I’ve never been a fan of giving guarantees on search engine optimization. Sure, it would be nice to promise that we can get a client on the first page of Google, or that their traffic will increase 100% or their business increase 10 fold.
Unfortunately, guaranteeing search engine results is like guaranteeing a fishing trip will bring in fish. You can have the best boat, the best bait, and the best gear, but if the fish ain’t biting, they ain’t biting.
What a good fishing guide can do is increase your chances of success; making sure that you’re using the right bait, that you’re going to fishing grounds that have traditionally fished well but not been over-fished, and bring sandwiches and beer if things don’t go well. You want guarantees that the fish will bite? Call Aquaman.
What a good search engine marketer can do is put you in the best position to rank higher at the search engines. She can do her research, help you craft effective titles and copy, and encourage quality incoming links. But she doesn’t own Google, or Yahoo or any other search engine.
This all came about after reading an interesting post entitled Manage Client Expectations And Reduce Your Risk By Including A Warranty In Your Client Contracts by Sarah Bird. The warranty is meant not to promise the world, but to manage expectations.
Clients often think search engine optimization is a trick, some sort of magic. More often than not, when I explain that their search engine visibility comes directly from the words they use on their site they’re stunned. Like I’ve just pulled back the curtains on Oz.
Ms. Bird also gives some language they use on their contracts. I have to admit, the first half was a bit too lawyer-y for me to understand, but I definitely liked the second half:
By signing this agreement, you acknowledge that SEOmoz neither owns nor governs the actions of any search engine. You also acknowledge that due to fluctuations in the relative competitiveness of some search terms, recurring changes in the search engine algorithms and other competitive factors, it is impossible to guarantee number one rankings or consistent top ten rankings, or any other specific rankings for any particular search term.
From a client’s perspective I can understand the allure of a guarantee. However, as a vendor, I know that it’s like guaranteeing that it will be sunny on our camping trip in a month. The best I can guarantee is that I’ll bring an umbrella for you. And a change of dry clothing. And the number of a nearby motel. That has cable.
