In 2014 I received a SPAM email from an Elizabeth Mulligan representing a company called DLH Web Consultancy Ltd that was based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire UK, specifically: DLH Web Consultancy Ltd based at Boho One – F05, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, England TS2 1AE, owned by a Stephen Hall. Updated April 9th, 2020.
Note: Elizabeth Mulligan was the Marketing Director at DLH Web Consultancy Ltd at the time.
Sometimes email SPAM annoys me, so I review it to add new content to a site for SEO testing.
I added the DLH Web Consultancy review as a WordPress comment (with title “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd Review” as an SEO test) to one of the articles on one of my sites, (see http://web.archive.org/web/20141027201054/http://stallion-theme.co.uk/google-consultant/ for what it looked like in October 2014, a few weeks after adding the comment SEO test: the comment is at the very bottom).
I used the new comment for two things. To teach webmasters interested in SEO how to add relevant content to existing WordPress Posts via comments and to see how a WordPress SEO Theme feature would perform. My WordPress SEO theme is the only theme available which creates stand alone webpages from WordPress comments and using an email SPAMMERS email and website review for the SEO test gave me some quick content to play with.
After gaining high Google SERPs related to “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd Review” (which I had no idea would happen, Google alone decides how it ranks content) it generated a response from the owner of the business Stephen Hall.
Stephen Hall wasn’t happy, he even threatened me via Facebook with a negative SEO attack (see screenshot below) which he followed through on!
Not only did he make a negative SEO threat, he followed through on the threat by adding a Blog Post to DLH Web Consultancy Ltds website. Unfortunately I didn’t take a screenshot of the webpage at the time, but you can see the Blog Post existed at http://web.archive.org/web/20141227090843/http://www.webconsultancy.co.uk/blog/ it was on the site on 11th December 2014. That’s 4 days before I shared the screenshot of the negative SEO attack threats via Facebook (see above).
Correction: I thought I took the screenshot of the above Facebook negative SEO threat by Stephen Hall in December 2014 to share with the comment I made on December 15th, 2014. I thought I added the screenshot on the same day I shared the text, I didn’t take the screenshot in December 2014, it wasn’t until May 26th 2017 AFTER another negative SEO attack in the form of a Google defamation claim. You can see the archive version of the comment on February 2017 http://web.archive.org/web/20170214075731/http://stallion-theme.co.uk:80/google-consultant/ didn’t have a screenshot, I added it much later.
On December 11th, 2014 Elizabeth Mulligan (the unsolicited email SPAMMER) made a comment on my website which I approved: I believe in a right to reply.
You can find the original comment (archived) at http://web.archive.org/web/20141215082044/http://stallion-theme.co.uk:80/google-consultant/, it’s currently located at DLH Web Consultancy Ltd Review Response.
You should note her comment included a link to http://www.webconsultancy.uk/a-response-to-seo-dave/ which at the time (December 11th, 2014) attacked me (I sometimes use the nickname SEO Dave) and included my name (David Law), full home address and home telephone number.
Stephen Hall had started to carry out the negative SEO attack he threatened me with via Facebook, sharing personal details like this with malicious intent is called doxxing, it’s a possible crime in the UK!
I wonder if the police would consider that harassment had I reported it?
Harassment 1: Made a threat via Facebook.
Harassment 2: Carried out the threat via a Blog Post.
There was a course of conduct intended to intimidate/harass me!
I forgot all about Web Consultancy until I noticed another SPAM email from what appeared to be the same company (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238). They appear to change their business name and sometimes their URL, but always the same business location (same area, this time 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB and same people).
Correction: I mixed up the timelines above, prior to seeing the next SPAM email I’d updated the WordPress Comments on October 1st, 2016 as part of a general update of content. It was on October 1st, 2016 I noticed what appeared to be a business name change and updated two WordPress Comments to keep them accurate.
If I understand things correctly, (I’m not a lawyer) technically/legally these are different businesses: “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd” is NOT technically/legally “Web Consultancy Group Ltd” even though they were run at the same address and by the same people and offer the same web design and SEO services in Middlesbrough. At the time 100% of the ordinary shares were owned by Stephen Hall.
I believe this is how they managed to successfully generate a Lumen defamation complaint to Google (see below). I’d made the honest mistake of stating “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd” (the old business, now closed) is the same business as “Web Consultancy Group Ltd” (the new business).
Note: The above is an educated guess, (there’s no way to confirm the above via Google), there doesn’t appear to be anything else Google could consider libelous, so if it’s not the “AKA Web Consultancy Group” honest mistake which Google blocked the content for, I’ve no idea what the issue was.
Web Consultancy Group LTD Defamation Complaint
I checked how my review comment was performing in Google and found a “Defamation Complaint to Google” (https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/13378139), Google had removed the comment and some of the other comments related to the article from Google!!!
Legal Complaint
The articles contain several falsehoods. It relates to the company called DLH Web Consultancy Ltd, which is a totally separate company also this company has also legally closed. The author has, however, updated the articles to feature “AKA Web Consultancy Group”. As it is a different company and has nothing to do with the matters he refers to we believe this to be prejudicial against our business and request that they be removed from the website. We have contacted Fasthosts, where the server is and they provided us with an email for the host master, 3 email have since been sent with no reply. Further, the articles feature personal attacks against a lady, [redacted]and seek to embarrass her. The publication of certain information by [redacted] has caused [redacted] a great deal of anxiety and stress. Fact is, I work at Web Consultancy Group Limited, this is a totally separate company and has never been known as DLH Web Consultancy. This s …
This is far from honest.
Stephen Hall did NOT send me 3 emails regarding the “AKA Web Consultancy Group” error, I did receive a lot of unsolicited SPAM emails from his businesses. I still have 5 of the unsolicited SPAM emails (in my inbox, so they can be verified by an expert) which I plan to send to the police as part of an harassment investigation.
Update March 17th, 2020: I Contacted Fasthosts and asked the following question via their support system.
Subject: Do You Keep Records of Contact Email Address Requests?
I’ve been a content Fasthosts customer for quite sometime (not had any issues with your service), so I’m hoping you can help me out tracking down some information to make me a very happy and very loyal Fasthosts customer.
If someone contacts Fasthosts asking for a contact email address for a domain I assume you supply the email address. I’m hoping you also keep a copy of these types of requests and can confirm either way if anyone asked for a contact email address for the domain stallion-theme.co.uk between October 1st and November 16th 2016?
If there was a request, any further details you can supply would be very helpful.
I need the above info for a legal issue (it’s important).
I appreciate you might be short staffed during the Covid-19 crisis, which is why I haven’t gone with an official Subject Access Request to gain this information. If no one requested an email address that’s all I need to know, if there was a request that’s also useful to know.
Thanks in advance.
David Law
I made the accidental defamation edits to the DLH Web Consultancy review comments on October 1st, 2016 and the Web Consultancy Ltd employee created the Google defamation report on November 16th, 2016. Therefore the contact email address request must have been between those dates if the Web Consultancy employee didn’t lie to Google to trick them into blocking my review comments.
I received a reply from Fasthosts several hours later:
Response By Email (Catherine) (17/03/2020 01.18 AM)
Hello DavidChecking on the account history, we haven’t got any request asking for an email address from your account or domain. This is also the first ticket you have created so far.
Best regards,
Catherine
Fasthosts Customer Support
Seems the Web Consultancy employee who made the Google defamation report lied to Google about contacting Fasthosts for my contact email address!
Update February 24th, 2020: I’ve uploaded ALL 5 unsolicited SPAM emails to Unsolicited Bulk Emails and Fake Unsubscribe Links in eml format, with compelling evidence some of the unsubscribe links were fake!
Though DLH Web Consultancy Ltd is a separate limited business to Web Consultancy Group Limited, they were both owned by Stephen Hall, had the same people working for them, used the same Google review page, used the same website content and sent the same unsolicited email SPAM!
Basically Stephen Hall stopped trading web design and SEO services in Middlesbrough via DLH Web Consultancy Ltd and started trading web design and SEO services in Middlesbrough via Web Consultancy Group Limited.
My only error was believing DLH Web Consultancy Ltd had been RENAMED Web Consultancy Group Limited, that’s it, everything else I wrote was true.
Due to the successful Google defamation claim I no longer had the relevant Web Consultancy review SERPs, (also lost other SERPs related to the phrase “Google Consultant”) the people behind DLH Web Consultancy Ltd (Stephen Hall) had managed to hide a bad review!
