--- title: How to Spot a BAD SEO Company. Top 10 Tips! | WEBITMD description: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most effective marketing tactics for generating leads and sales from your website. SEO can be complicated at time, and that’s why companies often outsource their SEO to trained professionals. With thousands of SEO firms, how can you tell the good from the bad? Here are the Top […] --- [![webitmd](https://blog.webitmd.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Webitmd_January2023/images/WEBITMD.svg "webitmd")](https://webitmd.com/) - [THE GROWTH STACK](https://webitmd.com/the-growth-stack) - [ECOMMERCE](https://webitmd.com/ecommerce-marketing) - SERVICES - [MESSAGING & POSITIONING →](https://webitmd.com/messaging-positioning) - [CREATIVE & BRANDING →](https://webitmd.com/creative-branding) - [WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT →](https://webitmd.com/web-design-development) - [PAID ADS →](https://webitmd.com/paid-media) - [CONTENT MARKETING →](https://webitmd.com/content-marketing) - [EMAIL MARKETING →](https://webitmd.com/email-marketing) - [MARKETING AUTOMATION →](https://webitmd.com/marketing-automation) - [SALES ENABLEMENT](https://webitmd.com/sales-enablement) - [SALES AUTOMATION](https://webitmd.com/sales-enablement) - [HUBSPOT ONBOARDING →](https://webitmd.com/hubspot-onboarding) - [CRM CUSTOMIZATION](https://webitmd.com/hubspot-onboarding) - [REVOPS](https://webitmd.com/the-growth-stack) - [WORK](https://webitmd.com/work) - [AGENCY](https://webitmd.com/agency) - [BLOG](https://blog.webitmd.com/) - [RESOURCES](https://webitmd.com/resource-hub) [![GET IN TOUCH](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2363531/cc4fa0a4-aab2-4f25-be37-88cbbd0ba32b.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2363531/cc4fa0a4-aab2-4f25-be37-88cbbd0ba32b) - [HOME](https://webitmd.com/) - [THE GROWTH STACK](https://webitmd.com/the-growth-stack) - SERVICES - [Messaging & Positioning](https://webitmd.com/messaging-positioning) - [Creative & Branding](https://webitmd.com/creative-branding) - [Web Design & Development](https://webitmd.com/web-design-development) - [Paid Media](https://webitmd.com/paid-media) - [Hubspot Onboarding](https://webitmd.com/hubspot-onboarding) - [Content Marketing](https://webitmd.com/content-marketing) - [Email Marketing](https://webitmd.com/email-marketing) - [Marketing Automation](https://webitmd.com/marketing-automation) - [Sales Enablement](https://webitmd.com/sales-enablement) - [WORK](https://webitmd.com/work) - [AGENCY](https://webitmd.com/agency) - [BLOG](https://blog.webitmd.com/) - [RESOURCES](https://webitmd.com/resource-hub) - [GET IN TOUCH](https://webitmd.com/contact) # How to Spot a BAD SEO Company. Top 10 Tips! Reading Time: 1 minutes ![Mattan Danino](https://blog.webitmd.com/hubfs/MATTAN%20DANINO%20(1)(1).jpg) By Mattan Danino August 17, 2011 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most effective marketing tactics for generating leads and sales from your website. SEO can be complicated at time, and that’s why companies often outsource their SEO to trained professionals. With thousands of SEO firms, how can you tell the good from the bad? Here are the Top 10 things to look out for: Sign #1. Making Promises that are Too Good to be True Sign #2. Using “Black Hat” SEO Techniques Sign #3. Targeting the Wrong Keywords Sign #4. Employing Shoddy Linking Schemes Sign #5. Promising to List Your Site in Hundreds of Online Directories Sign #6. Redesigning Your Site or Creating New Pages Without 301 Redirects Sign #7. Focusing on Metadata Instead of On-Page SEO Sign #8. Creating Bad Content Sign #9. Driving Irrelevant Traffic Sign #10. 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