Have you ever noticed that the top SEO consulting agencies and web marketing development services rarely ever make guarantees search engine rankings? There are several reasons why top players in the industry avoid doing so as a marketing technique and understanding why can also help you understand how having similar kinds of expectations can be unrealistic.
Rankings are Inherently Unstable
The magic of Google is that results are flexible and sensitive to who performs searches and
where they are searching it. This means a two people searching the same query “bakery in
Toronto” could end up with different results because of Google’s personalized results or the fact a a user could hit a different datacenter during the course of the search. Further, one person searching “bakery” in Toronto might get a different result if they then drove to Hamilton and made the search again.
Rankings are Not a Good Indication for Overall
Performance
Regardless of whether guarantees can be made, it is worth considering the fact that rankings
may not even be the end all and be all of Internet marketing. For one, high rankings do not necessary equal traffic and ultimately, without traffic and then conversion, a great ranking may be meaningless. Remember, 70% of search volume is in the tail of the demand curve—and there’s usually a lot more low hanging fruit to be found therein.
The Search Engines Expressly Warn Against
Guarantees
Google’s guideline on search marketing stipulates, “no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” Further, the greater context in which the rule is written is related to the fact that businesses are warned against marketing companies that claim a special relationship with
Google.
Effective SEO Results Strategies Occur in the
Long-Term
Organic and natural SEO is a process carried out in the long term and no SEO Company can
guarantee a quick fix. Further, because search engine algorithms are always changing, a
strategy that works one day may not be as effective the next. Companies that promise a
guaranteed top ranking would have the unrealistic task of constantly staying ahead of the curve in that regard. A more effective way to approach SEO is to not look for that one-time, magical solution, but to add value to the site as a whole (which may not mean the top ranking on Google) but will return better and more sustainable results in the long-run.
SEO Companies Do Not Control Search Engines
Without access to databases, since Search engines do not belong to SEO experts or companies,
the only guarantee is that achieving the top result is possible, not that it will necessarily be
achieved. Due to the fluid and ever-changing nature of Google’s algorithms, the only sure fire
way to ensure a top ranking is to have a constant hold and access to the search engine itself, which is both an unrealistic guarantee and expectation.
What a Search Engine Expert Can Do
Though no reputable SEO Company can promise the top ranking in the search engines, what they can do is nonetheless very effective if executed expertly. Organic SEO practices editing techniques on web sites and pages to make them more search engine friendly by identifying keywords, titles, links and using them in the most optimal proportion. This more organic and well-rounded approach to SEO is not focused solely on page rank, but ensures that once your page is visited, your visitor is more likely to convert to a customer.