See How I Fell Foul of a Google Defamation Claim for more details.
SEO training tip: Be very careful when reviewing limited companies, really annoying having your content blocked from Google organic search!
New Web Consultancy Group Ltd Review
Let’s write a new Web Consultancy Group Ltd review, but this time as an article rather than a comment and for the new company.
As it happens earlier today (wrote this in May 2017) I received another SPAM email from the new business Web Consultancy Group LTD from Elizabeth Mulligan: so she is still working in Middlesbrough for the new business with the very similar business name and still email SPAMMING. This is one of the 5 SPAM emails I still have a copy of in 2020, so glad I didn’t delete them all.
If these people were even close to competent they’d have searched through their b2b-data.co.uk SPAM email databases (update 2020: that domain no longer has content, but it was owned by Web Consultancy in 2017) and removed ALL .co.uk email addresses owned by me (David Law). Talk about idiots!
Email Title: New Enquiry
Hello, my name is Elizabeth.
I didn’t want to cold call your business as we all find that annoying if
we’re busy; instead I was hoping this email would make it possible to
arrange a quick chat at your convenience?I’m hoping to discuss how, if at all, you would like to improve your website?
I’m sure you receive many emails offering similar, meaning I need to try
and stand out. I’m from North Yorkshire, I pride myself on the service we
provide, I always go the extra mile for customers and I have many testimonials
to back this up.I’d like to offer you a free in-depth website audit that will cover many important
factors on how to improve your conversion. This audit is completely free and will
benefit any website owner, all reports will be sent directly to you via email.If you would like to see the report on your website just let me know and they will
be run straight away (no obligation).Kind Regards,
Elizabeth Mulligan
Web Consultancy
21 Gosford Street
Middlesbrough
North Yorkshire
TS2 1BB01642 049 410
# www.webconsultancyltd.co.ukWe always strive to email businesses that we feel could benefit from our services; unsubscribe
your details will be blocked from our server permanently, you will not receive any future correspondence.
This is an unsolicited email to an email address from a domain I no longer use (it doesn’t have a website, redirects to another site). This is a clear cut unsolicited SPAM email, they’ve probably harvested the email address.
Here’s the email with the header information, unmodified.
X-Account-Key: account4
X-UIDL: 0000f5604abbaf9d
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
X-Mozilla-Keys: $label1
Return-Path: <bounce@b2b-data.co.uk>
X-Original-To: orders@google-adsense-templates.co.uk
Delivered-To: orders.googleadsense@s166-62-84-189.secureserver.net
Received: from puck1190.dedicatedpanel.com (puck1190.dedicatedpanel.com [85.25.155.26])
by s166-62-84-189.secureserver.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9BF5EC031E
for <orders@google-adsense-templates.co.uk>; Tue, 23 May 2017 04:28:47 -0700 (MST)
Received: from b2b-data.co.uk (puck1190 [85.25.155.26])
by puck1190.dedicatedpanel.com (Postfix) with ESMTPA id C97ED19C854
for <orders@google-adsense-templates.co.uk>; Tue, 23 May 2017 11:03:01 +0000 (UTC)
To: orders@google-adsense-templates.co.uk
Subject: New Enquiry
Message-ID: <71f36ac263575568b8b5b17926232298@b2b-data.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 09:15:09 +0000
From: "Elizabeth Mulligan" <elizabeth@webconsultancyltd.co.uk>
Reply-To: elizabeth@webconsultancyltd.co.uk
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer-LID: 14
List-Unsubscribe: <http://b2b-data.co.uk/interspire/unsubscribe.php?M=550964&C=38560f8bf82a8e76ef5330c75af2d9e4&L=14&N=20>
X-Mailer-RecptId: 550964
X-Mailer-SID: 20
X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset="UTF-8"; boundary="b1_c3ac0f5b69700447817345cdb00003c3"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-Antivirus: Avast (VPS 170523-0, 23/05/2017), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean
--b1_c3ac0f5b69700447817345cdb00003c3
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Hello, my name is Elizabeth.
I didn’t want to cold call your business as we all find that annoying if
we're busy; instead I was hoping this email would make it possible to
arrange a quick chat at your convenience?
I'm hoping to discuss how, if at all, you would like to improve your
website?
I'm sure you receive many emails offering similar, meaning I need to try
and stand out. I'm from North Yorkshire, I pride myself on the service we
provide, I always go the extra mile for customers and I have many
testimonials
to back this up.
I'd like to offer you a free in-depth website audit that will cover many
important
factors on how to improve your conversion. This audit is completely free
and will
benefit any website owner, all reports will be sent directly to you via
email.
If you would like to see the report on your website just let me know and
they will
be run straight away (no obligation).
Kind Regards,
Elizabeth Mulligan
Web Consultancy
21 Gosford Street
Middlesbrough
North Yorkshire
TS2 1BB
01642 049 410
www.webconsultancyltd.co.uk
We always strive to email businesses that we feel could benefit from our
services;
http://b2b-data.co.uk/interspire/unsubscribe.php?M=550964&C=38560f8bf82a8e76ef5330c75af2d9e4&L=14&N=20
your details will be blocked from our server permanently, you will not
receive any future correspondence.
--b1_c3ac0f5b69700447817345cdb00003c3
Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
Hello, my name is Elizabeth.<br /><br />I didn’t want to cold call
your business as we all find that annoying if<br />we're busy; instead I
was hoping this email would make it possible to<br />arrange a quick chat
at your convenience?<br /><br />I'm hoping to discuss how, if at all, you
would like to improve your website?<br /><br />I'm sure you receive many
emails offering similar, meaning I need to try<br />and stand out. I'm from
North Yorkshire, I pride myself on the service we<br />provide, I always go
the extra mile for customers and I have many testimonials<br />to back this
up.<br /><br />I'd like to offer you a free in-depth website audit that
will cover many important<br />factors on how to improve your conversion.
This audit is completely free and will<br />benefit any website owner, all
reports will be sent directly to you via email.<br /><br />If you would
like to see the report on your website just let me know and they will<br
/>be run straight away (no obligation).<br /><br />Kind Regards, <br
/><strong>Elizabeth Mulligan</strong><br />Web Consultancy<br />21 Gosford
Street<br />Middlesbrough<br />North Yorkshire<br />TS2 1BB<br /><br
/>01642 049 410<br />www.webconsultancyltd.co.uk<br /><br />We always
strive to email businesses that we feel could benefit from our services; <a
href="http://b2b-data.co.uk/interspire/unsubscribe.php?M=1&C=c1304cf4767c7882b3045bb85de0f930&L=1&N=3">unsubscribe</a><br
/>your details will be blocked from our server permanently, you will not
receive any future correspondence.<br />
<img
src="http://b2b-data.co.uk/interspire/open.php?M=550964&L=14&N=20&F=H&image=.jpg"
height="1" width="10"></body>
</html>
--b1_c3ac0f5b69700447817345cdb00003c3--B2B Data Review
Interestingly if you check the domain b2b-data.co.uk (the B2B Data domain is to unsubscribe users from the unsolicited SPAM emails) it appears to be owned by the same people. Note the copyright notice: Web Consultancy Group trading as b2b-data.co.uk.
Email SPAM Tip: Never click those Unsubscribe links, many email SPAMMERS use them to confirm your email address is active. An active email address is more valuable to an unsolicited email SPAMMER, they know you check your email!
Best thing to do with SPAM email like this is mark it as Junk, or if you want to report it go to the ICO website https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ and make a complaint.
So they not only send out unsolicited SPAM emails, they sell the ability to send unsolicited SPAM emails to others.
If you were (no longer available in 2020) considering using B2B Data to SPAM potential leads consider my email address is on the list and if an email catches my attention I might review it. Also note the quality of the email addresses, the email address they are sending SPAM emails to is from a domain that’s not had a website for over 5 years.
In my opinion a company that uses SPAM email are low quality and should be avoided like the plague, what do you think of Web Consultancy Group LTD tactics in gaining business leads and attempting to remove bad reviews?
Harassment Claim Over a Website Review!
Looks like Stephen Hall is in the process of closing down Web Consultancy Group Limited (which has been renamed to Web Consultancy Ltd) and plans to trade under a separate limited company called Visibility Group Ltd which now owns all the ordinary shares of Web Consultancy Ltd. Stephen Hall owns all the ordinary shares of visibility Group Ltd.
