On the subject of someone in SEO guaranteeing results.
So many people really have no idea what to ask prospective Tucson SEO person, so they will turn to guides.
These guides will say things like, “Ask them if they guarantee results. If they say they do, that is not who you want to work with. No one can guarantee what Google will do.”
This is a gotcha question, in my opinion. If the person answers that they know the local market and the niche, that means they are no good.
Here are two questions I sometimes struggle with against certain guides out there. How to answer these hard questions without coming off as arrogant vs. not knowing what you are doing?
Do you guarantee results?
It depends. If you are outside of the top 40 for your main keyword, I 100% guarantee results. I don’t guarantee you’re going to get to the first page or the top placement. If you have a wide services portfolio, and your subcategories are not competitive, I would guarantee you will rank for some of them where you were not before. I don’t guarantee the top placement or page one at all.
So if I know your business isn’t ranking well for something and you give me the freedom to shape the content and disavow any toxic links, I promise something is going to happen.
Did I promise you would get to number one or even the first page? I didn’t.
If you are a business in a field that you are one of three in, I guarantee results. I would never guarantee the top placement or that you are going to soar above your competitors, but I will make you one of three possible choices.
If you are in a super competitive field and you just registered your domain and you want to me to promise you’re going to get to the first page of Google? No, I will not. But if you give me enough time, I promise you will go from nothing to something.
But I am Supposed to Guarantee Nothing
To me, when someone guarantees nothing they are saying, “Okay, so Ms. Prospective Client, I guarantee nothing. I don’t know what I am doing. All this money you are spending on this service is wasted.” That is how I am supposed to show I am competent?
How Long Will It Take For Me to Get to the First Page?
Same thing as before. They read a blog that suggests, “Ask them how long it will take to rank your business. If they give an answer, don’t work with them. No one can predict that.”
It depends on the same circumstances as before. If you are dog walking service in Sahuarita, I should be able to get you there in a couple of months, assuming you just registered your brand new domain.
If you are a law firm in Tucson with all copied and pasted articles, it will take longer. But I am NOT supposed to answer, “At a budget of x number of dollars a month, I think I can get you there within 6 months, but I could be wrong.”
Again, I am supposed to say, “It could take five years! No one can predict the Google gods’ whims!” Okay, Dearest Prospective Client: you have five years of paying me to waste until you get a result? If I can’t guess when you will begin to see results, I am not very good, am I?
I am going to try to give you an estimate of time of how long I think it will take. I could be wrong, but usually I am right.
If an SEO firm doesn’t believe in their own knowledge, doesn’t know their market and has no timeline for you, that is a good thing?
Tucson SEO Pros always strives to not be just another bill. We always try to be an integral part of your team and an investment into your business.