The importance of disclosure and managing client expectations

Posted by: Marketing Guy Date posted: April 29th, 2008 Published in: Public Relations, SEO Agencies, Search Engine Optimisation

Zero Strategy report today that Business Green have noted that the Advertising Standards Authority (UK) is currently launching an investigation into claims of “greenwashing” amongst advertisers.  “Greenwashing” is process of exaggerating the environmental benefits of a product in order to sell it more “effectively”.

Sound familiar?

With Google rankings being such a fad these days, I think it is important for SEOs to seriously think about how they sell their service to clients.  I see so many cases of small businesses being ripped off by SEOs who didn’t fully disclose the expenses involved from the start of the campaign.  One case comes to mind where the client paid the up front fee, received some “SEO work” (I use the term loosely) and then was stung for monthly “link building” fees.  While this pricing structure is commonplace in the SEO industry, it can lead to issues if your sales force isn’t exactly as ethical as they should be!

Disclosure aside, I believe at the core of the reputation problem the SEO industry has, is the common arrogance many SEOs have (myself included at times).  Arrogance isn’t a bad thing if you have the skills to back it up, but it commonly causes issues for both clients and SEOs that might end up as serious problems at a later date.

IMO, it is inevitable that the ASA (or another industry body) will clamp down on how the Internet marketing industry promotes its services.  Just as we can’t measure the environmental impact of certain promotional claims a new product will make, there are also many areas of SEO with similar levels of uncertainty.  It’s not about tying the hands of SEOs – it’s about clearing up grey areas as best as possible to avoid problems down the line.

What do you think?

Scott

Comments

  1. Posted by: Richard Boyd Date posted: 30th April, 2008 at 7:34 am

    Hey Scott

    Another good post. As a business owner with a number of websites we approached all the time by SEO companies. Here are some of the most annoying points that we come across.

    They don’t check your rankings before cold calling

    They employ a lacky who has no SEO knowledge who just blurts out a script

    Most SEO companies spout on about techniques that were out of date 5 years ago

    When asked specifics the caller cannot answer them, so someone has to call back – the person who calls back is usually irritated that they have to speak to a lowly punter and fucks the conversation up because of their attitude

    When asked to provide examples of their work, they always show a result which a 3 Y.O. kid could have achieved – totally non competitive phrase which they have a #1 spot for…

    These are just the main issues that I have.

  2. Posted by: Marketing Guy Date posted: 30th April, 2008 at 10:38 am

    Ha, but you are a SEO’s worst nightmare – an ex-SEO! ;)

    There is a whole load of crap spouted by some SEOs on a sale pitch – I’ve been privvy to a few pitches from other SEOs and some of the stuff they say is ridiculous and borderline neglegant in some cases!

    I sympathise on the examples of previous work side of things – it’s the catch 22 situation of newly self employed people not having any examples of their own work to start off with. That said, any SEO worth their salt should have at least one or two of their own sites or client sites already ranking for decent terms.

  3. Posted by: Anil Mishra Date posted: 6th May, 2008 at 12:13 pm

    One more reason I would like to make notice of is the lack of unity in the SEO community. Everyone is pulling each others leg. There is no common pricing structure so that clients decide to offer their work on the basis of merits not on price basis. There are companies which take upfront payment and do nothing. They should tell everything clearly to their respective clients. If such a trend continues we would see end of SEO industry. Its a time for seo community to get united and do something in order to sustain well.

  4. Posted by: Marketing Guy Date posted: 6th May, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    Yeh I agree there are issues with consistency, but I’m not sure untiy would be the solution or even a realistic option. After all, the very nature of SEO is competition = the need to be number 1! :)

    Pricing is so relative as well – I think agencies are in a good position to offer consistent pricing, but as a freelance consultant my time is much more limited and as such my prices relfect that. I’ve also seen agencies take big brands on the books for as little as £200 per month just to have that big name signed up – whereas small businesses can get charged thousands each month.

    Price has always been a central factor in marketing and something that all businesses compete on – I don’t think we’ll see any uniform prcing soon.