Seems he is trying once again to remove my honest review of his unethical business practices (his other two businesses have sent out unsolicited SPAM emails) so his new business isn’t associated with this negative review.
For the record I have never accused Visibility Group Ltd of doing anything wrong, it’s a separate business legally, personally I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole due to his other businesses history, buyer beware.
Stephen Hall became the sole ordinary shareholder of Visibility Group Ltd in August 2019, I’ve had no emails from Visibility Group Ltd. The only possible contact is a Facebook Direct Message from a Beth Web on the 21st August 2019 who said they are from Web consultancy. That’s 1 day before Stephen Hall became the sole ordinary shareholder of Visibility Group Ltd and the Facebook Direct Message was pleasant enough (I didn’t reply).
So I’ve had NO direct dealings with Visibility Group Ltd between August 2019 and February 2020. There was a new comment on my website from a Mr Wednesday on September 16th 2019 who referenced Visibility Group Ltd. I have no control over what people comment, (I do NOT know who Mr Wednesday is) of course I own this site so try to moderate comments to keep them honest.
For example Mr Wednesday’s comment incorrectly said “Web Consultancy have, once more, changed their identity. They are now going under Visibility Group Ltd”. Because this is wrong, I edited the comment and added a legal notice that Visibility Group Ltd is NOT Web Consultancy Group Ltd. Had I left the comment as is, it might have allowed Stephen Hall to once again claim defamation, crisis avoided other than he is trying again anyway: https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/20095391/ – sent on February 13th 2020.
I suspect Stephen Hall believes I was targeting Visibility Group Ltd SERPs after Mr Wednesday’s comment. I wasn’t in September 2019, but after a visit from two police officers in December 2019 I added the screenshot above of the Visibility Group Ltd Company House page since from my perspective Stephen Hall is harassing me in an attempt to intimidate me into removing the honest reviews of his other two businesses.
- He has threatened me with a negative SEO attack over Facebook!
- Carried out a negative SEO attack by posting my name, home address and telephone number on one of his business Blogs!
- Made two Google Defamation claims with misleading information: did he really send three emails to me?
- Made a 3rd Google Defamation claim https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/20095391/!
- Has accused me of harassment and possibly stalking (see 3rd defamation claim) to the police!
All I’ve done is write WordPress Comments and Posts on my OWN website detailing unethical business practices. His earlier businesses used unsolicited SPAM email, one of his business websites sold a database of 1 million email addresses for others to SPAM: what more of a smoking gun do the police need to see his business practices are unethical?
In December 2019 I had a casual chat with two Skegness police officers on the front/side garden of my property about Stephen Hall. According to the two Skegness police officers he was accusing me of harassment over Facebook. The two officers didn’t have a clue about this website review and didn’t provide enough information to be helpful.
The two police officers did NOT mention stalking and did NOT give any warning to stop doing anything (they didn’t even know I had a website) as Stephen Hall claims in his latest defamation claim at https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/20095391/!
At the time I thought it was OTT an silly and wrote a new blog posts about it with a silly meme like image (see below).
So even in December 2019 I didn’t take this seriously, I wouldn’t use a silly meme if I thought this was serious!. I couldn’t believe the police would be so gullible and be willing to waste police and possibly court time on something so frivolous as a business owner trying to stop free speech by removing a negative website review of a business involved in unsolicited email SPAM!
I’ve since (February 14th 2020) had a voluntary interview under caution with a 3rd Skegness Police officer and in hindsight I suspect the first two police officers misunderstood what was happening: the 3rd police officer knew nothing about Facebook messages or the negative SEO threat made by Stephen hall via Facebook.
I’m finally taking Stephen Hall seriously, I will be looking into a counter claim he is harassing me!
The police officer I spoke to under caution clearly didn’t understand much about Google or SEO and didn’t appear to understand what unsolicited SPAM email is: his questions etc.. indicated he believed the emails I’ve reviewed aren’t SPAM because I might be interested in the services offered in the emails, I could unsubscribe by the provided link and he believed the employees had specifically chosen my email address to email to and not via a large database! WoW, just WoW!
Those of us who work in SEO (search engine opimisation) know we have ZERO influence over what Google indexes and how they rank in the Google organic SERPs. This webpage could become number 1 in Google for any phrase on this webpage or not be indexed at all.
Is Reviewing Several Unsolicited SPAM Emails from a Business a Form of Harassment?
IF I understood the 3rd police officer correctly the issue with my conduct is I’ve reviewed more than one email from a business owned by Stephen Hall making this a pattern, had I limited my unsolicited SPAM email review to just one email it wouldn’t be harassment, but because I’ve included more than two it’s harassment. By this sort of logic an investigative journalist who writes two or more articles about a person or business could be considered as harassing the person/business!
Think about all those journalists who have written dozens of negative newspaper articles about Donald Trump and Boris Johnson etc… are they all guilty of harassment or is it I’m a special case because I’m good at SEO?
I’m not a legal expert, but that sounds like an interesting interpretation of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
First problem with this is not one of the emails were sent by Stephen Hall himself, so how is this harassing him?
I mention Stephen Hall as the owner of the businesses and the person who threatened me with a negative SEO attack, at the time of writing the reviews that was all true. I’m using his name now, how else would I identify him, is this more harassment?
If Skegness police do decide to charge me for harassment, unless there’s a court order ordering me to be silent I plan to Blog about EVERYTHING which happens and will be contacting the press so see if they are interested in a story about silencing the truth about scumbag email SPAMMERS.
I’ve no idea if I’ve been lazy in my writing and claimed he sent the emails: I’m going to check, if I have I’ll edit appropriately as Stephen Hall hasn’t sent me one email. Consider I wasn’t expecting to be accused of harassment over a few reviews and for the police to take such a frivolous claim seriously, so I wasn’t thinking about if technically what I wrote could be construed incorrectly as harassment!
Update February 24th, 2020: I didn’t find anything which read like I said Stephen Hall sent the SPAM emails.
I’m shocked it’s got this far, right now the Skegness police officer who interviewed me under caution is trying to build an harassment case against me! I now know how those who are taken to court over silly Tweets feel, talk about hindering free speech!
Unsolicited Email SPAM Timeline
Anyway this is what I reviewed, there’s two unsolicited SPAM emails sent by Elizabeth Mulligan:
September 10th, 2014 – DLH Web Consultancy Ltd SPAM Review
The first one which I didn’t screenshot was sent in September 2014 when she worked for DLH Web Consultancy Ltd and I added the email as text as a comment (this isn’t the original comment, it’s been moved and edited multiple times). That was the first review of an email from one of Stephen Hall’s employees.
Update February 24th, 2020: I made and uploaded a screenshot.
I still have this SPAM email in my inbox and would like to share it with the police: Update March 2020: the police have a copy of the SPAM emails sent by Web Consultancy.
May 23rd, 2017 – Web Consultancy Group Ltd SPAM Review
The second one I did screenshot (image below), this SPAM email was sent on May 23rd, 2017 (I reviewed it the day it arrived) when she worked for Web Consultancy Group Ltd.
I still have this SPAM email in my inbox and would like to share it with the police.
May 28th, 2017 – Web Consultancy Group Ltd SPAM Review
One email by Louise Murray sent on March 27th, 2017 (I reviewed it on May 28th, 2017) presumably she worked for Web Consultancy Group Ltd at the time.
I still have this SPAM email in my inbox and would like to share it with the police.
May 28th, 2017 – Web Consultancy Group Ltd SPAM Review
One email by Mark Waller on May 4th, 2017 (I reviewed it on May 28th, 2017) presumably he worked for Web Consultancy Group Ltd at the time.
I have another SPAM email by Mark Waller on June 6th, 2017, but I haven’t reviewed it.
Update February 24th, 2020: I made and uploaded a screenshot, this SPAM email includes a fake unsubscribe link!
I still have both of these SPAM emails in my inbox and would like to share them with the police.
There was other unsolicited SPAM emails I deleted before I realised I was going to have a problem with Stephen Hall’s business dealings: I didn’t recognise an issue with Stephen Hall until around March 2017 after the Google defamation issue, that’s when I started saving SPAM emails from his employees, but even then I didn’t search thoroughly through my SPAM folders, so could have missed lots.
I would love to hear from others how this might be deemed harassment?
David Law
Website - SEO Gold Services
Update May 2017: Please note this review only relates to the business (now closed) called DLH Web Consultancy Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08239559) located at Boho One – F05, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, England TS2 1AE and NOT the business Web Consultancy Group Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238) located at 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB.
