When I joined Outspoken Media 15 months ago, I was hoping for a new adventure and a challenge, and that’s exactly what I got. Every day has been exciting and different, and an opportunity to learn something new. I’m not even sure I could summarize everything I’ve learned from these ladies – from SEO and social media, to link building and content creation, to public speaking – my skills and my experience have been expanded in every way imaginable.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great clients, who have covered every facet of the web from the small, local business to national content providers. Every site and campaign I’ve had the pleasure of working on has brought me new perspectives on the art of internet marketing.

I’ve put more time and more energy into my work at Outspoken Media than I have for anything else previous, and I’m extremely proud of my role in helping them becoming the company they are today. However, I feel it is time for me to move on. Lisa and Rhea are two strong, determined women, and I look forward to seeing where they take Outspoken Media in the future. I wish them all the best.

You’ll still find me around teh internets, particularly Twitter, and I hope to start blogging a bit more on my personal site (we’ll see if that actually happens). And I may stop by to argue with Lisa in the comments of the blog from time to time, just cuz I know how much she likes that. :) So for now, farewell.

I thought I’d share with you what I told our client. It’s a nice refresher on why we do what we do, and how no one piece of the SEO puzzle is the “king” or “holy grail” of search.

The Content

While your company history might be meaningful to the CEO, it’s not likely going to attract a lot of links, unless maybe you’re Zappos and used as an example in every blog post about “company culture”. It’s just not going to cut it.

This is where linkbait comes in. But when I use the term linkbait, I don’t necessarily mean the latest, cheesiest infographic to make the front page of Digg and crash your server. All linkbait really is, is quality, relevant content that grabs the attention of the “influencers” in your particular niche and makes them want to share it. Where people seem to get hung up on creating content is in thinking that it has to be directly related to their industry. It doesn’t. Content that is related tangentially to your niche can still help build quality links.

The Links

Once you’ve got that great piece of content, you have to tell someone it’s there. There are people in every industry who are creating and sharing content online, you just have to find them and get the ball rolling with some self promotion. Reach out to them. Often times, all it takes is mentioning that you have a particular piece of content and making them aware of it to get them to share it. If you’ve created something truly valuable to the people you’re reaching out to, they’ll want to link to it and pass it on to their network. You’re not going to have to force their hand.

While a linkbait piece may result in a short-term increase in traffic from those that link to it, these visitors are not likely to convert. However, they themselves might also add a link from their own site or share it on a social network, and so on.
With good internal linking, the authority that a particular piece of content gains can be shared with the rest of the site. The key here is that the links to a specific page on a website help boost the authority of not only that page, but the entire site as well. Think of it as the old saying, “a rising tide will lift all boats.”

The Traffic

While we all know there is more to the ranking algorithm than just links, links are an important part. You’ve seen those pages that previously ranked #2, and with just the right link, have jumped to the first spot. And we’ve seen sites that gradually rise across all measured keywords as many pages on a site are simultaneously gaining authority.

Higher search rankings for commonly searched terms generally equate to more traffic from searchers, which is why rankings are still a factor that SEOs measure – even in a time of personalized search, Google Instant, and whatever the next novelty will be. The increase in traffic is not linear, though, and traffic can increase by multiples as a page ranks higher and higher.

The Result

The result, after all of that work, is that you now have several great pieces of link-worthy content on your site, they’re helping to raise the authority of the pages you want to rank, and those are bringing in the targeted traffic that is looking for your services.

And if you’d paid attention to the design of your site, usability, and landing page optimization, those website visitors will be walking through your front door.

Well, because they probably don’t completely trust you. Because you probably did a crappy job of ensuring they could trust you.

To companies, their website is their baby. Handing over their FTP info to a new agency is like handing the house keys over to the new babysitter. Will junior be ok for a few hours? Will they remember to feed him and bathe him and not let him play in traffic? Did they make the right decision!?

Websites have become the cornerstone of our businesses, the hub that all of our marketing efforts lead back to. If something goes wrong, how will the business fare?

The solution (to most of life’s problems, actually), is in managing expectations.

Be transparent

The key to managing client expectations is to be as open as possible, from day one. Make sure you outline all the whos, whats , whens, wheres and hows that your company intends to use. And then follow through.

