One of the biggest obstacles that search marketing professionals face today is guarantees about end results with SEO, according to a poll we conducted a few months ago (Top 3 Reasons that Stop Businesses from Going Forward with SEO, Capture Commerce, 2009).

To date, the one-question poll shows these as the top 3 of 16 choices:
§    It’s difficult to make guarantees about end results – 11%
§    They are uninformed and/or misinformed about the process – 11%
§    They don’t realize how much money it costs – 11%

Most businesses don’t want an SEO guarantee about end results; they aren’t that naïve. What they are really asking for is credibility, experience and ethical business practices – the ingredients of a trust relationship.

Most SEO professionals do not provide guarantees about rankings or end results for good reason: no one controls Google’s algo but Google. What search marketing pros can guarantee is a plan and implementation that has proven to bring good rankings in the past. In addition, SEO professionals should be able to guarantee:

§    Indexing of a site’s pages
§    Targeting appropriate search terms
§    Producing a content development plan
§    Programming web analytics to track results
§    Developing a link-building strategy
§    Setting realistic rank expectations and timeframe based on experience

But how can SEO providers better handle those businesses who ask for a guarantee?
Businesses want reasonable ROI from their investment; if they cannot picture a successful end result while conversing with a provider, there’s going to be a lack of confidence in your ability to produce results.

Two Scenarios:

Many businesses know SEO, but they don’t have the time to execute an SEO plan. What they are most concerned about boils down to:

1.    Confidence in your ability to deliver results
2.    Fear of choosing the wrong provider, which could mean loss of investment, lost time, lost opportunity, or even loss of their position or job.

Some businesses don’t know SEO and may have been burned before by someone who did guarantee results. They may need lots of basic education about SEO. These businesses are most concerned about:

1.    Confidence in your ability to deliver results
2.    Fear of choosing the wrong provider, which could mean loss of investment, lost time, lost opportunity, or loss of their position or job.

Beginning to get the picture?

So how can SEO providers increase a prospect’s confidence in their ability and calm fears of negative consequences (which has far more value than an “SEO guarantee”)?

1.    Join an organization known for keeping members who are above-board, like SEMPO.
2.    Provide clear case studies outlining before and after results, and what you did to overcome the ranking barriers. The more detailed the ROI data, the better your prospect can see their own business fitting in with yours.
3.    Effective listening is the bottom line of trust. Ask good questions about expectations rather than offering unsolicited answers. One of my favorite questions is “What makes SEO a priority for you now?”
4.    Investigate the concerns and fears of the prospect. Empathy is the currency of trust, giving insight into what others may be thinking or feeling. Empathy helps us understand why others are reacting to situations and it allows us to create bonds of trust. Learn who else is involved in the decision and arrange to talk with each of them.
5.    Understand the risk control mechanism that’s in place. Most organizations have procurement or vetting processes. These buyers are motivated by financial risk, my position risk and personal credibility, among other factors. According to Enquiro’s Mapping The BuyerSphere study, some of the ways organizations control risk include:

§    Tapping past experience and approved vendors
§    Word of mouth and the experience of others
§    Asking existing (trusted) vendors
§    Credibility of vendors (bigger is better, the vendor who does business with lots of big companies)
§    Check out what they find online to make sure the right messaging is out there to deal with these risks
§    Price

Trust has been defined as “the willingness of a party (trustor) to be vulnerable to the actions of another party (trustee) based on the expectation that the trustee will perform an action important to the trustor, regardless of the trustor’s ability to monitor or control the trustee.” Trust is the expectation that people can rely on your word. It is built through integrity and consistency in relationships.

Building trust is the key to an “SEO guarantee” that fosters confidence in your ability and calms fears of negative consequences.

Guest Author

Tom Shivers is an SEO consultant and president of Capture Commerce, Inc. – a professional SEO company focused on tailored Internet marketing.