Risks of Choosing the Wrong SEO Agency

I’ve just audited a site with a £144k/year SEO retainer… and I’m speechless. On Friday, I spoke to a brand who’d been working with a very well-known agency for the past 2 years. The kind with all the big-name logos on their homepage that make you think, “they must be good.” They'd been charging this client £15k a month in management fees. £12k for SEO, £3k for PPC, with an ad spend of £3k - yes, their PPC management fee was equal to the budget. Yet after two years of working together, the brand's e-commerce revenue is under £12k a month. Let that sink in. This is a business with successful physical stores, trying to grow online and getting nowhere. It gets worse… They were told backlinks / digital PR aren’t included in the £12k SEO retainer. This agency hasn't built a single link for them over the course of their 2-year relationship. The business currently has a DA of 12/100 - the agency wants another £3k a month if they want links. PPC is running at a negative ROAS. The client is willing to scale, but the campaigns can’t hit profitability. And this has been going on for TWO YEARS. I don’t usually post things like this, but it needs saying: If you’re charging a client more in fees than they’re generating in online revenue… And then telling them the things that would actually make a difference are “extra”… You shouldn’t be in this industry. It’s not just bad strategy, it’s taking advantage. There are plenty of good agencies out there doing things properly. But stories like this are exactly why so many businesses don’t trust SEO. The challenge is knowing what “good” actually looks like before you’re £100k+ in. If you’re unsure whether your current SEO is working as it should, happy to take a look and give you an honest view.

90% of ecom brands get burned by SEO agencies. That happens because they don't know what red flags to watch for. After working with 100+ ecom brands and generating millions in revenue, here's what you NEED to check before hiring an SEO agency: - Past Performance Matters Most agencies will talk a big game about their capabilities, but what really matters is proof of their wins. You need to see detailed case studies with real results. If they can't show you concrete wins in ecommerce specifically, that's your cue to walk away. - Technical Excellence Any agency can pump out basic blog posts, but real SEO requires serious technical chops. Your agency needs to show they can handle tough challenges, like fixing your site architecture, optimising collection pages, making your product pages convert, and managing complex migrations. - Content That Sells Blog posts alone won't cut it, you need strategic content that drives real business results. Your agency should be creating content that targets buyer keywords, strengthens your product pages, and actually converts visitors into customers while building your site's authority. - Link Building Strategy Here's a huge warning sign: most agencies just buy cheap links, and that's guaranteed to tank your ecom site. The right agency builds quality links through real relationships with high-authority sites, and they'll be transparent about their link metrics and methods. - Communication & Reporting If an agency can't clearly explain their game plan, chances are they don't have one. As a business owner investing in a service, you should be able to expect regular updates with clear metrics that focus on revenue impact and detailed strategy breakdowns. Bottom line? Working with the right SEO agency can absolutely 10x your business and transform your revenue. But pick the wrong one, and they'll destroy your rankings faster than you can say "page one". Choose carefully. Your business growth is riding on this decision.

Why most SEO agencies fail their clients: After 9 years in the industry, I've seen the same mistakes destroy agency-client relationships over and over. Here's the brutal truth: 📈 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟭: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 What agencies say: "We guarantee #1 rankings in 30 days" Why it's impossible: - Google has 200+ ranking factors - Competitors are also optimizing - Algorithm updates change the game - Rankings fluctuate naturally What honest agencies say: "We'll improve your visibility and organic traffic using proven strategies, with measurable results typically seen in 3-6 months." 💰 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟮: 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 Agency Reports Show: - "Keyword rankings increased 67%" - "Organic traffic up 120%" - "300 new backlinks acquired" What Clients Actually Care About: - Revenue from organic traffic - Quality leads generated - Return on SEO investment - Business growth impact Real Story: Client fired previous agency after 8 months of "success reports" showing traffic growth, but zero increase in actual sales. 🚀 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟯: 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗙𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 Bad Agency Approach: - Same strategy for every client - Template-based content - Generic keyword research - Cookie-cutter link building Apollo Digital Approach: - Industry-specific strategy - Custom content aligned with buyer journey - Competitor analysis and differentiation - Tailored link building for industry authority 📄 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟰: 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Communication Failures: Unclear Reporting: - Technical jargon without explanation - No context for metrics - Missing business impact data Unrealistic Expectations: - Not educating clients about SEO timelines - Overpromising on deliverables - Lack of strategy transparency No Proactive Updates: - Waiting for monthly reports - Not explaining algorithm changes - No strategic recommendations 🔧 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟱: 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗘𝗢 What Many Agencies Skip: - Core Web Vitals optimization - Site architecture improvements - Mobile-first optimization - Schema markup implementation - Security and SSL issues The Impact: All content and links are worthless if technical foundation is broken. Example: Client's site had 400+ technical errors. Previous agency focused only on content. Traffic was stuck despite "great SEO work." 🔗 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟲: 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝗛𝗮𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 Risky Tactics Still Used: - Buying links from link farms - Private blog networks (PBNs) - Irrelevant directory submissions - Comment spam and forum posting - Automated link building tools The Consequences: - Google penalties - Traffic drops of 70-90% - Recovery takes 6-12 months - Reputation damage

