I just came from a meeting with a potential SEO client, thanks to Arnold Gamboa who, for some reason, believes so much in what I can do. (Haha, you do, right?). Anyway, I’m not about to disclose details, but I just have to blog the things that were going on in my head while the client meeting was in full swing.
The client’s requirement was simple: They want to have a nice website that will get a lot of traffic from search engines. The Web Design and Development is being taken care of already by Arnold’s group. But since SEO’s not their core competency (as they would claim), they had to ask someone else to do it for them. What’s tricky was, these clients didn’t really anticipate that Search Engine Optimization services would cost them.
So there I was again, feeling as if I was teaching a kid tie his shoelaces — while SEO’s somehow second nature to me, it’s tricky introducing the concept to people who barely have any idea of what it is about. It’s difficult, as I had to stop every time I’d say (very simple) jargons like “on-page”, “off-page”, “organic ranking”, “keyword research”, etc, and try my best to explain them. And we had to sit down for 2 long hours just to listen to their demands. So. Toxic. 
Over all, however, it was still a very good learning experience. It is, after all, in situations like this when you become fully aware of the actual concerns and questions of the clients, and you learn to address their needs as they come. It is, after all, what SEO Specialists are for.
Guitarchic Dot Net says:
[...] I was out with a friend (slash business contact) for a possible SEO project consultancy with one of his clients. On the way home, we talked about SEO stuff, which, surprisingly, is [...]
April 30th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Arnold Gamboa says:
Believe me, 4 years ago, people — even MIS guys — doesn’t know what “web page” is all about. We would say, “it’s that thing you see when you type in abs-cbn.com on your browser while connected to the internet”. At least, most know better now, thanks to friendster
Same thing’s happening with SEO, I think. You need to educate people so they’ll buy in to the idea. You’re a good marketer, Riz. Great, great, potential.
April 30th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Guitarchic Dot Net says:
[...] I was out with a friend (slash business contact) for a possible SEO project consultancy with one of his clients. On the way home, we talked about SEO stuff, which, surprisingly, is still [...]
April 30th, 2007 at 7:54 pm