How many adverts have you seen or spam emails received, claiming to be able to get you to the top of Google almost instantly? These bold claims usually include the words ‘guaranteed rankings’ which inevitably means they should work, right…? Wrong. There are no quick-fix, 100% guaranteed ways of circumnavigating Google’s algorithms. Let us explain why these ‘guaranteed rankings’ are not so guaranteed, and how safe, natural SEO will always reign supreme.

Avoiding the Black Hat Scammers

The SEO world is full of hats… Seriously. There are white hats, black hats, and the less common grey hats. The colour of the hat directly relates to whether an SEO tactic is safe or not. White hat is good, black hat is not. Grey hat is not either, no matter how many SEO agencies try to convince you otherwise! When someone guarantees Google rankings, it usually means they’re going to be using Black Hat techniques; breaking Google’s rules for a quick fix. While you sometimes may see an improvement for a day or two, the search engine giant isn’t stupid. They’ll see right through the underhand tactics and could even penalise your site – removing your website’s results from Google. The truth is, nobody knows exactly how Google’s algorithms work. Most good SEO specialists know what the search engine is looking for (which is often natural activity – ‘promoting your website to ‘people’ not bots’), and how that then reflects on the results. Anyone that tells you otherwise is simply trying to con you out of your hard-earned cash, for a hit-and-run approach.

Content is Still King

If you want to truly improve your search engine presence, it’s important to use the safe and natural SEO methods that Google approves of. One of the main ranking factors is your content – and the old cliché that ‘content is king’. You see, excellent SEO content is useful for two things. Firstly, it creates more pages and posts on your website to be indexed by Google. These can naturally be optimised for relevant keywords and can influence search engine rankings. Secondly, incredible content will create organic backlinks to your website. If you create something that gets people talking or is an excellent resource, then other websites will want to link back to it. This links will prove to Google that you’re an expert in your industry, leading to a further boost up the rankings.

The old adage, “it sounds too good to be true” couldn’t be any more fitting if someone is trying to sell you first page rankings in record timing, guaranteed, this is a major clue that something isn’t quite right. Instead, look for SEO specialists who will admit that getting good rankings takes time and effort – but that the time and effort more than pays off in the long run.