For the longest time now I have wanted to write about this topic as it’s one that has legs when I am talking to my fellow search warriors. Deciding on which clients one takes on is paramount to not only keeping your sanity, but the success of your company in general. I’d even go as far to say the process has a lot to do with the success of an SEO program. But how does one get there? I have had great clients, not so great and bloody horrid ones over the years. How does it happen? Well, most of the time it is over before it begins. So today we’re going to talk about the process of qualifying clients. I have some of my own thoughts, also parts of this from recent group sessions I’ve held… and even some Tweeple chime in at the end. I hope you find some points of interest and feel free to add your own 2c in the comments What to look at While it can vary, we need to establish some of the parameters by which we can evaluate a client prospect. You can even cover some of these elements by creating a form for clients (RFP style). How you go about it, or how much weight you give to each point can be more personal, but here’s a list to get things rolling. Qualifying the project The first thing we want to do is look at the project parameters such as; Budget Control Profitability Resources (client side) Benchmarks These are fairly straight forward. Is there a realistic budget in place to compete in the space? Will you have enough control to be effective? Does the site have the potential for growth? Are the benchmarks realistic? If you aren’t scoring high on these ones, I doubt there is really a need to continue on with the process. The last thing you want is to be in a situation where success is all but impossible. You need to be realistic.