We have all seen companies that brag about their ability to increase your rankings in search and boost SEO potential, but can these claims really be believed? Google has already stated that no company can in fact promise that your site will rise to the top of SERPs, nor that any particular type of improvement in regards to SEO is permanent. While there are companies out there that can in fact boost your rankings temporarily, this may come with some strings attached. Black-hat SEO tactics can still provide some temporary benefit, but unfortunately, these will backfire in due time. So what should you know about companies that guarantee SEO success? Continue reading to find out what is feasible and what is not.

Companies Can Provide (Some) Improvements

Depending on the current condition of your site or blog, an average SEO company may be able to provide some tangible benefit. For instance, sites that run slowly can be optimized to load much quicker, and will start pinging users much faster than before. Search engines observe the page loading times of each website, and this can inevitably help improve your standing. It will also reduce your site’s bounce rate, which is another metric search engines evaluate. When it comes to sub-headers, cleaning up messy code and adding optimization plug-ins that improve various elements of the site’s performance, SEO companies can in fact provide value. Many of these elements can be done by anyone, but it can be easier to hire a professional to assess the site’s situation and make any necessary changes instead.

Companies Cannot Guarantee Better Rankings

Any company that promises that you will soon be at the top of a given SERP is lying, and this should make you wary about doing business with them. For starters, Google’s algorithms change constantly, meaning that the changes of today may not be effective tomorrow. In addition to this, there are a plethora of other websites in your niche likely competing for the same ranking; what happens if their sites make all the same changes and improvements that your site makes? Because the nature of SEO and the competition within a niche are both constantly in flux, there can be no guarantees made that a given site will be able to rise to the top – let alone stay there forever.

Companies May Produce Great Short-Term Results, But…

Some companies promise immediate and dramatic improvement in your search positions – and may actually deliver – but this is a huge red flag. Black hat SEO tactics are still used by amateurs, scammers and fly-by-night SEO companies. They may promise a select set of benefits – more traffic through pinging users, better rankings and more keyword saturation – but this often comes with a price. Black hat SEO tactics are usually the culprit, and Google (and other search engines) will sooner or later detect this behaviour. By the time you find out what has happened, the so-called company has disappeared, and your site is now irreparably damaged. Always be cautious when it comes to companies that say they will be able to give you immediate and noticeable results; in the world of organic SEO improvement, this just is no longer the case.