Avoid These Online Scams Targeted at Business Owners
June 3, 2018
It seems like you start getting junk e-mail as soon as you start a business. Someone from a country you’ve never heard of offers to have you searching on page 1 of Google. A “bank” you’ve never heard of offers you a loan before they know anything about you at all. Most of these types of emails are obviously scams.
Unfortunately, some email scams are a little more subtle. Here are a few emails and phone calls that should have you running away as soon as you receive them.
This is _____ from Google.
Google made $110 billion last year, and 86% of it was from people paying them for Ads. Google doesn’t build websites, so if you get a call from “Google” offering website services, that’s a scam. If you give them your credit card, they aren’t going to get you on the first page of Google, they may not build a website at all, and you’re probably going to lose a lot of money.
We’ll submit your site to hundreds of online directories.
Every painting contractor needs to be listed on Google (via Google My Business) and Yelp. As a painter, it can also be helpful to be listed on Houzz, Angie’s List, Thumbtack and a handful of other home-improvement services sites. Some businesses also get customers by being listed on Bing and Yahoo.
This handful of websites represents well over 90% of the places that you can get leads online. Anyone offering to list you on hundreds of websites is the same as putting your billboard on the online equivalent of a road to nowhere. If your name is listed on a billboard but nobody sees it, will anyone call? Nope.
Your domain is expiring! Renew now.
This one could be legitimate – but not if you’ve never heard of the company sending it. Our customers have been receiving a letter that looks a lot like a renewal form, but is actually an offer to transfer your domain to another provider. Don’t do it! If you get a letter that looks like this, call your website provider and ask if it’s legitimate – it probably isn’t.
To learn how ProPainter Websites can help you get more leads, give us a call at 855-385-1134 or email Team_PPW@ProPainterWebsites.com.
