You’ve probably seen the signs: slick promises, buzzwords, and rock-bottom pricing. On the surface, it sounds like a deal. But in our 24+ years at Webstix, we’ve seen where that road leads. Bad web design and shady SEO (search engine optimization) tactics don’t just waste your money—they can hurt your rankings, damage your brand, and take months (or years) to fix.
So let’s talk about what to watch for—and why so many companies come to us after getting burned.
If someone guarantees you the #1 spot on Google... "Run, Forrest, run!"
Google doesn’t sell rankings. And no agency can guarantee results like that unless they control the search engine. Good SEO takes time, skill, and ongoing work. Real professionals show data, not magic tricks. You need results that will last - not ones that could get you penalized, putting you in a much worse position where you need to expend valuable resources recovering from.
We’ve seen agencies sell things like “GLP – Google Local Points” or something like that. Sounds official, right? Except it’s completely made up. They’re just creating fake business listings to trick Google’s local algorithm—which violates Google's rules and could get your real listing suspended.
There’s nothing wrong with local SEO. But shady SEO? That’s a problem. Good SEO takes time, and you need to rank high for search terms people are actually using - not search keywords nobody uses. Anyone can get sites to rank high for keywords nobody is using. I'm sorry those kinds of companies are out there, but they are. Some SEO companies do this.
If you look through a company’s portfolio and everything looks like the same cookie-cutter template… it probably is. Cheap design isn’t just a design issue—it’s a branding issue. If your website doesn’t stand out, why would anyone remember your business?
At Webstix, we use similar tactics that we know work well, but you get a website branded to your business.
A long block of city names at the bottom of the page doesn’t help your rankings anymore. Google figured that trick out a long time ago. These “footer dumps” just make your site look desperate—and sometimes spammy. Do not do this on your website or use a website company that does this.
We do have several, physical locations with real people there to help you.
We’ve heard the horror stories: the web designer vanished. The SEO guy stopped replying. The company folded and took everything with them. When you work with a freelancer or fly-by-night agency, you’re risking the stability of your site—and your business.
And I just got this exact comment from a client trying to contact their old developer: "I am still bugging him for the login details but he hasn't yet provided that information." That's not us. If you ever leave us, we'll cooperate. We know there's enough business for all website companies out there, so why not play nice?
Our team is our own team. We've been that way since the start. We don't even buy domain names for our clients. We make them do that themselves - not because we're not trustworthy, but we've seen way too many companies get burned or locked in because they didn't have control of their domain name. We never want to be that way.
Here’s what real, effective web design and SEO looks like:
Want to talk to a real team that knows what they’re doing? Contact us today and we’ll show you what good web design and SEO really looks like.
