I have landed a job doing SEO for an online River Cruise company. Well 6 months ago they paid a company $4000 to do their SEO. Well the company did about 2% worth of work then bailed. All they did was buy into a few link farm directories and keyword stuff the Home Page Title and Meta Description. How can I help this cruise company recoup their money? I can get my hands on the contact and post it online for everyone to look at. What channels do we need to go through to sue these guys or is it even worth it?
Im not sure if there is anything you can do personally and to be honest and if i was you i would stay well out of it and just provide the best service you can to reinstate their confidence in Marketers in general . Getting involved when you dont know the in's and outs of a companies business can get you in hot water and i doubt your client will bale you out if this so called seo company decided you didnt know what you were talking about and took you to court for slander for misinformed rash decisions. Just my 2 cents but it really isnt your business to take on and get involved with no matter how sorry you feel for them , remember that they are your "client" not a personal friend whom you would help.
If you are being hired to do SEO for them, why are you wasting your time getting involved in their dispute with their previous SEO? It is no business of yours and if you slander that company you may subject yourself to liability. Why is that company asking for legal advice from their new SEO? Sounds pretty lame. Maybe the plumber can give them web design advice.
They are not asking me to be their law consultant.....but if they can recoup their lost money, it can be used on the website or to buy Advertising/PPC So again what can the owner do?
I would tell them to hire a qualified person to look into the matter such as an attorney or they can sue in small claims court of the seo is local to them. You have already disparaged the other companies seo work and aside from potentially opening up yourself and the online River Cruise company to liability, I do not see how you are helping them. Certainly, your idea of posting the contract will not get them money back. If the company told you their (IT person|plumber|gardener|???) screwed them on a deal would you chase that person for money too? The fact that they lost money to a former seo has nothing to do with your job as their current seo. While I understand you want them to have more money to pay you, it is a bad idea for you to get involved in their business dispute. Do what you want, but you have been advised it is not a wise course of action.
Here's what you can do: There are tons of things SEO companies offer like: Site submission, sitemap creation, directory submission, social media management, meta tag optimization, H1 , blah blah So when they sent you quotation, they must have listed thousands of such things [ which actually is part of a strategy], then check if everything is done on your website. Because, when they list these things, they don't really care of whats being written. And then hire an attorney, beacuse, if you don't know what exactly you are sue-ing them for, the attorney's gonna do no good for you. So better find an exact fault first. I can help you to find out if everything is done. Just in case you need my help, PM me
Hasan hello, greetings. What do you think should be prepared to start working on SEO for interested readers across the world...
Stay out of it! Haha. They should speak with a lawyer. If there is a pending lawsuit I would be very cautious discussing it online or even getting involved. I know you're trying to help them but this is no longer an SEO issues, it's a legal issue.
Just as a quick note -- I would certainly stay out of it. However, if the owner of this company decides to sue (and is able to -- local company?) they may need some evidence that the job was not completed. As such, I would document what they did and did not do, as otherwise they may try (though would be stupid to do so) claim that they performed the work actually done by you. It's all super difficult to prove the completion of online tasks, especially ones as abstract as SEO (how do you prove link building?), unless there was specific guidelines of what was/was not to be done. That's a horrible situation though, best of luck to them!
Suggest that they talk to their lawyer about pursuing it, but then stick to what you know. Ultimately, there is very little YOU can do and perhaps even little a lawyer can do. In most cases like what you described, there is no money left to recover or, if there is, the cost of recovering anything may be greater than the amount in dispute. A lawyer will generally be able to evaluate whether it is worth pursuing.