If you want to build brand loyalty and create long-lasting relationships, it’s crucial to show your commitment to SEO client success. You are not just doing SEO for the money, but also to ensure your SEO clients are achieving their business objectives and goals.
In this article, Marketer’s Center shares key strategies on how to show your commitment to SEO client success. Foster trust and secure your position as a valued SEO partner with these strategies.
Table of contents
- Customize your SEO strategies
- Set clear goals and KPIs
- Be transparent with your processes
- Be proactive in solving issues
- Regularly communicate and report
- Involve your SEO clients
- Focus on long-term success
1. Customize your SEO strategies
Different clients have different needs. For example, a global conglomerate may want a comprehensive global SEO strategy while a small retail store may only need a simple local SEO strategy. By customizing your SEO strategies to fit each client’s needs, you are showing your commitment to their success.
- Understand each SEO client’s business and industry. Have a deep understanding of your client’s business, from their target audience to their competitor landscape. For example, if your client is a local law firm, it may be a good idea to optimize for local search terms such as “divorce lawyer in New York.” You can work from there, optimizing Google Business Profiles and creating authoritative legal blog posts.
- Align SEO goals with business objectives. Sit down with your client and understand what they want to achieve. Make sure your SEO strategy helps achieve these goals. For example, if your e-commerce website client wants a 30% increase in sales next year, you can focus on conversion rate optimization and high-intent keyword research such as “best [client product] deals.” At Marketer’s Center, our variety of SEO services accomplish different kinds of goals, including building contextual links and cleaning up citations. With this level of variety, you are sure to find services that align with your objectives.
- Adapt to changing circumstances. Your SEO client is competing in a dynamic industry. There are many factors that may prompt a change in your strategy, such as algorithm updates, client goal changes, and industry shifts. It’s important to continuously monitor your client through analytics, industry news, and search rankings. This way, you can make rapid changes and ensure your client’s competitiveness.
2. Set clear goals and KPIs
Provide a transparent framework for assessing progress and ensuring accountability. You can do this by setting clear goals and establishing key performance indicators (KPIs.) This approach helps your SEO client understand the value of your efforts, building a relationship with clarity and trust.
- Establish measurable goals. Specific goals provide direction and a benchmark for success. Remember, when establishing goals, make sure they align with your client’s business objectives. For example, if your client is an online retailer looking to boost sales, “increase organic traffic by 25% in the next six months” is a good goal that aligns with your client’s needs. It’s also realistic, controlling expectations and keeping your client grounded.
- Define relevant KPIs. Your key performance indicators depend on the measurable goals you have established. The KPIs should measure what truly matters to your client and their needs. For instance, organic traffic, conversion rate, and keyword rankings may be good KPIs to track for a B2B software company looking to generate more leads.
- Demonstrate progress with analysis and reporting. Use analytics and reporting tools for a more data-driven approach in your SEO strategies and executions. Data also makes value more tangible, making your client think that paying you is worth it. If a local restaurant client wants to boost online reservations, analytics you may want to track include Google Business Profile views, local keyword rankings, and customer reviews. Make sure to show these in your monthly reports to show progress.
3. Be transparent with your processes
Transparency is a crucial element in showing your commitment to SEO client success. The reason why many SEO clients leave is that they don’t even know what their agency is doing and how it is doing it. By being open and honest about your SEO strategies and executions, you are giving your clients a reason to stay by showing them the value you provide.
- Clearly explain your SEO approach. Your client needs to know the “why” and “how” behind your SEO strategies and executions. After all, they want to know what they are paying for. You can outline your SEO approach, starting from comprehensive SEO audits, leading to personalized strategies based on your audit findings, and concluding with progress tracking and reporting. This also highlights the importance of having standard operating procedures. If you have SOPs in place, it’s easier to explain your SEO approach to a client.
- Share your tools and data. Clients want different levels of involvement. There are clients who want to be heavily involved, wanting access to Google Analytics, Google Search Control, and other platforms you use. Give them access and allow them to see progress and results firsthand. At Marketer’s Center, we have an order dashboard, so clients can easily make SEO orders and manage campaigns with ease.
- Be particularly transparent on challenges and unexpected events. Open communication is vital for maintaining transparency, especially when you need to communicate bad news. For example, if there are unexpected additional costs due to algorithm updates, don’t be afraid to be upfront. Explain the reason behind the negative news, focusing on the unpredictability of SEO and personalizing campaigns.
4. Be proactive in solving issues
Being proactive means you are anticipating potential issues, addressing problems before they escalate, and continuously seeking opportunities to improve your client’s SEO situation. By taking a proactive approach, you show your client that you are dedicated to their success and capable of navigating the ever-changing landscape of SEO.
- Conduct regular website audits and maintenance. This helps you identify and address potential issues before they significantly affect performance. For example, if you proactively monitor a client’s website, you ensure it’s well-optimized and free of technical problems. Some of the common technical problems that may occur include broken links, malicious scripts, and slow site speed. Address these immediately to maintain optimal website health. Our technical SEO audit services address these and more.
- Monitor and respond to algorithm updates. Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving. Sometimes, changes in the algorithm can lead to lower rankings and other negative effects for your client. For example, if there is an E-A-T update (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), you may need to work on your client’s blog content quality to keep it competitive and high-ranking. Always inform your client about such updates and shifts in SEO strategies and executions.
