The power of SEO has taken over the industry, and despite being able to read an overload of articles pertaining to this subject online, SEO really isn’t all that simple. In fact, it’s risky business that is super complex, and that also comes with a variety of factors to be concerned about. This might even be the very reason why you have not yet indulged into the world of backlinks, keywords and the rest of the jargon that surrounds search engine optimization this far. While some fully entertain this modern day way of marketing, and others are a bit more hesitant. In order to determine whether it’s truly the correct path for you and your business, there are some things you must know.

The Constant Upgrades

So, you decided to take the SEO plunge and invested a significant (and possibly grueling) amount of time to get your website Google savvy, but the end is far from near. Google is consistently changing the rules surrounding SEO, and if you’re not up to date with the latest guidelines, you risk losing your rank in the search engines and it could even result in a red flag from the internet God itself.

The Trouble of the Text

That’s also not to mention that there are a variety of search engine rules that are hard-to-follow and that also have a lot of gray area that simply isn’t covered. The confusion will be almost unbearable for someone who is only starting to get into SEO now. Your marketing degree may not do much for you unless it’s catered to the future. The SEO guidelines are full of text that is troubling and the jargon is near-impossible to understand, and as any SEOer knows, if you aren’t following the guidelines precisely, you aren’t gaining the benefits of investing in this marketing tool.

You Aren’t Guaranteed Anything

Even if you are to fully understand the current guidelines that Google has put out there (since it’s always changing), you still aren’t guaranteed anything at all. This is another risk that you take on when investing time and money into utilizing SEO practices. You put forth an incredible amount of effort to learn all about SEO, and even more to input the rules into your website, but all of that may not result in any benefit to you. While one may argue that very little comes with a guarantee within the business world, we should remind you that there are online marketing tools that guarantee results, such as AdWords which is a service in which you pay a dollar, you are likely to receive a couple of clicks. The results are also fairly instantaneous.

The Gray Area of the Guarantee

Google itself has even warned people of any SEO services that offer a guarantee, but this is a huge contradiction because SEO is said to guarantee better rankings. Confused? Join the club. Now, let’s go back to hiring an SEO company since this is an avenue many people explore. That company still can’t predict what changes Google will make in the future.  Thus, they can’t guarantee that, despite their best efforts and work, that it’ll do anything for you, and you could be left completely redoing everything you just paid for, and likely will due to the never-ending-changes. A reputable company should inform you of these factors as well.

Random Results

So, let’s say that you still decide to do the SEO thing. You’ve done your research, you understand the rules and have implemented them correctly, and understand that there is no guaranteed results, but you still feel like it’s the correct solution for your business’ marketing plan. You should expect to not have results anytime soon. SEO takes time, right from the beginning to the invisible end. It’s a long term marketing strategy that could work, but not necessarily for everyone or at all. Rankings may not also get you leads, or sales. It’ll get you higher ranked in search engines but it isn’t going to get you anywhere without clicks or calls to your business to purchase your goods and/or services.

While there is a higher risk when taking on the SEO strategy, it also comes with higher benefits… if it works. Our suggestion to you is to dip your feet into the online marketing industry before diving in head first. This will allow you to decrease your risk of putting forth time, effort and funds without any sort of outcome; or positive one, rather. If you don’t understand the complexity of SEO, it won’t ever work for you. Educate yourself first, and then move forward because with SEO, there are some risks.