Selling SEO services has never been easy. Especially when it comes to dealing with SEO objections.
In my career, as a salesperson selling SEO services, I’ve often encountered objections that I didn’t know how to handle. Wasn’t my preparation sufficient? Or did the onboarding fail? There are many possibilities.
After going through each of them, I decided to prepare a compendium of the most common objections that occur in marketing sales—but not only; these are objections you might encounter in pretty much any industry. You can simply change the product and tailor it more closely to your clients’ expectations.
I feel quite sentimental about this post because I write it solely based on my own experiences and the lessons I’ve learned. These have helped me better handle objections, and I believe they’ll be useful for you as well.
So, what are the 32 most common SEO objections? Let’s figure them out!
In a nutshell:
SEO Objections Group #1: Financial Investment & ROI Concerns
No matter what you’re selling, how good your company is, or how many clients you have—the topic of money and financial expectations will always come up. The more advanced the service, the higher the cost. Therefore, potentially more questions about money. However, this is not difficult to handle. Here are 11 questions and answers that will help you better deal with these objections.
What is the return on investment (ROI) for SEO?
Let’s start with one of the toughest objections. I must admit, it’s one of my least favorite questions. The question about ROI is always difficult, especially when it comes to organic growth (i.e., Search Engine Optimization) rather than paid campaigns (such as TikTok Ads or Google Ads).
So, how should you answer this question?
The answer to this question depends entirely on the SEO business model your company offers in its collaboration. If your company has only one model (surprisingly, it’s pretty common nowadays), and it is a fixed monthly fee, you need to go above and beyond to overcome this objection. You can adequately answer this question only if your business models are performance-based.
If you have a model where you charge based on specific results (e.g., ranking positions), the issue becomes much easier.
Let’s imagine your company offers a ranking-based business model. The higher your customer’s website ranks, the more they pay. It’s pretty fair, but kind of risky for the agency [Google updates algorithms = your customers’ website can plummet in Google’s search (but also can soar)].
So, the answer could be:
Considering your website and its visibility, I would like to propose a performance-based model. The higher your site ranks in Google search results, the higher our invoice will be. On the other hand, if we don’t achieve the agreed results, you don’t pay us. It’s a simple and very transparent model of cooperation.
Regarding ROI: results speak for themselves. Your company specializes in training and consulting on soft skills, and the minimum budget for a solution is $1,000 per training per participant. We agree on a performance-based model, where you may pay us a maximum of $4,000 per month (<— just an example). In this situation, just 4 participants cover your invoice upfront; assuming all keywords rank in the TOP 3 for that month. Moreover, you mentioned that the average number of participants in your training is between 20–30 people. Considering just 20 participants per month, just one training covers our collaboration costs for nearly half a year upfront. Looks like our cooperation is going to be the definition of an investment, doesn’t it?
———
You can deal with this objection in your style, but
- a flexible cooperation model
- introducing specific numbers
- setting expected results based on ROI
Will always win a fight with any objection.
How long will it take to see ROI from SEO?
High-ranking results directly translate into business outcomes. But what is crucial in this matter? The selection of the right keywords. The better the quality of keywords, the better the result. Therefore, it is essential to choose both short-tail and long-tail keywords.
Let’s return to the objection itself.
Assuming your client’s website ranks highly on Google, you—as the marketing agency—need to regularly verify what works and what doesn’t. Depending on the results, you should implement A/B testing.
If your client’s website quickly generates traffic through keywords, then the next step is generating sales. If you’re optimizing e-commerce, the situation is relatively simple. If it involves a service-based company (and you don’t have insight into the number of phone calls, emails, or inquiries), your cooperation with the client must be exceptionally transparent. This transparency will benefit both parties.
So, how to answer this question?
