A Comprehensive Guide to Asking the Right Questions for SEO Success
When it comes to working with new SEO clients, asking the right questions is crucial. It helps you understand their business, goals, and expectations, and lays a solid foundation for a successful partnership. Mark Williams-Cook, an experienced SEO professional, has developed a comprehensive list of 15 essential questions that have proven to be instrumental in fostering better long-term relationships with clients. In this article, we’ll delve into these questions and explore how they can shape your SEO strategy.
Understanding the Business
Williams-Cook believes that SEO’s role is not just about implementing tactics but about shaping and guiding business decisions to make them more effective from a search perspective. To achieve this, it’s important to understand how the organization makes money and what their mission, vision, and values are.
1. How do you make money?
This seemingly simple question is crucial in understanding the client’s business model and revenue streams. Surprisingly, many companies have unique ways of generating revenue or specific areas of their business that are more valuable than they appear externally. Knowing this information can profoundly impact your SEO strategy and focus.
2. What are your organization’s mission, vision, and values? What are you known for or want to be known for?
Aligning SEO efforts with the client’s mission, vision, and values is essential. For example, if their brand is known for safety, it’s important to consider safety in search intent and content creation. Larger organizations usually define their mission, vision, and values, while smaller businesses may have a more accessible answer to what they are known for. Ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding the organization’s identity is crucial for a successful SEO partnership.
3. Can you describe your ideal target audience?
“Everyone” is not a valid answer to this question. Understanding the client’s target audience is essential for targeting the right search queries and creating an effective content strategy. Dig deeper to gain insights into their specific audience segments and tailor your SEO efforts accordingly.
4. Who would you say are your main competitors?
While clients may have a different perception of their competitors, it’s important to discuss and identify their true competitors in terms of product and market. This knowledge will shape your search strategy and identify comparative searches. Educate the client about search competitors and their influence on reporting.
5. Why would someone choose you over your competitors?
Understanding the unique value proposition of the client is crucial. The reasons people should choose your client over competitors should align with their desired brand image and appeal to their target audience. If the client cannot answer this question, it may be a red flag and put you in a difficult position.
Setting Targets and Expectations
Once you understand the client’s business and goals, it’s important to discuss targets, budget, and constraints to set realistic expectations and ensure a successful SEO engagement.
6. What are your targets?
Knowing the client’s targets is essential for developing an effective SEO strategy. Discuss the desired outcomes, whether it’s revenue, leads, or other metrics, and establish a timeframe for achieving them. This is also an opportunity to evaluate if the client’s targets are feasible within their budget and timeframe.
7. How would you see SEO contributing to this target?
Understanding how SEO fits into the client’s overall marketing strategy is crucial. It may be that SEO is expected to contribute a smaller percentage to the target, while other marketing channels play a larger role. Clarify what SEO outcomes are within your control and discuss measuring SEO performance based on its contributions to leads or other measurable actions.
8. What is your budget for SEO?
Knowing the client’s budget for SEO is vital for determining the scope of work and estimating the impact you can have. If the client cannot provide a defined target or budget, it may be better to walk away to avoid unrealistic expectations.
Understanding the SEO Relationship
Now that you have a clear understanding of the client’s business and goals, it’s time to discuss how the SEO relationship will work within those parameters.
9. What do you want to get from this SEO engagement?
This question helps you understand the client’s expectations and whether they want to outsource strategy and execution or require more strategic work and leadership. It also gives you insights into the client’s team, strengths, weaknesses, and their preferred level of involvement.
10. How would you define success?
Beyond targets, understanding how the client defines success can lead to insightful conversations. It may involve changing internal opinions on SEO, achieving specific rankings against competitors, or solving technical challenges. These insights can guide your SEO strategy and help build a stronger client relationship.
11. What does the internal team look like from a resource and expertise perspective?
Aligning your SEO strategy with the client’s available resources is crucial for implementation. Understanding their team’s capabilities and limitations, such as the number of content writers or developers, will help you create realistic timelines and deliver results within their constraints.
12. Are there any possible constraints, such as dev queues or sign-offs?
Knowing the client’s constraints, such as development queues or content approval processes, is essential for planning and managing expectations. This information allows you to build timelines that work for both parties and avoid focusing on strategies that are not feasible for the client.
13. Can you tell me about the SEO that has happened to date?
Understanding the client’s previous experiences with SEO can provide valuable insights. It allows you to learn from past mistakes, address any concerns or skepticism, and gain a better understanding of their level of sophistication with SEO.
14. Who are your stakeholders?
Knowing who will be involved in the SEO process helps you tailor your communication and reporting. Understanding which team members or executives have a stake in the SEO efforts allows you to provide the right level of detail and align your reporting with their expectations.
15. How do you currently report, and how would you prefer us to report?
Understanding the client’s reporting preferences and tools they use allows you to align your reporting with their existing processes. This ensures clear communication and avoids confusion or unnecessary adjustments on their end. It also provides insights into their technical competency and the level of detail they require in reporting.
Bonus Question: What’s the most important thing to you about an agency?
Asking this question allows you to understand the client’s priorities and expectations from an agency. Their answer, whether it’s results, communication, trust, or something else, provides a lens through which you can frame your efforts and ensure a strong client-agency relationship.
Conclusion
Asking the right questions is the foundation of a successful SEO partnership. By understanding the client’s business, goals, and expectations, you can tailor your strategy to deliver meaningful results. Mark Williams-Cook’s comprehensive list of 15 essential questions provides a guide to fostering better long-term relationships with your SEO clients. So the next time you pitch to a new client, make sure to ask these questions and set yourself up for SEO success.
