The world of SEO is filled with individuals who promise to do good, understand the needs of their customers and ultimately deliver the best that can be achieved. Unfortunately for many customers, not everyone can be at the top of various search engine results and lofty promises made may not be fulfilled by the firm they’ve hired. A good SEO technician knows how to work within the world of tough situations like these, but they may still have a difficult time finding business or clients. Why is that? It turns out that the approach of selling SEO matters more in some cases than the actual service. In the following article, we’ll outline three important instructions you need to follow if you want to expand your firm’s business and sell SEO.

Always, Always Listen

Too many SEO techs get into the habit of looking at the art like it is a science, with precise mechanisms that must be performed. While this may be the case in many areas, you are entering into a business relationship with customers and their thoughts must be taken into consideration. Without acknowledging their concerns, you won’t be able to provide a service that takes into account your technical ability and their more aesthetic desires. Being straightforward with a prospective client about what can and cannot be done is always helpful, but be sure to allow them the time to express themselves without cutting them off or interrupting. Rude, condescending or otherwise patronizing behaviour (which includes acting out of what was requested) is a sure-fire way to find yourself without clients.

Understand the Business

If you do what we discussed above, then you will likely begin efforts with a brand with a bit more understanding about what it is they do. Pinging servers for data and analytics can help you figure out what is going on with their current web infrastructure, but it can also be helpful to understand the people-powered elements of the brand. Knowing a business’ goals, revenues, value of leads and other elements comparable to this can provide immense value to anyone who is wanting to improve SEO for their clients, but you already knew that. The important element in understanding business is making sure the owners, bosses and employees understand you and your intentions.

Be Concise

When you are used to attending SEO conventions and expos, you may find yourself using a lot of jargon that everyone understands. Business owners and professionals won’t be the same – this isn’t their area of expertise. Save the technical discussion for pinging servers, URLs and other elements through search engines and instead, have a casual conversation with your prospective clients in layman’s terms. Without this approach, you’ll scare off a lot of people and convince others that your services are just a bunch of snake oil or hocus-pocus; many business individuals will not agree to something or think it has value if they don’t understand it. All it takes is a few minutes of your time to think through what you’ll be saying and put it into words that anyone can understand.