Martin Lowery Charges $5,000 for SEO — Here’s What Happened

Important note: Eric Skeldon didn’t pay me a dime here to help him with SEO. I wanted to make sure there was zero real or perceived bias here in our analysis.

I’m sharing this because I’ve seen the same situation repeat itself with local service business owners far too often. Money changes hands. Promises are made. Results never materialize. And when accountability is requested, clarity disappears.

A business owner named Eric came to me asking for help with SEO. As part of my standard diagnostic, I asked a simple question:

What does your website rank for, and what did you pay for it?

Eric told me he had paid $5,000 to someone named Martin Lowery to build a website and handle SEO.

When I reviewed the site, there was no ambiguity. The website did not rank for any meaningful keywords. There was no organic traffic, no measurable visibility, and no evidence that SEO work had produced results.

So I asked the next obvious question:

What exactly was delivered for the $5,000?

That question was never answered.

What happened next

I asked for objective proof: keyword rankings, traffic data, SEO reports, or any form of measurable deliverables. None were provided.

Instead, responses referenced “work being done” without evidence. As follow-ups continued, the conversation shifted away from outcomes and toward explanations involving timing, misunderstandings, and external circumstances.

Over time, the discussion became less about SEO deliverables and more about tone, patience, and intent. Multiple follow-ups were made over an extended period, including attempts through third parties to get a clear response.

Health issues and personal hardships were cited as part of the explanation. While those situations may be real and serious, they still did not answer the original business question:

What work was delivered, and what results were achieved, for the $5,000 paid?

No rankings were produced.
No traffic data was shared.
No SEO reports were provided.

Eventually, Eric stated plainly that he wanted his $5,000 returned, because he could not identify any value that had been delivered.

There is an email record spanning multiple months documenting requests for accountability and attempts to resolve this. The facts are based on written communication and direct involvement.

The core issue never changed

Strip away the explanations, the delays, and the emotional framing, and the issue remains simple:

The original question (what exactly was delivered for $5,000) was never answered.

This is the same pattern I see repeatedly when SEO goes wrong for local businesses. Not malicious intent. Not dramatic confrontation. Just a complete absence of measurable outcomes.

Why this matters for local business owners

Most people in these situations do not think of themselves as unethical. Many genuinely believe they are helping.

But belief is not the same as results.

In local services, SEO is operational. A website either ranks or it doesn’t. SEO either generates visibility and leads or it doesn’t. Outcomes are measurable.

Good intentions do not pay payroll.
Stories do not replace metrics.

What you should ask before hiring anyone for SEO

If you are considering hiring someone for SEO or a website, you should be able to get clear answers to the following before money changes hands:

What keywords will I realistically rank for?
How will success be measured?
What proof will I receive, and how often?

What happens if results are not delivered?

Vague assurances are not a strategy. Confidence, charisma, or shared beliefs are not substitutes for competence.

If someone cannot clearly explain what you are paying for (both before and after the engagement) that is a red flag.

A note on Eric and why this matters to me

Eric is someone I deeply respect because of his bold and sincere Christian faith. I’m always proud of friends who walk that path openly. It’s the same reason we go out of our way for friends like Brady Sticker (founder of ChurchCandy Marketing), Phil Mershon, and Michael Stelzner. When people lead with integrity, we show up for them.

With Michael Stelzner (CEO & Founder at Social Media Examiner)

This is part of a larger pattern

Here are some other documented cases involving SEO misrepresentation, vague deliverables, and accountability failures. The goal is pattern recognition.

Local business owners deserve transparency, measurable outcomes, and honest expectations. When those are missing, the results are predictable and expensive.

Ask hard questions early. Your business depends on it.