- Anticipate and address client concerns. Preemptively address potential problems to show your commitment to SEO client success. For example, if your client is about to launch a new product, it’s a good idea to prepare a competitive analysis and content plan to support the product launch. These may not be part of your original arrangement with your SEO client, and by adding these proactively, you show commitment to their success. You may even end up upselling SEO services because of this proactive approach.
5. Regularly communicate and report
Keep your clients informed about progress, challenges, and opportunities. This builds trust and fosters a collaborative relationship, which is especially crucial for clients who want to be heavily involved in the SEO journey. With consistent updates and transparent reporting, you also provide clients with a clear understanding of the value you bring to the table.
- Schedule progress meetings. Use progress meetings to update clients about their SEO campaigns. Different clients may want different schedules. Ideally, you want to meet with clients at least once a month. In these progress meetings, you can address concerns, discuss strategies, and review results. For example, if your client wants to build their local presence, having monthly progress meetings about Google Business Profile views, local backlinks, and local keyword rankings may be a good idea.
- Make your reports as detailed as possible. Make sure your reports align with the business objectives of your client, complete with relevant key performance indicators. For example, if your client’s primary objective is to increase their organic traffic, you can talk about how their website rankings for high-value keywords have improved from page two of the SERPs to one. You can make data easier to absorb with visual aids such as charts and graphs. You can also automate your reporting and other processes to make your agency more scalable. There are many SEO reporting solutions for this.
- Maintain open lines of communication. Your client should be able to reach you easily using the communication channels you have established. Whether those channels are emails, project management tools, SEO management platforms, or video calls, they should be accessible. Respond to client inquiries as soon as you can, preferably within 24 hours. At Marketer’s Center, our client dashboard has features that make communication easy, such as a built-in order comment system. With such features, it’s never been easier to collaborate with your SEO provider.
6. Involve your SEO clients
Deeply involving your SEO clients in the optimization process is a powerful way to show your commitment to SEO client success. Engage clients actively in the SEO strategy formation, execution, and review stages for a truly collaborative experience. This fosters a sense of partnership, enhancing transparency and building trust.
- Have joint strategy sessions. Develop the SEO strategy with your client. You can do this by breaking down their business goals and objectives, thinking of different approaches on how to accomplish these, and looking for client insights for adjustments. For example, if you have a small local client in a competitive space, optimizing for long-tail keywords may be the best primary approach to put them on the map. You can work on other strategies as you see progress.
- Create a client feedback loop. Meetings are not just for sharing SEO results. They are also for getting client insights and making adjustments based on their concerns, needs, and updated preferences. Questionnaires, surveys, and in-person interviews are effective in creating a client feedback loop. You can schedule them monthly, ensuring your SEO strategies and executions are always catered to your client’s needs and wants.
- Empower clients with SEO education. Educate clients on SEO basics, best practices, and technicals. This way, they can make more informed decisions when it comes to their SEO, making them contribute more effectively. At Marketer’s Center, our blog is an extensive resource for those who want to know the business side of SEO. It’s perfect for SEO agencies looking to white label some of their SEO processes. Aside from blogs, SEO workshops and training sessions are also effective in educating clients.
7. Focus on long-term success
There are a lot of quick wins in SEO, such as meta description and alt text optimizations. But if you want maximum value for your SEO clients, you need to focus on the long-term game. By focusing on long-term success, you show your commitment to your SEO clients by achieving sustainable growth and building a strong foundation, not just doing bandaid solutions and blackhat SEO techniques.
- Build a strong content strategy. Content and links are some of the foundations of SEO. By creating a robust content strategy, you are setting your clients up for long-term success. Develop a content calendar that outlines topics, keywords, and publishing schedules that can last up to twelve months. This ensures a steady stream of content for a long time, establishing authority and more. Remember, content can be seen not just on client websites, but also on their social media pages and business profiles such as their Google Business Profile.
- Develop a sustainable link building plan. A sustainable link building strategy focuses on acquiring high-quality backlinks over time. At Marketer’s Center, we develop relationships with relevant industry players and build links only from authoritative and relevant websites. Check our link building plans, including our white label guest post services.
- Monitor performance and adapt for long-term SEO. Google Analytics, Search Console, and SEMRush are just some of the platforms you can use for performance monitoring. In your reports, make sure to include actionable insights to ensure long-term success. For example, if certain keywords are underperforming, you can suggest content updates and additional link building efforts to improve rankings. By consistently analyzing your client’s SEO situation, you can adjust your strategy and execution accordingly. Do this long enough, and your client can surely achieve long-term success.
SEO client success is also your success
Showing your commitment to SEO client success is not just about achieving high rankings. It’s also about building trust, creating a collaborative environment, and focusing on the long game instead of quick wins.
Your SEO client’s success is also your success. It can help build your brand, get you more leads and clients, and establish your SEO agency as a powerhouse in the field of digital marketing and SEO. Look at Marketer’s Center, for example, with our website filled with testimonials that demonstrate SEO client success. Your agency too can achieve the same position by showing your commitment to your clients.
