You are an SEO agency. You have a team of SEO consultants. They are masters in Search Engine Optimization. Despite all these facts, you find it a hard nut to crack when it comes to convincing new clients about SEO.
When a client comes to you, he has tons of questions and apprehensions about the search game he needs answers for. And being a responsible agency, you should be ready to answer that. Since your client is putting investment in SEO, his questions are pertinent and legitimate. After all, why should one make a blind bet?
5 Frequently Asked SEO Questions
I am listing here 5 frequently asked SEO questions that clients most often ask an agency. If anytime soon you face these questions, here are the most appropriate answers.
1: If You Can Guarantee #1 Ranking
This is the most common SEO question that comes to haunt an agency very often is if it can guarantee top place in Google search rankings. First-timers or newbie marketers are a bit faster in asking this assurance before settling the deal. Though listening to this absurd question quite frequently is annoying, you have no option but to face the question.
Of course, occupying top positions in SERPs is a dream, but it requires hard work, planning, and an unbeatable SEO strategy. If anyone claims guaranteed top rankings, he is misleading. To sell services, companies, consultants and agencies make fake claims. No one can guarantee top rankings for certain keywords in a given period. It isn’t only next to impossible, but also poses serious risks involved.
It’s worth noting that Google’s search ranking algorithm is based on machine learning and free from any human intervention. The algorithm takes into consideration many hundred ranking factors to rank the best possible websites. An agency can only help you in putting these factors in the right taste. Since Google’s algorithm is constantly evolving, no one guesses exactly what Google wants.
2: If You Can Be Paid After Delivering
This is the next question that’s difficult to ascertain and reply to. You have almost convinced your client about the SEO plan, work scope, and cost incurred. Now the client throws the catch.
He asks if he can pay the amount after seeing the result.
Tricky situation, right!!
So what you should answer?
Since you desperately want to close the deal, you may surrender to the term. But I would suggest otherwise. It may sometimes take over a few weeks or a couple of months to get the desired results. And it could also be a case that you and your client are not on the same page in deciding the worth of the result.
In either case, if you haven’t received upfront payments or secured full payment in advance, there would be a good chance that the client may refuse to pay. To better avoid any such clash, I will recommend you go for the advanced payment.
3: If You’re Like Any Other SEO Agency
SEO is a time-consuming process that takes time to produce results. Most of the clients don’t understand the fact and switch between multiple agencies quite frequently or in a very short amount of time. The SEO industry is sitting on such stories where clients were found to be impatient and moved to other agencies. In such cases, it’s evident that the problem was not with the agency but the clients.
So, if a client asks you why you’re distinct, be careful. If you start your point by demeaning the work of the last agency that worked on his website, you will lose the plot. Rather, you can begin by praising the effort of the last agency by adding up the advantages you can offer over that.
Unless you feel that the client’s previous agency did something wrong, don’t trash his efforts. Try to convince the client to contract with valid arguments and case studies. Tell them that your services are in sync with Google guidelines.
4: If AdWords is Better than SEO
Most of the time clients bash your argument by putting forth Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) vs SEO debate. Clients might argue that Google ads offer quick results while SEO takes time to happen. He may also ask you to compare both Google Ads and PPC.
You may tell client that ‘Google ads’ prices are going up due to sudden drop in CTR in search engines. You may also validate your argument by saying that users are more likely to use ad blockers. Therefore, in the long term, SEO would be a good idea than Google ads.
SEO might be a good choice in the long term. However, PPC could be a right bet if you need results early on. One need to understand is that Google Ads being a paid advertising platform is useful in very beginning. But, you have to pay to run the ads. People tend to click more on organic searches and most of the CTRs come from the organic results. SEO might take time, but the fact is that it’s reliable and inexpensive.
5: Why My Competitors are Outranking Me?
This is probably another pertinent question asked by potential clients. They have legitimate reasons to raise this question. Despite having a beautiful site with optimized content, poor ranking and miserable traffic trouble them. They find it difficult to determine why their competitor’s site is doing well.
Your site may be trailing your closest competitors due to multiple technical and optimization issues that went on unnoticed. An ugly-looking website may outperform aesthetically designed websites if it has fixed errors. Website design has never been a ranking signal, UX is. If your website fails to impress, it may lose traffic and ranking.
It may be the case that your competitor’s website looks outdated, but they worked on the UX side of the website. This is why they are performing well in search engines. It’s recommended to go through A/B testing to discover troubling website elements.
Tarun Gupta, CEO of Brainpulse Technologies, is a prolific author and digital marketing specialist. His insightful writings span SEO, content marketing, social media strategy, and email campaigns, offering invaluable expertise to businesses worldwide. Tarun’s contributions continue to shape the digital marketing landscape, guiding success in multiple niches.
