“I want a guaranteed increase in traffic”

[jonnow]

Hey everyone,

I’m in the process of securing some web work with a client. They have stated that for their money they would want a guarantee of increased traffic to their website.

As it stands the website is looking quite dated, the HTML behind it is terrible and I think the company is struggling to get business. I’ve tried different searches on Google and not found the website – probably not helped because there is not a title on any of the pages.

Having used the [common sense approach to SEO](https://css-tricks.com/common-sense-seo-checklist/ “CSS Tricks common sense SEO”) in the past, and taking note of [Chris Coyier’s thoughts about SEO](css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/83-thoughts-on-seo/ “Chris Coyier’s video about SEO”) I don’t believe there is anything I can do to “guarantee” an increase of traffic to the site and I’ve been honest with the company about this. I can improve the site and make it more user friendly but when it comes to site traffic, all I can do is heed the advice of Google and commentators and hope that the site will rank higher.

Was this the right thing to say? I wasn’t going to lie or mislead the company, it’s not what I’m about, but is there actually something I can do (that’s not a cheap trick) to increase traffic?

I look forward to hearing what you think about this, have you ever been in this position?

Cheers,

[Paulie_D]

>In this sort of scenario I always ask for some kind of base metric. How can I help you get to where you want to be if I don’t have an idea of where you’re at?

Very much this.

It would have to be specified **very** precisely what they mean in absolute terms by increased traffic.

**Nothing** is guaranteed in this life.

My basic response is that I would be happy to redesign/re-develop their site but I can’t be held responsible if no one visits despite my best efforts.

[Alen]

> I would ask them to explain what they’re impression of “traffic” means. Not all traffic is equal. I’ve seen companies pay thousands and thousands of dollars per month for SEO companies to deliver “traffic” but it wasn’t the kind of traffic that converted into business.

THIS!!!! 100%

[Author]

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