Sometimes it’s nice to give a little holiday recognition to the people who work for you. Whether it’s a Whitman’s sampler for the Mailman or a greeting card for your family dentist, it’s just a little something to spread the merriment. Well… if you’re thinking of bestowing a gift on your SEO, I’d like to put my own little list out there. Now, maybe your SEO would prefer an ergonomic keyword or something from The Oatmeal on a T-shirt. Both great ideas, btw, but my Christmas list is a little more intangible.
Your Commitment
Your SEO wants your commitment. We don’t want a ring like your live-in girlfriend who’s going on 35. We just want to know you’re in it for the long haul and that you are really committed to growing your online presence.
Things take time in SEO, nothing happens overnight. But you’ve heard that. And you’re willing to put in the time. Butare you thinking about your future? And is SEO in it?
SEO is not a phase of development; it’s a constant state of evolution. It’s completely legit to want results, to expect them and to be concerned if they aren’t coming. But if you’re asking for short cuts, or you want some sort of “fix” that’s going to last forever, I’m sorry, we can’t help you. No good SEO can.
The commitment we want is not necessarily a long term contract or any kind of promise that our relationship will last forever. We want to know you’re committed to the on-going improvement of your site through the best possible practices. Online marketing is not something we dabble in because it’s trendy. It’s a powerful force for in-bound marketing and great internet marketing strategies have made millionaires out of many. We believe in it, we know it’s not a fad and we want to know that you do too.
An Open Mind
You know what you want. I get that. You know your business; you’ve done the market research and the keyword discovery. You’ve tracked conversions and analytics; you’ve put in the time. We appreciate it and we respect that no one will ever understand your business the way you will. Just do us a favor and try to keep an open mind.
We may suggest things that you’ve never considered, or put much stock in. But all we’re asking is that you hear us out. Perhaps you don’t get many conversions from Facebook, so you wrote it off a while ago. But have you considered it’s because your Wall has all the engagement appeal of a Human Resources handbook? I realize you spent 15 Grand to have someone design your website, but 12 links and a slider do not homepage content make.
The point is you know your business, really, really well. Better than we ever will. But we do know what components factor into a website’s overall quality. I’m not saying trust us blindly either, but if we propose something, just think about it, seriously. If you keep an open mind and let us pull you outside of your comfort zone just a little, you may find that we’re not entirely off our rockers. Ok, most of us are, but at least we know SEO.
That’s not to say we want you to shut up and stay out of it and nobody wants to be micromanaged either. But there’s a balance.
Your Input
Somewhere between being completely absent and totally overbearing is a middle ground of synchronous collaboration. We really don’t mind feedback and questions. In fact we like them because questions show you’re interested, and trust me, an educated client is far better than one who isn’t. Just understand, if your question is going to take me 8 hours to answer, I may have to charge for consulting. I like you and all, but it’s protocol.
Whether its questions or insights, getting guidance from a client is hugely helpful. Do you have new keywords you want to target? Great! Tell us, because we won’t know otherwise. Are you launching a new product? Did you get mentioned in the news? Are you running a scholarship for underprivileged rabbits in the Sudan? That’s killer! We want to know.
Even if we’re “just your link builders” never underestimate how close we are to the day-to-day operations of your business. It’s often the internal efforts that make your business link-worthy. But if we don’t know about your amazing endeavors we can’t capitalize on them. Sure we’ll still get you links, cause that’s how we roll. But without collaboration it’s too sad to even think about all of the great opportunities that slip by.
I realize this Christmas list is a tall order, kind of like asking for a TickleMe Elmo in 1996. But these are the kinds of gifts that will benefit you too. Committing to the long term process of SEO, keeping an open mind, and giving input into your campaign are all absolutely imperative to online success. When that’s missing, it’s like having nothing but empty packages under the tree, it may look nice on the outside but there’s no substance, and the children are all going to cry. Your passion for your own internet marketing success is honestly the best gift you can possibly give us. But… if you still wanna order from The Oatmeal… I can’t get enough of “The Bobs”.
One Response
Hey Jen – Totally agree, input is huge. I think when clients share how they measure success, what their goals are for their online business, we can better serve them and help them drive the metrics that are important to them, whether it be just driving more traffic, more sales or more high quality leads. I think high quality collaboration and communication is definitely and intangible that can help any campaign. Great post 🙂
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