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Site seeks LTR with SEO
By David Brown | June 3, 2008
While I was out and about cruising the intranets I came across a great post by Rand over at SEOmoz.org! It’s something I’ve wanted to write about for quite some time now and just haven’t gotten around to it. Then I started to type up a comment / response and it became more of a love affair / post than anything… so here goes.
Site seeks Long Term Relationship w/ SEO
What it all boils down to is courtship. Are we attracted to each other? Would we be a good match? What would eharmony.com do if we both signed up, would we be matched? Yes choosing the right SEO can be a lot like choosing the right partner in life. We all know physical attraction is powerful. So do you have a site w/ a product or service I (your prospective SEO) find attractive? I have personally turned down about 50 contracts a year since we started. Some are just ‘Bad Dates’ (I wouldn’t even refer them to other SEO companies because they were looking for BlackHat tactics or they were just generally unsavory business people - Google Assclown awards sometime to find a list of people that earned the nickname!)
Nothing can be more frustrating to an SEO… that’s why I interview my clients too. Sure I could take a bunch more contracts on all at the same time and do par work. Not care, not build relationships, not enjoy success. Ugh! If I wanted that kind of a life I’d go back to junior level corporate management. It’s not all about the money to some of us. I know, I know, everyone wants to make money online… That’s Great! it’s how you make your money - I like to sleep at night 
So here’s some things that I’ve come across on my end of the spectrum in the SEO contract process.
Choosing the RIGHT SEO for you - an online love story:
- Courtship - Courtship is your first few email’s / phone calls - you know pretty fast during this process if things are going to go any further. Remember to write questions down, visit SEO related sites and READ THEM! Have some good first date questions. I’m looking for an Athletic partner. Who wants a couch potato? When I go through your site w/ a fine tooth comb, spend countless hours with analytics, researching your competition, and building a success blueprint to drop in your lap… are you going to just sit there, on the couch? Woo me damnit! Tell me that your as excited about this project as I am. *Tip* in life, if you can get people excited about anything - not just SEO - ANYTHING! the results will be better!
I’m a HUGE fan of the movie The Secret - Yes I believe in the Law of Attraction. When you think of your friends, those who speak the most of wealth, are wealthy, those that speak the most of illness, are constantly sick. So when I have a potential client Courting me - I want to hear excitement… because if I get excited about a project… It Will Succeed!
I hear this from friends and family when I seldom complain about a company I’m working for that ‘just doesn’t get off the couch’ - “What do you care as long as the checks clear?” That my friends is what I like to call Stinkin Thinkin! I do care… if I’ve taken the time to put in the effort and your going to do NOTHING with a blueprint for success… then I look like a fool (and for the record that’s my least favorite look).
- Dating - We’re getting a bit more serious here looking to the future (*see engagement / contract signing), what needs to be in, what’s expected if this relationship is to go further etc…
I can’t stress this part enough - C O M M U N I C A T I O N = KEY! If you want / need / desire anything… Let me know during this process. Contrary to popular belief I do not own a Crystal Ball! The contract phase can be a bit long depending on how many attorneys are involved, how many meetings are needed to approve final budget etc… Our contract has two separate attachments each outlining exactly How much $ and How much work will be done. When clear guidelines are laid out and signed off on by both parties it’s a much more fulfilling relationship.
- Engagement - Well you just signed a contract and a check. Our relationship has ‘officially’ kicked off! This part of the relationship can be tricky…
Whenever we start a new contract we like to keep in contact fairly often. As our relationship grows we don’t necessarily grow apart we just don’t need the constant contact to achieve harmony. One of the biggest road blocks in my mind is the metrics. Some sites have never had any analytics scripts run on them - so as soon as they start getting daily metrics some site owners live and die by small increases and decreases. This will kill a relationship quickly! So DON’T DO THAT Search Engines are an amoeba that shrink, grow, move and change constantly… so what your analytics says today or tomorrow doesn’t really mean as much as Conversions do.
When I get to this point of the relationship I really want to know and fully understand what your goals are. Do you want your sites visitors to fill out a form? Do you want them to download something? What are the goals, how can we get there, and what exactly do you want? As a good partner / SEO I strive to make your wants my wants and to make them happen! And remember that while ranking in the 1st spot of the Google SERP’s is great… it’s not always what you want and or need. *A good example is when Brian ran the test to rank #1 in Google for ‘Tools’ - he got there out of 1billion+ other sites! #1 for Tools - impressive, but guess what? Conversions went down…there’s much more to this but for the sake of a blog post that can be read in 1 day I’ll save that for a later post!
- Marriage - We’ve done it! We walked down the isle, we got through the rough parts of our engagement and we’re proud to be with each other!
I love this phase almost as much as the next phase. A powerful combination of love / excitement / care / analytics / work / has already taken place and we’re succeeding! We are accomplishing goals and setting newer and bigger and brighter goals as we go! <3
- Happily Ever After - You’ve seen it since you were a kid… Disney does the Happily ever after best. It’s what we all strive & long for.
How can you not love the happily ever after phase? It’s great! If I could have that w/ 5-10 clients at the same time I’d never take on another client again! The only problem with this phase is I get dumped a lot when we get here 
I’ve come to expect it to some extent… due to the fact that doing my job well and accomplishing my goals means you have a very expensive friend at this point. *And in all reality I have several of my past clients that only use me as a consultant now, we already have an established rapport, and the site has already been structured for success… so small changes to the algorithm often require my consultation.
If you really love something… let it go… if it comes back, it’s true love. Or something like that… The clients that have dumped me in the ‘Happily ever after stage’ and come back are the sites that I truly enjoy working on! In my normal day to day happenings across the net, if I see something that will benefit my partner I will gladly do it and not think twice about it as work… it’s part of a unique relationship that has been built.
Sidenotes - Here’s a quick list of things I think everyone should know when looking for Mr.RightSEO
- No one can ‘Guarantee 1st place rankings’ Check out Google’s Webmaster Guidelines page if your not sure. “Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google.”
- Want to get rich on the internet overnight? Throw that out of your thinking… yes it can happen, but how often does it really? Look at the numbers… there’s more websites than there are humans, everyone wants to be rich so what does that tell you? Get a good business model together and become excited about it!
- Price v. Cost - More often than not… the Cost of doing business in a bad relationship far outweighs the Price of the right relationship. I know it’s easier said than done, but you shouldn’t let a dollar amount stop you from anything you want. Go after what’s best for you in the long run. Good things are seldom cheap and cheap things are seldom good .02
- Know what you want - Don’t come to me with “I really want to become an internet Millionaire” where’s the business model to do that? Because I really want to fly over a rainbow on a magical Unicorn - although I have no plans to achieve that yet so…
- Be Active! Probably the most important… I can tell when I set up a call and I’m getting good questions… Someone did their homework, someone is actually putting forth some effort and is interested in what I do. All SEO’s have ego - now I’m getting excited… could this be the one? They have already done research on their own!
Ah I better quit before this gets insanely long… Although I would like to hear from you! What have you run into when hiring an SEO? Firm / in-house? How was it? Any major roadblocks or construction the rest of the SEO community could learn from? Post up!
DB
Topics: Branding, SEO, SEO Consultants, Social |
