A recent report (http://www.searchengineguide.com/hedger/005816.html)
showed that some 64% of companies that outsource their web promotion
work don't implement the recommendations of the seo companies that
they are employing. That got me thinking.


As all professional seo's will know, this is a perennial problem.
We have all explained to a client what action is needed to improve
visibility. Perhaps more content is required, adding new text links,
maybe just changing one or two words in the body text, but the client
either can't or won't allow the changes to be made.


Well this report makes it official. If you are an seo and have
recently felt your efforts are under appreciated then you are not
alone. Equally if you have found that you have not been able to
implement the advice you have been given, then again you are not
alone either.


What can be done about it, as after all it wastes the seo's time and
the client's money?


From the client perspective:


Make sure that you are able to make changes to all parts of your web
pages. This includes the title (of paramount importance), the link
text, the alt tags on images, the meta description tag, the headlines
within the page as well as the body text.


Don't let egos get in the way. However well the copy reads, if changing
it a little will get more traffic to the page, then it must be worth
doing. Also accept you must use the language of your customers even
if they don't use the phrases you would choose! One of my client sold
wigs but much preferred to call them hair pieces. It was not until he
allowed the word wig onto his pages that the traffic started flowing!


From the seo's perspective:


I now include a paragraph in all new proposals explaining that in
order to achieve any improvement in traffic levels (I never talk about
rankings!), then all the advice that I give must be implemented to have
any effect. I also talk through with the client what this is likely
to mean in practice.


With such a high proportion of clients wasting their seo's efforts, then
arranging to implement seo's advice could well be the single most
effective step the vast majority of companies could take in improving
their traffic levels and search engine visibility. A sobering thought!