3 Things Not To Say To An SEO Client

By Duncan Heath

1. “I Don’t Know”

Let me just caveat this straight away and say that telling your client “I don’t know” is not a bad thing to do. It becomes very bad, however, when you use this phase in isolation and don’t follow it up with anything helpful. SEO clients tend to believe that you should know anything and everything about websites, the Internet and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Whether they expect more of their consultants than in other industries…I can’t say…but it sure feels like it sometimes.

When you are asked an SEO question that you don’t know the answer to, you should of course not try to wing it and make out like you do. This technique usually has two different variations:

1.)    Make out like the client is an idiot for not knowing the answer themselves as it’s so obvious, and shame them into never asking again.

2.)    Start talking gobbledygook about CSS, viewstate, algorithms and noindex commands until the client loses the will to live and moves on.

The best thing to do is admit that you’re unsure of the answer but you will find out for them and let them know as soon as you can. This will not only let them know you are honest, but that you want to help and you know how to find the answer. What more could a client want?

2. “That’s Just Google”

Most SEOs know that Google is heavily relied upon to provide traffic, often more heavily than is comfortable to be honest. Unfortunately, due to Google’s dominant market share we have to play the game and hedge our bets by focusing a lot of our time optimising for this search engine.

Whilst the Big G can be the provider great wealth, it can also take this away in a fell swoop with one or more changes to its algorithm. Largely speaking, if you play by the rules you should be okay, but we’ve all experienced in the past some drops in rankings or traffic that have come as a surprise and need investigating.

When this happens, possibly the worst (and most patronising) thing you can say to a client is “that’s just Google, sometimes it does that”. This is not helpful in the least and does not instill confidence in the client. They know that every effect has a cause, and if you don’t understand the cause then you will not be able to alter the effect. If you don’t know the answer, offer some possible solutions, but again tell the client that you will research the problem, get to the bottom of it, and work to put it right.

3. “But look at the traffic!”

Believe it or not clients aren’t interested in rankings. They’re not interested in links, and they aren’t even interested in traffic. So what are they interested in?

…Money…

A client pays you to do a job and they expect that job to provide more money to them in return. It’s very simple, and yet lots of SEO’s forget this, instead getting hung up on ranking number 1 for a big term or delivering 100 percent more traffic each month. If you are not making your clients a positive return on investment (ROI), there are no metrics in the world you can throw at them that will make them happy.

Author Information

Duncan Heath is a marketing expert working for a Tanda client, who specialises in offering solicitar credito (loan applications) in Mexico. He writes about all things web and client management.

Is Writing Always About the Money?

One of my colleagues once wrote on her blog that writers should NEVER donate their time, that they should always be paid for whatever they write, particularly when it comes for sources other than what they own.

I could see her point: there are enough people who want you to supply a sample of your work, but they really have no intention of paying you. There are others who can afford to pay you, but simply are looking for a hand out. These type of people know that you can write and write well, but they aren’t about to grease your palms with a few greenbacks for your effort.

Online Magazine

This past weekend I was contacted by the editor of an online magazine for retired flight attendants. I immediately recognized the name of the publication, as I referenced them in an article I wrote nearly ten years ago about the origin of cabin crewmembers, women originally known as stewardesses, but currently comprised of women and men who are accurately called flight attendants.

That article was originally published in a newsletter, Flight Attendant News, a print publication I put out on a quarterly basis from 1997-2002 for a former employer. Since that time, I’ve republished the article on a website I own, where it sits to this day. Essentially I own the article even though it was written for my then employer.

Acquired Rights

That company went through numerous changes since I left my position in 2002, eventually outsourcing cabin crewmember responsibilities to another company. Over the years I acquired exclusive rights to a company manual I penned and have kept copies of most of the newsletters I wrote. I can’t recall profiting from my earlier works and would probably only sell something to a client if I updated that information significantly.

Now back to the editor: when she contacted me she referenced the very same article and asked my permission to reprint it in their upcoming issue. Without hesitation I agreed, but I didn’t consider asking for compensation for two reasons: the article was already “paid for” and the organization publishing the magazine was nonprofit.

Other Compensation

I’m saying this with just one thing in mind: sometimes what we do isn’t about the money. In this case I’ll be helping someone out, but I’ll also receive a byline and an important clip for my writing portfolio.

In most cases I would concur with my colleague who might say, “charge them and make certain you are well compensated.” But in these instances the good you are doing may prove to be the best form of compensation.