Results can be visible as soon as your website ranks high on Google. Our task is to position the site, which is our commitment, while your tasks include proper customer service, maintaining good relationships with them, managing online reviews, etc. It’s obvious that I cannot accurately predict how long this will take. There may be situations where a customer calls you (thanks to our services), but doesn’t make a purchase immediately, and after three months, they make a purchase that exceeds the value of our cooperation for half a year upfront (which we have experienced with other clients).
Don’t worry, our job is to generate results as accurately as possible, and that’s our specialty. However, if you think there’s something we can adjust to generate even better results—we’re at your disposal.
———
Such a well-adjusted response will help you deal with this objection in the realm of SEO.
Seems too cheap; looks like we can do it on our own
If the questions come down to budget, sometimes it may seem too cheap. Whenever I hear this question, I smile internally. And externally, too.
My favorite response: “You know, we can always make the same package 3x more expensive. What do you think?”
Usually, the answer is:
“Oh, you know, that would be too much then.”
Or:
“I mean, it’s not the problem with the price itself. The price sounds kinda cool.”
Let’s be honest: when it comes to SEO services, and most other services (and even products), you could do it yourself.
—> Language translation: You can use ChatGPT
—> Personal trainer: You could conduct the workouts yourself
—> Copywriting services: You could write the content yourself
Providing services is about taking the burden off your client. You will perform a specialized service for them, for which they will pay with the money that comes to them thanks to your expertise. If your company (or you, as a freelancer) provides high-quality services and customer support, selling marketing services will never be a chore.
Why is SEO more expensive than other marketing services?
Providing SEO services is a compelling game. It’s not just about search engine optimization itself. It’s also about:
- running your blog
- buying/creating link building
- writing content for your website
- taking care of UX on your website
- and of course: regularly optimizing your website, writing meta titles/descriptions, and much more.
As you can see, I mentioned a few services that we perform as part of our so-called SEO collaboration. Each of these services requires a dedicated specialist:
- UX: UX designer
- Copywriting: Copywriter
- Link building: Link builder
- Search Engine Optimization: A dedicated specialist
And so on.
These services are costly because they require appropriate engagement, many hands at work, and continuous optimization. That’s why the ROI is ultimately very high.
“Oh, you’ve convinced me. I have nothing to deal with. I’m in.” —> This is literally the answer I got from my customer once I cleared up the objection as I did above.
Are there any hidden costs for these services? If so, I’m not into it!
Of course, the answer to this question depends solely on your company’s policy and stipulations in the contract. However, I assume that it’s like in my case, so the answer is straightforward:
No, there’s nothing besides the price we spoke about.
Sweet & short.
You can even bring up this matter before your customer asks. It’ll clarify your intentions and help you gain credibility in your prospect’s eyes.
What if we don’t see the expected results after investing in your services? Can I terminate the contract without consequences?
I’ll answer as simply and precisely as possible—the answer to this question hidden in your contract.
Let me explain.
This objection is quite common because clients want to feel that their money is well-invested. It’s no surprise. They want to know that if there are no results, they can terminate the contract without consequences.
How to handle this SEO objection? Ensure client-centric contract terms.
A one-size-fits-all contract model is long outdated. If you want to convince a client of your value, you need to have a flexible contract. Ideally, you should offer several business models.
What I can recommend is an open-ended contract with a 3-month notice period. Regardless of the business model: fixed-monthly fee, performance-based, or retainer model. It doesn’t matter.
Of course, you can fight this objection, but it’s best addressed with dedicated terms of cooperation.
You give me the high-rankings guarantee, or I won’t sign the contract
How to handle SEO objections? Personally, I like to engage in a discussion.
Nevertheless, before I keep writing on this topic, I need to tell you that it always depends. It depends on who is on the other side. Communication and overcoming even the most common SEO objections depend on your prospect and their character.
Some of them like to negotiate, and once they get a discount—they sign the contract. The objection is just a formality.
Other clients, however, need a very meticulous and reliable answer. The price is not as important as the sense of security when they’re getting started with a long-term collaboration.
