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Many entrepreneurs are attracted to agencies that promise visibility and SEO results for small businesses. But while a guaranteed results strategy may seem like the best way to ensure your investment pays off, it’s a classic SEO mistake.
The truth is that these guarantees are often misleading and force companies into long-term strategies that lack flexibility and responsiveness to market changes. So instead of helping you climb the search engine rankings, they impede your online growth.
In this article I explain why guaranteed SEO services are not the best idea for your business and how to find an SEO agency that can provide organic growth and engagement without the need for empty promises.
Related: How to Choose an SEO Agency
What are guaranteed SEO services?
Guaranteed SEO services promise a specific result, typically within a set period of time. These results are often quantified in terms of search engine rankings, traffic levels, or the number of quality backlinks to a website.
Some examples of SEO guarantees include:
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“We guarantee that your website will rank on the first page of Google for your chosen keywords within six months.”
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“Our SEO techniques guarantee you will double your website traffic within three months.”
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“We promise to secure 50 high-quality backlinks by guest posting on trusted websites in your industry within the first four months of our campaign.”
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“We can get a 100% increase in your website’s organic search visibility within the first year, or we’ll work for free until that happens.”
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“Within 90 days you will be guaranteed the top three positions for your key phrases on major search engines.”
At first glance, such guarantees seem like a no-brainer for entrepreneurs looking to increase their online presence. Well, let’s see why they’re not so great.
Do guaranteed SEO services work?
Most of the time, the answer is no.
Even if you are doing everything right with SEO, you never know when the next search engine update will arrive and what its focus will be. Google is known for its frequent updates, each capable of reshaping the SEO game overnight. As a result, SEO techniques and tips that were effective yesterday can suddenly become SEO mistakes, destroying rankings and undermining months of hard work.
When an agency offers guaranteed SEO services, you should approach it with skepticism. Such guarantees may be well-intentioned but overly optimistic, revealing a lack of understanding of SEO best practices.
Even worse, it could indicate that they are using this approach to attract your business, even if they can’t guarantee results. Or they might deliver results that deliver what they promised, but the result isn’t relevant to your business.
For example, an SEO expert can guarantee to rank your website on the first page of Google for 10 keywords. However, once you do this, you find that these are very specific, low-volume keywords that bring no organic traffic.
Therefore, even if the SEO agency technically fulfilled its guarantee, the result has no real value for your business.
Related: 5 Tips for Choosing an SEO Agency (That Actually Delivers Results)
How to find SEO services that deliver results
Finding an SEO agency that actually delivers results without resorting to empty promises requires a strategic approach. Here’s how to find the best SEO services for your business:
1. Evaluate case studies
Case studies are a great way to evaluate whether an agency can deliver results. A comprehensive case study should clearly explain the path from basic metrics to results, providing a clear picture of the SEO techniques the agency implemented and the impact they had.
Look for details like:
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Scope of work
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Traffic growth
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Time frame
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Customer transparency
2. Review customer testimonials
Customer testimonials offer information about the reliability of the agency and the level of satisfaction of previous customers. Authentic testimonials from successful entrepreneurs and small businesses build credibility.
At the same time, a lack of testimonials or generic testimonials that appear to be written by a bot can be a red flag.
3. Evaluate niche skills
Since SEO challenges vary by industry, it’s crucial to partner with an agency that has experience in your specific niche.
Familiarity with the unique aspects of your niche means they understand its common problems and challenges. This means that the agency is more likely to provide an effective SEO strategy, especially in highly competitive or specialized fields such as e-commerce SEO.
4. Discuss key performance metrics
Understanding key SEO metrics is important to align expectations and goals. Good agencies typically monitor:
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Growth in traffic and impressions
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Improvements in search rankings
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Increase in leads and revenues
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SEO content ranking in SERPs
You should always discuss what metrics an agency focuses on because this can reveal a lot about how they approach SEO and measure the success of a campaign.
5. Insist on regular reporting
Regular reports keep you informed about the progress of your SEO campaigns. They are a necessary tool that guides strategy adjustments to ensure long-term results.
To promote transparency and accountability, you should look for an agency that offers regular reports with data such as:
Related: 3 Tips for Choosing the Right SEO Agency
Guaranteed SEO services usually don’t work due to the unpredictable nature of search engines. For sustainable online growth, look for SEO agencies with proven results, transparent reporting, and deep knowledge of your niche.
Additionally, consider their overall communication style, willingness to understand your business goals, and broader digital marketing strategy. This can help you avoid empty promises and achieve sustainable SEO success.