Comments on: Clients: Ask the Wrong Questions, They Do

By: Michael Cottam

Michael Cottam — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:47:26 +0000

Ahhhh…if only all prospective clients would read…I actually got a request from someone this week where they asked about my rates (which is listed right above the contact form they used) and my portfolio (which there’s a link to on every page of the site). Sigh. But I do totally agree with you, those who take the time to look at the sites of the people they’re inquiring with are way better qualified. Too often I get a request that’s clearly been copied and pasted into my contact form…and a dozen others.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:29:09 +0000

This is so true. That’s why a big part of our own content marketing efforts is focused on informing prospects about the correct process, formula, etc. I’ve found that if prospects have been reading our blog for awhile, they have less questions and the questions that they do have are appropriate.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:28:49 +0000

This is so true. That’s why a big part of our own content marketing efforts is focused on informing prospects about the correct process, formula, etc. I’ve found that if prospects have been reading out blog for awhile, they have less questions and the questions that they do have are appropriate.

By: grace morris

grace morris — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:26:00 +0000

I want to weep while reading this while thinking about the client I have to hear this from week after week.

By: Michael Cottam

Michael Cottam — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 21:11:47 +0000

Interesting perspective Nick…I like it and agree with you. In my experience, more than half of clients in this position can be “won over” to doing things the right way, and taking the time to do so helps cement the client’s understanding of your real value vs. their past SEO consultants.

Unfortunately I’m seeing maybe 30-40% of prospective clients in this position unwilling to accept what I’m telling them. And that’s either a reflection on my communication/presentation skills, or the client is simply not ready to accept that there are very few “quick & cheap & dirty” wins these days.

Typically if they’ve just lost a modest chunk of traffic due to Panda factors, often they’re looking for the magic bullet to get them back where they were. If they’ve suffered a major slaughtering from Penguin, and 80% of their traffic is gone, and Google has manually penalized them as well, then there’s usually enough signs for them to wake up and see that I might have a point :-).

By: Amie

Amie — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:57:01 +0000

Thanks Michael, I can definitely relate to this post and as an SEO provider I have been asked the exact questions countless times. Search Engine Optimisation is a tricky service and is best implemented by getting to know each website personally before questions can be answered honestly. Like you mentioned, the tactics used to increase rankings of each site will depend on goals of the site and the site’s competition, to name but a few.

By: Nick Nelson

Nick Nelson — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 07:47:20 +0000

SEO is one of the few industries where it’s not yet “seller beware” – in the old days, when you walked into a car dealership – the sales guy automatically knew more than you did about the cars on that lot. With CarFax, KBB and everything else – more often than not, the buyer is walking in with more research than that sales guy.

SEO Marketers still ultimately know the process infinitely better than the customer will. The customer thinks pay-for-performance, keyword research and top rankings in Google is fair to ask for. Why? Because another bad SEO told them so.

So I guess my point is, you need to tell stories and explain to the client why these things are bad..not simply walk away.

I think these questions should be your FAVORITE. It shows that the clients engaged and knows the importance of SEO. That’s step 1.

By: Michael Cottam

Michael Cottam — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:09:32 +0000

Thanks Leo! They sure haven’t stopped asking me that question…I should have listed it. Perhaps I’m subconsciously blocking that out :-)

By: Michael Cottam

Michael Cottam — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:08:19 +0000

You’re right, Mike. But to clarify, I’d say that answering their questions by trying to show a past client’s audit document is the wrong approach. Instead, I prefer to talk about the keyword research process, and talk about having a checklist of best practices I go through, and then talk about taking the results of the keyword research and tuning the site and specific pages for the terms that show the most promise.

And in this day and age, I agree that you need to be upfront about link buying, crappy link-gaining tactics, etc., and explain (a) why those are risky and should be avoided, and (b) give some examples of the kinds of link-building that you recommend.

But I’ll disagree about clients not looking for guarantees–I’m hearing many of them specifically ask for that up front. And so my point there is that they SHOULDN’T be asking for guarantees…and you need to educate them as to why that’s not the question they should be asking.

By: Leo

Leo — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:01:17 +0000

Loved this. One question I’m surprised you didn’t include: “How long will it take you to put us in the No. 1 position for all of our favorite keywords?” Maybe I’m too old and people have stopped asking that one.