However, there is an element that immediately addresses this objection. And even better—this element makes the objection not even arise. What’s that?
The contact duration.
Make sure your collaboration is mutual from the start. It’s a lie when someone says that a contract can only be for one or two years, otherwise, there won’t be any results. Such words reflect the language of salespeople at catch-and-go companies, not the true realities of SEO.
Personally, most of the contracts I sign with clients are for an indefinite period with a three-month notice period. This duration is long enough to secure both the client’s and my business. We’re both satisfied.
What’s your average contract duration?
How much does it cost? Meaning: It’s too expensive
Let me get back to the topic of price, but from a slightly different perspective.
Asking about the price is standard. Not everyone likes it, but everyone has to face it.
Price negotiation, however, is a good sign. I’d even say it is highly desirable in sales.
When a prospect starts negotiating the terms of price or cooperation, it means they are interested in working with us.
Only one element remains—to simply convince them. The ball is in your court.
What is crucial for closing the contract?
Good needs assessment and matching the terms of cooperation to the price.
Don’t immediately drop the price or offer a 30% discount. Your prospect would think that you wanted to rip them off from the beginning. It wouldn’t be a good move.
On the other hand, you can’t stick to your guns at all costs. Your prospect will choose your competitor from the next street over, you know what I mean.
If you have the opportunity and have negotiated properly, give the client a desired, but mutually beneficial discount. The client will choose your company, and you will close the deal—perfect.
P.S. This is my, most common SEO objection I used to handle. What are the objections in SEO that you have to face most often?
Organic growth takes too much time; I’ll get started with SEM (media buying / paid advertisement)
Depending on the history of your prospect’s domain and how long it has been on the internet—this objection may seem insurmountable.
If your prospect has a new domain and is in a saturated industry—it would be much better to start with SEM. Organic growth would actually take too much time.
In this situation, I propose a solution that benefits both parties: utilizing both organic and paid growth strategies. Suggest to your prospect that they use search engine optimization as well as media buying.
Of course, you need to conduct a very thorough needs analysis. For instance:
- What is your target budget, considering both organic and paid campaigns?
- What platforms would you like to use for media buying?
- What main products/services would you like to sell?
- What is the age range of your target group?
*ALTERNATIVELY*: Your interlocutor might not have the answers to all these questions. Therefore, it’d be your job to ask these questions and, as a follow-up, find the right solution and argue for it.
Now—knowing the answers to the above questions (and many others), you can propose a solution. A mix of organic and paid campaigns seems to be the most reasonable and client-oriented approach. Of course, this is considering the fact that the company you work for provides both types of marketing growth.
Sometimes, dealing with objections is not about overcoming them at all costs. Very often, objections from clients lead to interesting solutions that can generate more money for you.
My company is too small for Search Engine Optimization
“Simon, my company is too small for such marketing. I only have 5 employees. Call someone bigger.”
These are words I’ve heard more than once. What would you say?
I assume you know well that no industry is “too small” for SEO. My favorite “small” companies, in industries that generate significant profits with relatively few employees, include:
- Dentists
- Tattoo studios
- Scaffolding rental
- Garden designers
- Towing companies
- Construction/renovation companies
These are also some of my favorite industries. Surprisingly, in most cases, when I first contacted a client, I heard objections similar to the one at the beginning of this sentence.
No company is too small for these marketing activities. And I’m not saying this just because I’m writing this post about dealing with objections—not at all. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the words “sure, if you want to use the services of a competitor who does better.” In almost every case, the prospect I say this to comes back to our discussions sooner or later. That’s just a side note.
—> What is most important? For every company (even a startup), search engine optimization solutions are appropriate.
—> How best to deal with this objection? Refer to small companies that are in demand in the market and generate eye-catching revenues.
Can We See a Breakdown of How Our Money is Spent on Advertisement?
Sometimes there are clients who want every penny accounted for. They want to know the exact allocation of their funds. What percentage of funds will be delegated to what percentage of actions.