Elizabeth Mulligan from the UK web design business DLH Web Consultancy Ltd, don’t SPAM email an SEO experts website with an offer related to web design/search engine optimisation services and then ignore their response. Yes, I responded to the email related to a free website report, I really would like to see what I’m doing wrong here SEO wise :-)
This comment is simply a slap in the face to DLH Web Consultancy Ltd based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire UK, in an attempt to gain SERPs related to DLH Web Consultancy Ltd Review and maybe Web Consultancy Middlesbrough or Web Consultancy North Yorkshire or Web Consultancy Review. I don’t like email SPAM.
On August 21st 2014 I received the following email to an @stallion-theme.co.uk email address. I don’t get much email to that domain, so SPAM stands out, some of my other email addresses generate hundreds of SPAM emails a day.
Email SPAM from a Middlesbrough Web Design Company…
Is it just me, or do others get irritated when people say things like “born and bred in the North East of England”? I was born in Derbyshire, but I’m pretty sure there was no breeding program involved.
I responded within an hour with the following:
I’ve waited patiently ever since, about 3 weeks and not had any more SPAM emails or the free no obligation report on my website from DLH Web Consultancy Ltd. I really wanted to know what search engine optimisation strategies I’d got wrong!
DLH Web Consultancy isn’t what you’d call a big player in the web design, web consultancy, SEO industry. Looking at their website it’s the usual poorly built site using a crappy template system that can be used to quickly run out a website for clients that are hard for the client to update themselves.
For DLH Web Consultancy this is great business practice, you convince some small business into buying a website from them and because the updates are so hard to make for someone that lacks HTML skills they get lots of repeat business. Not so great for the small business mind you, they need a small change to the site and DLH Web Consultancy charge them for the privilege (this is why a CMS like WordPress is awesome for small businesses, easy to create and edit content).
I’m reasonably confident of the above because viewing source of their home page (several webpages) shows footprints of this sort of crappy template system (it’s so 1990s web design).
This HTML code is commented out, strongly suggesting a boilerplate template was used and they commented out rather than deleted unused elements:
<div class="wrap">
<div class="circles">
<div class="circle one">
<ul class="circle-data">
<li><img src="/images/idea.png" alt="Idea" /></li>
<li class="heading">Bright Ideas</li>
<li class="text">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,</li>
<li class="text">consectetur adipiscing elit</li>
<li class="text">metus magna, sollici</li>
<li class="text">ullam orper</li>
<li class="text">tique.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Lorem ipsum is the sort of standard text web designers use to fill elements of a HTML design for testing or before they add the clients content. They have 5 blocks of commented code like the above on the homepage.
I’ll also add from an SEO services review perspective their onsite SEO is rubbish, they even use the now defunct keywords meta tags:
<meta name="keywords" content="search engine optimisation, design, development, digital marketing, social media, research, keyword, link building, app design, online marketing, domain, domains, drop, catching, management, ecommerce, ppc, analytics" />That’s funny.
To the Middlesbrough Web Design company that owns this website the above meta tag is ignored by Google.
Checkout their Google PageSpeed Insights Tool results: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.webconsultancy.co.uk%2F&tab=mobile those are some dire numbers!
Web Consultancy Group SEO Results
Hmm, they list some UK brand names of websites they worked with, sites like RightMove.co.uk (popular UK property site), I hope RightMove don’t use them, their SEO is rubbish. Though looking at the SEO behind RightMove could be them as the onpage SEO is non-existent.
Don’t email SPAM me DLH Web Consultancy.
David
I like to see myself as a fair honest person and I do as much as I can to help people who ask for my help. I have a young child and all I do is for her. Times are hard for most in the UK but we do our best.
So when someone calling himself ‘SEO Dave’ goes out of his way to try and damage my reputation and business I wonder why, is it personal? Does he have issues? Or is he just an angry horrible person? To this day I have no idea why he wants to do this to me but I guess I’ll never know his reasons.
Does it make you feel important trying to hurt a young business in the UK? Writing an entire blog post and republishing my email IS a hugely harsh overreaction; Acceptable for a pure Indian spammer out for a quick buck, but way over the top for a genuine business like mine.
My response is http://www.webconsultancy.uk/a-response-to-seo-dave
I guess you will not allow this post on your site as people will see that you are not the nice guy you claim to be…however I’m not bothered if others see my reply on your site, you have seen it and thats what I wanted.
All the best ‘SEO Dave’
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Mulligan from the Middlesbrough Web Design Company DLH Web Consultancy LTD has made my day, I upset an email spammer with one of my comments with the subject “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd Review”: the WordPress comment is ranking high in Google for relevant searches like DLH Web Consultancy Review and looks like their customers are reading my ‘review’, wahoo :-)
Yes, like many who are plagued by email spam I’m an “angry horrible person” when dealing with unethical businesses that use unsolicited email spam. I do not appreciate having to spend valuable time sifting through email spam, it makes me angry, so if my comment has cost the Middlesbrough Web Design company business it was well worth my time writing the comment. Maybe they’ll think twice about using unethical ways to generate customers.
I did like this bit of the comment:
Firstly the above isn’t a blog post, it’s a single comment. The WordPress SEO theme I’ve developed (Stallion Responsive) includes a unique SEO feature which turns reasonable size comments (like this one) into a webpage Google can index and send traffic to (see link bottom right corner of the comment). It’s why DLH have created an article “A response to ‘SEO Dave’” on their Web Consultancy Group website.
Update: 2 1/2 years after the people behind the SPAM email started a negative SEO attack campaign against me including a threat over Facebook by the business owner, sharing my full name, home address and telephone number on their Blog, plus them making a misleading Google defamation report which resulted in the 1st comment being blocked by Google, I eventually created an actual Blog post reviewing ANOTHER unsolicited SPAM email sent by Elizabeth Mulligan from a new business called Web Consultancy Group in 2017.
WOW, that sounds a little racist! If an Indian had email spammed me it would be acceptable to post their spam email, but because you are a white British person (looked Elizabeth Mulligan up, she’s white) it’s OK to send the same sort of spam emails! WOW.
And from the “A response to ‘SEO Dave’” article on your site you wrote:
I didn’t have contact details on this site in August 2014 when you sent the email spam, yet you managed to send me email spam, I wonder how you originally found the domains Whois email address. Sort of suggests you never visited my site, just sent out a blanket SPAM email to thousands of domains you harvested and hoped a few would bite.
Update: In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and most of 2019 the relevant DLH Web Consultancy review comment (first published September 2014) and the Web Consultancy Group Review Blog Post (first published 2017) was on the domain stallion-theme.co.uk, it was moved in December 2019 along with dozens of other SEO reviews to this domain seo-gold.com to support a planned SEO service for plumbers and electricians.
If you desperately wanted to speak to me you could have used the @stallion-theme.co.uk email again. I also don’t hide who I am, nickname SEO Dave, real name David Cameron Law, live in Skegness and my website (own around 130) usually have open Whois data, but like you said this domain stallion-theme.co.uk was set to “non-trading individual” by mistake. Looks like the registrar I use for most .co.uk domains sets domains by default to non-trading individual and I’d not changed it (fixed now), I guess you found my home address etc… (which you published on your Blog to attack me) via my .com domains which all should have accurate and open Whois data.
BTW I don’t run a “website design and services company”. I make most of my money using SEO techniques on my own websites. I used to offer SEO services, but not any more, can make more money using my expertise on websites I own. The only product/service I charge for is one WordPress SEO theme.
Update: the above was true 2014-2019, planning to start an SEO web design service in 2020.
Interesting, looks like I stumbled on an unethical business.
DLH Web Consultancy LTD appears to have changed their online name (again!): when I wrote the comment a few months back their website was branded for their business name and on a different URL (was a .co.uk domain, today it’s a .uk extension).
Clarification: I wrote this comment in December 2014, it appeared they were trying to distance themselves from negative online reviews (not just mine, see below) associated with the first domain and any Google SERPs related to DLH. It was a good plan, had they not started a negative SEO attack on me including the Google defamation reports I might not have noticed the MULTIPLE new unsolicited SPAM emails Elizabeth Mulligan and other employees of Stephen Hall’s new business Web Consultancy Group sent me in 2017. I wouldn’t have had a reason to fully review their new business and to this date all they’d have had to contend with was a few comments ranking well for DLH SERPs. With basic SEO and time they could have easily pushed those comments out of the top 10 in Google for Web Consultancy Group SERPs: I wouldn’t have noticed or cared had that happened.
