More threads by Linda Buquet

Linda Buquet

Moderator
Local Search Expert
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Messages
13,313
Reaction score
4,148
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9365" src="http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/LocalSearchConsulting.jpg" alt="LocalSearchConsulting" width="45%" />


How do you Prove the Worth of your Local Search Service to Clients???

Tracking ROI from local search is just plain hard no matter how you cut it!
But how can you expect clients to keep paying you if can't show them your worth?


One of our Top Contributors here at the forum and fellow Google Top Contributor, Joy Hawkins, just wrote a great post with lots of actionable tips.

Actually let me re-phrase that. Joy's post is AWESOME! One of the best I've read anywhere for quite some time.

So I'm just going to quote the 1st part, BUT if you have not read it yet, get over and do it now.
17 tips are waiting there, that will help you GET & KEEP clients!


<a href="http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/google-local-2/17-tips-to-help-you-measure-roi-from-local-seo/">17 Tips to Help You Measure ROI from Local SEO - Imprezzio Marketing</a>

My clients are local businesses. Joe the Plumber doesn?t have a fancy CRM. He doesn?t even have a good way to log all his calls since he gets half of them on his cell while driving to appointments. $500 or $1000 a month is a lot of money to Joe the Plumber. How does he know that his money is being well spent? How do I show him it?s worth his while to keep paying me? Those are the questions I want to answer.

Tweet: Hiring an SEO is like hiring a lawyer. #LocalSEO @joyannehawkins @imprezziomktgWith that in mind, I want to make sure everyone keeps in mind that hiring an SEO is like hiring a lawyer. My husband hired a traffic lawyer to help him get out of a ticket. He didn?t have to hire the lawyer ? he could have defended himself. However, he hired the lawyer because he knows that he stands a better shot of winning the case because the lawyer is an expert in law and knows the ins and outs of the courtroom. Similarly, a good SEO should know the ins and outs of how to rank on Google because it?s what they do all day long. They have more examples than you do, more businesses and trends to compare and more time to educate themselves on what is the newest and latest trend with Google.

Another great comparison I?ve heard is that SEO is like the stock market.

?You do your research to identify which keywords you feel will perform well in terms of both traffic and conversions, and that provide a good balance between risk and reward, and then you target those keywords. Just like picking stocks.? ? Sam McRoberts

Here are the methods I use to help illustrate to small business owners why they should continue giving me their money every month.


I LOVE all the tips. Especially the rankings screenshot idea. Beautifully simple - something clients can relate to. I totally agree about the ranking reports - just makes their eyes glaze over and is often meaningless.

I'd do a before and after of their main keyword OR one of the most important ones where you made a difference. I'd put right on the image "June 1st: Here are all your competitors on page 1, but you are missing." "July 1st: YAY you are on page one and in the top 3! Additional services and keywords we made significant progress on include: X, Y, Z."

The other thing I really like a lot and had not heard before were the stock market analogies. Really like the way Sam explains Joy's 4th point: Setting Reasonable Time Lines! I'm going to be using that. I'd vote that up as the best analogy of how Local SEO works and I'd be using it with clients all day long if I was still doing SEO.

<a href="http://www.pointit.com/investing-in-seo-the-warren-buffett-way/">Investing in SEO the Warren Buffett Way - Point It</a> - "You simply can?t approach SEO with a short-term investment mentality. If you?re looking for a quick hold-and-flip, that isn?t SEO. If you want to know with some measure of statistical certainty what your ROI will be over the next quarter or year, that isn?t SEO. If on the other hand you?re willing to invest for the long-term, if you have a long-term vision and you?re willing to do whatever it takes to reach your end goal?that?s SEO?


What do you think? Didn't Joy nail it?

What was your favorite part?

Any other good ROI tips to share???

<meta property="og:type" content="article"><meta property="og:title" content=""><meta property="og:description" content="">
<meta property="og:image" content="">
 
Re: 17 Tips to Help You Measure Local Search ROI & Keep Your Clients! Joy Hawkins

Thanks so much for your comments Linda. I was really interested to hear your feedback. I also loved the comparison to the stock market - it was a good one.
 
Re: 17 Tips to Help You Measure Local Search ROI & Keep Your Clients! Joy Hawkins

Thanks Joy. Looking forward to digging in...
 
Re: 17 Tips to Help You Measure Local Search ROI & Keep Your Clients! Joy Hawkins

Great article Joy. Some awesome tips in there.
 
Re: 17 Tips to Help You Measure Local Search ROI & Keep Your Clients! Joy Hawkins

Very good, seasoned article.
 

Login / Register

Already a member?   LOG IN
Not a member yet?   REGISTER

LocalU Event

  Promoted Posts

New advertising option: A review of your product or service posted by a Sterling Sky employee. This will also be shared on the Sterling Sky & LSF Twitter accounts, our Facebook group, LinkedIn, and both newsletters. More...
Top Bottom