Is it smart to reveal your clients and projects in the Q&A forum? What about on your own SEO blog?
-
On one hand it seems like having my cake and eating it too: blogging about SEO using my clients as case studies in order to give them a couple backlinks. On the other hand it seems like asking for it from Google or from competitors. Got any advice?
And what of mentioning actual domains and brand names when asking questions here in the forum? One one hand it seems like I'd get more specific advice, on the other hand, once again, it seems like it comes with some amount of risk. Any advice?
Thanks!
-
So anyone out there disagree with the consensus and think it doesn't matter or else is particularly advantageous to be forthcoming with client specifics?
-
Right, sure. Yeah all of this is helpful.
-
Some clients might not want to find out that their 'SEO Expert' is on here asking questions of other SEO's...they may think they should have employed the SEO Experts answering the questions.
Also some companies may not want their competitors to find out that they are using SEO services as if their competitor then hires an SEO the amount of competitive advantage is potentially reduced.
I would use example.com, company.com./product etc to get any points across. If it looks like you can only get the help you need by revealing more details then it may be best to PM the people who offer to help.
-
Thanks Vinnie.
-
Right, that makes sense.
-
Hey Louis,
I can understand both sides of the argument, but land on the side of don't post them. Like David said, you would never want to post clients sites without their permission. Even with their permission I would be hesitant to post specific phrases or results. I don't even want to tell other clients who my other clients are most of the time. Protecting niches is very important in this industry. If you want to discuss past successes you have had I suggest speaking in generalities and give broader examples of marketing or link building ideas without pointing out specific sites.
Personally I don't even post my own sites on any SEO or webmaster forums if I can avoid it.
As far as your Google concerns go, as long as you aren't cheating or link farming or anything that would take away from Google's reputation I doubt they would penalize you or your clients sites for posting SEO case studies.
I look forward to seeing other opinions on this issue.
Cheers,
Vinnie
-
I do not keep an SEO blog. Our company blog is just for generic info that we use to bring in new clients and also for existing clients to see us sharing information openly about the best practices and tips. Honestly, since we redid our website, we have one or two blog posts and never blog and didnt even finish our website, we are too busy with client work. Speaking of that... we need to finish our site lol.
The benefit a SEO blog would bring is fresh content (Google loves it), attract new clientele, share information to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, city, and client list!
-
Thanks David; that makes sense. Do you keep an SEO or other company blog? What benefit do you get out of it?
-
I think the only way to do it properly is with your clients full permission and knowing that they understand the full ramifications. Honestly, my clients would never go for it. The last thing they want is their strategy or their secret weapon (my company) to be known to their competitors. The link juice is minimal unless you have an exceptional blog.
My rule is to never expose a clients name, URL, or strategy unless it's completely anonymous and literally no chance of it getting back. However, you may find some clients okay with it, in that case... GO FOR IT
I'd love to post some of my best work but my clients are pretty strict on me releasing that information, so for now I'll have to keep my trap shut.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Where to Look for a Standard 9-5 SEO Job
Hello, I'm looking for a standard 20-30 hour a week SEO job. I'd like to make $30/hour. My resume is here. So far I'm making a list of all the SEO companies in Boise, Idaho. Then I'm going to also call up the larger companies in my local area. I'm interested in knowing how to best look for a job, and if there are any national companies where I could do work locally for. Let me know what other information I can provide.
Industry News | | BobGW0 -
Need reccomodations for Good SEO company
Hello, I'm looking for seo in the gaming industry - European languages Thanks
Industry News | | Rogeroz0 -
What do people think of Google discouraging guest blogging
Google is recommending that websites nofollow any links from press releases or guest blogging. Do people think this is really the new standard and sites could get penalized for guest blogging with follow links? Is anyone changing their strategy after hearing this announcement? Where does this leave people who work in difficult niches (such as gambling)?
Industry News | | theLotter1 -
If you could go back in time and build any brands SEO what brand would that be and why?
Ok so yes this my idea of having fun when I think about SEO. For me it would be Coca Cola as they only have fast moving consumer goods and their whole brand just SCREAMS "please take me viral". Maybe Disney or a Gaming company..
Industry News | | ColinWhite2 -
SEO Agency Recommendations
I'm looking for recommendations for SEO agencies for an e-commerce site in the cell phone accessories niche. The list of companies recommended by SEO Moz are out of our budget, as we are looking to stay under $3k/month. Looking for an agency that will focus especially on link building efforts, as there has been minimal white-hat link building implemented for the site in the past. Many of the agencies we've talked to are relying entirely too much on easy wins like directory submissions and we are looking for an agency that will be able to garner us quality links as opposed to a huge amount of mediocre links. Any recommendations for reasonably-priced, quality SEO agencies? Thanks!
Industry News | | eugeneku0 -
SEO Risks for redirecting sites
Hey Everyone, I've tried searching for this question, but am not exactly sure what keywords to search for so I'm probably missing the resources if they already exist... My client has had duplicated sites for years, and after multiple penalizations of those sites I was finally able to convince him to consolidate them into a "mega-site". Currently, he has a main domain, a geo-subdomain for each office location under the main domain, and a geo-domain for each office location. We plan on redirecting each geo-domain to the corresponding geo-subdomain. So, the final result will be one main domain, and a sub-domain for each office location. I'm looking for any information regarding tracking SEO data after the redirects are in place, how to guard against potential drops in SERPs, what's the smartest strategy to implement, etc... My client is very sensitive to his sites' SEO data, so if anyone has any SEO-related advice regarding redirecting sites it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Industry News | | Level2Designs0 -
Are you an in-house SEO or an Agency/freelancer SEO ?
Really curios about the pie split on SEO MOZ community about this. So, are you an In-house SEO or an Agency / Freelancer SEO ? (personally as prediction I would say in-House SEOs are predominant here - just curios to see the ratio - although not sure how many SEO MOZ members are reviewing the Q and A area but again it will be nice to see the ratio of the in house vs agency that are spending time on Q and A's).
Industry News | | eyepaq1 -
Node.js for SEO
We've got a client building a site using node.js (http://nodejs.org/) I'm not at all familiar with this and of course need to know how nodejs impacts SEO? Are you familiar with it? Any sites you know of using it? But as I said, bottom line - how will it impact the SEO on the site?
Industry News | | VMLYRDiscoverability1