Comments on: After the SEO Audit: When SEO Gets Strangled

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:28:52 +0000

This statement right here: “There are those that simply don’t have the experience they pretend to and those who like to run risky campaigns without notifying the client they are doing so” is why I have issues trusting others to help with SEO-based things. Many people use blackhat techniques either because they want to get quick results (and get paid) or just flat out don’t know what they’re doing, and take hints and tips from others who don’t either.

You go on to ask the potential SEO’er (is that a word?) to explain what their methods are and the outcome should be, but even then, I think if a company is hiring someone to do their SEO for them, their knowledge as a whole is still lacking. They won’t (granted, this is a sweeping generalization) know whether they are being fed truth or lies, only that the person does respond to them. You even bring in the assimilation to lawyers, which I think is right on target.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:57:35 +0000

I always hate it when clients want you to rank for a specific page and keywords then once you start ranking they want the same exact page to rank for completely different keywords. Rule 1 Fail.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:46:50 +0000

What it really comes down to is that everyone needs to be on the same page from the start. I’ve experience the “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario and it prolongs the process to the point where things can’t get completed. There needs to be one liaison between client and agency to avoid confusion.

By: Ron Wesson

Ron Wesson — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:55:51 +0000

Another good one, Lisa. I love the “how to fix” section. Your articles are often very practical and present solutions and fixes to the issues presented, which is great. Plus, you get 10 extra points for using “strangled” in a post title. :)

By: Mike Feiman

Mike Feiman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:55:50 +0000

“Make them tell you what they plan to do and what effect that is going to have on your site.” Excellent advice, but easier said than done. Based on my experience, I’d say that about 1% of people/companies that claim SEO as a profession will actually give you a straight answer to this question.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:23:07 +0000

Excellent post Lisa. The vendor client dance is often complicated and riddled with many potential points of failure.

I know many folks out there that only provide the audit and leave it to the client to implement recommendations as Jill does.

For those that do work this way I am wondering what level of detail is included in the audit. Is detailed keyword research provided? Are page titles and meta descriptions included?

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:14:07 +0000

You may “try” not to care, but you know you do. Not that we ever check up on past clients to see how they’re doing or if they’ve implemented what they promised us they’d implement…

By: Jill Whalen

Jill Whalen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:12:08 +0000

Yep. It’s the rare company that implements most of the recommendations–correctly! In fact, I am ecstatic when a company I’ve audited implements any recos at all.

But I typically only sign on for the audit part, so I try not to care what happens after that.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:03:15 +0000

I don’t disagree. In an ideal situation the business should be doing the SEO themselves, both because implementation is far easier and so they have a sense of what’s being done on their Web site. Even if they ARE the ones doing the implentation it’s still scary how quickly things can sometimes go from “productive audit” to “dead on arrival SEO”

By: Jill Whalen

Jill Whalen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:51:25 +0000

All of the above is why I only do the SEO audits and then have the companies themselves implement the recommendations. It’s nearly impossible for an SEO company do implement recommendations for any company that has more than just a handful of employees.

And really, it should be the company’s responsibility to do the SEO–perhaps with some outside guidance. They are the ones who understand exactly what it is that their company does, and they have the internal resources to make the necessary changes to the website.