Is Your Web Company Trustworthy?
Here at 9xb we have a policy of being open about everything we do - clients have a direct line to the relevant technical person and even our SEO tactics aren’t a big secret. We’ve seen some shockingly bad tactics over the years however and occasionally new clients come to us with horror stories about their old web company. Here are some of the most common signs your web company isn’t being completely up front…
They won’t provide your Analytics or Adwords passwords
Even if your Adwords is being managed, you should always be provided with the login details so you can see for yourself what’s going on. It’s your money being spent after all and it means you can get a status report whenever you like. We’ve seen companies refuse to give these details out and the reasons are generally poor:
- they might have set up all their clients under one login, so if you had the password you could see all of their clients - this would be a breach of privacy.
- if this is the case, you can never transfer your account elsewhere so if you try to leave you’ll lose all past data.
- they might be doing something strange with their adwords billing practices which they don’t want you to see.
They won’t provide concrete figures
It’s really not hard to run a report but some web companies either won’t give you figures, or will only give them for certain dates. If you’re finding it a struggle to get statistics out of them, chances are they have something to hide.
They take a monthly retainer but do little for it
Many companies have retainers that cover any additional work you need doing over time. If you’re being charged a monthly fee but they won’t carry out work or even get back to you with timescales, ask yourself what you’re paying for.
They charge for minor text amends
Web companies have a right to charge for extra work if it’s outside your brief or retainer, but we’ve seen companies charge ridiculous amounts for minor text amends. Text amends don’t take that long so if you get a huge bill they could be ripping you off.
They undo their work when you leave
This applies to the SEO field - some companies give you lots of links from domains that they own. Whilst not exactly ethical it can have a positive effect on your rankings (until Google finds out its a glorfied link farm). If you want to leave however some companies will remove all the links they’ve put up, damaging what rankings you’ve achieved.
They approach your competitors
Believe it or not we know of web companies who approach their clients’ competitors and offer them work. Now, sometimes you might work for clients in similar markets but if they’re in direct competition it’s unethical all round.
Today’s Moral
There are lots of shady practices out there but they all come down to one thing - honesty. Choose a web company who are honest about their methods, their prices, their timescales and how they measure results. If you think something funny’s going on - it probably is.