Last month a founder called me devastated. He'd spent $12,000 over a year with TWO different SEO agencies and had ZERO rankings to show for it. This happens constantly because most SEO agencies follow the same disappointing playbook. Here's how to spot a bad one BEFORE they waste your money: 1. The Technical Bait & Switch They dazzle you with impressive technical audits and jargon in month one. Then they make quick fixes that look good on paper. But after that initial burst? Radio silence on actual improvements. 2. Content Without Strategy They'll pump out "decent" content in the first 60 days. Just enough articles to make you feel like progress is happening. But with no authority building or distribution plan, it's just expensive digital paperweight. 3. The Link Building Lie This is where they absolutely fail. They'll charge you $1,000/month but spend only $100-300 (if anything) on terrible links. The rest? Pure profit margin. Links are the backbone of rankings; if they're allocating less than 40% of your budget here, run. 4. The Blame Game Cycle Six months in with no results? Watch them blame "algorithm changes" or "competitive markets." Then they'll suggest doubling your budget for "faster results." Classic. 5. The Agency Merry-Go-Round The worst part? When you finally leave, the next agency will point to "poor quality content" or "technical issues" from the previous one … then do the EXACT same thing all over again. I've seen businesses waste $6,000+ getting the same work redone by 3-4 different agencies over years with zero traffic growth. Here's the truth: a legitimate SEO agency will: - Spend 40-70% of your budget on high-quality link building - Show you exactly where links are being built and why - Have a data-driven strategy based on competitor analysis, not just your budget - Track rankings AND traffic, not just activities We took a supplement brand that was wasting $6K/month on useless links to 5,000+ monthly visitors in under a year, while CUTTING their monthly spend by $3,000. Your SEO shouldn't be a money pit. It should be your most predictable growth channel.

A vendor pitched one of our clients a tactic that would have destroyed their SEO if we hadn't caught it. The pitch was sophisticated. The terminology was current. The deck was full of confident projections about AI search visibility. And underneath all of it was textbook cloaking, an SEO violation Google has been penalizing for over a decade. The client's instinct was that something felt off. They sent it to us. It took ninety seconds to recognize what was being proposed. The contract didn't get signed. The brand's organic search presence, and the millions of dollars in revenue it generates, stayed intact. This isn't a one-off. We've seen variants of the same pitch hit multiple clients over the past two quarters. The vendors change. The acronyms change. The underlying tactics keep getting recycled and re-branded. The market for AI optimization services right now is a vacuum, and bad actors are filling it. Brand teams know they need to ""do something about AI"" but most don't have the technical depth to evaluate what they're being sold. That's a dangerous combination. The strategic value of an experienced partner in 2026 isn't measured in what they build for you. It's measured in what they help you say no to. The agency that talks you out of a tactic that would have hurt you is worth more than the one who would have helped you implement it. Check out our more detailed thoughts at thirdandgrove(dot)com

Bad agencies sell you their best people, then hand the work to their cheapest. The pitch always comes from someone senior who's sharp and clearly knows your industry. You sign. Then the account starts and you meet your actual team. An account manager who doesn't do the work, relaying your questions to a junior who does. You never speak to the person running your SEO. You speak to someone who speaks to them. So when you ask a technical question, the answer comes back a week later, watered down, and half the time it isn't really an answer. This is the model working as intended. Win the client with senior people, deliver with junior people, and put an account manager in the middle to manage the gap. The account manager's job is to keep you calm and keep kicking that can down the road. We built the opposite on purpose. Everyone on our team has 10+ years of experience. We don't have any juniors to hand work to because I don't even let them in the building. And the specialist doing your work is in the meeting. Not a translator. The person who actually touched the account, answering you directly, in the room. You should be able to talk to the person doing your SEO. On most retainers, you can't. Worth asking who's going to be in your meetings before you sign anything.

Beware of these SEO agency red flags: 🚩One-size-fits-all packages. SEO isn’t cookie-cutter. Every business has different needs, yet some agencies push pre-built packages that don't fit anyone perfectly.  Customized strategies always win. 🚩Black hat tactics. Tricks like fake clicks, bots generating false leads, and other shady moves might give you a temporary leg up, but Google catches on, and penalties can be brutal. 🚩Overpromising and underdelivering. Big sales teams tend to promise the world, only for the service team to struggle to meet unrealistic expectations.  The result? Disappointment for everyone involved. 🚩Buying low-quality backlinks. Backlink farms are still out there, and while they might work in the short term, SEO is a long game, and quick fixes never last.  Pro tip: Always ask your agency for transparent, customized strategies based on your business goals. If they're not willing to give you this, then it's your sign to walk away.  Have you experienced any of these SEO missteps?

