A big problem for lots of small to medium sized businesses is finding a Good Internet Marketing or Search Engine Optimisation Company who are able to help their online businesses succeed and prosper. In the last 5 years or so the number of new SEO companies has grow considerable and we are all being bombarded on a daily basis by telephone calls and emails from these companies eager for our business and all claiming to be the best at what they do, but the problem is, how do you know which are good companies, which are simply bad at what they do and which companies are just boiler rooms and have no internet marketing or search engine optimisation skills are all?

One should always be vigilant when employing any third party individual or business to perform any form of work or task for your business or company, internet marketing and search engine optimisation is no exception, think about it, monies paid to these type of companies are usually paid of a monthly basis and can run to thousands and thousands of pounds per year and if the company is not achieving results then you are simply throwing your money away.

The big issue I see with today's Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation companies is that the field is completely unregulated meaning that absolutely anyone with a computer, a telephone and an email account can advertise themselves as an expert in this field, a field where you don't need to be part of any affiliated group or have any recognised qualifications at all and or course falling for one of these smooth talking telesales operators or an amazing in-dept email about how great their services are can cost you dearly, and I personally know of at least one person who lost their business after being taken in like this, struggling to pay for their SEO while their business failed but being kept on the hook by an unscrupulous salesman promising that work is being done and to just give it another month and the business and money will start pouring in, which of course it never did.

So what can be done to avoid being taken for a ride so to speak? Well the main thing you need to do is be very, very careful. A busy, professional search engine optimisation or internet marketing company who is legit and good at what they do doesn't need to spam your mailbox half a dozen times a day and if your contacted by telephone, remember if it's any kind of high pressure sales, such as asking for your credit/debit card number right away to get their amazing offer that's available today only, simply hang up, as they are not to be trusted. If your looking for a SEO don't sit there and wait to be contacted, ask around see who other businesses use and whether these businesses are getting results, Search the internet yourself and if your near a large city search for a local firm by searching SEO Manchester, or SEO London for example because if the firm is local you can pay a visit to their offices and see for yourself whether they seem legitimate or not and if you have a problem you can sort it out in person.

And remember, a good SEO company should be easy to communicate with, talk plain English and be able to provide details of their recent achievements, showing you real results for 'competitive keywords' and you should always contact these businesses direct that they claim to work for to make sure.

One final note, we all know about the most common internet scams and many of us laugh at badly put together and badly worded emails asking us for our banking information, or asking for an administration fee to claim the incredible lottery win for a lottery that we didn't even enter, yet the biggest scam at the moment is SEO. thousands of people and business fall for the scam every day and never know it, nobody involved in this industry ever gets prosecuted for taking thousands off a business and producing zero results, because at this moment in time they are not committing a crime, I'm hoping this changes, but in the meantime, be vigilant..