1: Refer to its Secrets. No problem with a few insider tricks. But an SEO company that goes on and on about the amazing secrets it uses to get you results is not a company you want to be doing business with.

2: Ignore Social Media. SEO agencies that concentrate only on article directories and keyword optimization are missing out. Social Media takes subtle, careful, trust-building work, and if your company is serious about ranking online, your agency needs to be serious about social media.

3: Imaginary Link Building. When an SEO outfit talks about building links back to your brand, but makes absolutely no mention of content creation, you know they arent serious. The word 'building' is used for a reason: these things take work and must be properly constructed.

4: Quickly Pushing More Services onto You. Having you pay extra for big projects and web design is one thing, but if you sign up for SEO and realize youre going to have to pay for ten other services on top of it, whats the point? Differentiating between honest, paid help and aggressive sales tactics is fundamental.

5: Hold Old-Fashioned Business Hours. The internet doesnt operate on a 9-to-5 schedule. If your prospective SEO Agencies havent got someone you can reach at anytime, be weary. SEO is done at all hours, and the best agencies are ones with a global reach across every time zone.

6: Spam. Especially when it comes to commenting on blogs and posting to forums. For the bad SEO Agencies, this is often their entire social media strategy: post generic text, link back to customers site. Buyer beware, indeed.

7: Do No Research. If the company trying to optimize your business knows nothing about your sector, how are they going to help you? Bad agencies jump right into SEO and treat it like the same process for everyone. Good agencies know that its nothing like that.

8: Refuse to Change. This is built into the business plan of the best SEO Agencies. Search algorithms and consumer behavior change constantly. Look at all the new forums of communication that pop up in a single year online. If your company cant keep up with them, get a new one who can.