Explaining to SEO Clients (Results)
Glen Allsopp / 
6 Comments / 
April 14th, 2007 / 
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Of course, nobody in this industry can or should guarantee rankings for any keywords, or a certain amount of traffic coming via the Search Engines, so how do you bring trust into your Search Engine clients? Well I guess its something I’ve learn over the years as sadly a lot of people still see SEO as a ‘dark art‘ and less about the technical work done (that 5%). Therefore clients should be assured that:
- You wont perform any actions that might get them banned from Search Engines
- You will work to only increase Search Engine Rankings and not the other way around
- You will respect their brand in the process
- You wont allow competitors to know their SEO Company (for some clients)
- You will give them the option to leave at any time if they arent seeing results after X months
Although these may sound a little rediculous, its sometimes all the client needs to hear instead of them putting the words in your mouth. Tell them upfront what they need to hear, its not a sales pitch its actually what WE and YOU should do with your SEO Clients. Remember they may think highly of their brand and feel they are risking it in the hands of another business, let them know how you will ensure brand reputation is kept and how your work will be insider only. Tell them!
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Yes, i agree! Open communication is very important!
Nice post. Honestly is the best policy when it comes to managing customer expectations.
That’s good information for seo’s to go by. Being a client I know for a fact that you have to earn a clients trust. Let a client see some of your past work and reputation also.
Arne very true, and the best policy in my opinion
DarrenYeah, people have to know what they are getting and where their money is going, I like to think we have an openness with our clients
PaulThanks for popping by, especially being an SEO Client yourself. Yeah thats very true, sadly not all websites allow you to show you worked for them or their rankings, if they did my recent projects would look a lot more impressive
It all starts with a frank conversation and setting an appropriate expectation. We explain that there are no guarantees. We then offer our track record and client testimonials to prove our capabilities.
If you get caught up in “sales pitch mode” you are going down the wrong path. It is better to be honest and lose a sale than to shade the truth and end up with a disgruntled customer.
The best approach is to explain that if you want ranking it comes down to SEO or PPC. Then break it down into pros and cons. If the prospect is serious about their Internet marketing they will proceed into a deal. And even if they back up you walk away with your credibility intact. Honesty counts.
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