” does not apply to Google listings. In fact, Google is highly suspicious of businesses with multiple listings. This could lead to suspended listings and lost customer reviews.

6. You’ll confuse the people who find you online.

If you do wind up with multiple listings that contain different information, then your customers will probably get confused. They may not be able to tell which listing is the real you. Instead of calling you, this uncertainty will just cause them to move on to the next company they find.

7. Constant battling means no one’s in control.

Since your SEO companies will be battling each other for control, there’s no prevailing strategy for your online advertising. With no clear route mapped out, where is your campaign going? And how is it going to get there?

8. Your SEO companies undo each other’s work.

It’s impossible to get fast results when your SEO companies keep undoing each other’s work (whether they realize it or not). When players on the same team work against each other, winning is pretty much out of the question.

9. Fighting makes your advertisers grumpy.

Who wants to fight tooth-and-nail just so they can do their job?

10. In fact, NO ONE is happy.

It frustrates Google because you look like a spammer. It frustrates your SEO companies because they’re trying to do their jobs with one hand tied behind their backs. And it frustrates you because you’re getting poor results.

11. Your rankings drop.

Whether it’s because Google penalizes you or there’s a bevy of conflicting information floating around, working with more than one SEO company will cause your rankings to plummet.

12. It’s one GIANT headache.

Even if you ignore all the above facts or you somehow avoid any negative consequences (e.g. dropped rankings, suspensions, and penalties), it’s still a massive pain for all parties involved. Life is a lot easier when you work with just one SEO company at a time.

Even though we’ve covered this topic with funny gifs, it’s a serious issue. Using multiple SEO companies can drain your bank account and tank your web presence. Please heed our advice and think twice before doubling up.

Top 5 Online Advertising Mistakes That Will Waste Your Money

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Make sure you’re getting your money’s worth from Prospect Genius. Avoid these online advertising mistakes that are almost guaranteed to ruin your campaign and wash your money down the drain.

5. Hiring Another SEO Company at the Same Time

Many business owners mistakenly believe that hiring an additional SEO company will double their results. In reality, it does the opposite. If you’re already working with us, hiring another SEO company will actually work against our efforts and damage your web presence.
That’s due to a number of reasons. First, we’ve spent years developing and perfecting our lead generation strategies, which are rigidly structured to ensure consistent results. However, since every company has its own unique approach to SEO, the other company’s work may get in our way and potentially counteract our efforts. Second, working with two companies could jeopardize your standing with Google, a far graver consequence. When Google detects multiple account managers updating your listing from disparate IP addresses, it will flag your listing. From there, your listing could be penalized or suspended. Recovering from either of those actions is a long, costly process.
Finally, it’s important to know that there is only a finite number of valuable resources available for optimization. If you have more than one company trying to use those resources, it becomes a battle. Not having access to all of the resources they need will significantly weaken each campaign. Plus, with two companies battling each other and adding different sets of information, you’ll end up flagged by Google for conflicting information.
In short, hiring a second SEO company is a surefire way to damage your campaign—not to mention a huge waste of money. Read more about the dangers of working with multiple SEO companies in our blog post, “For SEO Companies, Two’s a Crowd.”

4. Not Knowing What You Want

We may be online advertising “geniuses,” but we aren’t fortunetellers. We can’t predict what you’ll want in the future—only you can do that. When you sign up with us, make sure you have an idea of what you want for the long term. This is the only way we can tailor our services to your needs. Keep an open dialogue with us about what you want out of your campaign so we can deliver the most satisfying experience possible.
For example, we’ve had clients in the past who decided during their Core campaigns that they actually wanted to focus on their own, preexisting sites rather than their LeadTrax™ sites. If we had known this upfront, we would have been able to save time, money, and hassle for both parties by using our B.Y.O.S. (Bring Your Own Site) package, instead.
If you don’t know what you want out of your Prospect Genius campaign in the long run, you’ll end up spending an unnecessary amount of time and money on a campaign that doesn’t quite suit your needs.

3. Not Answering Your Phone When Customers Call

This one is pretty straightforward. If you’re not going to answer your phone when customers call you for your services, then why are you paying us to connect you with these customers? You may be shocked to discover how infrequently some of our clients answer their phones. These clients are essentially throwing away their money because they’re paying us for a lead generation program and then ignoring the leads that are being generated. This is especially true for PPC clients who are literally paying for each person who clicks on their ad and visits their site.
If you’re having trouble answering the phone, use the Client Portal to reroute your LeadTrax number to your mobile phone or any other phone that you can actually answer with some frequency. For more tips on reducing missed calls, check out “Do You Have a Plan for Handling Missed Calls?” and “You Might Be Paying Your Advertiser for Nothing.”

2. Not Communicating With Us

Having an open line of communication between us is vital to the success of your campaign. Whether it’s turning in your Google PIN as soon as you receive it, responding to our e-mail inquiries in a timely manner, or giving us pertinent company details for your LeadTrax site content, we need you to actively communicate with us. Otherwise, we won’t be able to advertise your business to the best of our abilities.
For example, if you fail to tell us that Google sent you a verification PIN via postcard, we’ll just be stuck in limbo waiting to move forward with your Google listing. If you don’t answer the phone or call us back when we have a question about your company, we won’t be able to finish creating your LeadTrax site. If you don’t give us the full picture of what your business does and how it works, then your site won’t be very accurate. All of these ultimately lead to an unsatisfying campaign.
The bottom line is this: If you don’t actively communicate with us, we won’t be able to do our job effectively. And when we can’t be effective, you’re wasting your money.

1. Leaving Conflicting Information on the Web

Having inconsistent or conflicting information about your business all over the web is the quickest way to drive your campaign into the ground. This often results from working with a second advertising company and not realizing that they created duplicate listings with slightly varied information. However, it can also result from something simpler, like a recent address change or name change. Regardless of what caused the information inconsistency, no amount of SEO wizardry will be successful until all of your online information matches.
To get the most out of your investment in lead generation services, you’ll need to have a clean, consistent online footprint. We recommend a WebFax^® report to check the status of your online information and CleanSlate to fix any problems that come to light in the report. If you don’t take action to clean up your mismatching information, all of our lead generation efforts will be for naught.

Help Us Help You

Thankfully, all of these online advertising mistakes are easily avoidable. We don’t expect you to be super-savvy with technology or knowledgeable about Google’s best practices. All we ask is that you are completely forthcoming and honest with us so that we can do what we do best: send leads straight to you.
There’s no such thing as a perfect campaign, but if you’re able to avoid these destructive online advertising mistakes, you can at least know that you’re doing your part to make your campaign as successful as possible.
Questions or concerns? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at your earliest convenience.

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