Dealing with clients having very high expectations that are hard to meet is not an uncommon thing for search engine optimization (SEO) providers. Since SEO is an always changing industry, and techniques and methods get outdated very soon, lots of misconceptions take birth in the mind of potential clients which eventually gets transformed into unrealistic expectations. So, it becomes very important for every SEO provider to clear all kinds of misconceptions a client may have before taking on optimization projects.

Here, we’ll cover the most common unrealistic SEO expectations clients usually have and how they should be addressed.

1. Speed of ranking improvement – Normally clients have a misconception that the amount of time required to take a website from page 2 to page 1 is the same as the amount of time it takes to bring a website from page 3 to page 2 of search results. Ranking of a website depends on many factors (links, domain age, content, onsite factors, etc.,  and the amount of effort and time required increases exponentially when one has to compete with websites on page 1 as compared to time and effort required when competing with websites on page 3 and so on.
2. You can’t rank for everything – The other unrealistic expectation clients usually have is the desire to rank for all the keywords in their niche.  Only the most relevant pages can rank at the top for a keyword, and one can’t make a website highly relevant to all important keywords. Also, since most SEO’s work on a fixed monthly budget, increasing the number of keywords will dilute the overall impact for each keyword. So either they have to increase their budgets or limit themselves to specific set of keywords.
3. All backlinks are same – Time and again, we see clients who think that all links require the same amount of effort and are of the same quality, which enables to take decisions on the basis of number of links (i.e., a link from a free link directory is similar to editorial link from an authority domain). A quality backlink is much more effective than hundreds of spammy poor quality links. So, one should consider both quality and quantity of links before hiring a new SEO provider.
4. Rankings not traffic – Some clients also get too obsessed with rankings of their website that everything else – conversion rate, web design and traffic quality take the back seat.  Rankings are important but are not very effective if the traffic they send is not relevant, or if the website is poorly designed that it can’t convert traffic into leads.
5. Fixed targets – Most clients have fixed targets like “we want to rank number one for web design in three months,” which is a wrong way to judge the performance of a SEO provider. The effectiveness of a SEO program must be evaluated on the basis of overall improvement – increase in traffic, increase in business, and increase in number of subscribers and so on.
6. Rankings shouldn’t drop – Do not panic if rankings of your website drop by a few positions. You are not the only one who wants to be at the top.  Also, search engine algorithms keep on changing, so ranking fluctuations are very normal in SEO. As long as you are seeing improvement in traffic and in your business, your SEO program is performing well.

Do you provide SEO services and would like to share some more misconceptions clients have? Please feel free to share them with us in the comments below.

Guest Author: David Smith works for Conversion Rate Optimization Company Invesp and enjoys writing on SEO, landing pages, conversion optimization and affiliate marketing.

QUESTION:

“Hi Mirna.  Just how crucial it is for a start up e-commerce business to invest in an SEO campaign, and when would you say is the best time to do that?” — Ali Badruddin

ANSWER:

This is a very common question and most e-commerce business owners fail to budget for (search engine optimization) SEO into their start-up plans.  SEO for e-retailers is as important as e-commerce site functions and the products you are selling.  Many end up spending a fortune on web site design neglecting to save dollars for SEO.  This is a huge mistake because majority of online users go to the search engines to research products so it will do you no good if your site shows up beyond page one or two of the search results for your targeted keywords.

SEO should start at the conception of the web site during the web design phase.  During this stage you will be making design decisions that will either benefit or damage your SEO efforts.  Starting early can save you from having to put more time, effort, and money in re-designing the site later.

I recommend starting right away even if you start slow.  If you are looking to outsource this time-consuming task make sure you do your due diligence and search for the right SEO firm or web developer who have experience with e-commerce sites.  Unless you are doing the optimization yourself, I would budget at least 20-30% of your investment into search engine optimization since this an ongoing process and not something you stop and finish.

If you would like to get your questions answered by Mirna, please visit the Ask Mirna page.