Date: 8 Sep 2009 Comments: 1

Launching an SEO Campaign

One of the tricky areas I run into when managing SEO campaigns is defining for the client when the campaign officially launches.  If you have a signed contract in hand chances are good you’ve investigated the areas of opportunity for this new client and have put together an extensive proposal on how you can improve their business.  The client has reviewed your list of recommendations, signed the contract and probably paid for the initial month of the campaign in advance.  Which might lead them to believe that the campaign begins immediately and they will hold you to produce results from that moment.

I prefer to launch a campaign – regardless of when the contract is signed – on either the first of the month or the middle of the month (between the dates of the 14th – 16th).  A couple reasons for this:  To start, it makes reporting much easier.  In a perfect world the campaign launches on the first of the month and it makes future reporting clean.  Perhaps I am being too finicky here, but finding trends and opportunities within business cycles becomes much easier when you are comparing from the start of one month to the start of the next.  Or if you’re comparing the middle of one month through to the middle of the following month.  Now, every campaign is unique to the client you are working on.  And I have started campaigns on what I deem “awkward days” of a month.  Those campaigns have blossomed and proved invaluable to my clients.  However, when I am visiting the client and presenting the work done thus far I find it is much clearer to them when I am doing it on a true month-to-month basis based on a launch date of the 1st.

Prepping for the Launch

Another reason I prefer launching a campaign in this manner is the lead time it gives me to prep for the launch.  I’d rather have a week to do extensive on-page revisions (many of which will require client approval).  This would include updating Title Tags, re-writing content, updating anchor text and possibly re-vamping their navigation.  I like the client to have documents in hand prior to the launch that reflect the before SEO versions and post SEO versions of what various pieces of their site will look like.

Clients are busy and getting a quick turnaround on review requests can be difficult.  Especially if there are multiple people within the company that must review your work.  Top SEOs should be able to put in the hours and produce updated SEO-friendly work within a couple of days giving ample time for the client to approve.  But I always advise to proceed with caution and assume you will be held up by internal review bottlenecks on the client side.

If you are committing to an immediate launch consider the following scenario:  The client wants traffic to go up immediately, right?  Well, you’ve got to get your on-page revisions drafted, approved an placed online.  What if you don’t have CMS or FTP access and are relying on a client Webmaster to get the revisions online?  What if they can only place them online after their internal approval process has gone through?  You could have lost the first 2 weeks of the campaign right there and already diminished trust in the eyes of the client when they don’t see traffic spikes.

Then, you’re forced to defend the process and your work.  As soon as you’re in that position you become just another vendor rather than a partner.

Ready, Set, Go-Live!

Look, I’m the most enthusiastic person in the room when the contract is signed and the client wants to launch.  Of course I want to “officially” launch ASAP.  But I’ve been burned enough times to know that you have to proceed with caution and take the time to get SEO revisions in place and online before you hit the “Go” button.  The client might be frustrated by this and if they insist on launching sooner than your advised date you have to roll with it and hope for the best.

My recommendation is to communicate from the beginning your Go-Live policy.  Then repeat it multiple times!  Trust me, a false start is the worst possible scenario you can imagine in SEO campaigns.  Getting your house in order and making 100% certain the client understands what work is being done before you agree to launch will make everyone happier in the end.