It’s an age-old question: Should SEOs guarantee the work they do for a client? With so many variables impacting search engine results (like Google algorithm updates, quality content, site structure, UX issues, coding, backlinks, how a website currently ranks, etc.), most SEOs would probably agree that there are just too many moving parts to guarantee search results.
Google has even come out publicly discouraging businesses from hiring SEO agencies that guarantee placement on Google.
“No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a ‘special relationship’ with Google, or advertise a ‘priority submit’ to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.”
However, if you dig a little deeper, there are some circumstances where SEOs feel they can guarantee certain results.
In a recent poll, we asked BrightLocal customers to answer the question “Should SEOs Guarantee Their Work?” A total of 699 participants took part in this poll. Here are the results!
The Make-Up of Poll Respondents
The respondents to this poll were made up of:
- Digital Marketing Agencies
- Marketing Freelancers
- Web Designers
- Small Businesses
- In-House Digital Marketers
(Please note that out of the total number of respondents, only 11% answered the question “What Type of Business Are You?”)
This mix of respondents is interesting:
- 46% were Small Businesses
- 36% were Digital Marketing Agencies
- 56% were in the digital marketing profession
At first glance, you would think that most people that responded were Small Business owners/employees, but when you look at the digital marketing profession as a whole, the majority of respondents were “in the SEO industry” in some fashion, whether they were freelancers, web designers or in-house digital marketers who work inside a company working on their digital marketing efforts.
So here comes the big question…
Should SEOs Guarantee Their Work?
When asked this question:
- 19% said Yes
- 52% answered No
- 29% responded that work should be guaranteed “under some circumstances.”
Should SEOs Guarantee Their Work?
The 52% that said SEO work should not be guaranteed was not a shocker. However, when you look at SEO services from a client’s perspective, your thinking may change. After all, to a client SEO is a “mysterious” word that digital marketing agencies throw around, but they see little tangible proof or actions taken to help their site rank higher on the search engines – with the goal of getting more business. This is mostly due to a lot of “behind-the-scenes” work that SEO professionals do to help their clients battle search rankings. (There are literally hundreds of tactics and strategies that make up the “whole” that is SEO.)
Additionally, our culture is very guarantee oriented. People love guarantees and many consumers expect a guarantee when they purchase a product or service. To them, why should SEO (or any digital marketing campaign) be any different?
So if you were a client, would you pay someone potentially thousands of dollars each month for an unknown? Something where there is really no promise of results? No guarantees for performance?
This leads to the 29% of respondents who said that SEO work should be guaranteed under some circumstances. We asked these people to dig a little deeper into this answer, and the responses we received may surprise you. They may also make you think a little differently about how you approach your clients when selling SEO services.
Under What Circumstances Should an SEO Guarantee Their Work?
What we found is that there were specific “categories” of answers from the people who thought that SEOs should guarantee their work “under some circumstances.” So what are the situations where SEOs should guarantee their services?
Task-Oriented Guarantees
As an SEO, there are certain “tasks” that you can do to help increase the odds of a site ranking higher on the search engines. In fact, many software tools will literally analyze a client’s site and give you a step-by-step list of exactly what tasks/steps you should do – based on best practices – to help your client rank higher.
So if you have a task-oriented agreement with a client, then SEOs were inclined to offer a guarantee. Here are some of the responses we received:
“If an SEO controls all factors associated with a task, the work should be guaranteed. For example, if a site has new location pages and needs an updated XML sitemap, an SEO should guarantee that the XML sitemap will be updated with the new URLs by a certain date.”
“SEOs should say what they will do [the tasks they will perform], but results are another story.”
“You should guarantee what you will do and track what has been done, but you should not guarantee ranking results.”
“You should guarantee if it’s based on completing work.”
“You can guarantee improvements of best practices. You can’t guarantee certain rank positions.”
“You should show proof that you did the work you said you would do for the client.”
“An SEO should be able to prove ‘work done.’ Too many times the client receives a report with some numbers, but the digital marketing firm never proves (or shows) that they actually did anything.”
“You can guarantee activity completed, correction of errors in a timely manner, reporting regularly, etc.”
“Guarantee for services provided, not results expected.”
“Only in regard to known variables, such as resolving duplicate page issues with GMB or other well understood tasks. Guaranteeing ranking is not advisable.”
