I promote best practice SEO because doing things professionally and ethically must count for something and, in any industry – even one as unregulated as providing professional web services – true professionals must use the best practices available to accomplish their objectives.

The first mark of a professional search engine marketer or search engine optimisation company or consultant is that the most important thing is the results that they achieve for their clients.

Note I say results, not rankings. Why? Because it doesn’t actually matter if you are displayed at the number 1 slot in Google when someone searches for your products. The thing that really matters when you’re in business is that you sell your products or your services. And that you sell enough of them to be profitable and to remain in business.

That’s why, even though search engine rankings have their place as a measuring device for tracking the progress of your Search engine optimisation campaign, in and of themselves, they don’t mean anything. What does mean something are conversions and sales.

Rankings are the means to an end, not the end themselves.

I care about the success of my clients’ businesses because I recognise the value of having them as clients for a lifetime, not just a month or three months or a year. I understand that building a long-term relationship between their business and mine is more profitable and more rewarding for both of us.

This is also why, if I don’t believe that I can get good results for a client with an SEO campaign, I won’t take their money. I’ll tell them that I don’t think I can do it and, if possible, I’ll help them figure out another way.

If Search engine optimisation is an important strategy for your business and your website, then please make sure you get an SEO professional who will get you results, not rankings.