Checking Google today (December 12th 2014) for “DLH Web Consultancy LTD” and their current website isn’t listed in the top 10.
Number 1: https://companycheck.co.uk/company/08239559/DLH-WEB-CONSULTANCY-LTD/companies-house-data
This lists some basic details about the companies accounts and gives an indication of their accounts.
2013 details…
Cash: £30,456
Net Worth: £20,893
Assets: £30,456
Liabilities: £36,586
Not exactly impressive numbers for a web design company that according to their website DLH have 28 people working for them.
Update October 2016: according to the above website the company called DLH Web Consultancy LTD has dissolved.
Number 2: https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01642224442
This one is a bunch of complaints about a web design business called “Business Search Local” that was cold calling (telephone) to drum up business. Appears to be the previous business name by the person who owns “DLH Web Consultancy LTD”.
The last response is from 27th November 2014 (2 weeks ago) subject “Another ex employee” and the commenter says they used to be called “Indica web design” and have listed the Caller: Web Consultancy Middlesbrough and Call Type: Telemarketer. So if an honest comment they are still cold calling.
I have no reason to do full research on this web design company, I’m never going to hire them. If you are a potential customer of this Middlesbrough web design company I suggest you do your due diligence, reading the above webpage I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole, but I would confirm the details first.
Number 3: This website, (stallion-theme.co.uk) yep, I’m ranking high in Google for the search DLH Web Consultancy LTD. Not bad for a WordPress comment.
From an SEO perspective (my area of expertise), their SEO is rubbish, they aren’t even ranked top 10 for their home page title tag “Web Design Middlesbrough | North East | Web Consultancy” which is really long tail if you search for it all (not even a real SERP and they aren’t listed!)..
Thanks again for making my day Elizabeth Mulligan of Middlesbrough Web Consultancy or whatever you call yourself tomorrow.
Potential customers, buyer beware with when using DLH Web Consultancy – Website Design.
David
Update May 2017: Please note this review only relates to the business (now closed) called DLH Web Consultancy Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08239559) located at Boho One – F05, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, England TS2 1AE and NOT the business Web Consultancy Group Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238) located at 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB.
Stephen Hall owner of the Middlesbrough Web Design Company DLH Web Consultancy LTD sent me this via a Facebook message, clearly a negative SEO attack threat :
Unethical: Stephen Hall Negative SEO Threat
# https://www.facebook.com/StephenHall81 (Stephen Hall FaceBook page)
**********
Looks like I’ve made a new negative SEO nemesis called Stephen Hall owner of DLH Web Consultancy LTD from Middlesbrough :-)
Sent him this via Facebook.
**********
Missed this until today, don’t really use Facebook for business.
Would have helped to say who you are, had to think for a minute to link your name (Stephen Hall) to #####
Just like the site at https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01642224442 I’m not trying to damage your web design business per se, I’m protecting consumers looking for SEO services and web design services from an unethical email spammer. You are sending out unsolicited email, that’s a fact.
If your staff member Elizabeth Mulligan didn’t send out unsolicited emails to email addresses clearly harvested from Whois data I’d not know you exist.
Clarification 2020: The reason I was confident the email Elizabeth Mulligan sent me was unsolicited was the email address she used (I still have the email in my Inbox ready to send to the police). She sent the email to info@stallion-theme.co.uk, I only ever use info@ email addresses for my Whois Contact email address, I NEVER use info for anything important. They either scraped the info@ email address from the Whois Contact email address or they bought it from some other unsolicited SPAM emailer who scraped it. I didn’t give my consent to receive email from DLH Web Consultancy and have NEVER been one of their customers. Which makes the email unsolicited SPAM email: see a good definition at https://www.spamhaus.org/consumer/definition/.
Don’t send out bulk email spam, it’s not nice and wastes ethical business owners time and money dealing with it. People like you are scumbag email spammers and deserve the truth to be told. And for the record I used to be a scumbag forum, guestbook and comment links spammer for backlinks over 10 years ago: got hit bad by Google and stopped link spamming.
Do what I do, admit your business mistakes and move on.
You were unlucky your email spam pissed me off that day and when I asked for the free report it never arrived which irritated me further.
From the DLH Web Consultancy unsolicited email spam:
Where is my free in-depth website audit?
You know I should have reported you for email spamming, there’s legislation about unsolicited email spam.
Ooooh, threatening me with a negative SEO campaign of my name, home address and phone number. WOW you really should research ethical business practices Stephen!
Update: Stephen Hall followed through with the negative SEO attack, they added a Blog post to their business website with my name, home address and phone number.
Please consider the damage to your web design business I did with a single WordPress comment (not even an article) which I haven’t linked to from any other websites, all I did was write one WordPress comment which because I’ve got closing on 15 years of SEO experience it got your SERPs and attention.
Think what could happen if I actually tried to damage your business with negative SEO like you just threatened me with: note I would never cross the line and lie, would only tell the truth about your unethical business practices like threatening a negative SEO campaign. Again shows how unethical you are Stephen Hall!
If you wish to play hardball with an SEO expert with a large network of domains who could swamp your SERPs (not one listing, dozens), feel free to roll the dice, it would make for an interesting negative SEO test (would only tell the truth). I wouldn’t waste my time damaging your business for the sake of it, but as a negative SEO test it has SEO value and as you are a business owner with no ethics (you’ve threatened to damage my business using negative SEO techniques for telling the truth) it couldn’t happen to a nicer person or web design business.
Update: I didn’t do any of the above in 2014, 2015 or 2016. In 2017 after he managed to remove my DHL Web Consultancy Review from Google I changed my review from a WordPress Comment to a WordPress Post (these are easier to SEO) and replicated the review on two other domains as backups in case it’s removed again: he’s tried to remove them again, but failed.
I’ll have to write a new SEO tutorial now targeting negative SEO SERPs like these and if you do follow through with your negative SEO threat use you as a case study:
Update: Haven’t done this.
Negative SEO SERPs – monthly traffic to the right.
negative seo 900
negative seo services 210
negative seo attack 110
negative seo techniques 90
what is negative seo 90
how to do negative seo 70
negative seo service 70
negative seo tactics 50
negative seo guy 30
how to negative seo 30
negative seo backlinks 30
is negative seo illegal 20
buy negative seo 20
negative seo company 20
seo negative keywords 20
seo negative 20
how to stop negative seo 10
negative seo campaign 10
Unlike you I’m very good at SEO and have no problem with anything negative you say about me online, I’ll turn it into a positive. I no longer offer SEO services (offer no services), so not taking on any clients, yes you could damage my reputation with negative SEO (you wouldn’t be the first to try), but as I don’t take on clients who is it going to impact?
The only thing you could potentially damage is my Stallion WordPress SEO theme sales (the only product I sell), but you are already showing how awesome my WP SEO theme is, my theme took your business SERPs with one WordPress comment. Consider what Stallion would do with full on SEO of blog posts, I can use your attack as a sales page (testimonial almost).
Will be posting a copy of this at https://stallion-theme.co.uk/google-consultant/ (originally shared as a comment on my other site until I moved it here during a partial site merger: I’m moving non theme SEO content from the theme site to here).
David Law
Update May 2017: Please note this comment only relates to the business (now closed) called DLH Web Consultancy Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08239559) located at Boho One – F05, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, England TS2 1AE and NOT the business Web Consultancy Group Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238) located at 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB. That being said Stephen Hall (the person who threatened me via Facebook with a negative SEO attack) was/is part of both businesses DLH Web Consultancy Ltd and Web Consultancy Group Ltd.
WOW, just discovered a Defamation Complaint to Google related to the “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd” SERP. If you search for “DLH Web Consultancy Ltd” in Google at the bottom there’s a notice:
In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at LumenDatabase.org.
This links to the Lumen Database Defamation Notice at: https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/13378139
Lumen Defamation Claim to Google
Update: The above defamation claim was made on November 15th, 2016. Took me 4 and a half months to notice the Web Consultancy SERPs drop, that’s how little I cared about Web Consultancy SERPs in 2016/2017.
Not spent much time on this, but appears to be no obvious way to make a counter defamation claim???
Going to have to look into this :-(
David Law
The Middlesbrough based Web Consultancy Group LTD have apparently issued a defamation claim against my review comments resulting in Google removing this website for related SERPs.
