A How question

How does an SEO company handle client complaints?

3 min read

It should treat a complaint as a record to act on: written down, sorted by what it is about, answered with evidence or a change, and closed only when you agree the cause has been dealt with. Complaints about an SEO engagement come in distinct kinds, and each needs a different kind of answer. Before you sign, ask the company how it handles each kind, who deals with it first, and who it goes to if that does not work.

Sorting the complaint

A complaint about results, such as rankings, traffic, or inquiries not moving, is answered with data: current figures compared with the baseline and goals agreed at the start, for the same period.

A complaint about communication, such as slow replies, reports you cannot follow, or missed updates, is answered with a changed routine: one named contact, written updates on a fixed schedule, and reports that explain what the numbers mean.

A complaint about quality, such as an error in published content, a broken page, or a change made without your approval, is answered with a correction and an explanation of how the error got through.

A complaint about scope, such as work you expected that the company says is not included, is answered by returning to the written scope and, where the work is genuinely extra, a change order you approve before it starts.

Mixing the kinds blurs the answer. A new reporting schedule does not fix a published error, and a revised timeline does not fix missed updates.

The written record

Ask for every complaint to be logged in writing with five entries: the date, what was raised, what the company agreed to do, by when, and how both sides will know it is done. An email thread can serve, as long as both of you hold the same record. The record shows whether the same problem returns, turns a promise into something you can check, and, if the relationship ends in a dispute, gives you the history you will rely on.

Escalation

The account manager handles a complaint first. If it is not resolved, it should move to a named senior person, such as a team lead, a director, or the owner in a small company. Ask before signing who that person is, how you reach them, and what makes the company escalate. Escalation inside the company matters too: when a complaint reveals an account without enough staff time, or the same error repeating, the fix belongs with someone who can change how the work is resourced.

Disputes about results

These are settled against what was agreed in writing: the scope, the goals, the metrics, and the timeline. If the company is behind, it should say so, explain why, and present a revised plan with a date on which you will review it together. If it points to an outside cause, such as a Google update or a competitor’s activity, ask for the dates and the data that connect that cause to your figures, rather than a general explanation.

When a complaint is closed

A complaint is closed when the agreed action is done, you have confirmed it solved the problem, and the company has told you what it changed so the problem does not recur. Ask a prospective company for one example of a change to its own process that came from a client complaint. A specific example shows that complaints reach the people who decide how the work is done.

This is general information, not legal advice. If a complaint turns into a dispute over the contract, a lawyer can review the agreement and the complaint record with you.

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