A suggestion to SEOs that cold call potential clients
-
Learn some basic salesmanship. Do you realize that business owners are getting 3-4 phone calls and emails a day from other SEOs claiming to be the best? Be polite, ask questions, and don't insult me or yourself through ignorance. Ask questions. You might just discover that we could work together.
When you tell me that I'm not ranking for "competitive keywords" it tells me that you don't know what I'm trying to rank for. When you tell me you can get me to the top of Google in 3 months or less, you're still telling me that you don't know my business and what I want from my website. Who said I wanted national ranking anyway? Oh right, not me because you never asked.
And if I answer the question "Do you want more business/leads?" with "No." Then politely end the conversation and move on.
The rare time that I do get asked about my current efforts, don't insult me by calling me an amateur. I may be one, but talking down to me, or trying to make SEO sound like you're turning lead into gold will get a quick hang up from me.
If you want a contract with me, learn to negotiate based on my needs, not your process that you feel married to. There are a lot of business owners out there that would be willing to work with you if you treated you leads with respect rather than iteration 23 of your cold call script.
And in response to the person this morning that sent a "free report" of basic SEO fixes for my website, make sure you put that report together using **my website. ** I know you're working from a template, so it should be really easy to remove the info from the wedding company and the lawyer's webpages before you email it to me.
-
Thanks for the courtesy.
Not to belabour the point (so this will be my last response):
But I never said cold calling was ineffective.
I just said that it was wrong.
In the grand scheme of the universe, it annoys people, gives business a black eye, and invites government regulation that over reaches.
-
Thanks for the response, but we'll have to agree to disagree.
I maintain my position: cold calling is wrong. I would never try it.
Most sensible people already hang up. More people should.
And then fewer people would cold call.
And the world would be a better place.
-
I can't imagine any sensible person ever buying anything from someone who cold calls.
It is not a practice associated with reputable businesses, IMHO.
-
Always have your competitors telephone number handy to give to these people.
-
lol
-
A really good seo gets more referals than they can handle! So sick of low quality, unethical, high volume crappy seo scammers out there....AAARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Ok, I feel much better now....
-
This is just my opinion, but the fact that someone would have to cold call to find SEO clients throws up all kinds of red flags. A talented SEO NEVER needs to cold call. In fact the problem is not finding new clients, the problem is having to pick and choose who you take on. Isnt the point of seo to bring in leads and clients? If your own seo skills are so poor that you have to cold call, then...well I am go out on a limb here, but get the he k out of our industry and giving real seo's a bad reputation.
-
Wow! lol...made my day. I hate cold calls from these type of dimwits, half of the time they have no idea what they're talking about.
-
I'll go one better. DON'T COLD CALL ME. I know how to use the internet to find things.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is bright edge an SEO platform you would recommend?
Hi mozzers, Has anyone used Bright Edge before? Is this a good platform for a website that carries over 1800 pages and is looking to scale their content? I would like to know the pros and cons of this platform. Thanks for sharing any other valuable information about this platform!
Industry News | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
How much to charge for my E-commerce SEO services and web design
Hello, I'm starting a web design company doing standard web design, E-commerce web design, and E-commerce SEO. I've been doing the nuts and bolts of an E-commerce business with four online stores, one very successful, for nine years. Since that's my main experience, I'm sticking with helping others with the nuts and bolts of their E-commmerce SEO. I also do the web design, which I've been doing since 2001. What should I charge per hour for my web design and E-commerce SEO services? I live in Boise, Idaho. I'm thinking $100 an hour for everything, is that too much for web design or too little for SEO? The SEO would be billed exact but my web design estimates are more generous. Looking for honest opinions. I don't want to over or under charge. Thanks Bob
Industry News | | BobGW2 -
Re-writing articles, how does this effect SEO?
Hi there, I noticed a competitor had re-created a couple of articles I wrote, but they made reference back to me in the article, can in anyway possible myself or their site be penalised for duplicate content? The article isn't completely copied word for word, however it is definitely shows some similarity. Any advice around this? Thank you in advance
Industry News | | edward-may0 -
Small Business SEO Recommendations
I work for a company that manages websites for several hundred small businesses. We do a good job with on-site optimization but don't do any link building for our clients. Occasionally, clients are in desperate need of links and ask us for recommendations. I've had a tough time finding a balance between quality consultants and affordable prices. I understand that link building campaigns, in general, carry a hefty price tag, but of our clients can't afford any of the big name agencies. We've also had a few of our clients get burned recently by bad link building and I don't want to point them in the wrong direction. Does anyone have any recommendations for companies or freelance consultants that do good work without breaking the bank? Thanks! Tim
Industry News | | TimKelsey1 -
Are you an in-house SEO or an Agency/freelancer SEO ?
Really curios about the pie split on SEO MOZ community about this. So, are you an In-house SEO or an Agency / Freelancer SEO ? (personally as prediction I would say in-House SEOs are predominant here - just curios to see the ratio - although not sure how many SEO MOZ members are reviewing the Q and A area but again it will be nice to see the ratio of the in house vs agency that are spending time on Q and A's).
Industry News | | eyepaq1 -
SEO-contests like “hochgeschwindigkeitsSEO” worldwide?
In Germany people out of the SEO industry seem to love SEO contests - the latest one being to bring up the keyword “hochgeschwindigkeitsSEO” on Pos. 1 on Google until a set time (contest entry example here). There obviously is a price (newest iPhone) and a sponsor (Randolf Jorberg), but for the most part it's a contest which holds the Olympic thought: Being there just means most of it 🙂 So I was wondering: are there any other countries where such contests are being held? I have not heard of any examples and I am quite curious if any other SEO communites out there have something similar going on 🙂
Industry News | | blueSummit1 -
SEO Referral
Anyone used an SEO or SMM company that they would recommend? I know about the recommended sites on SEOMOZ, but I can't afford to pay someone $4K a month for consulting or link building. Anyone still feel safe outsourcing?
Industry News | | inhouseseo0 -
Help! I need to hire a SEO / SEM Specialist - Am I asking for too much?!
Hey all! I'm expanding my in-house marketing team and I need to add an SEO / SEM Specialist that will strategize, execute & manage the following: Organic SEO PPC across multiple channels (Google, Bing & also social sites like Facebook) Remarketing & Display marketing Banner ads Retargeting We're a lean company that's all about doing more with less. But not being very familiar with the SEO / SEM world I'm afraid I'm asking for too much! What do you guys think? What's your experience been? If you do think that this is potentially a single position, what would be the best title for attracting talent? SEO / SEM Specialist? Digital Marketing Manager? With the research I've done - jobs / titles have been totally across the board! I'm not able to find much consistency. Thank you all for your help 🙂 It's greatly appreciated!!!!!
Industry News | | RochelleRietow0