Search Engine Optimization- Selling Strategy
Below is a search engine optimization selling strategy I created for a company that offered SEO guarantees on their packages. I personally don’t believe in guaranteeing SEO services; it is like selling your services at Walmart. The work that is completed should be paid for and the level of quality should be worth paying for or you shouldn’t be doing it. Often times, companies that offer this guarantee end up with a ton of clients with no results however they are stuck in a contract with a company who isn’t providing results and they aren’t paying. This is a lose/lose situation.
Understanding the SEO Process
This specific company wanted to offer SEO to their existing clients but were actually outsourcing the work. They didn’t comprehend the amount of work involved andthought this guarantee would get clients to sign up. Once the clients signed up they were insistent on being found for words with extremely high competition levels. I personally think this is not an acceptable way to sell SEO packages and it is really setting the client and the company up for failure. My recommendations were to set a limit on the packages that offered the guarantee with regards to the keyword competition levels and the sites existing ability to rank organically. If the site did not have existing page rank, substantial content, inbound links etc. it was going to be limited to the phrases available under the guarantee. If the client was insistent for phrases that were outside this set level then they needed to move to a package that accounted for the extra work that was going to be involved.
Vision Statement
- Providing Quality SEO Services
- Meet/Exceed Clients Expectations
- Educate Team & Clients On SEO Process
Goal and Objective
- Gaining Search Engine Optimization Clients
- Creating Competitive SEO Packages
- Educating Clients On Expectations
- Meeting/Exceeding Clients Expectations
Today’s Situation
- Clients are uneducated about keyword selection, time associated to gain such positions, work involved.
- Poor keyword selection creates unsatisfied customers & loss of sales due to inability to meet guarantees.
How Did We Get Here?
- Original marketing strategy has low success rates
- Clients demands are unreasonable within time constraints & pricing structure
Available Options
- Increase Pricing Structure
- Create Additional Packages
- Educate Clients
- Limit Refund Policy
Understanding The SEO Process
- Initial Client Contact
- Keyword Analysis
- Keyword Selection
- Competitor Analysis
- Website Analysis
- Off Page Optimization
Initial Client Contact
- Tell client what’s included in package.
- Explain to client what expectations should be for the specific package.
- Tell client what limitations are set on the specific package
Keyword Analysis
- Research main keywords and alternative keywords available for the client using tools like:
- Wordtracker
- Overture
- Google Suggestion
- Review keyword counts and number of competitors for the keywords available
Keyword Selection
- Remove keywords that are over 1 million competitors.
- Present keywords available for a specific package to the client.
- If client is insistent on specific keywords, up sell to larger package.
Competitor Analysis
- Review number of competitors for the keywords available to ensure keywords is viable.
- Review the top 10 competitor websites to see just how optimized they are and what is needed to compete with them.
Website Analysis
- Review customers website for all necessary changes in order to compete for the selected keywords
- Recommendation
- Before accepting a client, educate them on the process.
- Tell the client up front what their limitations will be.
- If the client is adamant about specific keywords; up sell to a larger package to accommodate work involved.