SEO "Expert" Mysteries; Help Please

[gsincaltbx]

Hello All,

I sure would appreciate your feedback. These questions affect not only me but others. My partner in our organization advocating "conscious" business practices is recommending this "SEO Expert" to other individuals and organizations. Some strange things have taken place.

I recently invested our future (mine and my husband's) in putting an E-commerce, Internet Business on the web. Wanting the best assistance, I hired a web designer who markets himself as an "Expert" in Search Engine Optimization, Strategic Marketing, Branding, Identity, and Positioning.

Due to him telling a series of lies, I knew I couldn't trust him with our financial future and withdrew after several weeks (loosing the $750 advance payment).

By then, we only had a temporary home page but we'd gone "live" on the Internet. I later ran a Meta Tag analyzer through "Submit Express" and got another surprise. The Description Meta Tag for my web site showed a description of this webmaster/marketer's business -- not Mine!

Could this be an accident? Is this ethical? Does "Submit Express" have some anomalies that would explain it? I then ran the analyzer on the web sites this "expert" built for several other organizations. Few of them had Meta Tags or showed up as having been submitted to search engines. I'm hoping that my findings and perceptions are incorrect.

I have great concerns. My partner in the organization I Co-founded has made this guy a Director.

Someone I spoke to about these questions suggested that this "misrepresenting" of "Expertise" in marketing could be a type of "fraud" and all of us could be made liable for jeopardizing businesses and supporting unethical practices.

Is there some organization that discerns/mediates what is an applicable code of ethics and fair business practices among web designers and SEO experts?

How does one discern fair pricing? This "SEO Expert" tells people that his sites cost between $4000 and $5000 (approx.6-10 pages, no data bases or e-commerce) but gains loyalty by giving a "generous break" to special friends and non-profits for half his regular price.

I would be so grateful for your feedback and ideas. I feel rather lost and alone on this.

Many thanks.

[cbp]

Sorry to hear what happened, but unfortuantely I suggest you just chalk this one up to experience and move on. There is not a lot you can do.

Google does suggest this when looking to hire an SEO:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html

The desrciption in the meta tags may have been accidental - the designer may have a standard holding page he puts up when a site is first live - they would have nothing to gain by putting it there. This gets replaced when the full site is ready... at least thats what I hope they do.

CBP

[janeth]

I hate to here that also but there are no set of rules for prices or how people go about building or getting a web site ranked.

It does seem like if he works for the same company as you he should (either way) but more so since he works with you give you your money back.

[dmcgill]

I hope you didn't act too quickly by cancelling your agreement and loosing your money. SEO work is a long hard practice. Yes, there are frauds out there and I sincerely hope that you did't find one. It appears you did your research before hiring him.

As to the tag and lack of tags on other sites they have done. Some SEO's have software that will mask the tags so other webmasters do not go in and copy it. That is more than likely what he is doing. As to his name being there on your site. I am sure that he would have taken that out and replaced it with yours should you have let him finish.

I don't like to hear about frauds in this business because that lowers all our credit in other potential customer's eyes. Frauds do not usually hang around too long.

So... maybe not all is lost. Perhaps you could have a talk with him and get him to explain to you the process and bring it here and we could help you understand if what he is saying is right or wrong.
dmcgill

[mm99]

"This "SEO Expert" tells people that his sites cost between $4000 and $5000 (approx.6-10 pages, no data bases or e-commerce) but gains loyalty by giving a "generous break" to special friends and non-profits for half his regular price."

That sounds like and awful lot to pay for a 6 to 10 page site. Even with the "generous break", I still have trouble with it, especially with no special needs, as you mentioned. You might post your url so we can take a look.

Sorry you got taken but I too would "chalk it up to exp".

peace...Paul

[grease]

The High-Low strategy has been used for hundreds of years before website pricing. What a shame. From the sounds of it, this guy is not one to trust...however I have to warn you that there are many 'web page analysis' tools out there - and you cannot rely on MOST of them. Some of them are very helpful, but you really can't replace an experienced SEO. It is very frustrating to have a client trying to force changes that are detrimental to their site because some tool told them to do so.

Grease