SEO Agencies - Providing Guarantees?

[Fresh Ideas Marketing]

I can guarantee that your ranking is going to increase. But I cannot say that it will be there after a while

Now this is real SEO guarantee.

 

[Purush]

but read the ultra fine print at the bottom of page 49 of their T&Cs.

Ha ha. so virtually no guarantee.

 

[Naijalife]

Most my competition guarantee first page of Google, I am not making such claims

 

[Renfield-Files]

When a client ask me guarantees I show my portfolio. It's the guarantee that honest agencies can show to you. If it's a niche Ive not mastered, I decline the offer. Simple as that!

 

[PHPInjected]

Guaranteeing the #1 spot is absurdity. Anything can change. The competitors for that keyword could get an extremely strong set of backlinks just as you go into business with that seo agency.

Some of them don’t even get backlink profiles for the competitors who they’re trying to out rank. Then after a few months, come the excuses.

My dog got hit by 7 cars and I haven’t been able to make as many backlinks, blah blah.

Don’t look for a guarantee. Look for steady results.

 

[SocialManager]

Don’t look for a guarantee. Look for steady results.

Few problems with that:

1) It's really easy to just pick your top clients, if they really are even your clients, and show their results, and then leave off the clients who you didn't improve at all, or improved much slower and paid too much money.

2) Results yesterday don't mean much about results tomorrow. When an algorithm update comes, and your website drops, it sucks to have already invested money into a company and be worse off with no way of getting your money back.

3) A guarantee is not actually a guarantee. It's an agreement on a set of terms for a contract. If they do not hold up their end of the contract, you get your money back.

4) Steady "results" (I guess we mean improvement in rankings), doesn't mean much if the clients are not significantly increasing their traffic with targeted clients. If you are moving a client from 98th to 77th to 63rd to 51st, to 39th, to 27th position, that is steady improvement, but traffic isn't likely to increase from that keyword at all. It's still too far down in the search engine rankings to matter, even though there was SIGNIFICANT steady improvement.

 

[PHPInjected]

Few problems with that:

1) It's really easy to just pick your top clients, if they really are even your clients, and show their results, and then leave off the clients who you didn't improve at all, or improved much slower and paid too much money.

2) Results yesterday don't mean much about results tomorrow. When an algorithm update comes, and your website drops, it sucks to have already invested money into a company and be worse off with no way of getting your money back.

3) A guarantee is not actually a guarantee. It's an agreement on a set of terms for a contract. If they do not hold up their end of the contract, you get your money back.

4) Steady "results" (I guess we mean improvement in rankings), doesn't mean much if the clients are not significantly increasing their traffic with targeted clients. If you are moving a client from 98th to 77th to 63rd to 51st, to 39th, to 27th position, that is steady improvement, but traffic isn't likely to increase from that keyword at all. It's still too far down in the search engine rankings to matter, even though there was SIGNIFICANT steady improvement.

Apply your response to #3 to #2 and all it sounds like is we’re saying the same thing while you’re trying to redefine the word guarantee.

 

[SocialManager]

Apply your response to #3 to #2 and all it sounds like is we’re saying the same thing while you’re trying to redefine the word guarantee.

I am not redefining the word guarantee. A guarantee doesn't mean something will definitely happen. It's understood that, through acts of God, anything is possible and no outcome can be absolutely assured. A guarantee offers some sort of recourse for the buyer when that which is guaranteed is not fulfilled. The typical guarantee in business offers a replacement, free work to correct errors/flaws or to meet the original obligation, or a refund.

See:
[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_guarantee[/URL]

 

[PHPInjected]

I’m going to preface my response by saying, you know this thread is about service providers who guarantee the top spot for $200/month or whatever price. Which is ludicrous.

“To reduce consumer risk perceptions” is the key take away from what you just linked. Essentially, that “guarantee” is just to ease the mind of a buyer. Which is fine, but unless there is a signed contract about what happens in the event of the website (or whatever) not hitting the target mark, then that guarantee isn’t gonna mean much unless it’s a guaranteed refund.

 

[SocialManager]

I’m going to preface my response by saying, you know this thread is about service providers who guarantee the top spot for $200/month or whatever price. Which is ludicrous.

“To reduce consumer risk perceptions” is the key take away from what you just linked. Essentially, that “guarantee” is just to ease the mind of a buyer. Which is fine, but unless there is a signed contract about what happens in the event of the website (or whatever) not hitting the target mark, then that guarantee isn’t gonna mean much unless it’s a guaranteed refund.

You don't need a signed contract to have an enforceable agreement. Usually conditions should be discussed to clarify what happens if they don't meet their obligation, but I am confident in the case of a blackhatworld seller, for example, if someone guaranteed something and didn't deliver, blackhatworld mods would demand the seller refund if that's what the client asked for in a shitlist thread. Most of us deal with people not located in the same country as us, and legal action is usually not possible. So, the most we can hope for is to destroy their business reputation and get them banned from some platforms if they don't hold up their end of a guarantee. We end up relying on common sense, not legal technicalities.

If someone tries to argue that the guarantee they offered does not entitle anyone to a refund when they didn't live up to their guarantee, they would not last long.

