Trusted Canada Blog | Who is ripping off small local businesses? Trusted founder shares her thoughts.

The principals of Trusted are based on integrity, truth and transparency and for a while now I have been thinking about publishing this blog...so hear go's!

I feel bad for small businesses in Saskatchewan and in Canada as a whole - many are being mislead and duped, by companies they put their trust in...and felt I had to speak out.

The Trusted team has good relationships with the Trusted Saskatchewan businesses and they share with us the communications they get on a daily , weekly, monthly basis from companies trying to solicit their business when it comes to SEO and Social Media. I have to say that i feel that this business is as bad if not worse than the ' stereo typical contractors' when it comes to ripping people off.- a serious lack of good customer service is evident in this industry.

You see, wherever there’s a knowledge gap between the people providing a service and the people buying it, you’ll always find dishonest practices and people taking advantage of their superior understanding. You’ll also find service providers who don’t know what they don’t know, but know more than the client knows and they talk a lot of 'techno speak' whilst all the while doing nothing and charging for it!

So what and who can you trust?

The things the 'dishonest companies' charge for is ridiculous- If you see detailed and broken down lists of services these companies charge for in the list below BUYER BEWARE:

Setting up a business Google places
Setting up a Google Plus account
Setting up a Google adwords campaign
Setting up a Facebook pages
Setting up Twitter
Linking Twitter to Facebook
Managing Twitter account to know who follows and unfollows

I will tell you the truth ... these things in reality takes 10 minutes maximum!

At Trusted we do this for our clients for FREE .. yet I have seen many other companies charge $100's for each item on the list ( I have seen up to $600 to set up a Google places page and 'manage it' ..which outrageous!).

Also an issue can be that the companies set up these accounts and have control of them - with their own passwords and emails...therby shutting YOU out of your own online presence...how can this affect you? We have clients at Trusted who realized they were getting hosed by companies that 'set up and managed their Google places' ..when they ended the contract they were barred access to their accounts and were not able to add videos, pictures or even respond to reviews from the public on their own Google page ...because the accounts were not set up under their email and the company has not responded to multiple attempts to get hold of them and rectify the situation..because they don't CARE about the businesses, they care about the money and how long they can get away with taking it ..thats all!

Check out these 12 Warning signs on SEO companies here for some tips.

At Trusted we suggest that you deal with these businesses in the same way you should deal with a contractor...

1. Ask for 20 x references ( and call the businesses - do your due dilligence!!!! It could save you $1000's)

2. Ask them what you can do yourself quickly and easily to help your SEO and online presence. If they are unwilling to answer this move on!

The same go's for website companies....I have seen websites that have cost businesses $12-15,000 that are horrible, badly designed templates...I know of companies that charge a fortune for websites and after sales service and ' extras' ..yet they source all of their workers from 3rd World countries where the workers are paid less in a month then they charge the clients an hour!

If you are a small business that doesn't have / require online purchasing on your website, then you don't need to have a bespoke fancy website..and if you are paying more than $3000 for it ..you really have to ask why!

Want examples?

These websites from TRIO web Design cost less than $3000.....

Decora Homes

Saskatoon Woodworks

3 n 1 Construction