Posts Tagged ‘seo scams’
Why SEO companies do not guarantee their work – and why they should
I recently read an interesting article by Nick Stamoulis (Brick Marketing) in the Search Engine Optimization Journal. The article, “SEO Guarantees Should Not Exist,” had more than 40 comments, mostly from other SEO professionals supporting his thoughts.
SEO is publicity. SEO is advertising. No publicity or advertising offers guarantees of performance or sales. How do you justify holding SEO to a different standard? I agree with your advice to Lee as it will teach him first hand why SEO cannot be guaranteed. Gabrielle Melisende
Those disagreeing were mostly consumers who had been ripped off:
My first SEO experiences (2 of them) were terrible and a huge waste of money. On my second try, I was debating between a company who seemed very reputable and did offer a guarantee and one who didn’t. I was talked out of using the guarantee company by the company who didn’t offer one, and they used many of the reasons you cited above. I really wished I hadn’t listened. “Krista”
Lack of Accountability is Equivalent to a Guarantee for Being Ripped Off
To justify a lack of accountability, Stamoulis makes the bold accusation, “Anybody that promises this [placement in search engines] is flat out lying and you should run for the hills. If they do get you rankings like that fairly quickly chances are they are using very strong black hat techniques which is not the answer to grow a business.”
Google “guaranteed SEO for attorneys” and “guaranteed SEM for attorneys.” Notice who is missing from the list of returns? All the major players in attorney marketing. You also get a lot of blogs discussing the pros and cons of guaranteed work in these search queries and, you get us in #1 position on both searches. Why? Simply put, SEO/SEM companies are willing to rip off consumers by refusing to bear any of the risks associated with search engine promotion.
Stamoulis then compares guaranteed SEO professionals to attorneys. “Would you ask your attorney for a guarantee to win a case?” (My answer: no, but I would not hire one that required me to pay all my own court costs and attorneys fees upfront!)
I need to chime in on behalf of the few SEO companies that do guarantee their work, and why we are one of those companies, and why there are so few of us still out here.
First, there is a huge difference between promising placement in search engines in 48 hours and promising that if you cannot achieve predetermined goals (which should be put into writing into the contract,) your client does not have to pay. Read, Why are you taking all the financial risk for you SEO/SEM company? A company that does not guarantee their work has no incentive to perform: no matter how bad their services are you still have to pay.
Second, Stamoulis is right: black hat strategies are bad and may produce short-term results but with devastating long-term effects. I can name one company that does not guarantee their work but has still be found guilty by Google (repeatedly) for using black hat SEO tactics: Findlaw.
In other words, not guaranteeing work is still no guarantee an SEO / SEM provider will not “cheat” to get you ranked no matter who they are. It should be written into your service contract that black hat tactics will not be used.
Why Attorneys Should not have to Bear all the Financial Risks for their Attorney Marketing Companies
Last, I posted the following comment on Mr. Stamoulis blog:
I disagree with your position. We do guarantee or work. However, let me clarify – my company does not promise links or #1 spots nor do we take on competing clients (how can you have two #1 clients in the same profession and area?) We work with each client individually and come up with reasonable bench marks that must be met. If they are not met, they do not pay.
We also can offer payment tied to performance guarantees because we do not take every client who asks for our services – only those we know we can help and no two competing clients.
Attorneys may not offer a guarantee but they take cases on a contingency basis because they believe that the chances are very good that they will win – enough so that they are willing to bear all financial risks up front. That is how an SEO business should operate. Do not take clients you do not think you can help and set reasonable expectations. Calculate your own risks and bear the risks yourself.
Instead of asking if you would ask an attorney (who DOES risk all for their clients) if they would guarantee their work, you should be asking “Why should your clients have to bear all the financial risks upfront?” Mine don’t and neither do attorney’s clients.
Think about this long and hard: Attorneys build their reputations by taking good cases and winning them. To do this, they take all the risks – they are betting on the legal merits of a case and on their own litigation skills.
Hire an attorney marketing company that adheres to the same standards you hold yourself accountable to. There simply is no valid reason attorneys should have to take all the financial risks for an SEO or SEM company.
