In May and June of 2019, SearchLab conducted a survey of our clients to find out how we could improve our monthly reporting.
We are grateful for the responses and excited about some changes that will be coming to future reports.
We Are Addressing Two Specific Areas
- The previous reports included many graphs and charts, which were hard for many of our clients to understand. There was not enough of a description of what we were measuring and how it benefits the client.For instance, one survey respondent said, “I really think a brief key that would identify what your acronyms mean [would be beneficial]. A clear statement at the start of each segment area explaining why it is important and exactly what it is measuring would be a huge help.”
- Clients expressed a desire for greater transparency in our reporting, including reports containing wording that explains specifically what was done in the prior month, how the campaign has improved and what challenges we are facing.
The respondents were asked to score their favorite sections on the report on a scale from 0-10.
The portion of the report titled “SearchLab’s Focus” received the best scores with nearly 70% of the respondents scoring it a “10” as in “Very Helpful. This section explains the work SearchLab is performing currently or intends to in the coming month. It is a written report prepared by an Analyst.
This feedback is consistent with many other industry surveys.
For example, a recent survey of 1,200 business owners by Backlinko found that:
27% of SEO clients agreed with the statement: “I find SEO to be confusing and unclear about what services they offer”
25% agreed with the statement: “I am not sure what I am really paying for with SEO.”
Both our internal survey and the Backlinko study show that SEO clients are seeking greater transparency into the services provided. SearchLab invests a considerable amount of time preparing monthly reports but too often reports were difficult for our clients to understand or make use of.
SearchLab is addressing feedback from our own internal surveys and industry reports in several ways.
First, reports serve as a catalyst for client communication. Whenever we send a report, we ask our clients to schedule time to review not only the report, but the campaign more broadly.
Regardless of what kind of service you are using with SearchLab (SEO, PPC or Web Development), every client is assigned a dedicated Client Success Manager.
The Client Success Manager (CSM) is incentivized to communicate with each client providing education about the campaign and greater transparency into our programs.
Backlinko found that many clients cited lack of education as a cause of dissatisfaction. Of the 1,200 businesses surveyed, an astonishing 50% stated that “I feel like I need more training to fully benefit from what SEO offers.”
The survey says, “Clients that stick with their current SEO provider are 2x more likely to identify as ‘extremely web savvy’ compared to those that leave or switch.”
It should come as no surprise that clients who read their reports and communicate with our team on a regular basis typically stay with SearchLab for a long period of time. Their campaigns perform better and their satisfaction is much higher.
However, for many of our clients, it’s difficult to find time. We understand.
The CSM is your advocate. Our CSM team will go to great lengths to accommodate our client’s schedules. We are driven by data and the data confirms that clients that communicate with our team typically express a tremendous amount of satisfaction with the services SearchLab provides.
We’ve also made changes to the report itself.
Moving forward, clients will notice a longer, more in-depth “SearchLab Focus” as well as a section titled “Campaign Summary.”
We removed some of the less popular charts and graphs but we still need to show the metrics. The context for why those charts are important is conveyed in the early sections of the report.
If clients would like us to make custom reports, we’re more than happy to tailor the report to their specific needs.
Some clients find that monthly reports and communication are overkill. They prefer quarterly reports that allow them to examine trends over a longer period. Other clients prefer to see metrics that aren’t included in our typical report.
If there is anything special you would like included (or excluded) from reports, our team will make every effort to accommodate the request.
Thank you again to those clients that participated in the survey.
If you were unable to submit your feedback or if you would like to address concerns with me privately, feel free to send me an email. The feedback is extremely valuable.
