As most reputable SEO companies stress; search engine rankings cannot be guaranteed. So, in the (hopefully unlikely) event that a campaign heads south and you don’t gain that first page listing, you need to make sure it has actually held some value for your client.

And if you strive to ensure that this is the case for every campaign, then the successful ones will prove to be even more valuable than simply high rankings.

As I have stated many times, SEO has grown into a fully fledged part of the marketing mix – it has had to in order to keep up with the constantly evolving algorithms. You can no longer trick a search engine into advancing your position. Therefore, with the methods that are now needed in order to be successful, it should not be hard to see that results can be measured far beyond rankings.

Do you offer valued 'inputs' for your 'input payments'?

A campaign that is targeted and implemented correctly using ‘white hat’ methods can dramatically and positively increase brand awareness, regardless of the achieved positions in the search engine results pages. A well thought out social media strategy can positively impact on brand loyalty. And a clever onsite strategy can increase conversions, meaning that even if the highest rankings are not reached, every visitor is likely to be worth more.

These possibilities should be in the forefront of your mind when planning a campaign. After all, an algorithm can change tomorrow, leaving your client searching for any benefits they can find for hiring an SEO company. A campaign that is based on general marketing practices will make these benefits easy to see. And successful campaigns will usually exceed initial expectations!