Here are some examples of things you can tell your clients to be more transparent:

Employee Profiles
In your proposal or on your webiste, include short bios of your employees or key management personnel. Give an overview of their expertise and experience, so your clients know that you haven’t just picked the closest “social media guru” to handle their account.

Goals
Outline the goals you plan to accomplish, and how you plan to implement them. You’re going to increase their rank, that’s great. Will you be performing keyword research? Will you be suggesting on-site changes? Will you be doing link development? Outline all of your plans.

Measurement
Discuss how you plan to measure your goals and whether this will be done on a regular basis, or at the culmination of the project.

Timeline
Explain your timeline, from when you will be working on various stages, to when you will provide deliverables. If they expressed a need to have certain work completed before a specific deadline, make sure you address that. And if you can’t make a deadline reasonably, tell them why.

If parts of your process will require materials from the client (even payment!), be clear that any delay on their part will hold up the entire project. Severe delays may cause the entire project to be rescheduled.

Abilities
Your company provides a specific set of services. Your team has a specific set of skills. If a client comes to you wanting something outside of that, be honest in your abilities. You can’t be all things to all people.

However, you can suggest other service providers in that area that you trust. Or you could be willing to work with sub-contractors on that specific part of the project. Let your client know what you are and are not willing to do, and they will appreciate that.

Be Available

Establish ground rules for contact that both parties can agree on. Some clients may require a weekly check-in on progress, others only monthly. The nature of client work means you will have to be available to them at some point. Set that up initially so that the client knows what to expect and is never wondering when they will hear from you next.

Of course, there are going to be reasons for more informal contact, so let your clients know you are available to answer questions or concerns during the process, and that if you have any questions you will be sure to be in touch. If you are working on something collaboratively with the client, communication may be more frequent, even up to several times a day.

But if you start spending all your time communicating with the client rather than getting their work done, you’ll want to rein that in. Have a chat and remind them of the timelines and due dates you outlined in your proposal. If the client has a set number of hours per month, remind them of their time allowance and that all communication time is taken from this total.

If you keep specific hours – especially if they are outside of the normal 9-5 day – ensure that your client is aware of those and at what times you are available to them. And if you are working in a different time zone, ensure that they know the conversation, so they don’t try to call at 2am.

Be Punctual

Stay on time with your deliverables. If you promised a report by the 30^th, have it in their hands no later than the 30^th. Staying on time allows clients to feel comfortable that you’re holding up your end of the deal. If you fail to do that, how are they to know that you won’t fail at their SEO efforts?

Of course, there are times where we can’t make deadlines. You over-booked your staff, and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. Someone on your team had a family emergency and got called out of town 3 days before the deadline. These things do happen, and sometimes they are out of our control. In that case, let your client know with as much advanced warning as possible. Don’t make excuses, but outline the problem. And let them know what you can deliver to them, and on what day. You’ve got all but the last section of the report done? Great, send them that, and tell them when to expect the remainder. Get other staff members to help, stay late, work a Saturday, whatever it takes.

Most of all, it comes down to communication and being thorough about it. Often when you feel a client doesn’t trust you, it’s because you’ve failed to communicate something about your process to them. It’s ok for them to call and check on junior once in a while, and they’ll probably find that he’s in good hands.

Not long ago Lisa admitted that taking the first step is hard, so here are some questions to ask yourself to help get your team started. The questions are designed to help you determine what kind of SEO agency you need to bring in, to what extent you require their services and to help define what questions you’ll eventually need to ask prospective agencies.

Your Website

What known issues exist?
You probably already know a lot about your website. For example, you know if the site was built in Flash, whether you are ranking above the competition (or at all) or whether you have any specific issues like a reputation management problem or a redesign that made your site drop in the search results. You also know if there are more specific issues, such as a penalty from Google, the need to launch an international or other language site, or figuring out what to do with all your domains.

Having this info researched and ready will not only help you to know where your online marketing currently stands, but you’ll be ready when that future SEO firm asks you for this information.

