Why you have to be careful with reviews.

Reviews are often a strong influencer in the decision-making process when selecting a new SEO expert.

However, reviews are not often what they seem.

As the need for reviews has increased, an entirely new industry has grown around the need for businesses to have positive reviews.

Personally, I don’t pay much attention to the reviews of so-called SEO experts, as they can simply be purchased (like everything).

Here’s something I received today:

This might represent a tempting option for someone trying to get reviews for their product or service, but it highlights that you can’t always trust those five stars.

I get many of these emails, and unscrupulous people are trading on the fact that agencies know reviews are a robust conversion tool.

How do people get fake reviews?

Well, as shown in the example above, you can buy them.

These people call themselves Online Reputation Management experts, but they are basically just paid liars.

Not all reviews are fake, but it’s not hard to get friends and family to write them for you, too.

I asked AI the question:

I run a small business, I have 5 family members and 10 close friends, each of those friends as 10 close friends, in theory, how many fake reviews could I get?

Here’s the answer:

If each of your five family members and ten close friends were to write a review, that would give you the following:

• 5 (family members) + 10 (close friends) = 15 reviews directly.

Then, if each of these 10 close friends had their own 10 close friends, you could theoretically ask them to write reviews as well:

• 10 (close friends) × 10 (friends of friends) = 100 additional reviews.

So, in theory, you’d be able to generate a total of:

• 15 (direct family and friends) + 100 (friends of friends) = 115 reviews.

However, it’s worth noting that platforms like Google and Trustpilot are quite adept at identifying patterns in reviews that suggest they may not be genuine, which could lead to them being removed or, worse, penalties on your business.

So, in theory, a small business could generate over 100 positive reviews relatively easily, and they would all be fake.

In this instance, the family and friends are just trying to help the small business out, but fake is still fake.

So, how do you get a genuine review about an agency or freelancer?

Speak to others they have worked with; it’s as simple as that.

When doing so, it’s best (and most polite) to have that conversation with the SEO pro you are talking to rather than randomly emailing the clients on their website.

Most experts will have a list of people who are more than happy to provide a review of their product or service, usually via email.

This may take time, but it’s worth the effort.

Yes, it’s a hassle, but just because someone ranks #1 does not mean they are the best fit for your business.

If you go with the person who ranks without any other due diligence, you could be in for a shock when you start working with them, as the service promised differs little from the service delivered.

In addition, another way to check out who you are working with is to look up their business on Companies House.

For full transparency, if you want to look up Dave SEO, you will have to check out my main company listings for Toast Design and Searchworthy; this site is a marketing platform for those two businesses, and if you work with me, you work with them and me as the Managing Director.

Companies House data will give you information about the company size, age, Directors, the company accounts and, importantly, the number of employees – that team of 12 you see on the website might just be a one-man-band who outsources your crucial SEO work to off-shore, low paid workers.

Spending an hour on due diligence saves you pain in the long run.

If you invest some time in properly researching the SEO company you plan to engage and speak via email to some past or current clients, you will know exactly who you are dealing with.

Doing this will tell you if the 50 five-star reviews they have are genuine or fake.