I’d say this objection is more of a rhetorical question. The client is often trying to challenge you rather than genuinely seeking a precise breakdown of percentages and a detailed action plan for every dollar.
Knowing your offer, you have a general idea of what percentage of the package price is dedicated to each activity. Don’t be afraid to share this information. However, if you feel the answer might not be entirely satisfying, maintain a light and approachable tone. Don’t be too serious.
When you present the allocation breakdown to the prospect with sensitivity and finesse—the deal is yours. From experience, I know that this question, if it comes up, is usually one of the final questions before closing the deal.
SEO Objections Group #2: Trust & Credibility
Trust & credibility is nothing more than psychology. And as you know—psychology plays a crucial role in a relationship with a client.
Your client primarily wants to invest their money wisely. To ensure they feel this way, your communication must be impeccable. Sometimes small things like your tone of voice, the quality of your written emails, or punctuality play a crucial role in building trust.
However, that’s not all. Certain objections may arise that need to be handled right away. I’ll present you with solutions that have worked in my case—I believe they’ll work in yours too.
This is one of those questions I’ve had to face many times. It often comes up with larger companies or up-and-coming eCommerces.
For this objection, there is an algorithm that solves your problem: the Pigeon algorithm, also known as geolocation.
It may sound funny, but the Pigeon algorithm is one of the most important changes introduced by Google. It mainly aims to influence local search results. From a business perspective, this is intended to support smaller businesses that also want to grow, not just rely on the big players who have been in the industry for years.
So how does this affect the objection?
Essentially, you can have up to 30 companies in the same industry, provided they all operate in different regions. For example, if you work with towing companies, you can have 2, maybe 3 companies in different areas. Speaking about the USA: Washington, Texas, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, Portland. You can have clients in each of these cities without them conflicting with each other.
The problem arises when you want to build organic visibility for 10 different companies in the same area. Personally, I definitely do not recommend this because, ultimately, no company will trust you. However, the final choice is yours.
Where are you from? Ohh, I’d like to cooperate with my local company
I understand your point of view. Choosing a local company may seem reasonable at first glance. Nevertheless, the work we or they will perform will be done entirely remotely. Nevertheless, the employees of these companies are likely working remotely, perhaps even in a completely different city. Therefore, in the age of the internet, the location of the company is not fundamentally important. What is crucial is what they do, for whom, and for how long; it doesn’t matter if they are from Warsaw or Poznan. Most of my clients are from outside Poland, and I haven’t even had the chance to meet them in person because there is no need. If you’d like to talk, I can call you at any time, or we can arrange an online meeting. What do you think, can we move forward with our collaboration now?
—> Pro Tip: If you are arguing your point, use words like “nevertheless,” “moreover,” or “nonetheless.” Never “but.” This is a subtle yet very significant difference.
This is roughly how I often handle this objection. And there’s no deceit in this—it’s entirely true.
Nowadays, we work mostly remotely. If you don’t need the services of a brick-and-mortar company, then their location is the least important matter.
How do you deal with this objection in SEO?
You know, there are many companies like yours. Why should I choose your company over your competition?
I gotta admit it’s a loaded question. But there’s something behind it. If your prospect asks you this question, it means they want to start working with you but need to be assured of their decision. Great!
What to do?
Explain what truly sets you apart in the market. Provide examples of 2–3 companies, their industries, and their growth over a specific period. Clearly state why this client should choose to work with you.
What not to do?
“We work with clients from all over the world, have an annual turnover of $30 million, and a portfolio of 1,000 clients…”
Honestly—your customer doesn’t give a sh*t about your 1,000 clients. They want to know exactly how you will solve their problem through your collaboration, not that you have a client who speaks Spanish.
Tell me, how did you get my data? If you won’t, don’t call me anymore!
I assume this is a common objection, not only in the marketing world. However, in the case of selling advertisements, this issue arises particularly often.
