43 replies to this topic

[type0]

I have a dilemma.

I just received a referral to optimize a gentleman's website. Unfortunately his practice is in the same industry and same town as one of my current clients. I'm unsure I should meet with and/or work with this new prospect for fear of conflicting interests.

Has anyone else been in this situation? What did you do? How did you handle it?

I would really like to meet with this person, but I'm afraid he'll want to optimize for the same keywords and position as my current client.

Thank you for any suggestions.

[GBRD]

Are they direct competitors? Will they be targeting the same search phrases? The same conceptual family of search phrases?

If the answer is yes to any of the above, I say that it would be unethical to proceed. You should always protect the best interest of your existing clients first and foremost.

Of course in real life its not that black & white, but the underlying principle must IMO incorporated into your business model.

My

[type0]

Hello GBRD.

The answer is YES to any of the above (maybe all the above).

Thank you for your insight. I think I'm fishing for way to make this work when I know I probably shouldn't.

Cheers.

[Randy]

What sort of agreement do you have with your first client Michael? Do you have an ongoing business relationship with them, or was that over with long ago and far away.

Legally, if there was no NDA you could be safe. Ethically it would still be highly questionable though.

We've had this discussion around here more than once, and the general consensus has always turned out to be not to take on the new client unless the old one is fully aware of and okay'd taking on the new folks.

[strat73]

type0
That is a tricky situation.
A couple of years ago I decided to not accept several offers 'cause of having a client in that same business and area. After a year and a half, getting top positions on a mountain of keywords, 2 website recommendations from The Sunday Times, the client decided to drop me, made changes to the site and dropped out of the SEs almost completely.
Where did that leave me? When I had the best kind of success reports I didn't use them. Now (although I'm working in other areas) I don't get the offers anymore. I still have the same ability, but that client seemed to be a kind of showcase for me that I didn't capitalise on.
What would I do next time, if the situation should reoccur? LOL, I'd go for it, of course, so long as the money is right.

Perhaps, I'd meet the new client and then talk with the current client as to what it is worth to you (long contract, for example) to not take on the new client.....

[Hyperformance]

Hey Strat - First of all, congratulations! Even good prospects are hard to come by some days...

We have run into this a few times now and with different results. Based on what you have said, I agree with Randy - you should always approach your existing client first.

Usually, based upon the outcome of that meeting, you will have a solution. They will either be really against it, or they will not feel one way or the other as long as their performance does not suffer (client one main concern).

We also turned down a 2nd restaurant (once) because of the localization issues and keyword phrase similarities. We have now done business with another SEO firm for just this reason and if we run across it again, we have our solution. We were also asked to contact them immediately if anything changed with our current client... and to me, that was a great compliment. I also believe that this 2nd business will continue to speak strongly of our company with others. You just never know sometimes...

Geez, I love what I do! That helps too!

Hope this can help -

- Scott

[Jill]

We also have some older threads on this type of dilemma, which you may be interested in reading. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find them at the moment!

[ACpeter]

Maybe you can consider it like this. You know there is no such thing as reality. It's all about perception. So, how would your existing client see your work with the new potential? No matter what you're doing for the new client, if the existing one THINKS that you're up to no good, then that's what will determine the outcome.

Having said that... I know exactly where start73 has been. You protect your existing client only to get dumped for something stupid.. like his wife's cousin is taking it over, and you're out in the cold.

I still would weigh it more on perception. Once you have that figured out... you will know how to handle the new client.

Hope this helps more than confuses the issue!

[type0]

Hello.

Thank you all for responding and support.

I spoke with my current client today and they kind of felt if was a conflict of interest but didn't want to stop me from making money.

We decided I would call my new prospect and find out what requirements he wanted and also explain to him that I am currently working with someone right now in his industry and if he wouldn't mind.

Boy, this is really tough. One part of me says go for it and the other part of me just feels 'dirty' about the whole thing.

I think being honest and letting each of them know about the situation is best.

Whew...

P.S. Jill, I would love to check out the past threads you spoke of.

[Michael Martinez]

If it's any consolation, I believe I read a summary of a newly published study last week that indicated more surfers are starting to look through more results in search listings. So, while being listed 5th is still not as good as being listed 1st, being on the first page is becoming more equal for those first ten sites.

Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty ill that day and didn't bookmark the reference. I don't know where I saw it.

Sorry.

[mavahntooth]

hmmm.. imho business is business, so why not? but be sure not to affect your old clients' ranking. just dont be bias and let the search engines rank them.

[ewc21]

I seem to lean towards protecting the current client's interests rather than immediately grab the second business.

Look at the long term situation you'll be in before you make a decision.

[prawin]

HEllo Friends
Can I ask more on that.

1) Can anybody(client) claim for top ranking for consistent period of time?
2) In case if you protect the existing(previous) clients' interest,
there are chances that your competitor (SEO company) may get a higher
placement. Then what the outcome will be?
3) Its good to think about your clients and you must do it, but
"If u dont care of your customers, Somebody else Will "


I hope all Q's arent that bad to ask?

[St0n3y]

Personally, I don't think this question has a black and white answer. We have had clients actually refer their competitors (whom they are friendly with) to us. Obviously, there is no real conflict of interest when that happens.

Aside from that, we have chosen to take on clients when we are also working for their competitors. NDA does not apply because we don't give out personal or confidential business information, nor do we use such information in optimizing competitors. Each site usually requires it's own unique solutions.

What I've found is that 1) even direct competitors will feel that they are best served by targeting different keywords. This takes the direct competition component out of it. But even still, there inevitably will be crossover on some keywords. In these cases we've seen one client rank slightly higher than the other for some keywords and vice versa for others. That's the nature of optimization.

We don't guarantee #1 ranking and if we can successfully get both clients in top 10, or top 5 or top 3 then they are both happy. As we optimize, we do what is best for each site and let the rankings improve based on that. Conversions are a factor as well, not just rankings. One client may actually rank better but the other will have better conversions. Ideally we'll improve conversions and rankings for both.

With that said, I think three clients in the same industry would be our limit. After that then you really can't get each client a top three position.

Now, if a client wanted to sign a clause that would not allow us to take competition as a client, they'd be free to do that, but they would also have to pay more for that exclusivity.

[ewc21]

Hi Prawin

1) Can anybody(client) claim for top ranking for consistent period of time?
2) In case if you protect the existing(previous) clients' interest,
    there are chances that your competitor (SEO company) may get a higher 
    placement. Then what the outcome will be?
3) Its good to think about your clients and you must do it, but
    "If u dont care of your customers, Somebody else Will "
I hope all Q's arent that bad to ask?

1. Rankings can hardly be claimed for new comers on number one but could be more stable later on so there is a better chance to brag about it without ending up embarrassed in front of search engine result page.

2. Definitely, anything is possible.