Optimum7 Consulting

By Author: John Tang
Total Articles: 512
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Optimum7 Consulting is much more than a stand-alone service. It is the way we do business throughout all of the processes and collaborative efforts we are engaged in with and for our clients.

Consulting begins with understanding and understanding begins with listening and listening begins with questions. So it is questions that really begin the consulting process to understand the clients past and present situation, the business and marketing objectives, the present and future expectations, the budget to accomplish the objectives, the timeline involved towards accomplishing these goals.

As our expertise is clearly internet marketing, and all its core competencies, we further focus on the marketing objectives with particular emphasis on the web-based marketing portion of the overall marketing objectives.
Focusing on SEO, RESEARCH is the first and most vital step of the process. Research can answer literally hundreds of questions that neither the consultant nor the client has the answers to initially. Here are just a few questions which are not known by the client prior to research.

1. What are ...
... the top 25 keywords used to find your site on the search engines?
2. Who are your chief online competitors for these keywords?
3. How many online searchers actually type these keywords on Google, Yahoo, MSN?
4. What is your conversion rate for visitors who come to your web site?
5. How many conversions do you close on a percentage basis?

Without answers to these questions, a well thought out business decision cannot be made. Just for instance, it is NOT known which keywords are important nor if there are enough searchers of the important keywords to justify the investment to do any internet marketing.

Commitment

I once heard Tom Landry, Hall of Fame Coach for the Dallas Cowboys, say that every July every player on every NFL team says that they want to be in the Super Bowl however, there are only a precious few that are actually willing to do the things necessary to get to the Super Bowl.

The same thing is true when it comes to online marketing, particularly SEO. SEO is not trivial in any sense; it involves a complete commitment from the SEO company or consultant AND the hiring client.

Understanding this, it is important that the client understand very clearly what their role is and the kind of commitment that is involved. It goes way beyond writing checks. It requires deep involvement and communication so that the SEO Company understands the appropriate aspects of the business as it relates to the development of a comprehensive online strategy. Further, CONTENT IS NOT AN OPTION when it comes to success in SEO. So we make it clear, whether consulting as a stand-alone service for a client or consulting as part of our own SEO process, that content is an ongoing responsibility of the client. We offer content creation services at additional fees. However, clients involved in more technical or specialized fields are the only ones that can really supply the content on an ongoing, long term basis.

With the close cooperation and collaboration discussed here, the basis is set for truly productive results. Often our clients take us up on our very first recommendation; before hiring us, have Optimum7 perform the Research Step. The Research Step is the step we take to answer all the questions we can so that the client and Optimum 7 can together make a mutually beneficial business decision. The fee is comparably nominal and we fully credit the fee if the client actually engages us to provide any combination of our Internet Marketing Services.

The following is a representative list of what the Research Step is all about:

a) Understanding Client's Business Objectives & Strategic Marketing Plan
b) Comprehensive Website Analysis
c) Competitive Websites Analyses
d) Keyword Research and Analysis.
e) Recommendations based on the Research
f) Additional Options
g) Proposed Execution Plan and Schedule

The findings and work product developed as a result of the research step provide the client valuable information and a virtual road map to addressing online marketing issues, specifically pertaining to the search engines. The client now has a much better understanding of what the issues are, how they are to be dealt with and what all of the commitments involved are. This benefits Optimum7 as well as we are now confident that the client understands the problems, the solutions and the effort. This process also gives the client a great window into how Optimum7 works in close consultation to achieve the desired results.