SMB’s Listen Up: SEO Delivery is Broken So Watch Out!

There I said it. I have seen it more and more in recent months even on some of the projects that I have been involved in. The traditional model of SEO delivery is completely broken. In fact, in most instances it downright stinks.

Are you providing SEO on a monthly schedule of ‘deliverables’? Are you receiving monthly ‘deliverables’ that have been outlined in a contract that lasts more than one month? If so, I will go so far as to say that you are probably not getting what you need or what you have paid for.

It’s this simple. There is no way that anyone can effectively deliver the greatest value and impact to someone’s business in such a fluid environment as search marketing if they are constricted by a set of contractual ‘deliverables’. I have written the same thought in different ways in different places but now I really feel convicted of it. When done properly, SEO delivery is an open ended dialogue between client and practitioner. The problem on the delivery or ‘agency’ side has always been how to quantify that time and then price it accordingly to remain profitable. The only way to dumb SEO down enough to make it fit that antiquated model is to say that there will be “x” number of pages per month optimized or “x” number of one way inbound links solicited and or ‘delivered’ and so on and so on. I say that this model should be left for dead and I will gladly kick dirt on its carcass.

Let me say it in plain English. That model is crap. Good SEO is part education, part innovation, part collaboration and lots of flexibility plus imagination. I am missing some parts I am sure but you get my drift. That’s why an in house SEO can do so much on their own or even MORE with the aid of a consultant who understands this concept. If they know the basics they can stay flexible and receive information from experts that will foster their creativity and generate success. It’s when SEO agencies act as if their clients are complete buffoons (which is a common perception on the agency side in viewing all you SMB’s out there so keep your eyes and ears open) that they think they can pull the wool over the eyes of their ‘client’ then slide by with effort and delivery that is average at best. This usually comes in the form of the ‘monthly deliverable’. That phrase should be outlawed in SEO circles. When a set list of ‘deliverables’ or functions is laid out as contractual commitments, it effectively squashes the creative element. It’s that simple. In SEO if there is no creativity then there is no point.

Thanks for listening. I feel better.

SMB Takeaway: Don’t execute on SEO or buy SEO services based on a monthly set of deliverables. You will not give or get the best value because SEO needs room to breathe. Rote deliverables take the air out of these efforts and leave everyone short of breath.