The goal of modern SEO is to improve webpages on every level, from usability to content value.
Everything done these days is quicker.
The majority of SEO clients have a long history of SEO work done on their websites. And it’s possible that effort led to a slow decline in ranks and visibility in organic search. Understanding those is crucial because, even if a company continues to engage in a long-term SEO plan, those warning signs may prevent it from making any progress.
So how can you manage your SEO clients’ expectations effectively without frightening them away?
Understand Your SEO Clients’ Business & Industry
The perfect SEO customer is the one who has already been burned by overpromising and underdelivering on those promises, even if it may seem incredibly cynical. These customers are more knowledgeable about the limitations of SEO results and the necessity to make investments for long-term success.
However, such consumers also face additional difficulties. Their websites are frequently penalized or censored, and months of low organic traffic frequently have a negative impact on their budgets. These companies are frequently prepared to do whatever to get back in Google’s good graces, but it is difficult for them to throw out years of link-building work and start over.
An SEO customer who is restless falls under the second category. These companies may have utilized various SEO firms in the past without success, and they may be getting impatient now. They feel they have already made enough long-term investments and are reluctant to make any more.
You must thoroughly examine what has been done for these sites up to this point, explain why it failed, and then outline what you would do differently, all the while stressing that you cannot promise any outcomes within any set timetable.
Finally, there are clients that are illiterate and don’t care what you do as long as they know when they will rank in the top five for their crucial keywords. These clients need thorough instruction, frightful examples of companies losing all of their rankings in the span of a single day, and case studies demonstrating the gradual rise of organic visibility beginning with long-tail strategy, link-building research, and the creation of a customized outreach strategy.
Conduct Thorough Research on your Decision Maker(s)
Many times, especially in small firms, more than one individual will make the choice of whether they will work with you or your agency.
A Decision Maker can decide whether a firm will deal with you in the B2B environment. This group might include the CEO or owner of the business, a marketing manager, the leader of the development team, etc.
Many companies have internal SEO teams that require outside assistance. The DMU of that business will most likely include this SEO staff. Do not criticize their job in front of management. Make sure they don’t believe your company can take the position of the existing staff.
As an alternative, learn what that team is doing and how you can support it.
From my experience, the majority of in-house SEO teams are happy to outsource activities like outreach and Core Web Vitals optimization but many SEOs frequently lack ongoing activities like competition tracking, keyword gap research, and backlink profile monitoring.
To effectively position your service, you must be aware of these gaps.
The ideal strategy is to specify your DMU and the precise ways in which your agency can assist with the lead-generating form. Make sure to include the following questions on your service request form:
- Do you have an internal SEO group or an individual?
- Have you ever utilized SEO services?
- Do you have any worries that we should be made aware of?
Prepare a Sample Report in Advance
Create a thorough SEO report example to offer potential clients so they will know what to anticipate:
- First-month report
- Example of a work schedule
- Monthly reports describing the projects that are finished, under progress, etc.
- Those reports might change depending on the many decision-making bodies you have dealt with thus far and the various services you offer.
Disclose all Relevant Information
The process of SEO is continual and never-ending. Building trust with potential customers even before you enroll them is the best way to create a loyal client base. And being truthful and open-minded is the best strategy.
Losing a difficult customer is preferable to having to deal with the fallout from poorly managed expectations.
Discuss who manages the company’s website, how their blog is run, how updates are pushed live, who is writing, editing, and approving material before it goes live, and if the site was constructed from scratch or is driven by an existing platform during your onboarding conversation.
Clearly state that you will require access to their information, including their analytics and Search Console accounts.
Knowing these facts will enable you to calculate the turnaround time for your SEO recommendations. Make it clear that these obstacles can slow down the process and go over ways to get around them if you anticipate any slowdowns (for instance, every update must go through a time-consuming approval process or developers are the only ones who can make changes to the site, and these teams are frequently busy and slow).
Don’t forget to include a thorough explanation of the setup procedure. To thoroughly investigate the website and its SEO past, your agency needs time, and that time isn’t free. Don’t be surprised if SEO research is a part of the setup process; many companies anticipate that active work will begin as soon as they sign a contract.
Additionally, on your onboarding call, make an effort to learn more about the rest of the firm. Mention that you will probably require assistance from other teams, such as product development and customer service, as well as their input. More sales, not simply organic traffic, are the ultimate aim of an SEO plan, and the entire business is working toward that goal.
Get additional information from them about their prior PPC, lead generation, landing page management, and email marketing initiatives. Your SEO service will be better positioned to support those conversion funnels the more you understand the business and its present set of conversion funnels.
Conclusion & Summary
Business owners that feel like they are throwing money into the air without receiving anything in return may find search engine optimization to be a very perplexing procedure. You can genuinely grasp it if you put yourself in those business owners’ positions.
Therefore, don’t take it personally if yet another potential customer asks for a guarantee. Be tolerant yet firm. When taking on new SEO customers, it’s common to need to explain to them why there are no guarantees in SEO but also how it may ultimately be highly lucrative.
Summarized Points
- Despite being pricey, SEO provides no real assurances about ranks or traffic. Why are there so many business owners that are perplexed?
- Each SEO customer is unique. Before creating your relationship management approach with each of them, it is crucial to understand their past SEO experience.
- Knowing a new lead’s decision-makers will enable you to offer your service in a more beneficial and clear manner.
- Client education is frequently important so that they understand what to anticipate from an SEO service.
- The SEO sector is frequently misunderstood. Many company owners, in my experience, believe that an SEO expert has access to a secret button that would instantly increase their website’s exposure in organic search results.
