Why You Shouldn‘t Trust Them

Agencies that offer guaranteed SEO services promise results like first-page rankings or an increase in traffic within a short period of time. They often say you’ll get your money back (or an alternative) if they don’t meet predetermined goals.

Here is an example of an agency offering a “ranking guarantee:”

It might seem like a risk-free choice, because you only pay if you see results. But is it really that simple?

Can SEO Results Be Guaranteed?

No SEO agency or individual can credibly promise specific SEO guaranteed results, like ranking at the top of page 1 for a specific keyword. They can offer to refund payment if they don’t achieve what they say they will. But they can’t directly manipulate the search results.

Search engine rankings depend on various algorithms. These algorithms use a huge number of ranking signals to determine which pages should rank for a given keyword.

While many skilled SEO professionals can improve your organic traffic and keyword rankings over time, they can’t change search results at will. They also can’t predict with complete accuracy if and when search engines will actually rank your page for a specific search term.

Complex search engine algorithms like Google’s are also updated constantly.

In 2021 alone, the Google algorithm was updated more than 5,000 times.

So, even Google employees can’t accurately predict how a given page will rank or what the search results will look like. Let alone an SEO agency.