Written by Izzy Wisniewska
I love working in SEO. It has its challenges but at the same time it is a very rewarding career path with a lot of potential for growth. I believe that one of the main benefits of working in Search Engine Optimisation comes from the ever changing nature of SEO, which is shaped by the frequent updates to Google’s search engine algorithm. This is why I would often compare working in SEO to studying at university; you literally learn something new every single day and it’s not just the latest changes to the Google algorithm. In fact, some of the most valuable lessons come from working and interacting with your clients.
What I want to share with you today, is some of the lessons I have learned during my time working in the Search Engine Optimisation industry.
1) You need to communicate success very clearly.
One lesson I learned the hard way was failing to communicate my success. This should be done clearly and in a timely fashion because if you do not communicate your wins to your clients, it can be just as bad as having no wins at all. Search Engine Optimisation is a very complicated subject and most clients are not SEO experts. In fact, many of them have no clue how SEO works (you should try your best to educate them but that is a story for another blog post).
Because your clients do not fully understand SEO, some of your successes may not be obvious to them. Let’s say you have identified and fixed a redirect chain which was leaking link juice or you have turned half a dozen brand mentions on high domain authority websites into links; your client is unlikely to see what you’ve done or understand the benefit (at least not instantly). It is therefore of paramount importance that you communicate all such wins and explain how they fit in with your overall KPIs and goals.
In the above example, you could explain to your client that the fixed redirect chain and links from mentions will improve their domain authority which will in turn result in better ranking and lead to increased traffic and more sales.
It doesn’t matter how big or small your wins are – you need to communicate them to your clients.
If you fail to do so, you’ll be in danger of your client not understanding and therefore not appreciating the value your service is offering their business. This is especially important on long-term projects that require a lot of small wins to take place before you can achieve your main goals (usually increased conversions and sales).
2) Never stop learning.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, SEO is forever changing. What used to work a number of years ago may as well be ancient history today and recycling old practices can sometimes do more harm than good. This is why every respectful SEO expert should keep learning and always strive to get better at SEO. If you don’t keep up, you may soon find yourself without a job.
Just bear in mind that it’s not just the SEO you need to keep on top of. When working with clients you need to be up to date with their industry as well. It will be very hard for you to help them unless you understand their industry and business model.
3) Establish clear goals and KPIs from the start and manage expectations.
Setting clear goals and expectations right from the start is very important. Fail to do this, and you will run into problems sooner or later. Many clients will have unrealistic expectations – for example, expecting a brand new website to rank for highly-competitive keywords in a short period of time or fixing thousands of technical SEO issues over the course of a weekend. You can’t blame your clients for having these expectations – they are not the SEO experts, after all – but you do need to set and manage these expectations.
4) Be prepared to say “No”.
There are going to be times when the customer isn’t right and you will have to say “no”.
For example, they may ask you for something that you deem to be not in their best interest (again, this could be due to their lack of SEO knowledge) or they may ask you for something which is not part of your original agreement (such as building landing pages for Pay Per Click campaign when your contract only covers content marketing).
5) Solve their problems first.
It is very important to listen to your client and understand their problems. At first glance, certain concerns may not appear to be SEO-related, but if they matter to your client you should consider prioritising them. To give you an example, let’s say that in your on-page audit you have found and prioritised 26 issues. One of these may be a number of missing meta description on low value pages. It may not be your top priority at the moment but it may be a priority for your client.
Ignore the client’s concern and they may feel like you simply aren’t prepared to listen to them and that will have an adverse effect on your future relationship.
6) Become part of their team.
Try to have multiple points of contact within your client’s company, be it within their PR, internal marketing or web development teams. This will provide a number of benefits; you will get things done much faster and understand your client’s business much better. You will also be perceived as a member of their team rather than a vendor who could be easily replaced.
Summary
These are some of the lessons I have learned working with clients. What are yours? Let me know in the comments.
