Many search engine optimisation companies are now offering guaranteed 1st position rankings under keywords of your choice. While this appears very attractive, there are a few things to look out for here.
Search engine optimisation vs. cost per click
General Search Engine Optimisation (part of the service we offer here) involves working with the content of your site and then generating links to your site to improve it’s natural rankings. With enough effort, depending on how competitive your industry or keywords are, this will eventually bring you to the top of the main results in Google and other main search engines.
Cost per click advertising involves bidding for clicks on Google’s sponsored links to the right of the main search results. Essentially you give a figure that you are willing to pay for every person that clicks on your link, and Google will prioritise you based on this value with the highest bidder first.
Once you have established how much you are willing to pay per click, Google allows you to set daily and monthly budgets to avoid spiralling costs. Once you hit your daily or monthly budget, your link simply won’t appear any more in the sponsored results.
Many SEO firms are guaranteeing 1st position rankings by offering Cost per Click advertising and outbidding all other sites competing for position under those keywords. However, they will then set a daily budget which may mean you only remain in the top position for a very small amount of time.
