As I talked with a prospect on the phone, the basic search engine optimization questions arose. How do we build links? How do we optimize content? These are standard questions, which I’m more than prepared to answer. But when I mentioned that we guaranteed page one placement on Google (in the natural search results, of course), the man chuckled and said “You can’t do that.”
Search engine optimization companies have been making excuses for years about why they can’t guarantee first page placement. The truth is, nobody can guarantee it with one hundred percent certainty, but an experienced white hat SEO firm can certainly measure their odds.
If statistics indicate that a certain industry’s most popular keyphrases take an average of six months to get to page one on Google, then an SEO firm doing their job should be able to guarantee that placement over the course of at least a twelve month term. That seems fair. But companies that are a overly cautious or inexperienced may spend their time making excuses, instead of promises. It’s perfectly fine for you, the customer, to take a risk, but not your SEO firm… that doesn’t seem fair, does it?
So, should you immediately sign a contract with the first company that offers a guarantee? Absolutely not. First, look for red flags.
Red flag number one: the “special relationship.” Google cautions about companies that claim to have an inside track to higher page rankings due to a “special relationship” with the world’s most popular search engine. The simple truth, confirmed by Google, is that no such animal exists. Your page’s ranking is based on Google’s PageRank algorithm, which looks at the quality of your page’s content and links, as well as the quality of the content and links on sites linked to and from your site. The only “special relationship” you can form with Google to bypass the PageRank algorithm is with their Adwords program, which costs anywhere from fifty cents to sixty dollars a click, depending on your industry.
Most companies that play the “special relationship” card also have cheap prices, which is our second red flag.
Red flag number two: cheap prices. Search engine optimization is a highly involved process. The content optimization is only the most basic step; everything beyond that hinges on link building. The ethical methods of link building start with writing and publishing professional articles and press releases, which are submitted to relevant and quality-controlled web site directories. Two more tactics available to ethical SEO firms are social bookmarking and tightly scrutinized link exchange management, both of which take time, effort, and ethical SEO management. Even if these processes are outsourced to the far middle regions of the desert, where dial-up is still considered cutting-edge, thirty to fifty dollars a month (fifteen to twenty-five pounds GBP) is simply not enough to cover the time and effort of a reputable SEO company, and it’s certainly not enough for a guaranteed SEO project.
Red flag number three: guaranteed uselessness. Any company’s guarantee is only as serious as the consequence of their failure to deliver. Sure, I could guarantee you first-page search results, but if a year later, you’re not, and I only have to buy you lunch at a local sandwich shop, then the guarantee was only as valuable as the sandwich. If the consequence offered by the SEO company in question is simply “free SEO” until you get what you want, or if the guarantee is for second-tier keyphrases (rather than the ones people actually search for) save yourself a lot of frustration and move on.
When a company fails on a guaranteed result, at least some portion of your investment should be returned. The best method is to deal only with SEO companies offering a guarantee per keyphrase, so that you only pay for the phrases that are on the home page.
The guarantee you should demand is an ethical practices guarantee. This will assure you that your SEO only uses content optimization and link building strategies that are approved by the major search engines.
And last but not least, always get a list of the services you’re paying for, and know exactly what your search engine optimization company is doing to and for your web site. If the answer is “trade secret,” or “patent pending,” or “proprietary process,” or “secrets held by my pet wizard that lives under the kitchen sink,” save yourself a lot of frustration by going elsewhere.