Guaranteed SEO Services: The Scam Of Promised Search Engine Rankings

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Why can’t SEO service guarantees be made?

This is because we, or any other SEO company, cannot control how Google ranks websites. As Google makes changes to their algorithm SEO companies do their best to understand what changes were made and modify your website to give Google what they want. At OuterBox we use very intelligent guesses as to what strategies to use, but we still do not know for sure and cannot control Google.

Any SEO company that guarantees high Google rankings based on their SEO services, without any upfront fee, is probably doing something they shouldn’t be or is making a guarantee for something different than what you believe they are. Always be sure an SEO company you’re looking to hire has examples of their work, case studies you can review, and client testimonials.

You can read Google’s official statement on hiring an SEO company in which they state, “Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings“.

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What does Google say about hiring an SEO company?

 

The Difference Between SEO & Paid Search

Let’s dig a little deeper. If you Google something, the results will be both organic and paid search results, which will look like this:

Google Ads (Paid Listings) - In the Red Boxes

PPC ads are ads that businesses buy through Google Ads to promote or sell their products and services. Every time a user clicks on one of these ads, they are taken to that business website. Businesses pay Google each time a user clicks on their ad (hence Pay Per Click). This can cost anywhere from $0.20 to $50 and beyond per click. It is all dependent on how competitive that particular industry is.

A Google algorithm determines the order of ads in the paid section. This algorithm is based on the amount a business is willing to pay for their ad and the ‘quality score’ of their website.

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Organic Search Listings - In the Blue Box

These are the organic search results (non-paid), and what your long-term focus should be. Google uses complex algorithms that take into account over 200 different factors in order to determine the ranking of a website for a given search result. The higher your website quality ranking is, the higher your organic search positions will be. Of course, the more competitive an industry and keywords of focus are, the more difficult it is to achieve top rankings.

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How does Google decide top ranking websites?

In order to get a high ranking in the natural listings, Google must deem you an authority on your targeted phrase. The more generalized the search term is, the more difficult it will be to rank. For example, ‘Akron pet grooming’ is much easier to rank for than simply ‘pet grooming’. Google does not give out exact details on how its algorithm works, however with research, testing, and experience, industry professionals all agree that the following are all extremely important factors:

• The number and quality of inbound links (websites linking to yours)
• Website title, headings & keyword usage in content
• Amount of content on your website (and how fresh it is)
• Site speed and usability
• Online reviews and business reputation
• Social media mentions
• and other items such as site structure, code configuration, etc.

At OuterBox we offer Google SEO services, so give us a call and talk with us about improving your organic search positions.

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Sorry - No Guaranteed SEO Services, Rankings or Results

In conclusion, reputable SEO companies absolutely cannot and should not guarantee Google rankings of any kind. Be sure to choose the best SEO company based on your research and due diligence. Unfortunately, there is no magic “SEO Button” that we press to attain high rankings. However, what we can do is pay attention to the ranking algorithm, and its updates and constantly be working on ways to improve a website’s ranking. This in turn will help build your website into something that has the best chance for SEO success.