So what are some of the biggest mistakes that customers and small businesses make when they contract SEO companies? By exercising a little bit of common sense and due diligence, a lot of aggravation, time and money can be saved ahead of time.

Assuming the SEO company knows what they are talking about

This is the absolute worst mistake you can make as a customer. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that small businesses, a lot of the time, do not have the time or the knowledge of SEO techniques to make a fully informed decision. This is what makes this mistake all the more crucial. In all honesty, this is the kiss of death because many link building company companies are selling hopes and dreams and making guarantees they cannot possibly fulfill or predict.

I implore you to do your research and work with a company who is honest and can show proven results. Time and time again I've heard horror stories from business owners and CEOs after a previous company promised them the world and they barely received a small town. The truth of the matter is that snake oil salesmen do exist (especially in the world of SEO and online marketing) and they are looking to rip off uninformed, prospective clients. Do your research so it does not happen to you.

Expecting to see results yesterday

Another big mistake small businesses make when deciding to contract an SEO company is thinking that these results happen instantaneously. This is simply not the case. There is a reason why the search engines called the results "organic" or "natural" results. SEO is a process that is supposed to be applied to your website to grow it naturally. Natural growth of anything does not happen overnight or in a week or in two weeks. It takes anywhere from 1-2 weeks for search engines to even full index a website and update their own database, so any SEO company who promises rankings within 2 weeks should be eliminated immediately.

Believing that an SEO company can magically increase client phone call frequency

Why does any business contract an SEO company? They want to increase their leads and sales. Can an SEO company in India do this? Absolutely. When an SEO campaign is executed properly, a company's business website will pop up first in front of their prospective customers. But many times, SEO companies will make outrageous promises and guarantees on aspects they have no control over and this is usually where the client/vendor relationship starts to go sour.

As a small business, it is very tempting to believe in these claims. It can almost be impossible to resist as every business is looking to increase their phone call frequency. SEO can be (and is) very powerful in your marketing efforts. We fully believe in it over here. But be wary of any SEO companies who make outrageous claims without knowing anything about you or your business.