09 Oct How to persuade your client that your SEO efforts will result in traffic
Because business is all about outcomes, it’s normal for your customer to expect more traffic as one of the tangible aspects of SEO optimization. However, unlike many other areas where you can present a deliverable or other sort of tangible results immediately after finishing a project, this is not the case with SEO. Results from SEO can take months or years to appear, and the worst-case scenario is that they never appear at all.
This is unfortunate since your client will not be pleased to pay for no outcomes. However, there are some solid indicators for when there will be results, as we’ll discuss later, but first, let’s talk about what your client can expect.
The most important factor is ROI, not traffic.
I realize that some clients will find it difficult to accept that traffic isn’t the most significant metric for determining SEO success or failure, but for the vast majority of clients, traffic is only one side of the coin. What is most important is ROI, or how much more money you make as a result of your SEO effort.
With example, for one of my affiliate ventures, I didn’t bother checking traffic ups and downs because conversions were the most crucial. Even if the increased traffic was tenfold, and the commissions remained the same, I would have labeled this campaign a failure since I am not concerned in hits but in conversions.
Of course, the bigger the ROI, the more traffic you have. As a consequence, even if traffic is increasing but ROI isn’t increasing, suggest to your customer that they switch to PPC because it performs better for conversions than SEO.
Explain to your client what kind of traffic to expect.
Another point you should discuss with your customer before moving on to the signs of SEO success or failure is how much traffic you can realistically expect and when. Your customer may believe that by spending RM100 on hundreds of low-quality backlinks, he or she would be able to rank on the top page for a competitive term, but as we all know, this will never happen. In fact, if you’re dealing with a horrible customer, I’ll reiterate what I said in the 35 Lessons a Decade in SEO Has Taught Me article: cut ways with the client before you have a heart attack.
You should also inform your client (if he or she isn’t already aware) that SEO results take time to become visible. Sometimes you have to wait months before you notice any progress, so patience is a virtue here.
Always keep your client informed of your progress.
Communication with clients is always important, and SEO strategies are no different. As a result, it is recommended that you provide your clients weekly, bimonthly, or monthly updates on your success throughout the term, such as you have obtained 5 PR5 backlinks from (list sites here), you have contributed 3 new entries to their blog (list URLs here), and so on. These reports help the customer know where you are, so don’t dismiss them as unnecessary red tape.
If, on the other hand, the customer has a concept of SEO, you might arrange your tasks ahead of time. This also aids him or her in keeping track of the project’s progress. If the customer is unfamiliar with SEO, it becomes more difficult since even if you tell him or her about your goals, he or she will not be able to follow, and it will also be more difficult for you to explain the outcomes to them. You may even have to teach him or her the fundamentals of website traffic generation.
Key Indicators That Your SEO Is Producing Results
Now that you’ve explained with your customer what you can and cannot anticipate in terms of traffic, here are some signs that demonstrate you’re (or aren’t) on the correct route.
- Improved ranking for minor keywords
It is preferable if you can report better rankings for major keywords, but since this may take years to achieve, you can focus on minor keywords. Minor keywords are where you should start because they are easier and faster to conquer while still bringing in a significant amount of targeted traffic.
To report higher ranks for small keywords, simply compare the quantity of hits for each of them before and after you launched your SEO effort. Of course, this isn’t particularly accurate because there might be other factors, such as seasonal swings that push traffic for a certain minor keyword up and down, but all things considered, minor keywords are a wonderful sign of success or lack thereof.
- An increase in the number of unique keywords
You may also report on the amount of unique terms that sent visitors to your site. Navigate to Sources in Google Analytics. Looking for something? Organic traffic is shown at the bottom, along with the terms that delivered it. If the number of unique keywords grows, you’re doing better than before.
- Increased Search Engine Traffic
Increased traffic could come from other search engines in addition to Google. Although Google is the most popular, traffic from other search engines is generally more targeted and thus counts. Look in the server logs, in the referrer field, to see where traffic is coming from if you notice an increase in traffic from search engines in general.
- Ranking Services Improved Rankings
Improved ranks using ranking services are another sign that your client’s site is doing better than before. Google’s Page Rank is one of these ranking services, Domain Authority (DA), and other comparable services.
Alexa is the most adaptable because their rankings are updated on a regular basis. Because PR is changed four times a year and DA is updated seldom, it is conceivable that your current rank (or the freshly updated one) may not take your recent efforts into consideration.
- Increased Social Media Visibility
Social media platforms might also indicate your popularity. If you can increase the number of your Twitter followers, YouTube subscribers, Facebook friends, or become popular on a big social bookmarking site, you’re on the right route.
It is difficult to present results when they are not in tangible form, but it is not impossible. Use the indicators listed above to persuade your client that your SEO efforts will result in traffic, and keep up the good work!
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