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Help, is this marketing agency gonna scam us?
My boss is insisting that I get an appointment to meet in-person with this marketing agency. HOWEVER, I have a feeling they may not be all they claim to be, especially for the price they are charging (starting $5,000 a month for SEO & marketing services).. I have spoken to this company over the phone and text, but when I requested to see an actual portfolio that shows they truly get businesses on the first page of Google, they said they cannot provide this due them signing an NDA with their clients? Their website portfolio only has a bunch of nameless “case studies” & their web design portfolio looks a little made up to?
After a zoom call and seeing my shock of no references and a giant price tag, they will not email me back and feels like they’re stalling for an in-person meeting..
What else can I do at this point? (Besides learning how to stand up to my new boss)
DM me for this marketing company name if you wish to do your own research
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1 Reply
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I would do a backlink report on the url and see if it has any footer link on client sites then do some digging on their clients that linked back
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It’d definitely be strange to sign an NDA and not able to show their work, particularly if it’s just for example purposes. Price tag seems a little high if it’s just SEO and some back-end management but it depends on what’s included. Would like to know more about the company via DM if you can send me the details.
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Most companies are happy to show off their successful clients. That’s a huge red flag that they’re hiding behind the excuse of NDAs. Have they at least given you a detailed breakdown of their pricing? (Like how much they’re charging for each specific part of the services)
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You could suggest getting a few more quotes and meeting with two more agencies/ freelancers.
It is unusual for an agency not to be able to provide named case studies for sure but the price isn’t unusual for an agency.
Clutch.co usually has verified references for agencies (it costs them) so it’s a place to look.
Freelancers are less likely to be seen on clutch but will be more flexible with minimum terms if they’re new to freelancing and switching from employed.
Their website really isn’t an indication of their ability, unfortunately, not only may it have been outsourced or have content from a number of different employees who may no longer be with them but both agencies and freelancers tend to maximise client time rather than working on their own marketing.
How many hours are they offering for the 5k, by the way?
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We sign NDAs all the time. Not to hide the identity of a client but to keep us from giving away proprietary information or trade secrets.
Even if a client wanted to hide their identity, we can provide Google Analytic reporting to show the traffic and conversion increases.
I’ve never had a client say no to using them as a reference.
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If they are unwilling to provide references to vouch for their $5K/month service, I would steer clear.
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In this scenario, it’s great you continue your own research about the agency, but it’s super weird they cannot provide any references about their work
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Does not sound like a quality service imo. They are probably using crappy PBN networks for building back links and not giving you reference domains & KWs bc it would expose their whole network.
Make sure whoever you work with on that kind of budget is going to help you build quality topical content on your site. Arguably just as if not more important than backlinks these days.
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Check if their own agency website is ranking for something remotely competitive (not just their brand name).
Would you hire a home builder that lives in a tent? probably no.
If the SEO agency is giving you excuses like “I didn’t do SEO for my own website because: I am too busy with clients, I didn’t allocate a budget, I don’t use my website to generate leads, etc.” then RUN AWAY!!!
A basic “City SEO” query should return your agency’s website first.
Don’t trust any testimonials, screenshots, or other claims that 3rd party sites used to be their clients.
PS. those SEOs contacting you and searching clients on Reddit clearly don’t get enough clients through their own site since they can’t rank it organically.
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Unless you too have a NDA, would you mind posting this marketing agency’s URL?
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Run. How did you find this company?
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I don’t think you just rely on just this agency. You must check at least 3 agencies first for negotiations . Even you can get a good agency with a low budget as well .So don’t worry just need to communicate with a few agencies.
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Yes absolutely, seems like you know.
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If you want to show your boss, ask for a broken out list deliverables that correspond to the 5K price tag.
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The fact that they themselves don’t want a trial period indicates they are fleecing you anyways.
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The thing is that you can run your own SEO through some tools available in market and watch YouTube videos on how to use it . One such tool is SEMrush and you can learn it in 7 days.
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100% fake cause SEO services provider don’t charge that much amount, and second thing, if they aren’t ready to themselves, then it’s totally scam
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