Secret Behind Free SEO Reviews
- Free SEO Report?
(Image via Wikipedia)
In a previous post I expressed my opinions about the Value of a Free SEO Report (short version: not a fan). In my opinion, free SEO reports are essentially useless to the customer and nothing but a lead generator for the SEO firm. Let me elaborate further, and give you the real inside skinny on how they work.
Ask any self-respecting SEO company and they’ll tell you when they have time they’re always working on their website’s SEO. Whether it’s fiddling with on-page coding or arranging a few more backlinks, they recognize that work is never “done” with SEO. Consider that for a moment – given the resources, they run an ongoing SEO campaign on their own websites continually. Their expertise is in SEO, and yet they still do this. Now consider your website. Do you think your website is better optimized than theirs? Of course not. So do you really think any SEO company will tell you that your site doesn’t need work?
I was planning on posting some sort of “Free SEO Self Audit” to let website owners evaluate their own sites. I even did a presentation at a local meetup, complete with some frequently missed SEO tactics. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that it was a waste of time. Everybody’s website could use more SEO work, even this one. Having a self-audit, or free SEO review, is only going to end up at the same conclusion – yes, you need SEO work done. I should just make a big red button that says “Yes you do” when you click it.
So what’s the point of the free SEO review? As a consulting vendor, we are constantly looking for companies that are interested in pursuing the type of work we do. In the vernacular, these are called “leads” which, if we do a good enough sales job, can turn into customers. The process of moving from a lead to a customer is part of the sales funnel.
Ideally, SEO firms want the easiest way possible to get a lead, and the free review is a great way (for them). Several tools out there can kick out an impressive-looking report that highlights a bunch of stuff about your website; just punch in your URL and voila – free SEO review. The trouble is, the report doesn’t really tell you anything you couldn’t figure out anyway. Further, the fact that you requested this report tells the SEO firm that you’re interested in SEO Services. That makes you a lead, and you’re going to get subjected to the full-court press to convert you from “lead” to “customer” before you know it.
You want a free SEO self audit? Here you are: Yes, you could use some SEO work.
That one’s on the house.
