Website evaluation questions-what to ask a client
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I am looking to make a list of go-to questions when I talk to clients on the phone. What are some good questions that would help me evaluate their website/internet goals?
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Some questions that can be on the list:
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How dose he (the client) measures success out of SEO? What are the SEO KPIs and targets ? ( with those you can really get a very good feeling on what type of client you have or you will have). You can also elaborate based on the answers and drill down to understand better their view. Leave room for your proposals and other better KPIs that you can propose.
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What keywords he would like to target ? (in order to have a good starting point for your keyword research session)
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In his view, what are the main competitors and why ? (starting not only with rankings but also with content, UX and social exposure)
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What SEO efforts have been done on the website so far ? (really important one - you will probably need a list and dates for changes in order to have a clear assessment of the project)
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Dose he track and monitor the site ? if yes, with what tools ? (GA, WMT, SeoMoz etc). Ask for access if possibile (sign and nda if needed)
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Ask more about the current tracking: dose the client have goals and tracking events setup in Google analytics. Dose he review the feedback from those tools and what decision did the client take so far based on this feedback. Dose he uses event tracking - when, why.
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Separate chapter about Domain Authority - Link building. Any activities done so far ? Try to see if he knows the trends with link building as you can provide a lot of support about the topic - it's a dangerous topic and you need to be in the driver seat.
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If not clear, ask about the monetization channels of the website. What is the website income: sales, Saas, adsense, baners, partnerships - it's only for branding etc. At the end of the day you will need to help him reach those targets: income, visibility , exposure etc.
Just a few random ones - Hope it helps
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Here some: Timetable/Competitors/Budget/Demographics/What is or isn't working/CMS or not/Analytic data if any
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My favourite is always "Why do you want a website?" or "Why have you got a website?" if they already have one.
It's amazing how many people have absolutely no idea what they want to achieve by having one. I find that helps get them in to a more result driven mindset, which works well with our approach.
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