Got an SEO package, paid $400+ for it, basically got scammed.

[Superinks]

Hi guys,

I know this is stupid but I bought an SEO package for around $400. Received the report, and my... it was a complete load of spam.

It was basically a blast to lots of sites with random articles and my anchor texts all over the place. Theres thousands of these links and the articles dont make sense, I'm not sure what i'm going to do! This is my main Ecommerce website and i'm worried, i've complained and I hope to get a refund however i'm worried hes going to just blast my site and get me penalized by Google. It is clearly blackhat.

Is there anything I can do? I'm very worried.

Thanks

[echo1]

I thought I would update your answer...

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main?pli=1

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Hi Raymond,

Unfortunately, this is all too common. I work with a lot of clients who fall victim to this type of thing. What's even more unfortunate is sometimes, the "SEO" company doesn't realize they're doing anything wrong. Some of these techniques used to work in the very near past, and a few folks still think they're selling legitimate services.

Regardless, Google will most likely discount most, if not all of these links, but in the meantime you want to take steps to make sure these links don't hurt you.

1. Monitor your organic search traffic and keyword rankings. If they start to fall, take action.

2. Watch for messages in Google Webmaster Tools for penalties or warnings of unnatural linking.

3. If you need to, try to get the links removed. Unfortunately, the people in the best position to do this may be the same folks who built the links in the first place. As distasteful as it may be to actually pay more money to get the links removed, this may be your highest ROI option.

4. There are several do-it-yourself link removal resources out there. Here's three:

• Rmoov
• Remoov'em
• Link Clean-Up and Contact from SEOGadget

5. If you've received a message via Webmaster Tools, consider a reconsideration request. Document everything. Be truthful. Tell them everything and your exhaustive efforts to get links removed.

Remember, you only have to do this if your ranking/traffic tank. In the meantime, to guard against these links hurting you down the line, work on building as many quality, high authority links as possible. Here's some ideas to get you started.

Hope this helps. Best of luck with your SEO!

[ontarget-media]

Yes, what's done is done.  As many of the others have already suggested here, you will be much better off by focusing on getting better quality links rather than trying to clean up the mess that's already created.

[shiftins]

cut the guy a break......to answer your question it would probably cost way more than $400 or a lot of time to have all those links removed. to be honest if you payed $400 1 time, you prolly just got like 200 directory submissions, 100 social bookmarkings, x amount of forum/blog comments ect. in the scheme of things its honestly probably not gonna matter. you may still even see a boost in rankings. just focus on more long term strategies and dont make the same mistake twice. i wouldnt worry too much.

[rmontanez]

I always tell clients that you get for what you pay for.  If SEO and Ranking on Google was as easy as paying $400 one time, we all would be on the 1^st stop of Google.  With that say, if everyone is number 1 then no one is number 1.  There is only one spot at the top.

SEO is a fluid process.  To achieve results in SEO you have to invest either time or money.  Invest time if you want to learn it or invest money if you want someone to do it for you.  I recommended you do both.  This will allow you to weed out all these charlatans that sell so called SEO packages.

Truth is that most of the SEO information is available either online (in this community) or with books.  Invest some time and you will be ahead of the curb and your competitors.

[pompano21]

What he did was blackhat backlinking, he probably used some stupid software to do it or used software that is legitimate but in the wrong way.

A lot of companies use link building software, it's fantastic if you use it properly and efficently.

Instead of spending $400 on a 1 off SEO package, maybe do it yourself or watch some of the whiteboard fridays.

If not, i'd always be willing to help you sort your SEO out, i wouldn't ask for anything until i can show you some proof. That's how i work with anyone who's a client of mine.

[MassivePrime]

Was it $400 monthly or what?

If you've paid a 1 off fee of $400 for "SEO" then you did not receive what most of us on this site would call search engine optimization. In other words rather than being scammed, you just bought into something which was not SEO. You are right though in saying that someone willing to take your $400 for something he calls SEO is probably the kind of person who would ruin your site if you push for a refund (I've seen some dodgy companies do this to their clients in the past)

Just cut your losses, find a better SEO company and let them deal with whatever damage has been caused to your site by this other company.

Be prepared to spend quite a lot more than $400 though, if you're going to insist on cheap don't expect miracles.