Interestingly the reason for noticing the defamation notice is earlier today I received another SPAM email from what appears to be the same people (same town and phone number, different email address/URL linked to).
Middlesbrough Web Consultancy Group AdWords SPAM Email
This unsolicited bulk email was sent to one of my old email addresses attached to the domain which I haven’t used in a while. The email address only receives SPAM.
The SPAM email says they can guarantee first page of Google and makes it sound like a special service. Any fool can guarantee first page Google results when the service offered is Google AdWords management.
I’ve never offered Google AWords as a marketing service, but I can honestly guarantee you Google 1st page results IF you have a large marketing budget to spend on the Google AdWords program. All you do is bid more than any other business for a search phrase and your Google AdWords ad is guaranteed to be near the top for as long as you keep throwing money at it.
I can also guarantee your website URL will be shown on TV, mentioned on the radio and listed in multiple newspapers IF you have a large enough marketing budget to pay for TV ads, radio ads and newspaper ads.
Their “This means I really mean it when I say ‘guarantee’ first page of Google. I know many others make the
same claim but most of the time they have nothing to back it up…” is nothing more than marketing snake oil. They might as well say if you spend enough money on ads your ads will be above all other ads who paid less than you, that’s guaranteed!
Update May 2017 : This SPAM email was sent from the business Web Consultancy Group Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238) located at 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB.
David Law
Another unsolicited SPAM email (pasted below) from Web Consultancy Group Limited regarding Google AdWords Partner Account Management.
If Middlesbrough based Web Consultancy Group LTD are so good at SEO and AdWords management why are they resorting to SPAM emails?
Surely they’d be generating enough free Google traffic from their organic search engine rankings and from their own AdWords campaigns. If they knew what they were doing every penny spent on their own AdWords campaigns would generate a ROI right??? making the use of shady business practices like SPAMMING potential clients unnecessary.
For the record the last two SPAM emails from Web Consultancy Group were to a .co.uk domain I no longer use (not been used as a website for 5+ years, redirects to another site) this suggests they are harvesting .co.uk email addresses from the Whois database to SPAM.
Web Consultancy Group LTD please stop sending SPAM emails, it suggests low quality business.
David
Web Consultancy Group SPAM Email Review
Update May 2017 : This SPAM email was sent from the business Web Consultancy Group Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238) located at 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB.
What interesting reading!
I too got one of the (many) emails you have. Mine was from Louise Murray. When I called to speak to her I was told that she hadn’t worked for the company for about a year!
Hopefully they have given up trying to sell you a service you seem not to need or want!
For anyone looking for how to submit a defamation counter notification to Google, I couldn’t find a specific form, so I used: https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_counternotice?product=websearch to submit a counter defamation claim against this defamation claim: https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/13378139
The form is limited to 1000 characters.
Update May 2017
I understand why the DMCA counter notification failed, I made the error of stating the now dissolved business DLH Web Consultancy Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08239559) located at Boho One – F05, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, England TS2 1AE and the business Web Consultancy Group Ltd (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07924238) located at 21 Gosford St, Middlesbrough, TS2 1BB are the same business/company.
Even though both companies were/are run by Stephen Hall and employed/employ Elizabeth Mulligan, technically/legally they are not the same business/company.
DLH Web Consultancy Ltd no longer exists, so technically/legally the new business Web Consultancy Group Ltd is not responsible for their unethical business practices of the previous business even though they are the same people.
Makes complete sense why Google blocked my one WordPress Comment for defamation, I’d accidentally defamed Web Consultancy Group Ltd.
Lesson learned, I won’t make that mistake again.
The original defamation claim (see below) was made on November 15th, 2016. Took me 4 and a half months to notice the Web Consultancy SERPs drop, that’s how little I cared about Web Consultancy SERPs in 2016/2017.
Lumen Defamation Claim to Google
After realising my mistake I fixed all instances where I’d called the two separate legal entities the same business and haven’t had any issues since.
David
We were considering hiring Web Consultancy Group for a small network of web properties to support several local businesses. Fortunately we stumbled upon your review during the research process and as a group of ethical businesses we would NOT wish to be associated with unethical web developers!
Have you considered reporting them to The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC)? Threatening you via Facebook with a negative SEO attack is an unethical business practice.
Thank you for warning businesses to avoid this company.
N Malik
It looks like Elizabeth Mulligan who worked for DLH Web Consultancy Ltd has forgot to update her LinkedIn profile, she still has her current job listed as “Marketing Director at DLH Web Consultancy” (checked on May 26th, 2017).
Screenshot of Elizabeth Mulligan’s LinkedIn profile May 2017, approx. 6 months after DLH Web Consultancy Ltd dissolved and she presumably seamlessly moved over to working for Web Consultancy Group Ltd.
Elizabeth Mulligan Marketing Director at DLH Web Consultancy
The interesting thing about limited companies is their liabilities are limited (hence the name), when a limited company dissolves it in effect severs the liabilities. So even though Web Consultancy Group Ltd is run by the same people using the same online resources (same domains), they are not liable for anything DLH Web Consultancy Ltd did.
And that’s why Google blocked my DLH Web Consultancy Ltd Review SERPs on defamation grounds.
Lesson learned, be more careful when describing ltd companies.
David Law
Since I’ve received three unsolicited SPAM emails from Web Consultancy Group Ltd, decided it was about time I reported them to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for email SPAM which could result in a fine of up to £5,000 (I wonder if that’s per email?).
I did warn Stephen Hall to let the one bad review go (I was more than content with the original “DHL Web Consultancy Review “as a comment: the DLH company closed in October 2016), but he decided to be a clever bugger and got the review blocked from Google SERPs via a defamation claim.
Anyway, it’s really easy to report unsolicited SPAM emails. Go to https://ico.org.uk/ find the “Report a concern” link and follow the instructions: in brief download a form (doc or PDF format), fill it in and email it back with a copy of the unsolicited SPAM emails.
My email to the Information Commissioner’s Office:
Fingers crossed Web Consultancy Group Ltd will get a large fine in the near future and will stop sending unsolicited SPAM emails.
David
These people will never learn, another SPAM email from Web Consultancy Group, this time from Mark Waller which according to a Mark Waller’s LinkedIn profile is a “Digital Marketing Specialist at Web Consultancy Group”.
The new SPAM email (arrived today) is identical to the one I received from Elizabeth Mulligan around two weeks ago (May 23rd 2017) other than the return email address is mark@webconsultancyltd.co.uk, the senders name is Mark Waller rather than Elizabeth Mulligan.
With all the effort Web Consultancy Group have put into making defamation claims to Google to block my Web Consultancy Group Review SERPs you’d think they’d spend a little time going through their email SPAM list(s) to remove my email address.
These people are totally incompetent!
David
These spammers has left a number of fake reviews on business. They have stolen money from me and nothing delivered. . I had to share my awful experience with these peasants
hi. great reading. i only stumbled on to this review from google. its really just to let you know i had the spam email elizabeth@webconsultancyltd.uk the same as yours so they are still doing. Thanks Donald
So glad I found this review as I was going to invest heavily in a new project and had received the same email as above from Elizabeth Mulligan. I did a cursory Google search on herself and the company and found swathes of information.
Keep your money safe and with a company with morals
Hi,
At least Stephen Hall replied to you…..
I used Web Consultancy Group Ltd ( not to be confused with any other company of a similar name or address ) to develop a new web site for my company. It has turned out OK due to the efforts of a guy who left Web Consultancy when the project was nearly complete.
After that, I had to deal with Mark Waller and things started to go bad. They did not do work that I paid for, and due to an administrative error on our side, we paid a couple of invoices twice ( which they would not refund ).
I also tried speaking with their accounts department ( someone called Elizabeth…. ) but she was plain rude on the ‘phone. In total, we lost over £ 1,000 which is not insignificant, and a real loss – much worse than the inconvenience of spam e-mail ( which I received in the first place ).
I have e-mailed Stephen Hall ( in very reasonable tones ) about this, but received no reply.
Maybe I should post a negative review somewhere ? I am really not tech-savvy, but if I am not to get my money back, I feel like giving it a go.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Web Consultancy Group.
If you want to I’d start with share your experience of Web Consultancy Group with others Google Reviews.
Search Google for “Web Consultancy Group Ltd” and on the right you should see some information about the Web Consultancy Group Ltd business like the screenshot below.
