Quick (but very valid) question time.

 

So you, as an SEO, take on a new project for a client who wishes to boost his rank. Say his business is auto mechanics.

 

In order to write good content, it is essential integral to have good knowledge on the subject at hand.

 

Withouth backlinks the site will not rank. To build backlinks, one must take part in writing guest blogs, blogs on own site, forum interactions etc. etc. - how can you confidently interact with people in that community without the knowledge of mechanics?

 

Same thing with social media - Yes, its all great have 2000 followers/likes - but again if a question is asked on the facebook page - do you get the client to answer? How does it work?

 

Thanks

Research of the industry and market should be a core component of everything - design, development and marketing (SEO and PPC).

Thanks. How much research is enough though? Where do you draw the line?

 

Im not trying to be funny, but you will get to a point where you are spending all of your time researching and learning a field of a client, then comes another client in a different field - and bam! you are over worked - to the point where its almost impossible to do anything BUT researching.

That's why I work 7 days a week and 'til midnight most nights.

 

But then, our service is exemplary and we're getting noticed for it.

 

If you're overburdened then hire, it's the only way out!

 

You simply cannot skip the 'getting to know you' part, it's the prerequisite to delivering quality and not just more run-of-the-mill.

Google is our good friend and we can get lot of information from Google. The thing is just you need to use proper keywords for the search. SEO is easy as well as difficult to learn and execute because we have to take care of several things while performing SEO work.

 

Seriously ?? What are you talking about? You have not even come remotely near to my question.

Google is our good friend and we can get lot of information from Google. The thing is just you need to use proper keywords for the search. SEO is easy as well as difficult to learn and execute because we have to take care of several things while performing SEO work.

 

That's very generic, slightly out of context and makes me think you're some kind of spam bot or worse a human churn?

That's why I work 7 days a week and 'til midnight most nights.

 

But then, our service is exemplary and we're getting noticed for it.

 

If you're overburdened then hire, it's the only way out!

 

You simply cannot skip the 'getting to know you' part, it's the prerequisite to delivering quality and not just more run-of-the-mill.

 

Thanks for your response. It makes perfect sense. What concerns me is communicating information to the customers which may not be accurate. Yes, you can check with the client if the info you intent to publish is correct, but how many times can you do this before the client sees you as a pest?

I don't think I've ever had a client that thinks I'm a pest. If they're spending 2/3/4/5/600 quid a month with you, they won't be happy just sitting around waiting for a report at the end of the month.

 

There are two parts to your question here:

 

 

How can I even being to write an article for a company I have no idea about.

 

and

 

How do I work social media for a company and answer questions when you don't have the knowledge they do.

 

First question. You have numerous options here and I use them all. You can either research the business. Look into what they do, the products they sell and work on an article. This works well if there isn't any indepth knowledge required. They could be selling flowers or picture frames. If you don't have the time for this, get the client to write an article. This works well with smaller budgets and people that are passionate about their business. I have some clients that prefer to do this as they have control over whats being said. Works nicely with small budgets and niches that require a much deeper understanding of the business such as financial services. One final solution is to outsource to a writer of that industry. There are tons of websites that let you search for a copywriter of a specific area. This is great if you have the budget to do so, don't have the time and the client wants you to do everything. They can then provide you with amazing articles that read perfectly.

 

You have to remember that the client isn't buying just your time. You need to factor in costs for outsourcing if needs be. I see people all the time scared to outsource because of the costs. You have to work as a business and not a freelancer in this sense.

 

With regards to social media, I use two different options here; do it all myself and manage everything OR work alongside the company and have one of their staff answer questions and I do the work of geting more followers, likes, shares etc. If you're stuck answering all questions, then you obviously charge more for research into the company. Ask for documents that explain what the company do, have them write up an FAQ as well as a brief company history. Use social media tools that alert you if there is activity on that account. If there's a question you're not sure of, ring up the company you're doing the work for.

 

Then, if all else fails just have the user contact the company directly and explain that it's a question that is best suited to a telephone call.

 

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You have to understand that any good SEO campaign will require working closely with a client. They are paying you a crap ton of money to get results and it will only scare them if you don't talk to them enough. Sure, I have clients from all over that barely speak to me simply because we have built up a relationship where they fully trust what I do and I have a great knowledge of their field. Others prefer weekly reports, daily contact and so on.

 

You seem to think that you need expert level of knowledge of a clients business. You don't. At all. You need the knowledge of their industry to better understand what they do and sell/their service but you don't need to research 24/7. If you can't manage more than a client, you won't make it in this industry I'm afraid

Edited April 30, 201313 yr by Jason Dexter

A very good answer, as always, Jason. Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Strike a light! Jason you have too much time on your hands!