Last month, I wrote a post, Top 10 List “Why 70% of SEOs Suck” and, as the Search Commander pointed out, this list works both ways. So here’s it is, Top 10 List “Why Some SEO Clients Suck”

10. They want to do search marketing because it’s the cool thing. Unencumbered by real business reasons, they decide that they’ll give their first born child and 30% of their marketing budget for search ranking.

9. They don’t take time to learn the steps to good SEO. They underestimate both the complexity and the nature of SEO and they put less effort into an SEO Campaign than they would choosing a breakfast cereal.

8. They hire their cousins’ best friend because they heard he knows how to do SEO. Clients need to learn to ask the right questions, the most important of which is, “What have you accomplished for your clients”. They also need to ask more than the question about page one placement. Ask how search efforts have improved the bottom line.

7. They sit you down and ask “How do you do search marketing”. Really? If I do construction, would you sit me down and ask me how you build a house? Let’s say, just for argument sake, that I’m a contractor and I answer that question. I would give you the highlights, “We work with an architect to make plans and build the home to specification, we’ll need your help selecting materials, paint colors, tile, fixtures, appliances, etc.” Now let’s assume I’m a search marketer, when I explain that we start with understanding business objectives, then we do keyword research, competitive analysis and create a site with solid site architecture and exceptional content that facilitates strategic linking, they’re disappointed. It’s like it’s a secret club, and they just want the special handshake. That’s not how it works Spanky. (Spanky and Alfalfa, The Little Rascals, anyone?)

6. They want something for nothing. Ninety percent of proposals I submit to potential new clients get this reaction, “We can’t afford that”, without understanding what the value of an SEO campaign will net the company. They want you to build them a Mercedes and charge you for a Yugo. It’s our job to create a relationship between the cost of the campaign and the return on investment for clients and help them make decisions on acceptance or rejection of a search marketing budget based on ROI.

5. They consider using black hat search marketers. SEO clients should beware of search marketers who scream “Get your website number one on Google for $49.95!” and though their business savvy encourages them to run from such ploys, they can be swayed to engage in these practices just to get placement.

4. They want instant results. Good search marketing strategies take time to implement, we make short and long term goals for our clients so they can begin seeing results, but building a site with solid site architecture, relevant links and exceptional content take time, THEN it takes time for those strategies to get rewarded by the engines.

3. They want to do it themselves. I have 2 clients that came to me for proposals, went away to do it themselves, then came back to have it done the right way. Some clients believe “SEO isn’t rocket science, I can do it myself”, and spend a token amount of time learning about it and implementing a partial strategy that gets little result.

2. They think you just do it once. Good SEO/SEM requires long-term commitment. You don’t just do it once and turn your back on it, just as you wouldn’t buy one TV spot on the Super Bowl and quit other advertising campaigns. Products change, search queries change, competition changes, your SEO/SEM Campaign has to change and evolve as well.

1. They haven’t been educated. The number 1 reason SEO clients suck is because we haven’t done a good job as search marketers of educating them. I hate to pass the buck back to the industry, but that’s where some of the responsibility lies. We make it our job to educate our clients, give them achievable results and deliver. Maybe SEO clients would suck less if SEO’s suck less;)

Happy Thanksgiving!