Can Any Company Guarantee Top Search Engine Rankings?

What is the real cost of cheap SEO?
Why aren’t promises of top Google rankings believable?
What should business owners know about SEO guarantees?

Random Solicitations from SEO Companies Are a Red Flag

Whether you own a small business in Minneapolis St. Paul or a midsize business with a national scope, you got emails and phone calls all the time from marketing firms that want to increase your web traffic. Universally, they promise you top Google rankings at cheap prices or they will give you your money back. These fraudulent providers make guarantees like:

1st-page Google rankings for specific keywords.
No. 1 ranking positions at Google.
500% increase in your web traffic in 2 months.
400% increase in your web leads in 3 months.
600% increase in web sales.

If you believe you can achieve spectacular rankings and boosted traffic at a low cost, you will fall victim of a common scam, designed to fool business owners who have little understanding of how search engine marketing works. SEO takes a lot of hard and smart work. Plus, it takes time and serious investment. How can someone who doesn’t even know your business make such baseless claims? If you sign a contract with such a shady company, you will end with a website filled with spam. Google, Bing and Yahoo all recognize unethical SEO techniques, and simply reject websites that use such practices. You’ll get nothing for your money, and could even find your website completely gone from Google listings.

What SEO Guarantees Really Mean – Understanding the Fine Print

Here’s the kind of language you’ll find somewhere in all of these offers, usually in small print: “Our SEO Guarantee depends on the number of keywords, competitiveness of the keywords, your current website ranking positions, competitiveness of your market etc. Based on the agreed keywords, we guarantee top 10 Google rankings for 40% of the agreed keywords and top 20 Google rankings for 60% of the agreed keywords.” Here’s what those words actually mean:

Worthless Keyword Rankings

You can be sure that most of the agreed keywords are long keyword phrases that no one will ever search for. If you were a national marketing agency, would the phrase “cheap powerful effective internet creative marketing firm in America” mean much to you? Would it make sense to pay an SEO company to get this long phrase a No. 1 ranking at Google? The answer is “NO.”, because no one would ever search for anything like that. It is possible to get No. 1 results for such phrases in quotes, but it doesn’t help you in any way.
No Long-Lasting Top Rankings

Another trap of these guarantees is that as long as the agreed keywords show up for a very brief period, like one day, you’ve agreed that the SEO company has met the contract terms. If SEO is your long-term strategy, what good is a 1st-page ranking that lasts only for a day? Even if you get a No. 1 Google ranking for a day for a desired keyword phrase, will it help your business in the long run?
Damage to Your Site’s Reputation

All fraudulent SEO companies employ unethical techniques in order to gain a quick ranking boost. They may meet their contract terms with a short-lived ranking increase, but your website will suffer long-term damage caused by the use of the unethical techniques. Search engines penalize websites manipulated with these tricky tactics by lowering their rankings or even de-listing the websites. Many companies have disappeared from search listings. Recovery from a de-listing can take months and costs more than you think.
No Leads and Sales

The worst scams are those that guarantee increased web leads and sales. Search engine optimization can increase your web traffic, but whether your website converts visitors into new leads and sales depends on many factors, including your prices, reputation, customer service, and location. These factors are beyond the control of an SEO company. How can someone who doesn’t know your company guarantee that your products and services will sell better than your competitors’? These leads and sales guarantees are worthless. What is truly guaranteed is that you lose rankings and money. Signing up for these offers means flushing your marketing budget down the drain.

Twin Cities Top-Rated Search Engine Optimization Service

Don’t be taken in by SEO guarantees promised by companies you’ve never heard of. If you pay $500 to a scammer and see no meaningful results, you’ve wasted your money. You’ll never see that money again. Instead, learn about how SEO works and find a reputable Minnesota search engine optimization company. You should expect a free evaluation of your current website and a personal consultation. Request Google rankings they’ve achieved for companies like yours. Check references. Get a price quote that fits your budget and expectations. That’s how our proven Twin Cities SEO services company does business. We’ll be happy to show you how our services mean business for you.