Time to rub the lamp...

[MazY]

Right, imagine, just for a moment, that you had a piece of software that automated all of your common everyday SEO tasks.

What would your wishlist be for inclusions in to the software? I do have an ulterior and business motive for asking so please keep the suggestions serious.

[ihelpyou]

One biggie,

Along with ALL the major components included with it, the ability to automatically run reports at certain intervals AND then emailing those reports WITHOUT having to do anything but setup the client initially in the program.

[Advisor]

Well, I was just about to post this elsewhere as a question, but perhaps it fits in with this thread...

What about something that had a questionnaire kinda thing that you could ask potential clients about their site, their target audience, their keyphrases, budget, and whatever else...then plug in their answers. Push a button and out spits your proposal to them! I doubt it will work so easily as that, but a person can dream can't they?

What my question was going to be was what other types of questions do you all feel are important to ask a potential client about their company and business before you can prepare a proposal? I was just writing some questions for a potential client and am sure that there are some things I'm not thinking of. I'd love to have a standard questionnaire I could ask them. I don't want to take away from Mazy's question here though, so if this goes too far off track, I can post this somewhere else.

Thanks,

Jill

[JuniorHarris]

Sure, it makes sense to maybe include some basic templates for recording additional information. It could be as simple as including some Word templates, but could prove to be handy to triage potential clients. Automation would be nice as Doug suggested, having the ability to run reports which could include email distribution directly to the clients. Maybe some account billing information and other client tracking information.

[MazY]

What I should like to stress is that I am not talking about another WPG. WPG is already very good at what it does and I have no desire to try and duplicate that excellent software.

What I am talking about is, I suppose, well an organiser for the typical SEO. Something that, as I have grown much busier over the past few months, I have really determined as a must have for my business to run efficently.

Such as Jill's suggestion of the quotation side of things. Something which already takes up far too much of my time, as I know it does Jill's too.

From my own perspective and something that I have already started implementing in to the software is:

Phrase Tracking
Remembering which keywords/phrases I have per client is getting nightmarish and so that is now in.

Subscription Reminders
Auto-generating an invoice when it's time for the next cough-up period.

Page Monitoring
My little system as it is records my favourite competitor pages, visits them at regular intervals and tells me if any changes have been made, and if so, what they are...

There are loads more but I'm tired and need to get some work done!

Keep 'em coming...

[Advisor]

GREAT idea on the subscription reminder/invoice thing! That's my other hated nightmare thing to do. If you can integrate that somehow with quickbooks, it would be awesome. Hmm...I wonder if QB actually has some kind of scheduling thing...I should check. I'm like 2 or 3 months behind in my invoicing simply because I hate doing it. Kinda dumb since it brings the money in.

Also LOVE the keyword idea. This program is gonna be a hit!

Jill

[MazY]

Originally posted by webwhiz
If you can integrate that somehow with quickbooks, it would be awesome. Jill

As it happens I am in the process of completing a pretty large lead-follow up system for a client, which integrates with QB.

Though QB would have to be a big demand for me to include it within this software.

[TravelNow]

I love the page monitoring idea- that's something I have on 78 post it's around my computer.

I'd like to see new inbound links to the website in a more automated fashion as well since that's something else on my post its

[MazY]

Originally posted by TravelNow
I love the page monitoring idea- that's something I have on 78 post it's around my computer.

Yes, I remember those days well. In actual fact, I have had that module for around a year and a half and it currently monitors around 50 or so of my faves. So much as one little character change on a competitor page and I know about it!

[Kal]

Hey Jill - I have a standard questionnaire I give to clients. Happy to share in the name of research. PM me if you're interested.

Maz - timesaver software for SEO's - what a great idea! Keyword/phrase tracking a definite :thumb: Invoice reminders are good, although mine go out at the end of each month so automatic task reminders via Outlook work for me. How about a Project Interface for each client where you entered all the imp data (client contact details, META data, URL, pages to optimize, keywords, type of SEO plan, ranking report schedule, length of contract, directory categories, descriptions etc)? This would be a HUGE timesaver for me.

Also, a way to track manual SE & directory submissions - at the moment I just use a spreadsheet for each client with a list of international and regional engines and manually tick a box and enter a date every time I submit. If a URL is dropped and I need to resubmit, I need to check the spreadsheet to ensure it's not too soon. If this process could be automated or somehow worked into the userface mentioned above that would be fab. (I know WPG has this type of feature, but as I don't do automated submissions, I don't use it). <edit>the feature that is, I def use WPG for other tasks</edit>

[MazY]

Okies...

All that remains to say is watch this space... :)