For many years I have been hearing lots of SEO companies that offer guarantees on search engine placement. I have argued this approach until I have been blue in the face and I think it is important to revisit this issue. Too many customers look for this guarantee and many are usually quite disappointed with the outcome when things fail to come through as promised.
Google recently held a clinic with certain members of the Google search quality team to go over and discuss hot button issues that seem to be on the minds of many website owners and webmasters. When Google comes out and says something about how an effort operates in their search engine people should listen. The clinic was held in Dublin and Google had sent invitations to many webmasters to come in and participate. I am personally pleased to see some of the topics that where covered as they are important to shed some light on.
Here is probably the most important question asked in my opinion:
“Should I believe SEO agencies that promise to make my site rank first in Google in a few months and with a precise number of links?”
Official Google Answer: No one can make that promise; therefore the short answer is no, you should not.”
People need to understand that no search engine marketing company on the planet should be promising or guaranteeing number #1 rankings in the search engines. (Rankings in general as a measurement for SEO is an old flawed metric, but that is another topic). Anybody that promises this is flat out lying and you should run for the hills. If they do get you rankings like that fairly quickly chances are they are using very strong black hat techniques which is not the answer to grow a business. There are many SEO businesses out there that prey on young websites and website owners that might not truly understand how search engine optimization really works. They think that rankings are the answer to success and they see false claims like these mentioned above and they assume they will be successful. To be successful online you need to grow a brand online. Give the people something to follow and be interested in. A website just sitting in search results is beneficial but certainly not the end all be all when it comes to the world of commerce. How many successful businesses do you know that simply thrive from a single search ranking?
Here is exactly what I say to people who ask for an SEO guarantee:
“Would you ask your attorney for a guarantee to win a case?”
“Would you ask your accountant for a guarantee for a tax return?”
“Would you ask your doctor for a guarantee on a surgery?”
“Would you as your plumber for a non-leak guarantee?”
I can keep going here…the answer is “NO”
So why should an SEO professional give a guarantee?
They should NOT! Please share your thoughts on this topic.
