As search engines algorithms change so frequently – especially Google’s – you need to make sure your SEO company’s not giving you out of date, or bogus advice that will waste your money and your time.

Forewarned is forearmed, so here are a few lies and inaccuracies that SEO companies might tell you.

1. We can guarantee number 1 result in Google.

Sometimes an SEO company will make a bold statement to get you to the number 1 spot on Google. Definitely be suspicious if they can claim this before they even know what your keywords are! If your keyword is something really popular there’s no chance they can guarantee you’re going to be number 1. What they really mean is they’ll get your website ranking number 1 for some obscure keyword phrase, but if this isn’t the phrase that your prospective customers are using to search, then it’s useless.

2. You Don’t Pay Us Until We Get Your Site Ranking #1

If a company promises to get your ranked #1 before you pay, they are executing black-hat tactics that will get you temporary rankings and then your site will tank once the tactics are uncovered by Google. At that point, you’ve paid and the bandits are gone with your cash.

3. We Guarantee First Page Results In Less Than Three Months

Again, no one can guarantee first page rankings at all, let alone in three months. SEOs do not control the search engines and cannot say when your site will rise to the first page. Yes, I’ve seen some campaigns achieve first page rankings in three months and others take 18-24 months. It all depends on the competition and condition of your site, backlinks, social, etc.

4. A high amount of traffic is good for SEO

Your SEO company might show you a Powerpoint presentation with a graph showing the traffic to your website sky rocketing. Great, you’re famous! But be sceptical. Where is all this traffic coming from and is it the right kind of traffic?It’s possible to get high levels of traffic to your site by using directories or placing links on popular websites. The increased traffic might look good on a graph, but also remember to look at your bounce rate. If it’s high, these people are leaving straight away because your site isn’t what they were looking for, and so they’re low quality visitors. High amounts of traffic won’t improve your SEO at all.The best kind of traffic is from people who actually want to see your site, and if they like what they see, they’ll start linkbuilding for you.

5. Submit your website to search engines and directories

It’s true that Google will look at the amount of incoming links to your site and use this as part of its algorithm of where to rank your site, but the truth is that it only counts quality links. Often a SEO company might tell you that they’re going to “submit your site to 400 search engines and web directories”. This isn’t very effective and could actually damage your chances. That’s because if they add links on websites called ‘link farms’ – which are designed to cheat Google’s rankings – you could actually be penalised by search engines.

6. SEO is all about building links

We know that incoming links are very important to your ranking success, but if your SEO company claims it can improve your rank in Google by link building alone, they’re only doing half a job.Your website has to be optimised for your keywords, and built in a way that allows search engines to spider them easily. There are so many other factors that Google looks at other than links, including your website’s location and page download speed. Don’t forget about these as they’re just as important!

7. Great content will rank you highly

It’s true that Google will reward fresh unique content with a high placement, but the depressing truth is that content alone won’t get you up to the top spot.You could have the best content in the world but if the site is badly built and hard for search engines to spider your pages, you’ll find it difficult to get the attention from Google that your content deserves. It’s a bit like building a fantastic theme park in the middle of countryside and forgetting to build a road up to it. Unique content is essential, but you also need to optimise your site otherwise your great content will go unnoticed.

So remember to take the advice you’re given about SEO with a pinch of salt, or you might find you’re wasting your time making changes that have very little effect. At Bluecast Digital, our SEO advice is:

• Be clear on your audience, what they’re looking for and the keywords they use.
• Ask companies to carefully measure the results of any SEO activity they do – ask to see bounce rates and conversion rates as well as the volume of traffic.
• Don’t focus on one area of SEO, like linkbuilding, to the detriment of others – you need a good, all round SEO strategy to be successful, including on-site and off-site optimisation.