7 Questions to Ask Before Signing on an SEO Client
The ultimate quest of all online marketers and businesses with online dealings is to rank on top of the first page on the search engine results. It is because people have become dependent on the search engines displaying precisely what they search for, thus becoming lazy and not bothering to click further than the initially displayed results.
Well, it is why businesses often come to an SEO agency for help, as the SEO agency is the entity that does the work behind the scenes, and makes the high ranking possible. Of course, SEO agencies also help with improved website design, getting more traffic and leads, and ultimately converting the leads into sales.
Here we’ll talk more about the essential questions an SEO agency should tackle when negotiating with a potential SEO client. It is vital to line up the client’s expectations with your abilities and develop a sustainable, long-term SEO strategy. By doing so, you get all pertinent information up front, save valuable time in the future, plan adequately, and deliver what is demanded from your agency.
Without further ado, here are the seven most pertinent questions that you need to ask your next SEO client, and based on the answers, you can create a successful SEO campaign for them.
What Is Your Current SEO Strategy?
It is among the most critical questions for your potential SEO client, as you should be aware of as many problems as possible before you take on the SEO client. Of course, you will do an audit of the website, but knowing what you are starting with can help you better hone your plan. Of course, knowing the extent of the job you need to do will help you plan the next steps and the necessary budget.
Any website that has never been optimized for SEO will pose a significant challenge with generic, non-focused content. Here you should also emphasize the importance of content marketing to your clients. It is also very likely that it will have spammy backlinks that can affect ranking. These spammy backlinks could potentially put the website on Google’s penalized sites list. If your prospective client’s website has had some SEO implemented, you’ll likely be faced with plenty of backlinks, most of these harmful and lowering the website’s SERP ranking.
What Are Your Main Objectives and KPIs From SEO?
When looking to hire an SEO agency, many clients are unaware of what the job entails and expect spectacular results. To set things straight, you need to set realistic expectations from the start and align them with your client’s goals.
With this question, you need to find out the most important goals your SEO client expects; for example, some may want increased traffic to their website, others may want increased conversions and increased organic reach.
Knowing the goals and KPIs (key performance indicators) before you start will also help you plan your actions. In some cases, if the clients set up unreasonable goals or have high KPIs, asking this question beforehand will help you decide whether to take on the SEO client.
What Is the Scope of Your Company? Local/Global?
You will often find yourself in a situation where you deal with SEO clients working locally and clients dealing with audiences globally. These require a much different approach. Creating an SEO strategy for a large website with thousands of pages is different from creating an SEO strategy for a local cosmetics salon.
In the first example, you will need to set several objectives, make in-depth keyword search analyses for different regions, and optimize accordingly. In the second example, you will need to optimize for local search, improve the Google My Business page, and focus on local SEO.
What Are Your Target Audience and Target Keywords?
Before you take on an SEO client, you should ask them who their key demographics are. By understanding the customer persona of your potential SEO client, you will set a baseline for all your further SEO actions. Also, you can more easily recognize the difficulty of the project. For example, if your SEO client has Millennials as their key demographics, you’ll have a more demanding task before you.
Your SEO clients will often have a good idea of what they want to rank for, and to make things easier for you, you can get their list of ideas and do comprehensive keyword research. You can then refine the targeted keywords list and improve on it. It will also represent the scope of work you need to do to optimize your client’s website for effective SEO properly
What Is the Difference Between You and Your Main Competitors?
You are asking your potential clients what the difference between them and the companies they consider to be their main competitors will provide valuable insight and help you determine what needs to be done. However, this question also helps determine the Unique Selling Proposition/Point or USP and whether there is room for alternate propositions.
As an SEO agency, you need to check the Google keyword search data, analyze it and determine if your client’s UPS is on point and, if necessary, help them find a more effective one. After finding their USP, you need to ensure that their website reflects this in the best light. As we said above, improving the client’s SEO strategy is much more than just optimizing their website, SEO is vital to great branding as well.
Do You Already Work With a Developer/Designer?
An essential question will tell you who you’ll be working with and the person you need to contact when starting work and dealing with technical issues. Many SEO clients may answer that they have an in-house developer/designer, and you’ll be working closely with them.
However, many times, your potential SEO clients will not have any in-house developer/designer, and you will be given free reign to make all the necessary changes to the website. In such a case, you should also ask your SEO client if they agree on a partial or complete overhaul of the website to make it more SEO-friendly and accessible to users.
What Is Your Proposed SEO Budget?
Many SEO clients are unaware of the extent of work necessary to launch a successful SEO strategy and are unprepared to pay for it. Before you commit to anything, you need to find out what they plan on spending on SEO. If they give you a low amount, there is no need to spend your time on them.
Your new SEO client may have a small-ish budget for SEO, but they may be spending a lot more on old-fashioned advertising. In this case, it is better to allocate more funds to SEO than AdWords, as SEO can be more effective in the long run. Your job is to convince them of this, as you can organize giveaways and contests based on SEO strategies that will improve organic reach.
We advise you to only work with clients with a sufficient budget to invest in SEO, as considering the implications, SEO is among the things that bring a better long-term ROI.
To Wrap Up
You can ask your potential SEO clients many more questions, but these seven are the most pertinent ones. These are designed to give you a general overview of the current SEO situation of your client’s website and their existing SEO strategy, and you need them answered before you sign a new SEO client. All the rest can be dealt with at a later date.
It is essential never to make promises before you judge the actual situation with a potential SEO client. Always ask questions, gather as much information as possible before making a long-term commitment, do your research, break down the project, and find out every job responsibility that your SEO client expects from you.
Also, many SEO clients don’t know what SEO truly means, so expect to be treated with skepticism and mistrust. Should you accept the job, you should always give your best and prove they made the right choice by hiring your services – a satisfied customer is the best form of advertising.