Fine... I guess I'll be the one to say it. SEO agencies offering "keyword revenue guarantees" and "profit calculators from SERP results" are a huge reason why this industry gets a bad reputation 🙄 I saw a concerning post on LinkedIn today that a specific keyword this provider had highlighted in a certain niche could generate $10,000+ revenue a month... I don't even know where to start with this. The reasons this is extremely problematic: 1️⃣ Third-party data is being used: That "forecasting tool" is likely based on estimates, not real data. The kind of organic revenue they claim can’t be forecasted by third-party tools alone, unless they’re guessing, which isn't helpful. 2️⃣ Unclear SERP positions: The post didn’t specify where on the SERPs that keyword needs to rank. Is it position #9? Or position #2? The revenue would look VERY different depending on that. 3️⃣ Lack of transparency: This type of generalisation doesn't highlight important variables like conversion rates, competition, or the quality of the traffic. Without those details, it’s just a wild goose chase. 4️⃣ Changing nature of SERPs: The SERP landscape is constantly evolving with Google algorithm updates, changing search intent, shopping grids, and local shopping map packs. Keywords that once ranked in position 1 can now appear lower, or be pushed off the page entirely due to new features, making these revenue predictions even less reliable. 5️⃣ AI search: With AI-powered search becoming more prevalent, predicting where a keyword will land on the search page is nearly impossible. Google’s AI updates personalise results and may serve different results to different users based on search history, intent, and other factors, further complicating these revenue claims. SEO agencies should be about transparency and honesty. It’s fine to get creative and push boundaries, but misleading clients with inflated numbers and hollow claims doesn’t build trust 👎 Not cool. #notcool #bebetter #seo #agencies #snakeoil #sales #tactics #sameold #digital #digitalmarketing #reformdigital #websavvy #marketingcore #digitaldivide

Recently, a long time connection reached out asking for help in reviewing their account. They reportedly received senior resources and a sizable technical team to support their SEO campaign. Multiple reports & analyses with pathways forward were proposed, with no tangible recovery until a few of my recommendations were executed. Then it happened again... after a period of recovery, a deployment with "SEO Fixes" was launched based on internal agency recommendations from both the SEO and Dev departments. To avoid situations like this, respectfully vet the resources assigned to your account early and ask obvious questions that usually don't get asked! 1. Vet the results and resourcing, starting from the sales pitch. BDM's usually have very little SEO and surface-level knowledge on how results were achieved and which strategies/tactics were executed. 2. Avoid being hooked on Case Study results. These are outliers and not the norm. Resources assigned to these projects are rarely assigned as leads to new accounts in the same vertical. Resources that achieved these results may have moved on. 3. Ask to talk to the resources that will be assigned to your account and vet their experience on your platform, industry, fundamental SEO knowledge, and omnichannel understanding. SEO is just one channel that relies on other channels to be effective. 4. Request to talk to at least 3 of their long term clients. An obvious red flag is if they have none or are all under 12 months. If none of their direct clients want to give their recommendation, that should be clear enough. 5. Request for a brief presentation on how they handled an SEO situation when it went wrong. This is more essential than when things go right! The ability to turn a campaign around or avoid negative situations protects your existing revenue accross all channels. 6. Ask the obvious questions and share challenges. - Have you worked on similar e-commerce seo projects before? - What help/resourcing from client side do you need to make this campaign successful? - What are some low resource high impact actions you can recommend in the first 3 months? - We only have X amount of development resources/capability dedicated to SEO, is this enough and can it get the most from your agency strategy? 7. Be realistic. If you're paying $1,000 for SEO and going against big organisations with established SEO profiles, you're not going to get results in the cadence you had in mind. Either adjust your expectations or review if your organisation requires more experienced resources. While this is not 100% bulletproof, vetting early and asking the obvious questions respectfully that don't get asked will position both the agency and organisation for success.

I just got off a call with a client who had been through his third agency in 2 years. Unfortunately, I hear that a lot. Here's why this happens: Agencies often tiptoe around the truth about your brand, your tactics, your needs, and your market. Instead of giving you the straight talk, they offer a menu of services, and you choose. Work gets done, but the results? Not so much. You switch agencies, hoping for better, but the cycle repeats. Now, don’t get me wrong, many agencies have amazing people doing fantastic work. But here’s the real issue—it’s not just about poor execution. It’s about using the wrong tactics, at the wrong time, for the wrong audience. Agencies avoid deep strategy discussions because: 🐉 Real strategy is dangerous to get into. It’s where the dragons live. 😱 Strategy is risky. "Do you really want me to CHANGE?" ⏰ Strategy is time intensive. "A full-day workshop? I’m too busy for that." 💰 Strategy isn’t cheap. "Why not just run some ads and be done with it?" These challenges make agencies hesitant to push for comprehensive strategies. They generally opt for safer, more immediate tasks. If you're an agency, it’s time to embrace hard conversations and deliver the tough truths, even if it means risking the relationship. If you're a business owner, here’s what you need to ask when choosing an agency: 1. Are they upfront about the challenges you don’t want to face? 2. Are they keeping you in the dark so you are dependent on them, or empowering you with knowledge? 3. Are they offering transformation or just optimization? #marketing #agencylife #businessgrowth #strategythatworks #innovation #growth #strategy