This is a true story that upset me quite a bit when it happened 5 weeks ago, but now that I have done some research and realized that other SEO Companies have experienced the same scenario, I feel much better now!
I did ask my client if they minded me using their company name, and they preferred that I did not. The reality is that it would really not have added any value to this blog post even if I was able to.
Most people these days are struggling because of the economy, and businesses have to work harder and harder to get consumers to buy their products or use their services. This particular client’s sales had leveled off, and they recently lost a couple of decent sized clients and needed to build the business back up to where it used to be 6 months prior, and a little bit beyond that in order to create a buffer in case of any further loss of business.
They found me on Google under Atlanta Search Engine Optimization, and hired me to get them a Top 10-20 ranking for select keywords. Once we identified the 10 most suitable keywords to use, I went to work updating all of their web page content to optimize it for SEO purposes. This is basically called SEO Content Writing Services.
We entered an agreement for 3 months, which is usually what I do for most of my clients because I feel that measurable results can be achieved within this time period, and if the client is happy with the results they see, they can hire me for an extended period of time after the first 90 days. I also do not expect my clients to make big long term commitments to me without seeing anything in return. I know I wouldn’t do it as a Small Business owner.
Anyway, to try and keep this post as concise as I can, and in an effort not to bore you to tears, I achieved Google Search Engine Optimization rankings of No.1, No.3, No.5, No.8 for this client within a 45 day period of time. Additional top 10 search engine ranking was achieved over the 3 month period that I was contracted for.
I got the phone call every SEO Company wants to get, the one where the business owner tells you he is pleased with your work and as a result of it the phone is ringing more often, and/or more clients are coming in to their establishment. The problem with the call I received was that the good news also came with some bad news. “Thanks for everything you have done, I am really impressed with the results, but I just can not keep up with the level of enquiries and sales calls, we need to put any future top 10 search engine optimization work on hold for the time being.”
I have to admit, I was quite taken back at the time. With the immediate high, came the immediate low. To be fair to the client, even though he has 20+ employees, as the owner, he is the only one that handles the sales of the company, and he just could not keep up with all the new business.
In retrospect, I felt like I prematurely lost a $465 p/mth client ($5,580 annually), but I did achieve what I said I would do, and he got a tremendous return on his investment of $1,395 ($465 x 3 months), so really we should all walk away happy, and we did!
The good news for me, and not such good news for the client, is that 3 months of Google search engine optimization is not going to last forever. He will start slipping down the rankings over the next few months without ongoing SEO. It should work out well for all concerned because he called me the beginning of last week indicating he was going to hire a part-time salesperson in the near future and wanted to make sure the leads kept coming in!
Maybe you are an SEO Company, maybe you’re a client that had SEO work done for you, in either instance, please feel free to share your story in the comments section.