“They should guarantee specific deliveries, and results of those deliveries, just not specific changes to search rankings.”
“You should guarantee that your will add x listings/month, etc. but not guarantee rankings or increase in customer business as this not solely under your control.”
“Guarantee deliverable items such as links, citations, etc. Not actual ranking results.”
“You can guarantee quantifiable tasks, such as “I will claim your Google My Business listing.”
“Guarantee the work done, but not the results.”
“I can guarantee the work and technical fixes I make on the site.”
ROI and KPIs
ROI and KPIs are important for measuring the success of any digital marketing campaign. Here were the thoughts our participants had with regards to guaranteeing results.
“You can guarantee if there is a clear and specific SEO KPI.”
“You should guarantee leads and positive ROI, not specific rankings.”
“When you have promised a client a certain level of results in return for a fee. Then, if you don’t achieve what the client was led to believe, you should work free or return some/all money paid.”
“When the site owner is guaranteeing conversions.”
“We make guarantees on deliverables and deadlines. We also make guarantees on how much we can affect revenue KPI’s. We, of course, won’t ever guarantee a specific placement or ranking position.”
“There are certain KPI’s that you can meet and rankings should be in a positive trending direction but to meet exact goals of growth should not be expected.”
Low Competitive Keywords
It’s much easier to rank a page for low search volume keywords or keywords with less competition. Now ranking for these keywords often don’t lead to many sales because the search phrase isn’t searched for very frequently. However, some people polled felt you can guarantee results that pertain to low competitive and long-tail keywords.
“You should guarantee when it’s a low competition keyword and the client has a huge budget.”
“Simple long-tail keywords for which you absolutely should be able to rank for.”
“Guarantee known, easy long-tail keywords.”
“Never guarantee hard competitive keywords.”
“Some markets and keywords are too competitive for a guarantee.”
Rankings – With Caveats
Guaranteeing that a site will rank for a specific keyword – or even on page one of Google in general – is something even Google discourages. But we did find that some participants felt that you could guarantee some elements of rankings.
“The only time it should be guaranteed is that the rankings will be better than they currently are.”
“An SEO should guarantee that there will be movement to better search engine rankings over time, but not guarantee when that will happen.”
“Any SEO should be able to get improvement, but guaranteeing a certain ranking or set number is next to impossible.”
“Local SEO should be easy to prove.”
“Proof of a starting point with the client and then reports on how they are showing up as you do your SEO work. Your online presence is not an exact science but if you are charging people hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month you better be able to show them something!”
“If the agency is in control of aspects of the client’s site, such as content and offers, then an SEO has more control on how to optimize for rankings.”
“You should guarantee an improvement in their visibility based upon where they are now.”
“In my business, I don’t take on a client that I am not certain that I can make successful. Success can be guaranteed with the client’s cooperation. What cannot be guaranteed is the time frame for success. A firm should keep at it until success is reached.”
“You can guarantee if you are familiar enough with a vertical and the local competition. However, I would always include a big asterisk saying that SEOs can never really guarantee results.”
“SEOs should guarantee that a client will see improvements in traffic, leads and exposure online with the caveat that it will take time. Anything more specific than that is a guess and should not be guaranteed.”
“An SEO could offer a 90-day trial period. If the client does not get first page placement, then there is no charge. But there is absolutely no way SEOs can guarantee a specific position.”
I have used BrightLocal on many projects, they are very thorough and save me a huge amount of time
Chris Thomas
Australia
Citations/Online Directories
Claiming a client’s Citations/Online Directories is a measurable part of SEO. Getting a business listed on online directories and citation sites has proven to be helpful in rankings. Some of the participants in our poll felt that guarantees could be made in this area of SEO.
“Guarantee listings on major citation sites (Yelp, Google, Merchant Circle, etc.) to get their name on out there, but no guarantee of specific placements in general search listings.”
“As an SEO, I can guarantee visibility with citation building. I can guarantee deliverables. However, I cannot guarantee traffic, rankings or conversions.”
“SEOs can guarantee that a specific number of citations will be built.”
“You can guarantee citation listings — that’s about it. SEOs can’t guarantee the number or sessions or even conversions.”
“Guarantee uniform information across most online marketing directories.”
What Are Your Thoughts?
What do you think about SEOs guaranteeing their work? Do you agree with what some of our poll participants said? Are there certain areas of SEO you can/should guarantee? If so, what are they? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
