Last month, Google released a video detailing best practices for hiring an SEO company , and it is positioned to become the go-to guide for hiring an SEO. After all, who better to tell companies what they should look for in an SEO than the operators of the world’s most popular search engine? The advice in the video is useful, but it’s biased and incomplete — like so much of the information the company distributes. For example, Ohye states that valid recommendations from an SEO must be corroborated by official Google statements, but the search giant frequently declines to comment on algorithm updates, and they have also been known to advise what they want SEOs to do — not necessarily what works. Reputable SEO companies seriously consider all official statements that Google makes about its ranking factors. But if Google is an SEO company’s only source of data and best practice information, the results of the SEO’s work are likely to be suboptimal. Whether you’re trying to hire an SEO company or improve your own SEO strategy in general, remember a few things about Google: their word is not always their bond, their data is deliberately incomplete, and they are a for-profit company. Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here . Learn to craft remarkable customer experiences Join us at MarTech San Francisco May 9-11 and tackle digital transformation at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management. Only MarTech blends graduate-level marketing, technology and management topics designed to help you succeed in this software-powered marketing world. Register now . About The Author