Do you have ownership of and access to your website?
This may sound like a silly question – of course you own your website! – but it’s not. I just spent two months helping a friend get back her site that was controlled by a company who, I’m pretty sure, was just a guy in his basement with a few hosting reseller accounts [Not that there’s anything wrong with that – Lisa]. Anyone who’s worked in web for a long time has had to help clients steal their sites back, start over with a new domain, or even take legal action.

Read the fine print on your contracts. Some companies find themselves in the awkward position of learning their hosting provider or domain registrar owns their site. Or that the developer claims ownership of the code their site is built with, and won’t let anyone else have access to it. Make sure you have your domain login, your FTP login, and ownership of all code and designs before your SEO agency asks for it.

The same goes for your other accounts and social profiles. Make sure you can access any AdWords, local search profiles, analytics, webmaster accounts or other tools used to market your site.

What is your website’s history?
Do you know the timeline of your website? Did you buy it from someone, or start from scratch? When was it originally launched? What are the dates of important redesigns and development launches? Did you change direction in strategy or goals at any point? Was there any specific date when you noticed your site drastically lost or gained traffic or rankings? Have you previously engaged any SEO or link development agencies? Have you been penalized by the search engines in the past?

Pulling this information together might help you spot issues you’d previously missed, and your SEO agency will asking for this information to help diagnose potential problems.

Your Company

What capabilities do you have in-house or with other agencies/contractors?
Some companies already have in-house marketers or marketing coordinators, but need to bring in extra talent for the more technical aspects of Internet marketing like planning out strategies or performing site audits. Determine what relationships you already have and what you can leverage. Do you already work with a great copywriter for your offline marketing materials? Do you have a web team or developer on staff that can implement the changes recommended by your SEO agency or do you need them to do the work for you?

Also think about who will be managing the project from within your organization. Do they have the expertise or time to be able to take on such a project? Are they a decision-maker who can task out the changes and resources needed, or are they just going to be a point of contact?

Your Expectations

What is your time frame?
It can take months to see results from natural link building and SEO. Do you have that kind of time, or do you need a fix RIGHT NOW because you sell Christmas trees and the holidays are in a week? That will determine whether you need to find an SEO agency (and how aggressive they should be) or a paid search agency. Or if maybe it’s best to wait until January and get a head start on next year.

Do you have internal timelines you have to meet? Knowing that ahead of time can help your SEO agency prioritize their services so you have enough time to implement their recommendations and see results from their efforts.

What can you afford?
Of course, search strategies can be customized to any size budget and schedule, but this will be a determining factor in how much work can be done, in what time-frame and by what type of SEO agency. I was once told there were three variables that clients wanted from any project: fast, cheap, and good – unfortunately, you can only pick two.

With that in mind, what is your marketing budget? Can some of your offline marketing budget be allocated to the web? Know how your budget is allocated; is it all up front, or can you spend the same amount each month? Do you have budget approval and can you reasonably get the work done that your SEO agency will recommend?

What kind of company would you like to work with?
This is a really big question that can often overrule all of the other factors. We all have expectations when it comes to business relationships. And let’s face it, not all will work out perfectly. Companies can have different management styles, points of view, or values. Determining what yours are first will help you make a better decision as to which SEO agency you should hire.

Are you looking for an SEO you can call any time of day, or do you prefer scheduled calls only at milestones? Who do you want to be in on the calls – your account manager, or everyone from the janitor to the president? What about size? In a company the size of Outspoken Media, you’re likely to have each one of us working on your site. But maybe you prefer more of a traditional agency structure, where you don’t necessarily know who is involved behind the scenes, just that your work is getting done.

Do you have specific location requirements? Some people believe it makes no difference in an internet world, but others prefer a company they can meet with face-to-face. If you’re doing a regional campaign, perhaps you would prefer someone located in the area you’re targeting.

How about age, experience, or length of time the company has in business? We don’t like to play the gender card, but some companies have chosen to work with us specifically because we are currently all women, and others have chosen not to work with us for that same reason.

Are you looking for a specialist – someone who focuses solely on link development or ORM – or do you want a company who can tackle all areas of Internet marketing from paid search to PR?

Many companies think they need SEO just because they’ve heard it’s important. But only by truly knowing your own capabilities and expectations will you be able to make that decision wisely, and hire the best SEO agency for the job.

