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05.05.10 Giving Your SEO Clients What They Want  By Jacob StoopsWith the current economic situations that many businesses are facing, its a given that they are all looking to cut costs. What does this mean to the SEO industry? With all of the negativity, mistrust, and skepticism surrounding the industry - it quite simply means that we're the first on the chopping block. Whether you like it or not, SEO's are probably last in the line (whether it's warranted or not) when it comes to cutting trust and cutting expenses. I'm going to try help you stem the tide of client unhappiness by doing a few simple things. 1. Get Results Hello, captain obvious! The best way to keep your clients happy is to get them positive results. This means getting them more traffic, more links, and more leads, and hopefully more money to line their pockets. As an SEO, there are often a lot of obstacles that get in the way of getting positive results such as bad web design, bad programming, little or no access to the website, poor cooperation on the client's part to implement your changes. If you've experienced these issues, (believe me) you're preaching to the choir. Nonetheless, nothing can make a client happier than helping them justify their investment with good results. However, good results don't matter unless you...
2. Show Your Results If you're not showing your clients the results from your SEO campaign, then getting them doesn't really matter. Not to be too cynical, but I recommend that you think of a client as a ticking time-bomb. Everything you do from the start of the campaign will be put on a countdown, and with every passing second their skepticism (and sometimes anger) will grow. In fact, sometimes you can show a client positive results and they'll still be skeptical. This is why you need to spend a decent amount with each client to... 3. Develop a Trusting Relationship If you never talk to your client or convey the results (positive or negative), then your just a nameless, faceless expense from which they aren't seeing any apparent return on their investment. Hence, the ticking time-bomb reference. This is why you need to set an ample amount of time aside to work with each client, educate them on the processes of SEO, and develop their trust in your expertise. Chances are, many of these clients who've tried SEO before have been burned - which is why they're so skeptical. You can overcome this skepticism up front by... 4. Setting the Right Expectations Every client comes into their campaign with a certain set of expectations- sometimes reasonable but many times not. As an SEO, it's up to you to set appropriate expectations up front, and often times lower the bar a little bit. This way, your client has a realistic expectation of what kind of return to expect from their SEO campaign, how long it will take, how to measure success, etc. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Jacob Stoops is the Director of SEO at People To My Site, a Columbus-based Search Engine Marketing firm. He has been actively involved in Search Engine Optimization since 2006, starting off as a lowly web designer before transforming into an SEO maven, blogger, and social media enthusiast. He has worked with hundreds of large, medium, and small businesses to effectively generated higher volumes of traffic and better rankings, while remaining on the cutting edge in the implementation of SEO best practices. He runs an SEO tips/portfolio website, Agent SEO |
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