Nothing wrong with Kia’s, but you can’t buy a Lamborghini at their dealerships.

You’ve heard the saying, “You get what you pay for.” And that definitely applies to SEO.

We don’t have a client leave us too often.  In fact, we still have our first half a dozen’ish clients from 11 years ago still with us today.  What industry have you heard that happening in?  Especially SEO?

When we do lose a client it’s usually unrelated to the performance that we drive.  Instead, it’s random things.

  1. business partner fallout
  2. health/personal life issues
  3. we help the client grow so much that a bigger company comes in and buys them out (most common)

With #3, what tends to happen is what we call “new sheriff syndrome.”  The new company comes into town with guns-a-blazin’ and they have their ways that they’re stuck in. The trim what they think is fat, and off we go.

Interestingly enough, I’d estimate that about 50% of the clients that leave end up coming back.  And boy, it’s a lot of clean up or ground to make back up.

And here’s what they’re left with.  Below is a screenshot of a client that left a while back and we’re now in negotiations with them again.  They’ve been burned.  Bad.

drop in rankings

The unfortunate side of the SEO industry is that there are a lot of bad apples.  SEO isn’t easy or cheap.  Which means that it takes time and can be a financial investment.  For that reason, the bad apples sneak in and are eager to pitch cheap solutions (that don’t work) to those looking to make an SEO decision based on price and overlook performance.

  • DO shop around for SEO
  • DO ask for referrals
  • DO ask to see testimonials and results
  • DO read reviews
  • DON’T decide based on price

SEO is an investment.  But technically, it shouldn’t cost you money since the end goal is for it to make you money.