To my surprise, salespeople often just don’t want to say. Or they beat around the bush, saying things like:
- “My boss gets the leads; I have no clue where he gets them from.”
- “Oh, my boss didn’t let me tell you, but this is on his back.”
- “Honestly, sir, I don’t really know.”
Really? It’s funny, but I’ve heard many conversations like this.
Here’s the answer: No matter how strange it may seem, always be honest about where you got the contact. Honesty always pays off. Especially when your prospect will likely do nothing with that information—they’ll simply understand where you got their data from. That’s it.
There’s one more solution.
Often, when doing research or cold outreach, you can use a tool for lead generation.
This is my winner: Apollo.io
Apollo is an outreach/email marketing tool that helps you find your prospects’ data. Literally. Personally, I’ve been using Apollo for more than 3 years now, and I wouldn’t change it at all.
It is very easy to use, provides you the right and correct data about your prospects, and you can use it for free. Of course, the free version is kinda limited, but still—you can test it out and find out whether you like it.
P.S. No worries, if you’re new in the industry, then I’ve got something special. A 3,500-word review on Apollo is here: Apollo.io Review: The Best Outreach Tool on the Market.
What has in common Apollo.io and this objection?
Now the situation is much simpler. When you obtain your lead’s data from Apollo, you can simply say:
“I found your data on Apollo.io. This is an outreach tool. I use it to find my prospects’ data like yours. And this data is taken from LinkedIn. No worries, everything’s legal.”
After such a response, you’ll most often hear, “Sure, I get it.” No one will continue to pursue this topic further. And you can calmly proceed towards closing the deal.
Don’t you have testimonials? I don’t wanna buy
There will always be a client who wants references at all costs. There’s nothing strange about that.
The fact is, you—as a specialized company—must have such references. At least three examples of companies for which you’re doing a good job.
This situation is difficult to navigate if you tell your interlocutor that you really have… nothing. Unless you are a start-up, in which case you can highlight this during the conversation. Being a start-up in this situation carries many benefits. From my experience, I’ve even noticed that clients prefer to work with small companies or freelancers (like me) because it gives them a greater sense of influence over you.
What can you do? Talk to your supervisor or the partnership department to obtain such references as quickly as possible. The more (legitimate ones), the better.
How do I know you won’t use black-hat SEO techniques?
From a business perspective, no one wants to use black-hat techniques. Firstly, they’re no longer effective, and secondly, there’s a significant risk of your website being banned.
From a business standpoint, it’d be like shooting ourselves in the foot. By partnering with you, we want the collaboration to last as long as possible. Black-hat techniques might lead to rapid growth, but they also result in a rapid downfall. These techniques primarily include:
- Cloaking
- Keyword stuffing
- Duplicate content
- Hidden text & links
And many more. However, we do not want to engage in such practices, and we won’t do so.
The best way to prove to you that we do not use black-hat techniques is by showing that we have been in the market for a long time and have many satisfied clients. If we were operating against Google’s policies, we might have clients, but none would be satisfied. Gaining new clients would be almost impossible.
———
This is one of the ways that helped me address this objection. The response is as honest as possible and carries a business rationale. After all, no one would act against Google, considering their business interests.
By giving examples of black-hat techniques (those mentioned above), you show the prospect that you know what you’re talking about. If you simply say, “No, no, of course, we don’t do anything wrong,” the prospect will assume you have no idea what they’re talking about. As you know, they’ll then conclude that you’re not competent and won’t buy from you.
What happens if we get penalized by Google?
“Working on the market for 8+ years, I’ve never encountered any situations like that. So honestly—I don’t know.”
It worked, and the client bought in. However, I realize that there are more demanding clients for whom such a response might not work.
You can also say:
“Our agreement is mutual, so it protects your business as well as ours. We, as a specialized digital marketing company, aim to retain clients by delivering services at the highest level. If your site were to receive a penalty, we would be responsible for it. However, to prevent this situation—I can assure you that nothing like this has ever happened to any of our clients, so I can guarantee that your site will maintain the highest standards without incurring any penalties.”
