Beware of SEO's that claim to guarantee rankings

The SEO companies making guaranteed ranking claims aren't stupid. In addition to counting on your naivety, gullibility and laziness, they're also pretty astute marketers - well aware of the power of a strong "guarantee." Like all smart marketers, they read books and articles about ways to boost their sales

No SEO company can guarantee you a first page or top 10 ranking. I repeat: NO SEO company can guarantee you a first page or top 10 ranking. Here's why: There are far too many variables involved in the ranking of a website - not the least of which are the age of the domain, relevancy and quantity of content, number and quality of inbound links, competition, and of course Google's ever-changing algorithms. That's why legitimate SEO companies don't make those kinds of outlandish promises.

In other words, it's impossible to promise something which you have no control over. But don't take my word for it... this is what Google itself has to say about the matter: "Beware of SEO's that claim to guarantee rankings." (Source: Google Webmaster Tools)

In his article, prominent SEO expert, Rand Fishkin writes: 

"From 1996 through to today, SEO scams have used 'guaranteed rankings and traffic' as a slimy catchphrase to lure in gullible buyers with too-good-to-be-true promises. That association has stained the entire industry. SEO's cannot control the search results the way FedEx can control shipping packages or Coca Cola can guarantee the taste of their beverage. The search engines alone are responsible for, and privy to the rankings' methodologies.

There are times when I would be willing to gamble a large amount of money on the fact that we could achieve a certain ranking for a given keyword. However, that's not the same as a guarantee. A guarantee is a promise - a basic contract that necessarily creates an assumption of certainty by the deliverer to the recipient. Anytime you cheat on that logic and make a promise outside your sphere of direct control, you're walking on shaky ethical and business ground."

Now think about that for a minute. If one of the most reputable and prominent SEO experts on the planet isn't willing to guarantee rankings, what does that tell you about the validity of guaranteed search rankings claims?

Are There Any Exceptions?

Yes, there are always exceptions. For example, Dental SEO, The Visible Dentist is one of those companies that guarantees first page rankings. Their guarantee states:

"The dentist does not pay for SEO services until their website is favorably positioned in a major search engine. Major search engines include Google, Yahoo, MSN's Bing and Ask. Our exclusive promise specifically guarantees that the client's dental website will have high visibility in one or more of these popular search engines. Further, a minimum of twenty (20) positions on Google's 1st page results will be attained before payment is required.

This warranty is made without absolute assurances to search engine positioning. The reason positions cannot be absolutely guaranteed is because no one has control of a search engine's algorithms, nor control over the many websites coming online every day. However, all work on the client's site will be performed according to specs and to the best of our ability. If desired ranking is not achieved, no payment will be due from the client."

Personally, I don't have a problem with that type of promise. The company is basically putting their money where their mouth is. They're willing to prove their competency and assure results before the client pays a dime. This eliminates any and all risk for the client. If more SEO companies did business that way, the industry as a whole wouldn't have such a bad reputation.

All that being said, even if no money is required upfront, you still need to do your due diligence and check things out carefully.

SEO Scam Artists

If all SEO companies competently applied their craft and performed the service they were paid to perform, articles like this one wouldn't be necessary. But as long as there are incompetent SEO scam artists who intentionally take people's hard-earned money without doing what they promised... I will continue to warn people about the problem.

Unscrupulous SEO companies that promise first page rankings aren't stupid, but they think you are. In fact, they're counting on your naivety, gullibility and yes... laziness. Because the truth of the matter is there are millions of people out there who would much rather put their faith and trust in leprechauns, magic pills and guaranteed rankings, than put in the time and hard work necessary to achieve the desired results. That's the way it is, and that's the way it's always been - even before the advent of the Internet.