Thanks to the digital revolution, every business now seems to be online. Pharmaceuticals, apparel, electronic gadgets, food and beverages, or job hunting—you name it. Countless websites with relevant products or services are available.
In such a competitive market, staying invisible means you are losing out on business. You need to partner with an SEO agency in Melbourne, Sydney, or any other Australian city to remedy this situation and build your online presence.
However, trusting random, so-called best Australian SEO agencies can adversely impact your finances. Countless small businesses and online startups have fallen victim to black hat techniques and lost thousands of dollars. You need to team up with a genuinely good SEO agency to ensure such misfortune does not impact your business.
So, how do you determine whether your SEO agency is harming your site? Let’s find out!
Signs Suggesting Your SEO Agency Is the Problem
You cannot forget about your website once you hire an agency to take care of it. Instead, you should be more active and find out what they are doing, the key tactics, and their outcomes. Here are the red flags that you certainly should not ignore:
They Show No Deliverables
When you invest in an agency, you need data to understand the SEO practices being implemented. Of course, the first few months are relatively early to witness real SEO results or a significant rise in rankings. However, three or four months are enough for your agency to provide you with:
- A detailed audit report of your site
- A thorough analysis of your site’s link profile
- Optimised website content
- Articles linking to your website
These are a few samples that indicate they are actually doing something. If they have nothing to offer, you need to rethink your decision.
They Don’t Ask for Website Info
Working with an SEO agency is more like a partnership for your business growth. Like you need them to improve your site’s ranking, they need your help to deliver results. A good SEO agency following white hat methods might ask you for access to your:
- Google Webmaster Tools
- Google Analytics
- CMS
- Social accounts
- Past reports of audits or penalties
- Targeted keywords
If they don’t ask you for these details, it could be because they are adding linkbacks from spammy sites. This is against Google’s guidelines and can seriously damage your website’s position and credibility.
They Give No Productive Inputs
Untrustworthy SEO agencies merely target links from their spammy network to your site. They don’t put in any effort or share recommendations on improving your website’s position. Instead, they give you vague responses, which include:
- “Our SEO efforts are confidential.”
- “We experiment with different tactics to optimise your website for search engines.”
- “Our method is too long or tricky to explain.”
- “We are not permitted to disclose our methods.”
Reliable SEO agencies use white hat practices to stay legitimate with Google and deliver proven results. If your agency does things otherwise or lacks transparency, fire them immediately. You are getting scammed.
You Get a Ranking and a Traffic Penalty
A manual penalty is the worst SEO setback your site can experience. If you receive a penalty after getting an agency on board, it’s a matter of concern. But firing them right away wouldn’t be ideal. So, check your traffic and website rankings. If your ranking and traffic steadily drop, it could be due to an algorithmic penalty. Also, if your organic keywords change or you gain traffic for the wrong keywords, take it as indiscriminate and careless work by the agency.
Unlock Your Website’s True Potential with Next Gen Digital
SEO is the cornerstone for driving growth on digital platforms. With Next Gen Digital, you drive sales and boost results. Whether organic SEO, web designing, or paid ads, our commitment to transparency, ethical practices, and measurable results makes us stand apart and empowers us to make your business shine in this evolving digital world. Let’s connect!
