Can a SEO/Social Media Firm guarantee me top ranking for a particular keyword?

Not if they are worth their salt they won’t, but that doesn’t stop people from doing it. The people who control the search algorithms are the only ones able to make a claim like that. A reputable firm will focus on increase visibility, traffic and conversions.

Such “guarantees” should be the equivilant of caution flag for you. Ask yourself these questions -

1. Can they guarantee the strategy of your competition?
2. Can they guarantee the social network (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) strategies?
3. How about the search engine algorithms?

If the answer was no to any, then they can’t guarantee the results. Now be careful with the words they use. Page 1 Google rankings can be had with a PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ad. This is not SEO. Search Engine Optimization produces organic results, not paid results ONLY.

Same is true for Google PageRank. Next to Ft. Knox Google’s algorithms are among the best guarded secret in the world. A reputable firm understand and explains that to their client and doesn’t spinkle them with fairy dust and bedtime stories.

I know it’s tempting to believe. Many times I wanted easy only to discover it was harder to undo the mess than to do the work the right way in the first place.