I’ve stumbled upon the revelation that search is the ultimate activity of reverse scope creep. And understanding not only what that is, but how to use it to keep your SEO and SEM activity focused and realistic is really the key to long-term SEO success, especially if you are or are using a consultant or agency to do it.
We all know what scope creep is. A client says, “I want you to do a certain amount of work or an activity for me.” You come up with a scope of work — a proposal that says, I will do that for this amount of money or this many hours, or both. Then the project commences and the client realizes they didn’t ask for enough or they find additional activities to add to the scope and before you know it, the project you scoped for 100 hours or, say $15,000 … becomes more like 200 hours and $30,000 … but you’ve signed a contract to complete the “project” for just the 100 and $15K.
It’s incremental additions to the scope that at the time seem like no big deal, but over time accumulate to far more than the scope was intended to cover or cost.
If you have clients of any type, you’ve had to deal with scope creep at some point, even if you didn’t realize it. So I looked at how and why it happens with regard to SEO and SEM work, how and why the process is reversed in that field and what to do about it in this week’s food-for-thought episode of Go Ahead Caller.
Enjoy!
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Next week, we’ll talk podcasting with Kevin Stroud of the History of English Podcast. Dude has a killer podcast full of learning, research with a strong style and presentation. Consistency is key and we’ll dive into that and more to help you build a better podcast for your business. Join us for the live recording on LinkedIn Live at 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT. Follow me there to get the handy, “he’s live” notifications. Or be sure to get the podcast recording on the show’s feed.
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