Over the past two decades of conversing with clients, I’ve compiled a list of questions that have played a crucial role in nurturing stronger long-term relationships.

There are numerous questions you could pose, but I’ve crafted a list of essential inquiries I typically ask during the pitching phase for new clients.

Uncover Business Insights

A distinguishing factor between strategic-thinking search marketers and those who merely apply a checklist of tactics lies in comprehending how SEO integrates into the broader business framework.

I believe SEO's purpose is to assist in shaping and guiding business decisions to render them as effective as feasible from a search standpoint, rather than executing tasks "for SEO" and subsequently attempting to justify them with a business case.

1. ‘How do you generate income?’

Though seemingly unrelated to your responsibilities, it’s pivotal to grasp how the entity sustains itself and prospers.

The truth is that nearly every endeavor a firm undertakes eventually ties back to this objective.

This query might appear trivial, yet embarking on a venture with assumptions regarding such a critical aspect of the client’s operations can lead to pitfalls further along the path.

I’ve encountered several instances where companies have astounded me with their revenue-generation methods or revealed that certain segments of their business hold greater significance than anticipated externally.

Discovering that what you deemed a “high-volume” product or service carries a minimal profit margin and that the bulk of earnings stem from elsewhere can significantly influence where you concentrate your efforts later.

2. ‘What are your organization’s mission, vision, and values? What are you recognized for or aspire to be known for?’

Every action an organization takes should align with its mission while adhering to its values—including SEO.

For instance, if the brand is renowned for safety, two immediate considerations would be:

• Exploring search intent concerning safety.
• Ensuring any content produced prioritizes safety foremost.

The choice of which question to ask hinges on the size and maturity of the company.

Larger entities often allocate resources toward defining their mission, vision, and values; most employees—and ideally, marketers—should be cognizant of these.

Smaller enterprises might lack formal definitions, making the inquiry, “What are you recognized for or aspire to be known for?” more practical.

Primarily, you’re searching for whether the individual you’re addressing can articulate this.

Failing to respond indicates a potential red flag, suggesting varying interpretations of “correct” in people’s minds.

This increases the risk of deliverables being rejected due to “incorrect tone.” Agreeing upon this at the outset is vital.

3. ‘Could you describe your ideal target audience?’

“Everyone” represents the most frequent (and virtually incorrect) reply to this query. Targeting everyone equates to targeting no one.

The response to this question significantly influences the search queries you aim for and the content strategy you adopt.

If the target audience consists of professional financial advisors, content such as “What is an ISA?” may exhibit high search volume but wouldn’t suit them.

Learn More: How to Keep Your SEO Clients Engaged: 8 Communication Touchpoints

4. ‘Who do you perceive as your primary competitors?’

Clients frequently identify distinct competitors compared to those observed in search results.

Discussing competitors is essential to comprehend who the client’s rivals are in terms of products and markets.

Such knowledge shapes your search strategy and identifies comparative searches. Educating the client about search competitors and their impact on reporting is equally significant.

5. ‘Why should someone opt for you over your competitors?’

This is a critical question to ask post-gathering other information to ensure all elements align.

The rationale people should choose your client over competitors should correspond with what they wish to be recognized for and appeal to their target audience.

I’ve encountered situations where clients couldn’t answer this question, placing me in a challenging position.

If the organization lacks awareness of why customers should purchase from them, how can we hope to persuade others?

6. ‘What are your objectives?’

This constitutes one of the key expectations you’ll strive toward, rendering it indispensable to engage in dialogue to agree on realistic figures.

Objectives usually involve metrics for evaluating outcomes, such as revenue or leads, along with a timeline for achievement.

At this juncture, I’m essentially determining internally, “Is what this client requests achievable?”

Due to stringent deadlines, a client’s SEO goals can prove unrealistic regardless of budget.

This serves as an opportune moment to set expectations or, if necessary, decline the opportunity.

7. ‘How do you envision SEO contributing to achieving these objectives?’

This query opens discussions about other marketing initiatives operating within the business.

It’s quite plausible that 90% of the objective will be attained via PPC, with email and SEO contributing 10%.

It’s also a useful question to differentiate desired marketing outcomes from measurable SEO activities.

