As I scan my inbox, on a daily basis I have offers to improve the quality of my site, create new catchy logos, and increase traffic through every conceivable method — but who makes these guys the experts?
Visit their web sites if you dare! When I’m feeling bored, this is what I’ll do…
Check their Google Page Rank. To do this, you need to install the Google Toolbar — you can get it at http://toolbar.google.com
Although Google Page Rank does little more than tell you how many people link to a site, if the result is less than 2 or 3, they have a problem. (Internet ‘experts’ should know how to build their own page rank — shouldn’t they?)
Next, check their Alexa ranking. For this, you may either install the Alexa Toolbar or visit http://www.alexa.com/# and enter the URL of the site.
An alexa ranking of over a million means the site receives very little traffic. Would you buy a service to improve YOUR traffic from someone who can’t even get people to visit THEIR site?
Look at the pages on the site — do they look like a dog’s breakfast gone bad and come back up warm?...