I don't think this thread is about guaranteeing top spot for $200 a month or something though. That doesn't make sense to me. As a service provider, as a service buyer, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. If someone is guaranteeing you a spot in search engine rankings, it should be project-based, not monthly based. Why would anyone offer that on monthly payment terms? What's the logic? Monthly to maintain a ranking, sure, but not to achieve it.

 

[Renfield-Files]

If you run a lot of sites about some couples of niches and you are reigning for a lot of KW, ranking is piece of cake.

But If it's an alien niche I might decline. If Im hired and my client gives me 60-90 days to rank I take the job. Yes, I will refund If goals are not reached. It's guarantee somehow.

 

[PHPInjected]

You don't need a signed contract to have an enforceable agreement. Usually conditions should be discussed to clarify what happens if they don't meet their obligation, but I am confident in the case of a blackhatworld seller, for example, if someone guaranteed something and didn't deliver, blackhatworld mods would demand the seller refund if that's what the client asked for in a shitlist thread. Most of us deal with people not located in the same country as us, and legal action is usually not possible. So, the most we can hope for is to destroy their business reputation and get them banned from some platforms if they don't hold up their end of a guarantee. We end up relying on common sense, not legal technicalities.

If someone tries to argue that the guarantee they offered does not entitle anyone to a refund when they didn't live up to their guarantee, they would not last long.

I don't think this thread is about guaranteeing top spot for $200 a month or something though. That doesn't make sense to me. As a service provider, as a service buyer, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. If someone is guaranteeing you a spot in search engine rankings, it should be project-based, not monthly based. Why would anyone offer that on monthly payment terms? What's the logic? Monthly to maintain a ranking, sure, but not to achieve it.

Generally, in business, unless there’s a signed contract, there is no “legal agreement”. Unless you’re referring to blackmail or areas where verbal contracts are binding.

I’m not speaking about blckhatworld sellers. I was actually speaking about SEO agencies in general outside of BHW. Here, it’s different. You’re obligated to abide by your sales thread promises, but again, I wasn’t speaking out that.

I’m really starting to get the feeling that you’ve been to BHW before Aug 2018. Service providers who guarantee rankings for $200/month are all over the place. Shit, there have been threads here of people asking if they should trust those people RECENTLY. It’s weird to act like those people don’t exist.

I don’t know their logic as that’s something I’ve never been able to grasp.

 

[Renfield-Files]

For Adult content I take the challenge in a heartbeat. Same for music or very specific niches. If you ask me to provide SEO for let's say... Baseball? Im OUT.

You need to be an expert and enjoy the niche otherwise you wont achieve any.

By the way... If you are a SEO, which one was your biggest challenge achieved? Off to paid ads. Im talking about pure SERP.

Mine has to be ranking #1 #2 and #3 for Escort sites in 7 different cities and 4 countries.

 

[MBALife]

Don't waste your time on quick results, Google is well verse in these tricks and its always best to start your marketing well in advance and not expect anything too soon.

 

[DJ.Bud]

But I always tell my clients "I will rank you page 1"

Fuck their sites. Ranking them page 1 is the real deal.

*Attach a drake meme here"

 

[SocialManager]

Generally, in business, unless there’s a signed contract, there is no “legal agreement”. Unless you’re referring to blackmail or areas where verbal contracts are binding.

Are there areas where verbal agreements are not legally binding? I know for sure they are almost always legally binding in North America, with few specific exceptions that wouldn't be applicable here. I just researched China, and again, in China verbal agreements for SEO services would be legally binding. Researched India, yep, they enforce verbal agreements as well. Well, that covers almost half the world. I am not sure what you mean by "generally, in business" then.

 

[daserpent]

Are there areas where verbal agreements are not legally binding? I know for sure they are almost always legally binding in North America, with few specific exceptions that wouldn't be applicable here. I just researched China, and again, in China verbal agreements for SEO services would be legally binding. Researched India, yep, they enforce verbal agreements as well. Well, that covers almost half the world. I am not sure what you mean by "generally, in business" then.

Its a good point. But, I started the thread to discuss the legally contractual agreements that can land us in court.

 

[SocialManager]

Its a good point. But, I started the thread to discuss the legally contractual agreements that can land us in court.

Are you asking as a buyer of SEO services, or you want to sell SEO services?

Anything can land you in court, as a buyer or seller. Even if you have in fine print "no refunds," that doesn't mean you don't have to provide refunds.

Even if someone tells you in big writing NO REFUNDS, that doesn't mean you don't have to provide refunds.

If you are considering buying a service for thousands of dollars, you would be well advised to hire a lawyer beforehand to consider the legal issues.

If you are considering selling a service for thousands of dollars, you would be well advised to hire a lawyer to consider the legal issues.

 

[Jackston99]

Are you aware of any SEO agencies that are providing guarantees for the results?

Think of SEO like the stock market but for keywords... its hyper volatile and things change very quickly. I can't imagine a reputable company giving a guarantee, knowing how this are in SEO. If anything, offering a guarantee would show they are a new, less experienced company and shouldn't be trusted.

 

[YujinTan]

I not sure , for an example I check my local news site . Kinda they don't even do any SEO stuffs.

New site content also not say consider Unique , some sharing other news site news .

but one thing I check their backlink is a lot , kinda is all via nature .