I get spammed by "SEO specialists" all the time. Usually, they go straight to my junk.
But this morning, one caught my eye - a “free SEO audit” absolutely slating our website.
Apparently:
🚨 We have “duplicate meta tags, thin content and broken links”
→ We score 100% on SEMrush and fix technical issues weekly.
🚨 Our “site speed is low, especially on mobile”
→ Mobile: 78 / Desktop: 98. Mobile could be better, but we pass all Core Web Vitals.
🚨 “There’s no schema markup”
→ There’s a ton of structured data on the site.
And the kicker?
⚠️ “YOU ARE LOSING POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS DUE TO POOR WEBSITE PERFORMANCE.”
No. No, we’re not.
This wasn’t even a real audit. Just a fear-mongering email full of templated jargon and inaccuracies.
The worst part?
I looked the sender up and they have a decent following on LinkedIn... they seem “reputable”.
This stuff isn’t just annoying.
It’s misleading.
It’s lazy.
And it scares small business owners into thinking their website is broken.
If this is how you’re trying to win clients, please stop.
Deliver results.
Be helpful.
Be human.
And if you can’t win work without shady tactics…
Maybe this game isn’t for you.
This post was originally shared by on Linkedin.