What Moz reports would you suggest running when pitching SEO services to a client?

[mrupert]

What do you think the best Moz reports are when presenting SEO services to a client? I need to share reports that show where the opportunity is and where we will be prioritizing our effort. I'd like to hear what you would suggest given your experience presenting SEO to clients. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Casey_Bryan]

Here’s my suggestions:

1. Utilise Keyword Explorer to show them that there’s search volume for their products and services. This will show clients that it’s worthwhile investing in SEO.

2. Utilise the new Link Explorer to show that they need to continually build up high quality, relevant backlinks.

3. The on-page grader to show target pages aren’t up to scratch

4. You could even do a quick crawl and run the audit tool however you need to take each issue into context before mentioning anything to a client. This tool will help you convey their technical SEO health.

Personally for me, it’s that keyword report which is the most valuable to start with in the pitching stage as it really shows if an investment is feasible on their part.

When possible I also try and show where they are compared to competitors too.

Thats my two cents, hope it helps!

Cheers,

Casey

[brettmandoes]

Hi Rupert, this is kind of a tricky question. The tools and reports provided by Moz are really meant to help provide SEOs with the knowledge to do their jobs, not so much as a sales tool. This means that the information you get from keyword explorer will be more useful during execution, and will be confusing to a prospective client whose familiarity with SEO is vague.

I would encourage you to use the tools that Moz provides to create a preliminary strategy, and only show the back end as an auxiliary. It's not important for them to walk away with a report that shows them a bunch of metrics, it's important for them to walk away feeling like you're the person that can do the job.

Ultimately as a consultant you're not just a mechanic turning wrenches. They have human problems that you need to address while presenting SEO services (a mechanical problem) to a prospective client. If they're the business owner for example you can ask directly, what do you think SEO will do for your business? What kind of timeframe are you looking for results? Is there any pressure to improve rankings in the near term? Asking these types of questions can often get to the root of another issue they're having, e.g. revenue is down the past quarter and they think SEO is a quick fix solution because they don't understand it takes time.

I've sold more SEO services and avoided more headaches by addressing these types of very human problems than I ever have by showing someone a report. In my above example (which was a real client), I addressed the client's need by redirecting them to another form of advertising that could generate quicker results (SEM) and still got the SEO contract. I used Moz to show how I gather intelligence on keywords and showcase my expertise. But I avoided going in depth or handing them anything during the initial consult.

There's an art to this that can't really be fleshed out in a forum, but there are a ton of books and courses out there on consulting. I can recommend Flawless Consulting by Peter Block. Fantastic book that will help you avoid bad deals and close more often just by being authentic and using your expertise appropriately.

I know this answers your question very indirectly, but I hope it's more useful. I didn't want to just tell you "spit out these reports and you'll be fine" because I've gone that route before and that business never stayed with me.

Good luck in your next pitch!

[brettmandoes]

I just thought of one report that's quick to run and always good to share.

1. Go into keyword explorer and change the drop down to root domain
2. Enter the client's domain and hit run
3. A new screen should pop up with the option to add more domains. Add one or two of his competitors in the field below his URL and hit the "compare sites" button
4. Take a screenshot of the resulting graph

What's nice about this is that you're providing something visual you can talk to without overwhelming them with data. You can talk about the problem you see in this graph and how you can address it.

Hope that helps!