Managing SEO Clients: The Four C's:

Communication

Similar to most industries, communication is of the utmost importance in Link Building & SEO. We cannot even begin to develop a plan without an open line of communication with the client. Running a successful link-building campaign requires a lot of back and forth both in the decision to move forward with a link and what kind of content will be placed there once approved. When it comes to project management, all parties must be involved and must communicate.

Collaboration Is Key To SEO

SEO is made impossible if there is not a constant line of communication for which the client can express wishes and/or concerns to us. We also must be able to relay information to the client regarding their SEO progress. There are several different mediums that can be easily used to keep an open line of communication:

• Email
• Phone Calls
• Text
• Discussion Boards
• Video Calls
• Daily/Weekly/Monthly Meetings

​While some individuals wish to be hands-off and leave the SEO development up to us, the truth is that true, successful SEO requires involvement from all sides. While some success can be found without the client's input, the truth of the matter is that SEO moves much quicker and is much more effective if the client is working alongside us. Whether we are working with the client's marking team, their office manager, or even the business owner, keeping them involved will make the SEO process much more effective.

Transparency Is Key

While some of the client's goals might be very obtainable and are realistic goals, some may not be. It is important that the client is transparent with us, and us with them. We are always honest and clear with our clients, making sure they understand what to expect and time frames that come along with the work they wish to have done. ​

Clarity

With communication now in place, it is very important that the client is very clear about what their goals are, as well as us being transparent about how realistic those goals are and a timeline associated with those goals. ​

Identify The Clients Goals

We cannot even begin down the road of SEO development without thoroughly understanding what the client wishes to get out of the relationship. All clients are different, and each may require additional services to bolster the performance of an SEO campaign, such as the following:

• Website Construction
• Website Development
• Software Development
• Digital Marketing and/or Advertisements
• Comprehensive and/or Local SEO

​Nothing is worse than when a business comes to us thinking they just need SEO, when really they need a new website and better-focused ads before they should ever consider SEO. While this is a tough conversation to have, it is necessary.

Make Recommendations Based On The Clients Goals

Once it is established that the client has a foundation we can work with and the SEO goals are known, it is then our place to review their goals and come back to the clients with what we think would be the best possible route to take to accomplish those goals. It is good to come to the client with several recommendations to allow them to decide which direction they wish to go with our SEO efforts. These recommendations usually come in the form of content recommendations that span far past simple blogging.

Come To An Agreement On A Direction To Stick With It

Once the client has given thought to our recommendations and we thoroughly discussed what kind of SEO campaign we are going to run with, we can then settle in and start digging into what needs to be done and the time frames associated with the SEO campaign. ​

Changes

With clarity comes identifying necessary changes. Some clients have a hard time hearing “You're doing it wrong”, but the truth of the matter is that there is almost always something the client is doing that is inhibiting their SEO performance. The client needs to be open to new ideas and, in almost every case, some level of change. ​

Recognizing What Might Not Be Working

A lot of SEO clients are experts in their fields and have been for countless years. With that being said, they may not know what does not work in terms of SEO. Our job is to come in and make observations on what is holding back the client's SEO development. The client then needs to be able to recognize that their SEO agency is not telling them that they are wrong, but that some of their practices may be holding their organic search traffic back. ​

Identify What Works & Implement

After identifying the underlying issues with a company's SEO strategy (Or lack thereof), the next step is taking a look at the options available to help make their site more valuable. Whether they need to spend more time in keyword research or identifying their target audience, we can help point them in the correct direction as well as explain our process on our side of the ball. We further back up these hypotheses by A/B testing these ideas, collecting data on how our client's users interact with each idea, and then making a data-driven decision. Being able to identify the changes that need to be implemented is key to achieving a higher ranking on Google as well as bringing in new customers., the A/B testing is what keeps them there. ​

Consistency

With Communication, Clarity, and Changes in place, Consistency is needed to keep everything moving forward.  SEO is not a one-time effort, but rather a long-term commitment. While we may have set goals and implemented changes, it can all be rendered irrelevant if consistency is thrown by the wayside. The most challenging aspect of SEO is maintaining a constant pace and continuing to move forward when you might not see much change in the first few months

Commit To The Agreed Upon Goals And Changes

One of the most important aspects of a successful SEO campaign is following through with the tasks and goals that have been laid out. While some aspects of SEO might seem repetitive and confusing, trust is key, and maintaining faith in the system will ultimately lead to stronger results and create better traffic. ​

Maintaining A Consistent Pace and Not Giving Up

Committing to goals is one thing while following through with them is another whole concept. Ensuring that you stay on schedule and maintaining a consistent pace is crucial. Realistically, general and local SEO development is not a sprint, but rather a marathon. In order to find success in the SEO space, we must use the tools we previously decided would best fit that particular campaign. While there is always room for improvement and adaptation, the bulk of the SEO effort must be constant and consistent.
Clients may feel discouraged if they do not see progress, especially if they are in extremely competitive markets, but patience is important. If you are just starting SEO and the current sites that rank in the 1-3 position for your keywords have 10k page websites with blogs dating back years, you can't expect to be trusted by search engines over them for at least 18-24 months. Even a local contractor needs to give 12-18 months to start seeing consistent valuable traffic visit their site.

Conclusion

SEO can prove to be one of the most successful and cost-effective methods of marketing that a business can employ. SEO can bring a lot of very targeted and genuine, top-of-funnel traffic through Google and other search engines. While it is a long, tedious process that may only payout in the long run, successful SEO campaigns are extremely valuable resources that will continue to bring purposeful traffic to your website. Contact Mad Mango Marketing to discuss how we can bring value to your website and company!