Wie gehen Sie mit unrealistischen SEO-Kunden um?

To manage unrealistic SEO clients: Set clear, realistic expectations. Educate them about SEO's time frame. Maintain transparent communication. Focus on meaningful metrics. Be patient and educate them. Manage scope and avoid excessive changes. Offer alternatives when necessary. Consider parting ways if unrealistic expectations persist. Remember that managing unrealistic clients is part of the business, and it's crucial to balance their desires with the realities of SEO. Honest communication and setting clear expectations from the beginning can go a long way in preventing misunderstandings.

To be fair, most of these clients have burned their hands in the past with 'agencies and experts' claiming to change their SEO game in a matter of few weeks with blackhat SEO techniques (spammy backlinks building, writing shallow non-human focused articles). Along with the SEO basics, you should them data (with a timeline) from past projects to build that confidence.

As per my experience to manage unrealistic SEO clients. ✅Start by clearly explaining what SEO can and can't do, emphasizing that it takes time to see results. ✅Use data to show them the realistic timeline and what you can achieve. Keep them updated regularly on the progress, highlighting even small successes. ✅If their expectations are still too high, discuss adjusting the agreement or, if needed, politely suggest ending the partnership. ✅Being honest and setting clear boundaries from the beginning helps manage their expectations and build trust.

It's better to work with one who knows nothings about marketing and ready to listen than to owners who knows nothing about marketing but interfere like PRO Pick clients who wants to grow and ready to adopt but not who do micro management for quick success Educate, Automate and Innovate.

Managing unrealistic SEO clients: Set Realistic Expectations: Educate clients about achievable goals. Clear Communication: Maintain transparent and honest communication. Manage Scope: Define the scope of work and limitations. Show Progress: Regularly report on achievements and improvements. Underpromise, Overdeliver: Exceed expectations whenever possible. Educate Continuously: Share industry insights and updates. Refocus on ROI: Emphasize the impact on business outcomes. Conflict Resolution: Address concerns professionally and promptly. Consider Parting Ways: If expectations remain unmanageable, discuss the possibility of ending the partnership.

In regard to forecasting targets for goals, I would generally recommend two approaches: 1) If the client has never done SEO before, outside of showing them "size of prize", I won't give forecasts as there is no historic data to build sensible projections on. Goals will be based more around deliverables. 2) If the client has done some SEO before, they you can realistically look at investment vs results and give some worst/expected/best case scenarios for results. Of course, nobody can guarantee results, the playing field is not static. For instance, if you take the #1 spot from a competitor, they are likely to increase their activity to take it back, which is very difficult to plan in forecasting.

I think it's crucial to not only understand the hard KPIs that your clients are paying attention to, but what their deeply personal desires are. Some clients are eager to learn about SEO and level up, and progress in their careers. Others want to reduce the time they spend working on SEO projects as much as possible. Few clients we're currently working with are only metric-driven. Sure, results matter. But so does the relationship you build and how you collaborate. I recommend anyone agency-side to regularly run customer interviews, to get a more profound understanding of what drives and motivates your clients.

Always make sure you’re forecasting backwards from on commercial goals. Start with a 12 month goal - £££ or # of leads. This is what you’re trying to achieve over the year. From there, using your benchmark organic conversion rate and average order value, you can calculate how much organic traffic you need to achieve this. Deduct your baseline traffic and you’ve got how much extra traffic you need to drive. Only now can you move over to deciding on your keyword strategy and tactics. Look at HOW you’re going to achieve this increase in traffic. This can then be placed into to monthly forecast. Forecasts produced in this way are difficult to argue with and help to manage unrealistic clients. You can’t argue with data.

To manage Unrealistic clients with high expectations: 1- Set Realistic Expectations by Educating your clients about the realistic outcomes for SEO and Explain that SEO is a long-term strategy. 2- Clear Communication with your clients. Clearly define the scope of work, deliverables, and goals. 3- Align your clients' goals with what is achievable. 4- Regular Reporting with honestly 5- In extreme cases where a client's unrealistic expectations are causing constant stress and dissatisfaction, it may be best to part ways amicably. Focus on clients who appreciate the value of your services and are willing to work collaboratively.

Generally SEO is not a quick process - this is for many reasons including (a) the strategy needs to be really good and this takes planning (b)research usually needs to come before / during the strategic planning (c)a web build or re-design often has to be considered and planned (d) the foundational SEO work has to be done (e) SEO usually requires ongoing monthly work to be very effective (f) it can take a long time for search engines to list pages well for various reasons. Taking the above points into account, I think setting reasonable time & cost expectations for SEO work plus realistic goals at the outset is extremely important. I also think SEO research & planning should be work that clients do before commencing SEO activity.

In your initial SEO discussion with the client, it's crucial to address potential risks and failures upfront. Explain possible unexpected factors that may disrupt the initial plan and process. Discuss different risk levels, their impact on the project, and how they could affect the final results. As an SEO partner, reassure the client that you have solutions for common project challenges. This demonstrates your expertise and problem-solving abilities, instilling confidence in your client.

