I heard an interesting story from a colleague of mine last week regarding a potential client he was about to start a project with. It turns out that the deal didn't work out because the client was being stubborn about some of the specifics of the project...in particular, which keywords the site should be optimized for.

As a business owner, I can see how someone would want to have a say in which keywords their business site is targeted for. However, the job of any internet marketing consultant or firm you hire should include helping you come up with the best online marketing strategy. The unfortunate reality is that most business owners unknowingly end up choosing keyword phrases that are far too generic. There are at least two very important reasons why this is a horrible strategy:

1. Generic terms can be harder to rank for and don't necessarily lead to conversions (i.e., profits)
2. Using only generic terms means missing out on a potentially huge amount of traffic generated by the larger number of less-frequently used search terms (the so-called "long tail" of search)

Keyword Selection Should Be Driven By Profit Potential, Not Ego

The first item above is just bad business. Why on Earth would you want to target terms that are more likely to be based on ego than by profit potential? That's like buying a huge billboard that doesn't generate any new business. It doesn't matter if a site ranks well for a term if that keyword doesn't bring traffic that leads to sales. That being said, it's also reasonable to expect that a good portion of traffic represents good prospects for the business to target, assuming the keyword phrases being used are focused enough.

Long Tail Terms Might Bring More Traffic With Higher Conversions

The second item above is an even bigger point to hammer home. As an entrepreneur, I would (naively?) expect the primary concern of other business owners would be the bottom line profits for their company. If you could create an SEO campaign that targets not only the generic terms, but also a large number of "long tail" terms that, when added together, equal or exceed the amount of traffic from just the generic ones...why in the world wouldn't you go after those terms too?

And keep in mind that the long tail terms are probably less competitive and easier to get top rankings for (yes, this depends on the market but in general, is a safe assumption). To me, not taking advantage of this sort of opportunity sounds like an incredibly shortsighted plan.

Why Not Trust the Expert YOU Picked?

The bigger issue in all of this is that the potential client didn't want to trust the judgement of the SEO expert he had chosen for his project...emphasis on the fact that the client picked the SEO, not the other way around. To the best of my knowledge, the client was not cold-called or otherwise roped into this arrangement. He sought out the unique expertise of this colleague of mine, then saw fit to question that advice without really having a solid understanding of some key concepts necessary to make such a decision.

When we choose a doctor, we tend not to question the perscription they write for us. The same for an attorney (well, for the most part). And the same could even be said for a personal trainer, though we might not make it to the gym as much as we should (I played hookey all week).

The point is, when you decide to hire an expert, why not trust their judgement? That's not to say that you shouldn't question their methods or advice. As a business owner, you're ultimately responsible for the operation of the business. But if the talent you bring on board to handle your project can provide a good rationale for the advice they have, and if this is the person you picked ahead of all the competition, shouldn't a little trust be in order?

After all, that person has probably spent much more time honing their skills in that field than you have. And if the roles were reversed, I'm sure you would expect the same level of trust from them. Otherwise, why choose them in the first place?