As someone who’s been very much catching up on a lot of SEO goodness lately, Jeremy’s post definitely rings true to me. Here’s the main excerpt:

SEO’s are like used car salesmen…

1) They can always sell you something.

2) They can never guarantee results.

3) They can not be held accountable.

4) They have a answer for everything.

5) All the magic happens behind the curtains - they cant tell you what they are actual doing because that would be getting to much into the secret sauce.

6) Anyone can be a SEO.

Here is my advice to anyone thinking about getting SEO services:

Concentrate on building a quality service. One that people will actually WANT TO BOOKMARK and comeback to.

…

That’s not to say there aren’t any good SEOs. But the ones below “very good” are a dime a dozen. I also think that in extreme cases what applies to lawyers can also apply to SEOs: A good SEO may not be able to help you, but a bad SEO can ruin your life