Guaranteed SEO Services: Why You Should Never Use Them
If you're considering an SEO agency that promises guaranteed results, think again. These firms typically do more harm than good. Here's why.
Let's face it, SEO is not cheap. A quick Google search for "SEO companies" yields results from agencies charging anywhere between $500 to a staggering $5,000 per month. This can vary depending on the intricacy and scale of the project, with some projects costing even more. With such exorbitant costs it's understandable why many people are hesitant to invest in SEO.
If you’ve hired an SEO firm in the past only to get ripped off, going through the hiring process again can seem nerve-wracking. In such instances it’s perfectly understandable that you would be drawn to the idea of a guarantee. After all, other service businesses offer them: from landscaping companies, to auto mechanic shops, so why not SEO firms?
The simple answer is there are simply too many moving parts involved in SEO for anyone to provide assurances.
Don’t believe me?
Did you know that Google evaluates more than 200 factors when ranking pages? What's even more surprising is that the majority of these factors are a closely guarded secret, known only to Google. And they use this confidential information to influence their algorithm updates.
So unless you have an in-depth understanding of all the factors that contribute to page ranking and how Google manipulates them, it's simply impossible to provide any guarantees regarding SEO performance. It's like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces; you may get close, but you'll never have the complete picture.
That's why if you're interacting with a company and they promise to deliver “x amount of traffic” or claim to help you rank "x spots higher” that should come off as a huge red flag!
To further emphasize this point, let's take a look at other crucial reasons why you should steer clear of SEO companies that offer guarantees.
1. Google Warns Against It
Here are some excerpts from Google Search Central issuing a stern warning to webmasters.
"No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google.”
“Your prospective SEO should be able to give you realistic estimates of improvement, and an estimate of the work involved. If they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else.”
The message is clear. Google wants business owners to understand that no company has secret insights or a Google VIP card into the workings of their algorithms. Everyone is subject to the same rules and contends with the same ever-changing algorithm updates. Therefore it’s impossible for any SEO, who’s operating in good faith, to guarantee a particular outcome.
2. Quick Rankings May Involve Black Hat Techniques
Historically, SEOs that guaranteed search engine rankings employed tactics that are now banned by Google.
For instance, they would use a large number of low quality links from link farms to deceive search engine systems. Or they utilized SEO cloaking, a strategy that involves presenting search engines with different content than what is shown to regular users with the intention of tricking the algorithms.
These practices are referred to as black hat techniques.
Yes, some of these techniques are still being used to this day to "fool" Google and deliver fast results. However, any gains made are usually short term and are lost just as fast when Google discovers how the rankings were achieved.
When it eventually does (and trust me they always do) you’ll be hit with a penalty, or worse, you’ll be permanently banned from the SERPs.
While the SEO company you hired for quick “guaranteed” results would have kept its word, their services won’t have helped you achieve any of your business goals. In fact you’ll be worse off having wasted your precious time and money with absolutely nothing to show for it.
3. A Guarantee Doesn’t Always Equal Results
SEO agencies that offer guarantees tend to fixate on meaningless numbers to dazzle clients.
They set the bar pretty low so that it seems like they're meeting their obligations on paper, but in reality they're not delivering any meaningful results that would benefit your business.
Here are a couple of examples:
- An SEO agency may make lofty promises of getting your website to the top of the search results within just a few months. They'll then optimize your site for long tail and obscure keywords that have little competition, and voila! Within no time your website is at the top.
So what's the problem here?
The keywords they chose are loosely related to your business and have very low search volumes. So they result in very minimal leads and essentially no boost in traffic. But hey, you technically rank #1, right?
- The SEO firm may promise to double your organic search traffic in 30 days.
Sounds good.
But wait, your website receives only around 500 visits a month.
This is an easy win for the agency because they can process an extra 500 visits with almost zero effort. Even worse, they're not interested in making sure that the people visiting your site are actually interested in what you're selling. Nope. They're just focused on the numbers.
And that's a problem, because if those visitors aren't qualified leads or potential customers, then all those extra visits are essentially useless when it comes to your actual return on investment.
In both scenarios the lesson is that quality SEO is not just about achieving high rankings or increased traffic. It's also, more importantly, about generating high-quality leads. And SEO firms that offer guarantees seldom focus on the latter.
Conclusion
While it may be tempting to seek out guarantees when it comes to SEO, the reality is that no reputable SEO company can make such promises. Google’s algorithms are constantly evolving, and there are simply too many factors at play to make any definitive claims.
Instead of seeking SEO firms that offer guarantees, choose to work with reputable companies that provide realistic estimates of improvement and that focus on achieving specific, meaningful results. By working collaboratively with a reputable SEO partner, your business can obtain quality traffic, increase its brand visibility, and ultimately achieve long-term success.
About the Creator
Eric Ogero
Eric Ogero has been involved in SEO and digital marketing for the past five years. He specializes in gathering details, checking facts, and making complex subjects easy to understand. Email him at [email protected].
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