This kind of response will definitely work.
P.S. Nevertheless, this way of dealing with that objection 👆 will only work if your agreement truly protects your client.
SEO Objections Group #3: Performance & Outcome Expectations
Now it’s time for an outcome-based game. Your clients want to know exactly what they’re paying for and what will happen if they pay and nothing comes of it. Typically, this set of questions arises when the client is on the final stretch of deciding to purchase your solution. These questions are more about negotiation than purely about the substantive aspects of marketing services. So, what are the objections in SEO? Let’s figure this out.
I want to get a contract with a 1-month period of notice
Despite any negotiations with marketing agencies, the length of the contract has nothing to do with the quality of services provided or their execution. The contract can be for 2 years or just for a month; the quality should remain consistent.
If I’m talking to a client and I feel that this argument is decisive, I have often said: “Sure, let me just get it straight. If I include a 1-month notice period, could we start the cooperation this week?”
When I hear the answer “yes” (and usually, it’s just yes in this situation), I generate the adequate contract.
What KPIs we need to establish?
Again, it’s a matter of the business model you agree on with the client.
It could be based on results, fixed payment, or sales growth. There are plenty of possibilities.
This question might seem innocent, but in many cases, it causes the salesperson to start rambling, which often… doesn’t make much sense.
Before suggesting specific KPIs to the client, first, agree on what needs to be achieved for your customer.
Remember—you’re the expert, and the client will benefit from a favorable solution if they feel that you know what you’re talking about.
What happens if we decide to stop SEO services right away?
Hmm, it happens. But in reality, nothing happens for marketing services themselves.
The only thing that might suffer is the agency’s business. If one client cancels—okay, the churn rate won’t be that significant. However, if 100 clients terminate their contracts all at once, it will hurt your agency.
Running a marketing agency is already a very serious venture. You might employ dozens of people and manage campaigns for hundreds (maybe thousands) of customers. Since this market is saturated, you must ensure favorable contract terms. You can’t tie the client down, but it also doesn’t make sense for them to be able to leave at any moment. Balance the terms appropriately. No one wants to lose clients, and for sure not their job.
From the service delivery standpoint, nothing will happen—and that’s something you can tell the client. The responsibility of running the business and its operations is a different matter. However, it’s an aspect you need to discuss with your interlocutor.
How long does it take to see results from SEO?
One of my favorite questions. I like it because it allows for a bit of creativity. Let me explain.
When it comes to SEO results—answering by the book—it’s generally expected that it will take 3 to 6 months for a site to appear in the TOP 10. Now, time for some creativity. Your site could appear as #1 within 2 weeks of publishing a post, or you could wait 10 months, and the site might still be far down in Google’s rankings.
My ideal example is the keyword: authoredup review. I wrote a comprehensive review about this content creation tool for LinkedIn. I published the post, and after 13 days, it ranked #1 on Google, regardless of location. Wow!
On the other hand, when you search for the phrase what is seo, my site is still around the 15th or 18th position. No surprise there—the competition and their posts have been around and well-established on the web for a long time.
So, what is key to achieving a high ranking?
- Content
- Blogging
- Competition
- Link building
- Added keywords
- The quality of the website
And much, much more.
However, if you want this contract to be with you, not your competition—suggest a comprehensive service. Just organic growth isn’t already a game changer on the market.
Can you guarantee first-page rankings on Google?
Unfortunately, even Google itself cannot guarantee rankings. There are simply too many variables to offer any kind of guarantee.
As a marketing agency, you can guarantee the work you perform. If you’re running a Google Ads campaign, you can also guarantee that your ads will be displayed for specific keywords and will generate clicks and visits to the site. This is a factual and honest response.
Can a fitness trainer guarantee that their client will lose X kilograms in Y time? It’s impossible.
