How to Be the Ideal Client for an SEO Specialist

SEO SEO is a joint effort between the specialist and the client. Results depend on the provider's expertise and the client's willingness to collaborate. The client's involvement, complete information about business processes and mutual trust are essential for effective optimisation.

SEO Team Lead Karina Breitenbuecher and SEO Specialist Vitaly Listopadov have collected common client mistakes that get in the way of successful website SEO and a successful search strategy.

Some companies change SEO providers every three or four months because they do not see results. That is rarely enough time: updating a website and getting changed pages indexed can take longer.

Frequent provider changes can leave a business without results while costing it time and money.

A new SEO specialist may not trust the previous provider's work and start over. One client came to us without reports from their former provider, so we could not determine the strategy used. We reanalysed search demand and competitors, built a keyword set and developed a new strategy. That took a month.

The client ends up going in circles: spending time and money on multiple SEO strategies without progress.

Do not expect immediate results from SEO. If you change providers, give the new specialist three months to develop a strategy and make the first website updates. Evaluate visible results after about six months, once the site has been updated and search rankings have had time to respond.

The Skladno furniture store saw its conversion rate increase in the fifth month of the project.

Without client involvement, it is impossible to develop a search strategy or update the website. If the client does not answer questions or delays approving briefs, work stalls and KPIs are missed. Participation matters, and both sides need to meet their deadlines.

When the client provides too little information, the goals of the campaign can be misunderstood. We need to know how the business works, its business model and the margins on different products or services. Without the client's input, a specialist cannot answer these questions accurately.

SEO involves specialists preparing briefs and other team members—copywriters, developers and designers—carrying them out. Some may work for the provider and others for the client. If approvals are delayed or the client's team does not complete tasks, the SEO specialist cannot move forward.

For example, we were creating website content for a client. Every draft had to be approved, but the client kept putting off reviews. As a result, progress was delayed too.

Sometimes a client trusts the provider too much and leaves every decision to them. Without explaining the business or carefully reviewing website changes, the client risks inaccurate content and mistakes in product or service descriptions.

For example, we rewrote content for a plastic surgery clinic. A copywriter confused chin liposuction (a lift) with genioplasty, a procedure involving the jaw bone. The client reviewed the content carefully, spotted the mistake in time and helped ensure the corrected version was published.

Work together with your SEO specialist and marketer. Take the time to understand technical details and the specifics of your service. This helps you reach your goals sooner.

The opposite can happen too: a client interferes too much in the provider's work. This slows progress and creates tension.

Clients worry about wasting money: they pay today but may not see results for six months. Some therefore question every step and ask many theoretical questions to control the provider. The specialist then spends time educating the client instead of doing the work, and progress slows.

One client questioned our expertise and challenged every brief and keyword in the research. For example, why should the site speed score be 90 rather than 93, according to Google's measurement? Why should a button be purple rather than grey? We spent time discussing these details and had too little time left to complete the work.

An SEO strategy can include site-wide improvements and work on priority sections: creating optimised content, improving a page in detail or promoting the site through relevant external platforms. At the start, the specialist agrees with the client which sections to promote.

For example, if external promotion is agreed at the start but the client decides six months later that it is pointless, the six months of work may have been wasted.

You can judge whether a section needs promotion when KPIs and analytics are in place from the start. But clients are often reluctant to invest more in marketing, which makes return on investment difficult to track.

As a result, clients may ask to start or stop channels, promote a single category or cut the budget without using analytics to guide the decision.

Agree on SEO-channel KPIs with your specialist. Set up analytics to evaluate SEO profitability and decide which sections need promotion.

Build a trusting relationship with your provider. Share positive results and discuss problems openly; this gives you the chance to achieve more.

To save time for both you and the specialist, collect questions, suggestions and comments in one place and discuss them at regular review meetings.

1. Do not change specialists too quickly. Give them about six months to show results; updated pages need time to be indexed.
2. Answer questions and provide complete information so that content and updated pages accurately reflect your business.
3. Meet deadlines for completing briefs and approving changes.
4. Discuss questions and suggestions in review meetings to save each other's time.
5. Do not change the SEO strategy on your own. Discuss changes with your specialist.