If your business is marketing itself online, you are likely to get numerous cold calls and emails offering something like the following:

“I was doing some research on your industry today and came across your website. If you are like most companies, you are having trouble getting qualified traffic to your website. That’s why I’m reaching out. Our company uses technology to ensure that you show up at the top of the Google search results whenever anyone is looking for you. Are you free for a call to learn more?”

(the above is taken from an email I received just last week)

My advice – don’t waste your time.

That is not to say that there are not valuable resources out there to help you improve your SEO or PPC efforts. There are many companies who are quite good at helping online businesses get qualified traffic to their site.

However, those companies don’t make promises they can’t keep. And they don’t treat you like an idiot.

When it comes to SEO and search marketing, there are no easy hacks or one-size-fits-all approaches waiting for you, just behind the curtain. The companies that are most effective will tell you that. They will customize an approach for each of their clients, a strategy that takes time to implement and scale.

And the key thing is, for most of them at least, you have to find them. They won’t be the ones cold calling or emailing you for business. So you can ignore 99% of the emails you get from companies promising the moon. If you decide you need help growing your business, the best thing you can do is get referrals or do your own research.