It has been said that one of the best ways to learn something is by explaining it to others. Speaking at conferences is also a way that those of us in the search industry can give back to the community, particularly if you were once a wide-eyed n00b in the audience at a search conference. So I wanted to do a good job. In hindsight, I even think it was perfect that these events were separated by only a week, as it gave me a chance to compare them both and learn from where I went right — and wrong — and then show you.

Here’s what I learned as a first-time conference speaker.

Creating your Deck

So you’ve pitched a topic, you’ve been accepted, and now you have to prepare your PowerPoint deck. You’ve been given a company branded template to use, but it’s blank. Where do you start?

I started with a rough outline of the topics I wanted to cover. Actually, kinda the same way I did for writing this blog post. You don’t have to stick to your outline if you find cool new info along the way or realize you’re off in the complete wrong direction; it’s just a place to start.

When you think you’ve got your topics figured out, start fitting them into the deck. They say the rule-of-thumb is one slide per minute that you are speaking. When you’re talking on a panel with three or four other people, you get about 12 minutes.

I completely broke that rule on both presentations. Despite both of them being approximately the same number of slides, my SMX presentation went long, while I felt a bit rushed during my Pubcon presentation. It happens.

When you’re writing out your points, keep them to a minimum. I tried to do no more than 3 bullets per slide. You have an entire minute to expand on them verbally, and its way more interesting if what you say is not identical to what people can read. If they can just read it off the slide, they don’t need to actually be there. We all had that professor in school who read directly off the slides, and we all hated him for wasting our time and money; don’t be that guy.

Use lots of visuals. Some people are more visual learners, so don’t leave them out. I did this in my SMX presentation, but not so much in my Pubcon one. Lesson learned.

Also, use lots of examples. Take them from your personal experience; people don’t want the textbook answer for how they are supposed to do something, they want to know how you did it in a real situation.

Prepare

Prepare, prepare, prepare. Unless you’re the type who can talk about anything off of the top of your head, you need to prepare. I’m the type who forgets her own name when put under pressure.

Review your PowerPoint. Make notes about what you plan to talk about, in addition to the bullets in your slides. Read it out loud to a friend, if you’d like.

Make sure it all makes sense and that you’ve covered all your bases, and do that well in advance. Making last minute changes to your deck can leave you feeling somewhat unprepared. I may have done this with one of my decks. Maybe. And then I may have ended up skipping over an entire slide in my presentation.

Your Panel

Of course, no matter how much preparation you do, there are things that are outside of your control.

If you end up on a panel that is totally in sync, both in personality and in topic, that’s going to boost your confidence and increase the learning opportunity for the audience. One of my sessions was exactly like that; our topics just fit with each other, and that made the whole session feel really dynamic and my own presentation that much more relevant.

But if your topics aren’t quite aligned, that can make the session run awkwardly. It can make it more difficult to get into the flow of your presentation. And it’s not a reflection of the speakers or their presentations, sometimes that’s just how it is.

Dealing with Nerves

This is a big one for some people, and totally prevents them from ever speaking in public. And it’s understandable, nearly everyone gets nervous. Strangely though, I’d rather get up and speak in front of a room full of people than call for pizza. I love that ordering online means I never have to speak to a stranger on the phone again.

It’s also different when speaking in front of people you know versus strangers. I didn’t know anyone in the audience during my SMX talk, but knew a few during my Pubcon one and I was much more nervous about that one. Obviously this is something I’m going to have to learn to deal with, as doing this more and more is going to mean a lot more familiar faces in the audience.

Feedback

Any feedback you get is great, even seemingly negative feedback. Take that as constructive criticism and use it to tweak things for the next time.

Your first speaking events don’t have to be “I have a dream” quality (mine certainly weren’t). The biggest thing I was afraid of was that people would be judging me. It turns out, people judge you way less than you judge yourself. It’s a search conference, not American Idol, and people can be pretty forgiving of your little slip-ups.

In the end, I got some pretty great feedback on both of my presentations. It seemed that people were able to take away some information from both, and clearly I’ve learned from the process as well. Hopefully, all of this means that my next speaking event (SES Toronto in June, by the way), will be that much more awesome.