Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.
They charged a premium price, but they didn’t meet my expectations. While I don’t mind paying a premium price to get a premium service, this was not the case with BlueHat. I’ve learned that sometimes expensive does not mean good. I didn't receive any service whatsoever. Instead of optimizing the whole thing, I now have negative results. My rankings have dropped, but it’s not because of more competition—I’m targeting the same area with a different company, and I see improved results there.
During the first month, there was a huge drop in every aspect of the optimization. While I’m not an expert, I know a little about SEO. When I started voicing my concerns, either by email or by phone, they said “Oh, that’s natural. It’s supposed to be like that.” They told me there would be a little drop and then it will increase, but it just kept on dropping. Towards the end, things stabilized near the point where it was before, but lower. My overall visibility is down. My rankings are down. The keywords that they worked on are down. They acknowledged everything that I told them, but they didn’t do anything about it.
It comes down to reports that they didn’t send and their failure to give me answers. They kept saying I should see results and that “It’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.” However, as I was getting closer and closer to the end of the term, their answers started to change. They said they did a lot of work and needed more time. This was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had—it was like they just sold me stuff over the phone.
How was project management handled?
In the beginning, they would say, “Yeah, you’re absolutely right,” when I had issues or complaints. Later, it became difficult to get hold of them. Nobody called me back, and there were no emails. In the end, I’m still waiting for an answer from a person who works there. He didn’t get back to me. He doesn’t reply to any of my messages. They took my money and that’s it.
My contract was only for four months, but they charged me for five. When I called them about it, somebody from billing said, “I need to check it, and I’ll get back to you.” Nobody got back to me, and I’m still waiting. I’ve called several times and the next time I called, the whole billing department was busy. I’m just being ignored completely. The fifth month was pre-authorized, so I haven’t been able to recover that money. Since they’re not doing anything, I’ve taken it directly to my credit card company.
Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?
During our initial conversations, they were really pleasant. Their sales guy was really good and convincing. Throughout the whole thing, their sales team was good, but I guess that’s the only thing.
In what specific areas can they improve?
They portray themselves as such a good company, but I had a horrible experience. I’ve been doing business for quite a while now, and I just can’t believe that I’m the only one with this feedback. I did manage to find some bad reviews with similar feedback. I’m in the service industry as well, and I’m baffled how they have only good reviews.
What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?
I just want people to not have the same experience that I had. That’s the only reason why I’m doing this review—I’m trying to prevent other customers from getting burned like I got burned. If somebody was just starting out and looking to raise their business, that person would go bankrupt.
Bluehat Marketing's work improves the site's ranking on Google and significantly increases leads. Their account manager's proactive and consistently takes the time to learn about the industry. They communicate frequently to stay up to date on tasks.