Meeting with my first SEO potential client tomorrow.

what do i need to know?

the purpose of the meeting is to meet for the first time and possibly discuss on how they want to perform seo in the future for ther company. its our first meeting.....what kind of knowledge do u think i shol be best equipped for?

If you need to ask what you need to know, in all honesty, you should not be meeting with any clients.

That's like saying "I have to perform hear surgery tomorrow on a patient but I don't know what to do, what should I know before the operation"?

You should be knowledgeable enough to answer any question they might have, plus you want to work on "sealing the deal" it's easier said than done, confidence is key. You don't know how internet savvy some people are. Some play dumber than their mark to extract info, while some spout nonsense and act like they know it all.

You should be prepared to give several suggestions to improve the SEO of their website and be aware of their overall web presence; rankings, videos, directories, mentions, etc. It's also impressive to have done a little homework on a couple of their competitors.

Just have confidence. I don't think it's anything like the surgery comment above, as this is your first time meeting with an SEO client and it can be nerve-wracking for sure. You have no idea what kind of questions they will ask, and that's okay. Just be confident, make sure your client realized you truly want to improve his or her business, and always speak with logic so everything makes sense to the client - don't get technical unless they do, and always keep it as simple as possible.

Focus on results, how you will deliver results, and meeting their goals. They might know more than they say, but they obviously don't know enough to do it themselves or train someone to do it in-house - and if they've never done it themselves they def. don't know more than you. I am assuming you have done SEO on your own website or blog in the past btw.

What type of business is it for? Is it a local business?

I would start with competition, make a full list of keywords they are or should be ranking for. A full ahrefs and/or SEMrush report (OSE report too??) in hand with keyword planner spreadsheet results for all keywords.

I typically will use these organic search CTR percentages as they are close with what I typically see overall on average:




This way on your spreadsheet you can tell them "Position #3 for this keyword will bring in xxxx traffic" and figure out all the percentages for best and worse case scenario on the spreadsheet. I usually do all of what first page could bring in. Sort list highest Monthly Search Volume to lowest. In this example I show only two keywords but you should show as many as you think would benefit the client.




Also show the totals. Find the average conversion ratio for the niche your client is in, usually from 1.5% on the low to 3% high but it varies. This way you can show the client exactly how many visitors and conversions she/he should get. This way you can show them that for each keyword you can get them x amount of sales per month. Know what they make in profit on average from each client so you know how much you should charge (research CPA- cost per acquisition). Also don't forget return customers and word of mouth, they are basically "free" if the business is decent and worthwhile. If you do not know how to do the calculations in excel or google docs just hire someone, you can probably get it done for $5 tops.

An onsite SEO audit, pagespeed insights/gtmetrix and mobile friendly info. Check out t0mmy 's awesome SEO audit thread and get most of the info as you can from that thread as well. Also most of what is on this page. And here:

http://imgur.com/FLRriLr

I would also print up an "online reviews" infographic to show them (Society Girl just posted a good one iirc). All this info will make you look knowledgeable, will allow you to explain clearly what there is to gain from your service,but most importantly will help with upsales- website revamp(mobile friendly, good pagespeeds, onsite SEO), Online Reputation Management, SEM/PPC the client may benefit from, ect...

I would print up as much of this info as possible and know what it all means. Some of the info from the links might be debatable in terms of SEO here but that is not the point. Knowledge is power.

Have everything organized and go to office depot or somewhere and get a nice looking binder for all your reports (do not give them any of the reports, keep it). Have confidence and go into the meeting ready to show the client exactly what they have to gain. Show the client everything you can do for them. Go through all the info with them; clearly and concisely explain how your service will be of great benefit to their business. Most of the clients I meet with are astounded by the knowledge I bring and I close almost every single meeting I have face-to-face.

Go get 'em!

I have a thread called "How I Made $3,000 On A Three-Day Business Trip" where I give out several general tips (quoted below) on what I did to score a client I met with during a business trip to Arizona. In addition to the information below, bring a contract that outlines your SEO plan and legal information (I'm currently creating a thread in the White Hat SEO section about this as we speak).

Zwielicht said:

Pre-Meeting & Preparations

Before I went on this trip, I did an extensive amount of research on the people I was planning on meeting (in case you're wondering how I established these meetings in the first place, 2 of them were on a referral basis and the rest were people I met at local shops and events). I researched everything I could find about their business, their website, and their personal lives and I asked myself the following questions:

1. Their business

• How do they treat their customers or clients? This is a personal choice, but I refuse to work with anyone who treats their customers or clients as if they're disposable as this usually means they'll treat their search engine optimiser or web developer the same way.
• Are they organised? If you walk into their office and see papers scattered everywhere and late unpaid invoices on their desk, then expect your forgotten invoices to appear on that very same desk as well.
• Where Is Their Business Located? Before you even go on a business trip, you should have a destination in mind. Choosing the wrong destination could lead to a waste of your time and money, but choosing the right destination can result in a successful trip. In my case, I choose a city with a lot of demand but little competition

