When a company takes on a Search Engine
Optimization project (SEO) they need to look at the complete
picture and see what needs to be done or what can be done to fix
the site and drive traffic that will produce results. I have
prospects ask me to basically lay out the entire plan for them in a
sales meeting, before we even have an agreement to move forward.
Clients feel that they need to have an exact plan, exactly what you
are going to do, set in stone before moving forward with a company.
The problem with this is it lends no room for creativity, or the
inevitable change that happens in the SEO world.
Imagine if a client came to us and signed an
SEO agreement that we will write "x" articles and build "x" links
each month for "x" dollars each month. Now we as a company might
have quoted these numbers using what were acceptable content
practices at that given time, let's say blog posts of 300 - 400
words. Now let's say Google does an algorithm change (imagine
that), a change which would like to see more content let's say 500
- 600 words. So now we are all in a pickle because we have to
produce longer more in-depth articles at the same price or come
back to the client and say "hey imagine this, Google made a change"
and now we need more $ each month.
When that patient walks (or is rolled) into House's clinic they
don't say hey expert, can you tell me everything you are going to
do before you even start to diagnose me? No they pretty much say,
do what you need to do to fix me. It is much easier with SEO to
have a budget to work around. Then we all know how big of a sandbox
we have to play in and can then manage resources appropriately to
maximize value for that budget.
In this field I see and hear all kinds of things. I
once had a prospect tell me, "Maybe you shouldn't tell us what we
are doing wrong!" Really??? So, as a business you don't want a
consultant to show you what you're doing wrong and how to fix it?
Instead let's ignore the problem and it will just go away. I have
had clients ask for help ranking but have no interest in fixing the
SEO issues on their site, "can't you just do your thing, leave our
site alone and get us to rank?" Not ethically, although off site
work is a big part of SEO, you still need to fix the issues on your
site, after all Google (and other Search Engines) are ranking your
site and it should reflect what it is ranking for.
In the SEO world, a consultant needs the ability to
change their approach as the Search Engines change and look at
different aspects in their ranking algorithms. This allows us to
explore different resources to get a message out there. Take these
pictures for instance. Using Fiverr.com, it cost me $5 to get a
person in each location to write the message I wanted and then take
a picture for me to use. This is just a simple example of being
able to look at resources available and use them for the good of
the campaign.