This is the final part of a 3 post series on SEO Goals, KPI’s & Managing Client Expectations. If you didn’t catch part 1 looking at SEO goal setting, or part 2 about SEO Key Performance Indicators, then you might want to check those out first.
Managing Client Expectations in SEO
This can be the hardest job in the world at times. Everyone wants that number 1 slot in Google’s ranking for their biggest keyword, and at times it can be difficult to reign in a client and explain to them that they are nowhere near being able to beat the Amazon’s of the world, or build a “new” Twitter – but there are a few tips I find helpful for maintaining a long and lasting relationship with a client.
This starts with setting out what is realistically achievable from the outset, and on the first day of starting work with a new client, I give them a call to discuss their aims and goals for the campaign. Right from the start it’s important to look at the resources available on the website, look at the copy requirements, the changes you need to make to website architecture, the links that you are going to need to get these results in their competitive environment.
If you give a client false hope that they can rank number 1 for a specific phrase, then continuing to manage those expectations is going to be difficult.
I also find that it’s important to be discussing short and long term expectations, so that you know what you are working to. This allows you to focus on things that can get clients an early return on the investment from a campaign, although of course, the largest rewards come to those who are prepared to work closely with you for all the things that you need to succeed in an SEO project.
Expectations also need to be frequently addressed. There are plenty of variables outside of our control when managing a campaign, and sometimes things don’t proceed as you would like. It’s at times like these that you really test your mettle – refining your processes to gain the best advantages that you can for your clients – but also resetting their expectations of what can be achieved.
It’s important to focus on the positive aspects of a campaign when talking to the client. Appreciate their concerns, understand their difficulties, but tell them what has been achieved, let them know if conversion rates are improving as a result of a tweak on the website, let them know progress being made with rankings, or how many extra keywords are driving traffic to a website.
Whilst clients are often focused on one particular metric, if that isn’t being achieved as quickly as you would like, then tell them what has been achieved – because if you don’t – who will?
Success in SEO can be measured and achieved in lots of different ways – and just because 1 way was set out at the start as a core goal, doesn’t mean that these aren’t the only things being achieved.
Continue to deliver a good return on investment to these clients, and re-adjust the goals and expectations and you can give yourself more time to achieve those goals that the client originally wanted to achieve in the first place and continue to deliver an even higher return on that investment – and in return for that, you are likely to continue with a long lasting relationship with the client.
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