2. Their website

• Has their website dilapidated? One of the clients I had met with had a business website that hadn't been updated in over 5 years! Because of this, it was plagued with outdated information, spam, and it had even been hacked.
• Has their website been hacked? If so, is your potential client aware of it? Cleaning up their hacked website can provide a great opportunity to showcase your skills. For example, the same client I had met with during my trip with the dilapidated website had a hacked website that their old web developer, who had been paid over $7,000 total to develop and maintain the website (they never really did any of this), never bothered checking. While I was cleaning up and revamping the client's website, I discovered that the old web developer had not only allowed a few dubious people to access the website in the past, but these people had also used the website to place malicious inbound links on hidden & visible pages throughout the website (they also created a private e-mail on the domain to pose as the site owner). Of course, I reported all of this to my client, which not only impressed my client, but made them thankful for hiring me.
• Do they even have a website? If they don't have a website, it's important to discover the reason why. Sure, they may not have ever considered a website or the benefits that can come with having one (which gives you an opportunity to explain this to them), but they could also be adamant about not creating a business website, which was the case with one person I met on my trip. The guy was satisfied with the "free" website that was created for him by someone he met over the Internet. Needless to say, I'm expecting his phone call any day now once his "free" website doesn't work out.

3. Their personal lives

• Is their any information about them available on the web that they wouldn't want others to know about? If you offer online reputation management services, this can be a great opportunity to bring this up during the meeting.
• How do they treat their family and friends? I like to get an idea of how they act when they're being casual as their personalities are much more conspicuous.

The purpose of all of this research was to gain a better understanding of who you are going to meet and how you are going to present yourself during your meetings. Going in prepared means that you'll have more control over the direction and outcome of the meeting.

The Meeting

Most people would find the meeting to be the most difficult part, but I believe it's the easiest part. Believe it or not, many small business owners (or at least the ones I met) are pretty casual, even during a business meeting. Some of them may tell jokes or even get off-topic during the meeting, so it's not always this stringent process where you have to stand up straight and make direct eye contact (something I can't do). With that said, here are some tips on going into your meetings.

1. Dress Appropriately

• Wear nice clothing. This doesn't mean you have to wear a pinstriped suit, fedora, watch chain, and black wing tip dress shoes. Just wear clothing that isn't ripped, hip, trashy, or inappropriate for the weather.
• Wear clean clothing. In other words, wash your clothes. Nobody want's to spend 30 minutes to an hour (or however long it'll take you) next to someone who reeks of mildew, fast food, and shame.
• Stay well groomed. Shave, brush your teeth, comb your hair, and do anything else you need to look well groomed.

2. Bring Your Equipment

• Bring a laptop. Remember to bring your charger, as well. My own laptop battery nearly died on me during one meeting, although I had my charger with me so it didn't become an issue.
• Bring a mobile device. This is useful if you want to show your potential client the mobile version of their website.
• Bring a file folder carrying case. You didn't do all of that research for nothing, so if you have any physical documents (which is probably a good idea to create in the event that you don't have a laptop).

3. Speak Appropriately

• Don't use teenage colloquialisms. "So, brah, that's, like, how your website, uh, looks right now... Uh, my bad, that's actually not your website, but it looks sick, though", is a good way to deter almost any potential client (unless they own a surf shop, in which case talking like this will probably convert them).
• Don't speak too casually. If you're going to meet with someone you've previously been acquainted with, then this is more acceptable.

Post-Meeting & Additional Tips

Now that the meeting is over and you've been paid (assuming you converted your lead), this doesn't mean your job is over. If you signed a contract, then you have obligations to be fulfilled before you've truly earned that money. With that said, here are a few tips for you to increase your ROI and make the most out of this trip:

• Don't be facetious or overspend. Just because you can take a $400 plane to reach your destination doesn't mean you should, especially if your destination can be reached using another form of transportation in nearly the same amount of time for much less.
• Don't be frivolous. In actuality, my business trip was actually 1-week long, although I treated the other 4 days as a vacation so that I could relax. Because I did this, I missed out on a few opportunities to make even more money.
• Don't forget about your current clients. Keep up with your current clients while you're on your trip, otherwise you may return to disgruntled clients and more work than you can handle.
• Work out deals. If you know people who are in contact with local business owners in the location you're visiting, then offer them a percentage of the retainer fee you receive.
• Don't worry. Time spent worrying is time that could have been spent learning and preparing. You're not going to be the first person to go on a business trip and you won't be the last. Even if the trip is an absolute failure, take to consider what went wrong and work on improving yourself to better handle the situation for your next trip.

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Don't be afraid .. Just be normal. Think, you are the boss of your filed, everything will be ok Wish you good luck

I would suggest you write down the questions the client asks to better prep yourself for next time, this is a learning experience.

Also, make sure you put things into their terminology and know enough about the business and industry. Make is personal and build trust.

Most people do not know what SEO is or what link building does. 'Brand Awareness, Brand Management, Expand your target demographic, Express the reviews you want your clients to see, ect.' These are 'terms' which the client will understand over 'Web 2.0, ORM, PBN, ect.'

Just say about your skills in seo and your previous achievements in seo try to make them believe that you are best... Because its going to decide work talent

thanks for all the advice...i appreciate a lot...had to postpone my appointment due to some health circumstances...so i should be meeting next week.....more advice is welcome....im gonna keep updating this post on the meeting and how contract is going by Gods grace

All of these newbies newcomers. SEO specialist overnight just because they can outsource work

Seriously dude you dont know anything about SEO. I wouldnt try to get clients simply off the fact you will be outsourcing the work. Learn SEO . It takes awhile.

If you have to ask this question your not ready