Update: The above Google search no longer finds the relevant Google listing, search for “Web Consultancy – Web Design Middlesbrough & North East” instead finds the same Google listing, but with slightly different details. I know it’s the same Google listing because I added a review and it’s still live.
Web Consultancy Group Google Reviews
Click the Google Reviews link and you can share your Web Consultancy Group Review.
Web Design Review
I took a look at your website design (found via your comments email address). I won’t share your website here since you didn’t add it to your comment.
Can see Web Consultancy Group built the site, when viewing HTML source (in a browser “Right Click” near some text, select “View Page Source”), near the bottom is this code:
<div class="copy-right"><!-- <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.webconsultancy.co.uk" title="Web Design">Web Design</a> By Web Consultancy</p> -->
</div> <!-- end copy-right -->
That’s a text link from every webpage on the site linking to the Web Consultancy domain home page.
It’s been commented out so it’s not an SEO issue now (someone commented it out recently), but I can see via the WayBack Machine (http://archive.org/web/ shows old versions of a site) sometime between May 2017 and September 2017 the current WordPress theme was uploaded to the site and at that time the above link was live (looks like it was live from September 2017 to March 2018).
It’s REALLY annoying when web developers do this (did they have your permission to pilfer your SEO link benefit?) as it passes important SEO benefit to their website damaging the SEO of your website!
Google frowns on this black hat SEO practice, if you agreed to this backlink as part of the deal it should have been nofollow so Google ignores it in it’s ranking algorithm.
Since the link is commented out it’s no longer an SEO issue for you.
When that link was live in September 2017 to March 2018 it was helping the Web Consultancy website rank in Google for the phrase “Web Design” and any related searches. You in effect paid them to help them gain more Google traffic, they should have paid you: some home page links can cost over £1,000 a year to rent.
Looks like they add this to many of their clients sites, search Google for
“Web Design By Web Consultancy”
Including the speech marks.
Your site is still listed because you commented out the link above a couple of weeks ago and Google hasn’t reindexed/reranked your site without the link yet.
I see sites with pretty much the same WordPress design your site uses like:
: https://bluecooling.co.uk/
: https://www.microdex.co.uk/ – Google lists this one as “This site may be hacked.”
: https://interfacecontracts.com/
: https://oxforddentalcentre.co.uk/
: https://www.elementconsultants.co.uk/
The web design is basic, nothing special about it, you could have got something like this done on a place like Fivers for as little as $5 (people will install WordPress and a theme for $5!).
It’s pretty much a WordPress theme with a few associated plugins and a handful of webpages (about, contact…) and images: half a days work for someone who knows what they are doing.
If you paid £1,000 for that I’m in the wrong business (SEO consulting)!
When running these sites (and yours) through Google’s Lighthouse Audits Tool they show a lot of problems.
The page speed results are terrible, your site took over 20 seconds to load, some took over 30 seconds! There’s no performance SEO features at all, your site isn’t even secure (https) which will cause you problems with Google later this year.
They are running a vulnerable version of Jquery: running the risk of the site being hacked.
The image slider (the big images at the top) aren’t even fully mobile responsive: I reviewed a site recently which runs the same slider plugin (Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Slider Plugin) and it’s not a plugin I’d use.
Hmm, did they buy you a license for the Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Slider Plugin?
Basically if I owned any of these websites, I’d delete them and start again, they are pants!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you rely on your site for business it’s not ideal. If it’s just there because you feel you need a website and all your business is generated via other marketing channels, it’s not such a big deal.
David
Thank you so much for your detailed response. As ever with anything to do with the internet, I am overwhelmed by what you say.
I switched hosting from Web Consultancy to our ISP because of the problems I had with Web Consultancy, and it was at that time that I had the link to them removed from the site ( very recently ), which ties in with what you say. I believe that Web Consultancy left us a leaving present because small details had been changed ( like our telephone number ) but i spotted that quickly and got it changed back. The whole issue of Web Consultancy putting their name on our site was never discussed but initially I was not unhappy with this arrangement – because I did not understand the implications.
Our website is more an internet presence for the benefit of existing and potential clients rather than driving new business to us – we have a difficult product / service to market. There was no discussion with Web Consultancy about a license for the “slider”, so I don’t know how we stand with this. I will discuss the security issue that you mention with our ISP. I do want to add more content to the site but your comments make me wonder whether it’s safe to use the existing one, or to start again.
Once again, thank you for enlightening me. I’ll give Web Consultancy one last chance to make amends ( refund our money ). After that doesn’t happen, I will post a Google review.
I checked the Google cache (cache dated March 13th) of your About US page and see your telephone number was wrong, had a 94 instead of 92 in two locations!
Are you saying Web Consultancy Group Ltd modified the telephone number just before you switched hosting from them?
If so that’s really shady for a web design company! That’s website sabotage, Wow!!!
Have you considered the small claims court for the over paid invoice to Web Consultancy Group Ltd? If they don’t pay you back find other sites discussing their business and do what you’ve done here, make a comment: there’s lots of webpages with Web Consultancy Group Ltd reviews.
When I wrote “Basically if I owned any of these websites, I’d delete them and start again, they are pants!” that’s from the perspective of a web developer who has worked on websites for almost 20 years, not the site is dangerous per se and needs deleting.
There’s the old version of Jquery running which might mean the site is vulnerable to hacking (a LOT of sites use out of date vulnerable versions of Jquery, most don’t get hacked), but that should be an easy 5 minute fix by either removing or updating Jquery.
I don’t offer web design services, (only offer SEO services which wouldn’t be of any use to your business, low ROI) but if I did offer web design I’d start again.
The site isn’t even running on https (no SSL certificate) which should have been sorted when they installed WordPress etc…, today you can even get free SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt which only takes an hour to convert a large site from http to https, Web Consultancy Group should have by default offered this since they were hosting the domain on their servers!
You only have 7 pages indexed in Google, to see what’s indexed search Google with the next line, replacing my https://seo-gold.com/ domain with yours.
site:https://seo-gold.com/That’s a Google site search, lists every webpage Google has indexed. For my SEO Gold domain there’s 370 webpages indexed, in comparison your domain there’s 7 webpages. This means there’s a few hundred possible webpages on my site which could generate Google traffic, yours has 7.
Home Page
Contact Us
About Us
Products
Accreditations / Certifications / Declarations
An untitled PDF file (related to Accreditations / Certifications / Declarations)
A Sitemap
There’s two more PDF files Google hasn’t indexed.
This is as basic as a business website gets: as a business you exist online.
From an SEO perspective there’s only two webpages with potential traffic value, home page and the products page and neither are search engine optimized for anything (they won’t gain much Google traffic).
This is from MY perspective as an SEO consultant looking to pull in lots of traffic, not your perspective.
Since you aren’t looking to build a larger website to attract search engine visitors which convert to customers the site is more like a static brochure or online business card for new and current customers just in case they look you up online.
For that sort of thing the site is OK and only needs relatively minor fixes like updating Jquery and adding some images to support the content for branding purposes.
Since you have a fully working version of WordPress installed (WordPress is awesome) and it’s really easy to modify/create new content. I would suggest either you or a staff member takes control of the site content creation/modification and learn the basics of using WordPress (it’s easy).
Take your “About Us” page. As a starting point it’s OK, but it doesn’t sell your brand etc… Says you’ve been active since 1983 and have “worked with many of the world’s leading engineering companies”, but doesn’t list any: if you’ve worked with leading companies that suggests you are trusted in the industry. Brag about it, who have you worked with, what did you make them, why are you awesome???
If a new contact checked out that page from your business card or an advert would that information be enough to persuade them to pick up the phone to work with you?
Add a few relevant company images, people working on a project etc… it’s easy with WordPress.
Log in to your WordPress Dashboard and on the left Menu click the “Pages” link, here it will list most of your current content available to edit. Find the “About Us” page and click the “Edit” link to give access to the About Us pages content. Modify the text content to convert a lead to pick up the phone.
Add an image or two which supports your brand directly into the About Us content. To do this select the location in the content where you want an image and click the “Add Media” button to upload an image.
There’s loads of WordPress video tutorials about this, it is not difficult to create/modify content with WordPress.
If it were me with your approach and low level of web skills I’d be creating a WordPress Post (on the left menu click “Posts” > “Add New” – try it, if it goes wrong you can delete it easily) for every new project you are working on.
