Leigh C. Elkins

Working in the web and SEO industry I am constantly coming across various offers, promotions and sales tactics, the most recent of which was a rather interesting one.

Before we get into it let’s state a fact;
Nobody can guarantee you to be on the first page of Google (or any other search engine for that matter)

Now, many unscrupulous companies will offer this as a service, but always be careful to read the small print, and ask the right questions.

Unfortunately the companies that offer this as a service are not stupid and are very careful about their wording. The best example I can give of this is the following, “we guarantee you will be on the first page of Google for up to (insert number here) key phrases.”
Do you see it? Let’s try another. “we offer a money back guarantee if you are not on the front page of Google for up to (insert number here) key phrases.”
See it again?
Whilst you are not being lied to, the above statements are rather misleading and not exactly forthcoming with the truth, especially when you are on the end of the phone with someone giving it the hard sell.

The trick is the all important up to, 2 little words that mean oh so much. As an example let’s say you are discussing 10 key phrases that you want to be SEO’d. When someone guarantees you up to 10 key phrases on the first page of Google then you may end up with 10 on the first page (if you happen to have a rabbit’s foot in your pocket), but you may also end up with one, two or likely even none.
“But they offered me a money back guarantee so I will just get my money back” I hear you cry. Did you read the small print? If you did you will see up to in there as well…..

So all in all the moral of the story is be careful, don’t be bullied into making a rash decision without reading the small print, and if a company won’t send you a copy of their terms and conditions prior to an agreement being reached then listen out for the alarm bells!

Final point, it’s not just up to that you need to be wary of, there are a whole host of tricks so if you are ever in doubt don’t hesitate to ask for a second opinion.

Have a nice day.

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