SEO Tip Chapter 6 NO GUARANTEES

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 teamto 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”

I come across some crazy things sometimes in this industry and I wonder how and why sometimes people feel they deserve to be successful online after one month when other businesses have spent years putting in hard work to build up their brands in the online space. If you are getting involved in the internet marketing space you really need to be realistic with everything surrounding you online.

I hear people say things like I want 500 quality links in the next 2 weeks. Or I need 1000 unique visitors daily fast. Seriously? Come on you need to be realistic. First of all why is it that you deserve these numbers? Have you put in the leg work in your industry to get these types of numbers? Or did you read how search engine optimization helps you with inbound traffic and you assumed you can leap frog the important part of building a business, time.

Being realistic with yourself should be the very first thing you do when you venture into the online space with any business. The reality is that the industry is something different than what it once was and whether you remember how it was back in the day or if you just started, things take time. I think it is crazy when I hear these types of requests because it really takes time and effort to create a business online. If someone got you 500 links in 2 weeks I would worry about the health of your website because that would most likely be a black hat SEO approach which you don’t want.

Search engine marketing takes time and patience and most importantly a realistic approach. Take the time to learn what it really requires to increase traffic flow before you throw out crazy requests in the industry. One thing you don’t want to happen is to be disappointed when your requests are not satisfied and your feelings towards the SEO industry make you feel like it is a scam. You just have to take a step back and realize that it takes time to rank and build traffic in almost any niche out there.