The one question I ask before working with any client

Faisal Mirza

Faisal Mirza

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I learned this from my bad experiences. I got burned a times.

Now before I agree to do guest posts or link building for anyone I ask one question:

"What happened with your last SEO person?"

How they answer tells me a lot about them.

If they start ranting and blaming the person for everything that's a huge red flag. I know I'll be next on their list when something takes longer than expected.

If they say "honestly we just weren't on the page" or "our goals changed halfway through" that's a green light. Those clients actually get how this works.

Seriously this one question saved me, from least 5 nightmare clients last year.

The budget and niche don't matter much as finding someone who isn't impossible to work with someone who is easy to get along with.

What question do you guys ask to filter out clients before saying yes to working with them? :)
 
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Faisal Mirza said:
I learned this from my bad experiences. I got burned a times.

Now before I agree to do guest posts or link building for anyone I ask one question:

"What happened with your last SEO person?"

How they answer tells me a lot about them.

If they start ranting and blaming the person for everything that's a huge red flag. I know I'll be next on their list when something takes longer than expected.

If they say "honestly we just weren't on the page" or "our goals changed halfway through" that's a green light. Those clients actually get how this works.

Seriously this one question saved me, from least 5 nightmare clients last year.

The budget and niche don't matter much as finding someone who isn't impossible to work with someone who is easy to get along with.

What question do you guys ask to filter out clients before saying yes to working with them? :)
Click to expand...
100%. How clients talk about previous SEOs tells you how they’ll treat you later. I also ask what results they expect in 3–6 months — unrealistic expectations are the biggest red flag.
 
Faisal Mirza said:
I learned this from my bad experiences. I got burned a times.

Now before I agree to do guest posts or link building for anyone I ask one question:

"What happened with your last SEO person?"

How they answer tells me a lot about them.

If they start ranting and blaming the person for everything that's a huge red flag. I know I'll be next on their list when something takes longer than expected.

If they say "honestly we just weren't on the page" or "our goals changed halfway through" that's a green light. Those clients actually get how this works.

Seriously this one question saved me, from least 5 nightmare clients last year.

The budget and niche don't matter much as finding someone who isn't impossible to work with someone who is easy to get along with.

What question do you guys ask to filter out clients before saying yes to working with them? :)
Click to expand...

Good question. I usually ask something like: “What results do you consider realistic, and within what timeframe?”
The answer immediately shows whether the person understands how SEO works or expects “top 1 rankings in two weeks.” It saves a lot of time and stress.
 
crystal5577 said:
Bro :weep: clients become a nightmare when links take longer than expected. They ruin your years of hard work in one order, and it's worse than expected. If a person looks for a green flag, it may take forever to get a client.
Click to expand...
Fair point, and yeah clients definitely get impatient when timelines stretch. That's just how link building goes.

But I'd rather take longer to find a decent client than rush into a nightmare one who trashes my reputation or demands refunds halfway through :)

The "green flag" question isn't me being picky for months. It's just a quick 2-minute filter during the first chat. If their answer sounds reasonable, cool let's go. If not, I pass.

I hear you though. Sometimes you just gotta take the work and deal with whatever comes. Bills don't wait.

What about you? When a client starts going crazy mid-project, do you just power through or bounce?
 
crystal5577 said:
Bro :weep: clients become a nightmare when links take longer than expected. They ruin your years of hard work in one order, and it's worse than expected. If a person looks for a green flag, it may take forever to get a client.
Click to expand...
Fair point, and yeah clients definitely get impatient when timelines stretch. That's just how link building goes.

But I'd rather take longer to find a decent client than rush into a nightmare one who trashes my reputation or demands refunds halfway through :)

The "green flag" question isn't me being picky for months. It's just a quick 2-minute filter during the first chat. If their answer sounds reasonable, cool let's go. If not, I pass.

I hear you though. Sometimes you just gotta take the work and deal with whatever comes. Bills don't wait.

What about you – when a client starts going crazy mid-project, do you just power through or bounce?
 
One thing that helped me was paying attention to how clients talk about timelines and expectations early on. If someone expects instant rankings or acts like SEO should work overnight, it usually becomes stressful later.
 
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