Send them 3 memes a week to remind them that you're fun, approachable and have a good meme game.... Then assert dominance when their guard is down.

The first 3 months are very important for client communication. Clients may be busy due to various reasons, and it's your job to follow up. If you are giving the client a weekly report and engaging them every two days, it increases their trust level. Whenever I complete a task, I send the client a report and a loom video weekly, which keeps the client always satisfied.

After starting the project, I create a Telegram channel to provide real-time project updates and share developments with the client. This way, the client stays fully informed about the project's progress and maintains constant communication with me.

When dealing with unrealistic client expectations, I focus on clear and consistent communication. From the start, I set expectations by explaining what’s achievable within their timeline and budget. It’s essential to keep them informed at every stage, providing updates on progress and any potential obstacles. If they request something unrealistic, I explain why it may not work and suggest alternatives that align with their goals. Regular check-ins and honest feedback help build trust, ensuring that the client understands the process and we stay on the same page throughout the project.

By managing their scope and expectations you're working actively on your client relationship. Nobody likes it if they don't know where they're heading, same with SEO. Be clear about what they can expect from you, for example: how often you plan meetings, when you send reports, when to expect an increase in traffic, what will happen if your first strategy doesn't work, what are your goals, etc. Don't be vague, be clear. I know we SEO-ers love to answer everything with "it depends", but you'll lose clients if you say that too often ;-)

You really want your clients to understand the results they can get and roughly when. Plus, they need a clear understanding of what's required from them in order to make this happen. Scoping the project well at the beginning helps this. I will happily manage expectations early on with statements like, "we're going to do X, Y, X, but I'm happy to be transparent here: real results could take XX [time] because [reason], but I'd expect to see some hints of success within xx [time]." Generally, I downplay my expectations so I can overdeliver. I'd rather lose a client early on because they're not ready for the investment than disappoint them later.

There should only be 2 promises when working with new clients, they promise to pay invoices on time and the SEO promises not to buy backlinks from Fiverr.

In managing the scope and expectations, it's good to use your past success stories in your discussions with them. Be clear about how large a scope of work was on your most impressive success stories. Draw inspiration from your past successes and give ideas for how you can recreate those successes with new clients - but be clear that it will require time and resources.

If we communicate honestly and logically with the client, providing them with all the conditions and facts, it will undoubtedly create realistic expectations for them.

Based on my experience, I've noticed that customers with unrealistic expectations can be challenging to communicate with. Regardless of how much effort you invest in educating them with data and case studies, they tend to maintain their unrealistic outlook. In my view, it's crucial to exercise caution when bringing a client on board. Setting clear expectations from the start helps prevent confusion. However, if someone continues to hold unrealistic expectations even after clear communication, it's advisable to part ways with them as soon as possible. Neglecting to take action in such situations may ultimately result in them ending the relationship, and they will feel justified in placing the blame on you.

Absolutely! If the client is disrespectful or unrealistic, it drains out your team's energy and unnecessarily stresses them out. It's not worth the money. You might be tempted with the money being paid, but hey its not always about the money. At times you need to stood your ground for yourself and your team!

I think first and foremost it's critical not to even start working with customers that have unrealistic expectations. They will consume too much time and energy and never be satisfied.

This! All day long. How much value do we place on our time, expertise, and mental health? Life is simply to short to be wasting time on dealing with an unrealistic or unreasonable client. It’s remarkably liberating to just say "I can’t help you with is anymore" and move on.

Every SEO professional should have an exit clause that protects them. But firing clients is a symptom of a poor discovery process. You can avoid most "problem clients" through the discovery process and disqualify clients you know you can't help. It saves them time. It saves you time. It's beneficial to disqualify early. Firing them means it was never meant to be.

Easy. Don't work with them. Unrealistic expectations are a foundational pain in the ass. Oops, is this too human of a response?

It's better to have 1 good client over 5 bad clients unless you're looking to buy a yacht... In this case, you'll need to endure the 5 bad clients until you sail into international waters.

AI generated content is changing the digital landscape when it comes to SEO. It is showing up first on Google's search results, even above paid advertisements. SEO professionals may have to learn new tactics to perform better, it is a continuous learning process.

For those clients with sky-high SEO hopes, just keep it real and friendly. Let them know good SEO takes time, show them the progress with a few data points.

As SEO is basically a practice that takes time, it gives you the unique opportunity to learn about your client and their intricacies in various aspects. Since it is a mutually beneficial partnership, spend the first weeks of your engagement learning their business and what ROI looks like. Some have the space to learn, some do not. If they do have that capacity, by all means, teach them. Some want quick results that will generate traffic and leads and simply have no patience in waiting for SEO to work. Best to advise them to pursue a different approach even if it means losing them. Managing unrealistic clients boils down to who they are as people(attitude-wise) and the situations surrounding their goals and objectives.