I just saw a post from an SEO company whose name autocorrects in Google to a completely different word — one that doesn't even lead to them. And they're asking how to fix it.
What the fuck are we doing here?
This isn't advanced SEO. This is naming, basic search behavior, step one stuff. And they missed it completely.
Now zoom out. A real business owner, someone grinding every day to make payroll and grow something real, runs into companies like this. They trust them. They pay them.
And what do they get back? Reports, graphs, "traffic." No calls, no revenue, no actual business growth. Just dressed up bullshit.
Now that business owner is stuck. They spent real money and got nothing. And now they don't know what actually failed. Did SEO not work for their business? Did the person doing it not know what the fuck they were doing? Was it the strategy, the execution, the timing?
They don't know. And now they don't know who to trust, what to believe, or whether any of this even works.
That's the damage.
There is a right way to enter the market when you're new to a service you haven't done professionally. You say that. You tell the client exactly where you're at. You charge accordingly. You work your ass off and learn with them, not on them.
That's honest. That's fair.
But positioning yourself like a professional and taking full price while you figure it out on someone else's business… that's not learning. That's fucking people over.
If you don't know what you're doing yet, that's fine. But don't pretend you do.