This ensures that if the targeted outcome is “500 new converted leads,” many factors, such as salesperson interactions, remain beyond your control.

Discussing lead targeting and measuring SEO performance based on contributions to flagged “good” leads in the CRM could prove advantageous.

8. ‘What is your budget for SEO?’

I prefer posing this question immediately following discussions about business objectives and their financial implications.

Occasionally, having a client disclose they anticipate an additional $1,000,000 in sales and are willing to spend $10,000 to achieve it carries substantial weight.

Here, you’re gauging whether the previously attainable objective remains viable given the client’s budget. If it diverges significantly, this is the time to address the discrepancy.

Several additional common scenarios arise here. Fundamentally, I believe the bare minimum required to formulate an SEO approach is either a target or a budget.

If a defined target exists, I can estimate the cost to reach it. If a defined budget is provided, I can estimate the impact.

Should a client fail to offer a defined target or budget, my experience suggests walking away is preferable.

Everyone anticipates returns on their investment, so inability to discuss expectations usually indicates they are excessively high.

How SEO Fits Into Their Business

Having outlined the overall scenario, it’s time to delve into specifics about how the SEO partnership will function within those parameters.

9. ‘What do you aim to gain from this SEO collaboration?’

You’ll glean insights into the existing team, strengths, weaknesses, and, more importantly, expectations.

Clients span a spectrum from those wishing to outsource strategy and execution entirely to those seeking merely consultation and a second opinion.

Based on my experience, larger organizations typically possess a strategy and require expertise primarily for implementation, whereas smaller firms necessitate more strategic work and leadership.

Determining what the client envisions provides insight into the personnel and tools required—again assessing suitability for your purposes.

Explore Further: How to Build Lasting Relationships with SEO Clients

10. ‘How would you define success?’

Seemingly unconventional after discussing objectives, I’ve had some of the most enlightening exchanges with clients by asking this.

Responses may include:

• Influencing internal perceptions of SEO among various stakeholders.
• Attaining a specific ranking against a competitor.
• Addressing a particular technical challenge.

Beyond objectives, these are the elements that invigorate client relationships—so ensure you inquire!

11. ‘What does the internal team look like in terms of resources and expertise?’

Once you’ve determined where the client aims to go and where they currently stand, the strategy must align with available resources.

Offering a strategy requiring the client to produce 20 pieces of content monthly only to discover they have one part-time writer and no extra funding serves no purpose.

12. ‘Are there any constraints, such as development queues or approvals?’

I’ve witnessed someone lose a client entirely because their entire pitch revolved around rebuilding the website.

It transpired that the site had 40 full-time developers working on it, rendering total reconstruction impossible.

Although the pitch was impressive, it exclusively focused on an unfeasible element.

Understanding the typical size of the development queue or that content production requires dual approval provides insights for crafting timelines beneficial to both parties and delivering results.

13. ‘Could you share about the SEO activities undertaken thus far?’

This question holds immense value as it sometimes reveals reasons why prior SEO relationships failed.

You gain insights into the client’s level of sophistication with SEO and perhaps uncover hidden issues.

Phrases like “Yes, we had an agency buying links for us for three years” serve as classics.

14. ‘Who are your stakeholders?’

Knowing who will be involved offers clues about communication approaches.

If the development team plays a major role, you can safely delve into technical details since you’ll likely handle performance and indexing reports.

Should the CFO/CEO be involved, anticipate high-level communication emphasizing the business impact of your efforts.

15. ‘How do you currently report, and how would you prefer us to report?’

Immediate insights into the tools the client uses emerge here, aiding in ensuring shared terminology—whether DA, DR, or TF.

Tracking and analytics present complex topics, providing insights into organizational technical proficiency when observing if they’ve merely set up GA4 or exported data to BigQuery and generated reports in Looker Studio.

If the client employs established reporting methods, understanding integration is crucial rather than simply sending standard reports and expecting them to manage.

This also presents an excellent opportunity to discuss account and data ownership.

Bonus Question: ‘What is the most important aspect of an agency to you?’

I always ask this question and invariably pose it last. A concise response offers guidance on framing everything.

Typically, responses like “results,” “

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