Take lots of photos (use the best), do a lot of name dropping, show how busy you are, show how great your product/service is mostly in images or even short 30 seconds to 1 minute videos (upload to YouTube and embed in WordPress: it’s easy to do).
Simple articles saying you are building something for company X which will be used for ABC with images showing progress and why your product was the best choice for the project is something which makes a business more accessible online and should increase conversion as your potential clients check you out online and see who you are.
Try to say something nice about who you are building the product for and link to their website. They will be happy to see the positive feedback and free online promotion and will be more likely to use you again.
Based on what you’ve said your goal should be to convert those who hit the site to pick up the phone and it doesn’t do that right now.
Good luck with Web Consultancy Group Ltd, that web design company really does suck!
David
Thanks once again for your really insightful comments. Some day I will get properly organized and get our site motoring – I do have some bigger targets than Stephen Hall who need pulling down a peg. Long stories accumulated over decades, but others have seriously fleeced us. I digress.
Yes, our telephone number and postcode were changed at some point and as Web Consultancy were the only people who could have done anything, it must have been them. I have screenshot from a while back showing correct information, I did not have access to passwords for the site, and I wouldn’t have a clue what to do anyway. I was told that I would receive WordPress tutorial by Web Consultancy, but that never happened either. So those little changes can only have been done by them. But we have the site hosted elsewhere now, password changed and should be out of their reach in case of further mischief.
I am going to get the various security issues sorted as per your ( considerable ) help, thanks again. We cannot refer to many of our customers / projects because of the advanced technology that we employ to solve problems – we are under NDA’s that stop us even referring to many of our customers ! But they need to protect their advantage, hence some of the vagueness on our site. Never the less, I am sure that we can do something – we do work on some really interesting stuff. I did get the site launched before I had finished ( our old site was truly appalling ) and I do intend to add lots of pictures, as you suggest.
One day, I will be in touch David, when I need good SEO applying to our site. I feel confident that you will keep me on the straight and narrow.
Cheers for now, Mark.
I am afraid I may be somewhat late to this, but it’s better late than never considering this is the only impartial website that appears high in the search rankings when you search “dlh web consultancy middlesbrough”.
I speak as someone with dealings with Web Consultancy and with intimate knowledge of the office environment.
Firstly, let me say this, so if nobody reads anything else in this admittedly long-winded comment, this at least shows: Anybody who receives spam e-mails from this terrible company, do not contact them. Do not listen. Do not believe the lies they spout. Report the spam to the ICO (https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/nuisance-calls-and-messages/spam-emails/) . Remember: Companies cannot and should not send you spam emails without your permission. Make this clear when you write to the ICO if you receive an email from them. Any attempts to unsubscribe will be ignored.
With that out of the way:
To put it quite plain and simple, as if I need to, this is a company with a gigantic ego and the thinnest skin you can imagine. A company who feel the need to deploy a suspicious amount of damage control yet don’t attempt to mend their reputation. A company with so many red flags hanging over them that you would be forgiven for thinking they are the central headquarters of a local Communist chapter. A company with an exceptional amount of shady dealings.
They absolutely do not remove anyone from their mailing lists. They brag about this in their office, specifically Mark Waller (More on this individual later), and will constantly harass people.
This may be the reason for numerous address changes. If one looks at the Companies House page for DLH Web Consultancy LTD, or simply Web Consultancy Ltd, you will notice an array of address changes. My only guess is that they get caught spamming people, the authorities take notice and they quickly up sticks and move.
They are also notorious for review bombing. Look at their Google business page. Something strange? Notice how a lot of positive reviews have very similar syntax and structure. Notice also how any negative review is met with a long-winded, quite targeted, rant at the reviewer in question. I find it funny that they targeted this website with a defamation claim.
I beg you, read through the Google reviews, find one with a single star and read the owner’s reply. The reviewers targeted by Stephen Hall, He Of The Thin Skin, should suit up with their own defamation claims too.
You will see this anywhere that somebody has left a negative review or written a blog about their shady business.
Read names across any positive review as well. You will find patterns. You will find very similar names. Quite simply, they are gaming the system. Not illegal, obviously, but anybody who can do five seconds of searching will see that this is not a company to trust.
Their websites are exceptionally poor. Sadly, I have seen a few companies who have fallen for Mark Waller’s sales pitch. The websites are basic garbage in WordPress that anybody with access to Google could knock up in the space of ten minutes. One needs only review the PageSpeed analysis of any website claiming to be designed by Web Consultancy to see how haphazardly they work.
I see a lot of references to the proven criminal Elizabeth Mulligan (Defamation infers a false statement. There is no defamation: Elizabeth Mulligan is a criminal, a shamed solicitor who stole close to £10,000 from her previous job.) but Mark Waller is the main source of the sales pitch these days. He is of low character, a sociopathic and fairly toxic individual.
Should anybody have dealings with Mr. Waller, simply tell him to go away, that you have no interest in the waste of space that is Dirty Oil (If you want to know why to call him that, visit https://shitarsefifty.livejournal.com/1007.html. I learned this from a close friend of mine who once worked there. I find it amusing.)
Mr. Stephen Hall is the kingpin behind this mess. A trust fund kid funded by Daddy’s money, Hall is the reason why Web Consultancy is the lone nugget of waste that won’t flush down the bowl. Hall’s father was fairly high up in local government, and has been known to pull a few strings here and there. At one point, in August 2015, an eviction notice was served to the company by Redcar and Cleveland Council for not paying.
Needless to say, the date for eviction passed and nothing else was said or done. Because Stephen Hall greased a few palms and ran to dear old Daddy.
Stephen Hall spends his existence mostly smoking weed in the office, writing responses to reviews and letting everybody else do the work. I have also seen him give an illicit substance to an apprentice. When not doing this, he is also threatening people on Facebook, as seen above in one of your comments. This is because, as I have put, Stephen Hall is a child trapped in the body of a man. A scared child dependant on Father to save him. And when nobody can save him, the child is backed into a corner and responds in that most primal of instincts: To scream and shout.
There is but one caveat to this entire tale: Some good people have worked for Web Consultancy. I can assure you, however, that they quickly move on to better things when they find out that the dysfunctional business that regularly finds itself short of money and having to exploit financial loopholes to file for bankruptcy and start a new company under a similar name..simply isn’t worth working for.
Indeed, they do exploit a lot of loopholes in financial regulations. Some legally (but morally dubious, as is obvious) some…not so legally. Indeed, any government official wishing to add a notch to their belt should investigate Stephen Hall and Web Consultancy. In their spaghetti junction of financial submissions and dealings, one would quickly spot numerous discrepancies. One would also do quite well in tracing the finances and dealings of Web Consultancy to a number of offshoot companies, such as Adwords Company and Indica Web Design. I imagine Mr. Hall and company would be sentenced for quite some time if their financial irregularities came to light.
If you can’t publish this comment, I understand. This is a vile, disgusting company that is willing to do everything but put in actual hard work to fix its reputation. It will exploit Google’s algorithms and review bomb before doing any hard graft. I want to put a bullet in the gun of somebody who wants to research and take on this company, not give THEM ammunition to take down a site that speaks the utmost truth about this horrible company that refuses to die.
David, keep this site up, and keep up the good work. Don’t bow to these disgusting vermin.
May the Gods smile on you.
As an addendum to my comment, Web Consultancy have, once more, changed their identity (see moderator legal note above). They are now going under Visibility Group Ltd. Add this to the pile of their other monikers.
As I inferred in my original comment, I can only assume that this is to further exploit certain financial loopholes, and legal loopholes as well. (Too many complaints to the ICO about cold-calling? Well, i’ll just start this new company and hassle more unwary people..) You can see that none other than Stephen Hall is registered as the director at https://suite.endole.co.uk/insight/company/08887771-visibility-group-ltd.
Perhaps more interesting is the Barbara Kahan noted as the resigned director. This name is probably already familiar but you can otherwise read more on why this is interesting at https://medium.com/@jdowsett/russian-dolls-the-biggest-scandal-never-reported-f8f62a8f66d7
You can also see that, despite this recent name change (see moderator legal note above), they have 4 positive reviews, including some familiar names.
Cockroaches are always notoriously difficult to exterminate, and I feel these insects won’t be eradicated for a good while yet unfortunately. All people can do is be warned of Stephen Hall’s uncouth business practices to starve the beast of money and maybe, hopefully, kill it for good.
Wow Mr. Wednesday. Just wow. That explains so much. Thank you.