Increase SEO Sales by Teaching Clients about SEO Truths

In private consultations with some Search Engine Optimizers I am
always amazed at how many people feel it's necessary to hype
things up in order to sell their search engine placement
services.

Selling hype or setting unrealistic expectations is one of the
LEAST intelligent things you can do to build long term client
relationships. Instead of scrambling to outdo the next self
proclaimed SEO guy's claims, why not try something more in the
nature of a soft sell.

By teaching your prospective clients the truth about the SEO
process actually will:

--Enhance your reputation as a professional

--Diffuse those competitors who ONLY sell hype

--Increase new sales

--Generate increased referral business

--Establish long term client relationships

--Establish tremendous client loyalty

--Firmly establish YOUR CREDIBILITY in both the community as well
as the industry as a professional who knows how to get results.

In other words, teach people the TRUTH about the process and
you'll already gain some immediate advantages because you are
educating the prospect by offering them some facts but even more
important, something that is EASY to believe. Something that
blows away old misconceptions.

Most people are tired of hearing a lot of sales hype.

Try de-mystifying the SEO process and help your prospects to
understand what search engine optimization (SEO) can do for their
business. It's really just a simple, old-fashioned principle.

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More SE visibility = more success for the client More client
success = more referral business for you

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Most of the time, your clients will sell your services better
than you can ever sell yourself.

Every time you help someone achieve success, it is literally
impossible for your business not to benefit as well. Okay, here
are some real simple tips:

A. Educate your prospect by telling them the truth.

Try using some of the following points when speaking to your
prospects:

--Explain to your prospect, that your job is not just building a
web site. Designing a web site is relatively easy, but this is
only 50% of the job. Explain that your effort continues long
after the launch of the site.

--Teach them about a few of the ways your service differs from
the traditional Web developer. Your true objective entails more
than just concept or design.

--Your skill is positioning their web site squarely in front of
their ideal target audience. Once you get them positioned for
maximum exposure, it's your aim to keep them there, right in the
limelight.

--If you're presenting to a group of 2 or more, ask them the name
of their favorite search engine. Don't be surprised by their
reply but 98% of the time, they'll name one of the MAJOR search
engines. This is a great way to begin teaching them something
they may have never heard before.

--Since there are only a "handful" of search engines that
everyone uses (the major ones), this is where we place our best
promotional efforts. You can demonstrate where their traffic will
come from if other clients give you permission to use a couple of
their reports as samples.

Ask your prospect, "Did you know that "HITS" are irrelevant?

"That's right, hits do not matter because a HIT is NOT a
visitor." You can then explain that each HIT is really an action
from the server. In other words, a hit occurs for each and every
element downloaded. The number of HITS to a site, are nearly
always larger numbers, but this does NOT mean you had any great
number of visitors. Teach them about the importance of unique
visitor sessions.

Why is this important?

In explaining this difference between a HIT and a VISITOR, you
have taught your prospect a truth that could work against the
next competitor who comes along behind you and only talks about
HITS (which is what many do).

Why do so many competitors talk all about HITS?

Simply because they are BIG numbers which sound impressive
particularly if you have no intention of providing the customer
with detailed reporting. Teach your prospect the truth, that the
important numbers to watch are the actual visitor session counts,
not just hits.

Help your client to understand what it is you do.

Does your prospect see your "behind the scenes" service as VITAL?
If not, they need some understanding! Explain, "the reason" that
business owners hire you, is to ensure their web site is built
and launched properly the very first time".

Explain that "Business owners are usually too busy running their
business, to worry about all of the requirements of publishing
and positioning a web site for targeted traffic and monitoring
the results." Help them to understand that you ARE their watchdog
for online success. You have come to realize that the more
success you bring to them, the more your business grows. You are
in this for the long term!

B. Talk to them about the components of success:

Let them know that when you work with their web content, you need
some freedom to work with them and provide input. Explain that
the best success formula is often a cross between re-writing
their content especially for high search engine placement
COMBINED with copywriting that is written for the human brain.

It's a combination of having a highly visible web site that also
employs techniques that compel their visitors to respond. Explain
why this second aspect is so important by saying something like,
"Your business does not really begin, until we get your visitor
to take action and respond to what they see.

Talk to them about your ability to research their keyword phrases
from real time results. Explain to them that you must determine
which search phrases will genuinely pull the most targeted
traffic into their pages. Tell them you will be asking them for a
list of suggested keywords to start. Explain that ultimately you
will be analyzing those words and through research, you'll
actually find the highest performing phrases with the lowest
competition.

You can let them know that the reason your pages score well with
major search engines is because you build honest, content-rich
pages without the use of any types of tricks, gimmicks or spam.

The strategies you employ are based on using phrases that are
first researched and then proven to be currently in usage by
consumers within their specific market.

C. Stop trying so hard to sell SEO and learn to dialogue.

Learn to "dialogue" with your prospects in a two-way
communication. This is most often successful if you are the one
asking the questions. Remember that whoever is asking the
questions, is really the one who is controlling and directing the
conversation.

Ask questions about from where the prospect would like to take
business. Try asking questions like, "Would you be willing to
take business from a specific location?" Ask lots of specific
questions. If they are only interested in a regional presence,
then begin painting a picture in their mind of where they could
be getting new business from.

Remember to ask questions about your prospect's distribution of
product and services. Demonstrate that you are not just
interested in building, positioning and monitoring the site.you
are also interested in all aspects of the business such as how
they intend to handle distribution. Such conversations not only
lead to enhancing client rapport, but will end up triggering new
optimization strategies in your mind.

D. Make the most of your newest successes.

Your prospects become your customers and in a short time, they
begin telling stories about their success on the web. Don't
forget to make the most of these opportunities, after all you've
made the effort and promoted your client well, you deserve the
credit.

You have demonstrated that your SEO strategies not only work, but
in many cases, your efforts will have delivered a dramatic
increase in business. Always ask your client's permission first,
but they're usually more than happy to distribute your brochure
or business cards. This is usually the start to a wonderful trend
in ongoing referral business. Always remember to thank your
clients for every new referral they send your way.

Ask your clients if they would mind taking the occasional
reference call. All you really need are just a few of your
client's names and numbers. A list of these satisfied names and
numbers can be offered to new prospects. You can be sure this is
just one more thing that not a lot of your competitors will be
doing.

Search Engine Optimization is one of the biggest missing links in
this whole web development industry. It's safe to say that
building a web site without a plan for search engine
optimization, is the single most expensive lesson that any dot
com business has ever had to learn in the last few years. It's
only good wisdom that you teach both your prospects and your
clients these things up front and early. The results will be a
long lasting client relationship where your client wins, your
client's customer wins and YOU win too!

E. Enjoy the tremendous lift of knowing that you really are
making a difference for your clients.

For thousands of business owners, the investment in solid SEO
strategies, are the single missing link to their success. Take
action today by employing SEO strategies for your clients and
give them the outstanding results they deserve. Remember that
success breeds success and when you do an extraordinary job for
your client, it was YOUR SEO skills that made the difference.
There is tremendous satisfaction in that too!

Best regards,
John Alexander