Rant: Why Would You Do That To Your Website?

The following is a rant that has been building up from a number of experiences me and some fellow SEO friends have had with clients that have not only ignored advice, but have taken pains to undo changes to their site. Exhibit A: Client’s INSISTING on having their Meta-Keywords tag that contained 2000 characters of spamalicious text restored after it was removed it all together (because the Meta-Keyword tag is dead). Exhibit B: Client wants the 25 spinning GIFs you just removed and replaced with Anchor text links and proper call to action buttons to be brought back in all their horrid 1990′s geocities zombie glory. However, this isn’t a rant to disparage clients, but an attempt to highlight how we can all set aside our egos, and benefit.

Why Did You Hire An Expert You Ignore?

This is the first thought that immediately comes to mind, for me is, “If you believed so solidly in your own website marketing/design prowess then why did you reach out and HIRE someone to make these changes?”  Seriously. I know what I’m doing and have justifiable reasons for implementing changes, so why won’t you just let me do my job?

Understanding Your Clients

Now with each of these situations, it has been a sole proprietor/small business owner, and that gives us a clue to unravel the mystery. These are people who have made the bold decision to strike out on their own, and have obviously made a living at their profession and have a wealth of experience in their industry/niche. As a website marketer, we need to understand and harness that experience, and hopefully guide those decisions in the right direction.

Downsize The Ego And Listen

If there’s anything bigger than my Ego around here I want it trapped and shot. – Zaphod Beeblebrox -Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

So the first step is to take your EGO out of the equation, and simply ask them why they think that it’s a good idea to have a flash introduction to their website. Do they need a flash intro? No, but hear them out and understand where they got the motivation for their bad idea. HERE’S THE KEY: Let them continue explaining until they actually ask for your opinion. This will put you back into the position as the authority in the situation, if you are addressing them and trying to convince them that their idea is bad they may be simply defending their past actions and their ego. By allowing them the chance to (attempt to) explain, it moves the situation out of the personal realm and will give you the power to logically construct a valid reason to dissuade them… If you’re successful then you’ve assisted the client in not only avoiding a bad decision, but to truly understand your reasoning and logic that brought you to that conclusion.

Personal Opinion: Email = Destroyer Of Compromise

On a personal note here, I have worked in some form of web related customer service for the past 6 years. Out of all the hundreds of situations where there’s been a heated difference of opinion between me and a client, the majority of the time it’s resolved by actually talking, and not via email. This is mostly because you don’t have to actually read and understand an email…you and your client can just skim over the email and gloss over the arguments/facts/scenarios presented so that each of you can then hit them again with an opposing opinion. Aside from that, it’s much harder to be snarky and sarcastic over the phone than it is through digital communication, ask anyone who’s been flamed on a forum/twitter/blog. (This is my opinion only..any one out there actually have more success with email?)

What if they don’t change their mind?

So you listen to them explain and bring up the most elaborate and thorough treatise on the proper use of meta-tags that mankind has ever heard..and yet they still decide to restore that tag to it’s spammful position. Who knows they may have found some small reason for bad design/marketing choice, and are still be convinced by their own argument… At that point, it would seem wise to remember the saying:

He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day!

What Say You?

So, are there any SEO/Design Horror stories out there? How did you handle the situation… any you might do different now?