Why I Won't Stop Our SEO Guarantee

I was recently at the Entrepreneur Magazine "Business Success Secrets" seminar in Atlanta. The speaker was Cliff Ennico, a lawyer. When I went up to him before the seminar started, I told him a little about our business and what we offer. I knew he would be speaking about Search Engine Optimization and other ways to market websites. When I got to the part about the fact that we guarantee our SEO services, he looked at me and said, "Don't ever tell people that you guarantee your SEO services. I actually tell people to run when a web designer says that." I laughed because I thought he was joking, but as I thought about it, I have heard other "experts" making that claim. "Don't trust web designers who tell you they will guarantee to put you on the first page of Google" I wanted to argue with him because I know that our business wouldn't be nine years old and growing if we were telling people something that wasn't true, but I left it alone. It wasn't worth arguing with a lawyer.

Technically, his theory is true in cases where web designers make that claim with absolutely no proof to back it up. In our case, I can literally take people to Google and show them many searches where our clients are on the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN. They actually tell me that I can stop because I've proven my point and they are ready to sign on and start the process.

I can even prove it right now. Go to Google and type in one word--"staircase." My client www.southernstaircase.com is number one out of 14 MILLION sites that pertain to the word "staircase." The three companies on top of him in the yellow or blue header are paying thousands per month to be Sponsored Links and do not count in the 1-10 listings on the page. Oh, and did I mention my client is paying less that $500 per month to be there and has been on the first page for over 4 years? What a statement I just made and its all true. You can see it for yourself.

I'm hoping Mr. Ennico reads this blog post at some point in time and maybe it will change his mind a bit about some of us web designers who really can guarantee their work. Yes, there are a lot of bad web designers and SEO specialists out there making claims just to get a sale, but I really believe part of that problem is the people who hire them.

It always amazes me when people come to me out of desperation because their designer didn't make good on their claims. Was it the designer's fault or did the client  not challenge them BEFORE they hired them and make them prove they put clients on the top of the engines? It takes minutes to put in a few keywords, then find the designer's sites then click on the link to make sure that designer's firm is listed at the bottom of the site. Minutes that could really save them from making that mistake in the first place.

Mr. Ennico did go on to give a great seminar and I learned a lot. Mostly what I learned is that I'm on the right track and, after nine years in the business, I'm giving good information to my clients that can be backed up by facts. I also learned a few things that I'll share in the coming weeks. Stay posted!