You can put your heart into helping your client, but if they indulge in sweets after hours, they won’t achieve the desired results, right?
What you can guarantee is your effort, the preparation of a work plan, your engagement, knowledge, recommendations, and expertise. That’s what your client is paying you for.
The same applies to SEO services.
SEO Objections Group #4: Understanding SEO Strategies & Business Outcome
What your client cares about most is reliable results. They aren’t concerned with how you’ll achieve them—they just need it to be effective. I often hear that if a client spends $5,000 with me and gets $10,000 in return, we’ll expand the scope of our collaboration. In other words, it’s the business effect that matters, not the “we have the best campaigns in the world” effect. Here are some objections that will help you better prepare for conversations.
The competition is too big. I will never be number #1 in Google.
Sure, just like in any field—swimming, IT, or even finding a partner on Tinder—competition is something that helps us function better because it shows us where our gaps are.
If your agency has the right resources and experience, you know you can count on results.
However, offering only organic positioning is a thing of the past. Unless the client explicitly insists—just SEO or nothing. Fair enough, in that case, go with organic growth only.
But if that’s not a dealbreaker, suggest a comprehensive solution. That’s something I recommend (and actually always recommend).
Comprehensive services > just organic growth.
First, you can offer a much more complete solution, and second, you can earn more. Only suggest solutions that will bring positive results. In that case, competition won’t be a challenge, but rather an inflection point in your business.
Simon, tell me in 1 sentence: How will SEO help my business?
Greater visibility of your website on the internet will lead to more potential customers visiting your site, which increases the probability of purchasing your product.
That’s it. One sentence.
Sweet & short. And real.
Create a sentence that suits you. But remember—the simpler and more straightforward, the better.
We don’t need SEO if we’re already running paid ads.
Quite the opposite—ads provide temporary visibility, while search engine optimization ensures continuous visibility.
By running organic campaigns, we work to generate traffic to your site from various sources, using different keywords. If you’re in a competitive industry, a single click on a Google Ad can sometimes cost as much as $25. Just one click. Your budget would have to be enormous to generate continuous traffic.
That’s why media buying serves as support, not the standard. Of course, this also depends on the industry and the company’s budget.
Nevertheless, media buying is usually temporary, while organic campaigns are permanent.
How will SEO benefit our specific business?
Actually, the type of business doesn’t matter. Any type of business can benefit from organic search engine visibility and generate traffic to their website.
That’s the point. Higher traffic on a website —> more potential customers —> more purchases —> business growth.
This is the ideal process for creating good organic growth.
What is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?
On-page refers to all the activities that your potential client can see, such as content, graphics, and the menu.
Off-page includes everything that the reader doesn’t see but that Google’s bots (crawlers) do, such as structured data (schema markup), noindex & nofollow tags, robots.txt & XML sitemaps, and much more.
Therefore, to properly optimize a website, you need to take care of both aspects. However, on-page SEO is currently key. It accounts for about 70% of all results.
How do you do link building, and why is it important?
Link building is one of those elements that can significantly boost your website’s ranking on Google. You could even say that without link building, your site will never reach the TOP #3 in a competitive industry.
Link building is important, but not the most important factor. Of course, the cornerstone is content.
A common question arises: how do you do link building, and where will those links be displayed?
Marketing agencies often create their own network of supporting websites. They build a large content base in various industries on these sites and create links to their clients’ websites.
There is also a more advanced and expensive form of link building. You can purchase placements on websites with very high domain authority and thousands of readers per minute. Such sites include Forbes or Entrepreneur. By contacting these magazines, you request to be included in a particular content with your given link. This, of course, is paid, sometimes even tens of thousands of dollars for a single link.
The answer is—if you want to carry out very competitive search engine optimization, link building must be a part-and-parcel of your marketing strategy.
SEO Objections Group #5: Time & Resource Management
This last group of objections focuses on resource and time management. While creating a strategy, there’s certainly something you will need from the client. Your contact will often ask what you need from them.
