Starting a new agency / consulting engagement with a client is an exciting time. Contracts flying back and forward, promises and hopes of increased revenue and results – and a lot of information to wrap your head around.
Below is the ultimate checklist I’ve put together, from 7 years of agency experience running SEO programs for everything from SaaS, nationwide franchise businesses, 9-figure eComm retailers and multi-billion dollar conglomerates. This has extended into my own SEO consultancy and the approach I take, in setting foundations up correctly for all consulting engagements to get them off to a great start.
Asking your newly onboarded clients to fill out the below ensures that:
– You only have to ask once for this information
– You can refer back to it in the future or when something relevant comes up
– If a new team member joins you to help out with the account, they can very quickly get all the background information needed
– If you leave the business, your teammates don’t lose out on all the accumulated knowledge you had, given that some (although not all) of it will be included here
If you’re a digital marketing team in-house, running through the below questionnaire (even if you’re not engaging an agency for SEO or other digital activity) will help you:
– Build an internal knowledge hub of core information about your marketing activity, key information and history
– Ensure continuity if you or others leave the business
– Help get new team members up to speed when joining your company
Linked here is a shared Google Sheets template for this checklist – make a copy and take it from there!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10nLh0JVviZSJebxE5qpapNNFcEMuLVf4T2mmDmh7sj0/edit?usp=sharing
The full sections and question breakdown below: