Have you ever had a conversation with an SEO or SEM specialist who claimed that he could guarantee your website a prominent organic ranking atop the Google search results page? Have you ever met with a marketing whiz who claimed proof of the great results and search engine dominance he might offer you?

Most business owners, marketing directors, and brand managers have met these folks. Their offers can certainly seem tantalizing. After all, what company wouldn’t want to rack up dominance for certain Google search terms?

Well, not so fast. These “Top of Google Guys” maybe mean well, but their promises aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. There are a few particular reasons why you might approach these people with a high degree of caution.

The Wrong Goals, The Wrong Keywords

For one thing, consider this: Getting to the top of Google isn’t really the end game. Sure, it might be helpful for establishing brand reach and visibility, but Google dominance in and of itself isn’t really the point. The goal for your search engine marketing strategies should be to get relevant, quality traffic to your website -- to actually turn search engine users into leads and then leads into paying customers.

So yeah, someone might promise you organic Google search results dominance—but if that’s all you’re being promised, then it’s kind of empty.

Also worth noting: Some of these Top of Google Guys may really get results, but not necessarily the kind of results you want. Your Top of Google Guy may actually land you dominance for a particular Google search keyword—but what he may not tell you is that it’s a completely irrelevant keyword, one that nobody actually searches for. And here again: You’re claiming an empty victory—nabbing a prime search results position for a meaningless search, and thus not generating traffic or bringing new customers into the fold.

Unstable Search Rankings

Something else that is important to understand: Search engines actually warn against ever promising or assuming specific organic search rankings. The reason for this is that those search rankings are inherently fluid and unstable. Google’s search algorithms change hundreds of times over the course of a given year, so promising long-term, steady search dominance is simply unrealistic.

Companies that promise top Google organic rankings are making promises they can’t keep, doing something completely shady, and/or guaranteeing the top spot because no other business is competing for it. Regardless, it’s not a promise that means much.

As for the completely shady things that some of these “Top of Google Guys” do, a partial list includes:

• Optimizing for keyword terms with ZERO search volume. These keywords won’t drive any traffic to your website because no one searches for them. (Remember, you can always use the Google AdWords Keyword Research tool to determine monthly search volume for a given term.)
• Optimizing for keywords that are in no way relevant to your company or to your industry. For example, optimizing for “dog food” when your company does not sell dog food, or anything related to dogs.
• Claiming to have an “in” with Google. (The odds of this being true are slim to none.)

To be clear: Some firms have gotten great results in the way of search engine rankings for their clients. (Not to toot our own horns, but…) Great search engine results for relevant keyword terms (that have a fair number of monthly searches) are possible, and worth pursuing. We’re just suggesting that you be careful when speaking to a “Top of Google Guy”—and remember that if something seems too good to be true, well, it probably is.