Why I Don’t “Guarantee” My Content’s Results

“Can you guarantee your content will help us out? Like, you’re sure it will boost our traffic?”
“No.”

Woah, woah, hold on. Why did I say THAT? Isn’t that like shooting yourself in the professional kneecap? Don’t I know how bad this could make me look to clients?

Sure I’m aware. But there’s a simple reason why I don’t “guarantee” my content’s results.

Because it’s impossible.

It’s impossible to guarantee a big result – or ANY result – from any one single piece of content.

Content Evolves With Your Results

It’s 2010. Content is no longer a “put it up and await the flood” item.

Everything must change over time. Testing, analytics, feedback…all of this is done to inspire changes in your website’s performance. Sometimes it works, and you get lots of qualified traffic. Sometimes it doesn’t, and you need to figure out where you’re bleeding visitors.

What gets changed for all this? The content. We have A/B tests for a reason.

No Phony Guarantees Please, We’re After Real-World Results

Anyone who claims they can guarantee X amount of traffic or X number of sales from content (or SEO, or emails)…is lying to you. They’re just after your money.

More importantly, they’re not interested in making a real effort towards effective content.

Why would they be? They can just slap a guarantee on the front, deliver content and walk away. Oh, it didn’t work for you? Hey, I guaranteed the content works. What did YOU do to screw it up? Sorry, no discounts on edits.

This kind of behavior really burns me (and most everyone else I’m sure!). Fortunately it’s rare.

But the “guaranteed ROI” mentality isn’t.

So keep this in mind. I will gladly work with clients to improve their content. I’ll happily edit my own work for better effectiveness. (Believe me, there’ve been times when I look at older work and think, “What was I ON then?”)

But I don’t guarantee results from the vastness of the Web. Nobody can. I just write my best and revisit it later.

Speaking of, I think I’ll blog about things to check on after new content’s up. Coming up next.

Meanwhile, have you experienced this kind of situation? Did you receive a “guarantee” that turned sour? Please share it in a comment. Or send it to me on Twitter at @blueferret.