In most cases, your client wants to pay and not have too much involvement in the campaign. They want to focus on their own business. This is key. Here are 3 questions-objections that you should deal with.
What kind of resources (content, technical support) will you need from us?
It depends on the terms of collaboration. Sometimes the agency only needs access to the website (CMS & FTP), and that’s it. However, sometimes daily contact with a dedicated person from the marketing department of the company you’re working with is essential.
Having said that, solid arrangements are usually settled within the first month of cooperation. Once you’ve agreed on the scope of keywords, content, blog posts, and graphics, you can focus on executing the campaign. However, it’s crucial to ask all the necessary questions upfront.
Problems arise when a salesperson wants to close the deal too quickly. As a result, specialists may lack the proper data and information to conduct an audit or deliver the services. And this is a challenge.
Ask the right questions at the very beginning of the collaboration. It’ll make the entire period of your agreement much smoother.
How do you prioritize tasks and initiatives?
Generally, these questions assume the scope of work. In other words, what exactly will you do and in what timeframe?
If you have a fully prepared offer, I assume you have a plan detailing what you’ll do and when. You likely have the scope of work outlined, including the number of characters for writing content, keywords, blog posts, and more. This is exactly what your prospect is looking for.
Depending on the length and complexity of your project, you can break down the activities monthly or quarterly. However, I don’t recommend longer (annually) or shorter (weekly) intervals. There’s a significant risk that something might be overlooked, or the terms of the contract might not be met.
Present the client with the selected plan, and it will make it much easier for you (as the agency) to deliver the chosen services from the offer.
How flexible are your SEO services in adapting to our changing needs?
This question is essentially a test of how flexible your agency is. Especially after the pandemic, the market has changed. Clients are more demanding in terms of flexibility and transparency. The terms of cooperation need to be clear, and this is often a dealbreaker.
Moreover, I’ve noticed that these same prospects are often willing to pay even more for greater flexibility.
Shorter contracts, a dedicated account manager, more frequent SEO reports—these are conditions that aren’t unattainable, but much depends on the organization.
If your organization is transparent, that’s great—it will be much easier for you to attract such clients. However, if the terms of the contract are rigid, then it can be challenging. But hey, rigid contract terms often reflect a… rigid boss. The toughest problems can be solved with good communication. Talk to your boss, explain what clients are expecting. The issues should be resolved.
Final Thoughts
Dealing with SEO objections is an exchange of arguments, just like any other discussion. As in other industries, communication is key to resolving any issues.
As you’ve noticed while reading this post, questions, or objections from your prospects/customers are an ideal way to build a better business model. Often, what appears as a rejection or a dealbreaker can add value to your offer or company.
Of course, there will be objections that you won’t be able to accept. Sometimes, your prospect may want terms that only protect their business. Agreeing to many such changes could cause your business to go bankrupt. How would you provide services to clients in a company that isn’t stable?
Therefore, tailor the terms of cooperation so that they are a win-win in every manner.
When addressing objections, you discover what your clients truly care about. Not everyone wants a comprehensive solution; some just want selected services. And this is fine. There are also clients who want something extra that you don’t currently offer. By creating it, you open up a new revenue stream. In my opinion, this is the greatest outcome of objections from your prospects.
So, now you know what the 32 most common SEO objections are. Do you handle them in the same way?
Let me know in the comments what you think! I’m pretty curious about the better ways of handling that challenge.
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to drink coffee with me! 👇
Thank you for reading and contributing!
Simon
Author Profile
- Simon Gorlak is a Digital Marketing Expert with over 8 years of experience. He specializes in 3 areas: SEO, Copywriting, and Email Marketing. Simon's blog gathers knowledge that helps Marketers & C-level to increase profits from their online businesses. Also, his content helps to reach the most difficult customers, make others' content to be read & purchased. Besides digital marketing, Simon speaks 4 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish & works as a Head of Business at an Indian Start-up.
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