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Don’t You Love It When Your $2,000 Tool Loses You A Potential Client
I’m super super frustrated with Ahrefs right now and I don’t know if any of you guys have run into this problem since it’s a first time for me but let me explain my story a little bit further. So I posted my case studies in some Facebook groups looking to generate some traction for my business and after about a day or so I received a message from a store owner looking from some SEO help saying they liked what they saw and read about my work.
Now normally when someone approaches me I don’t want to say it’s a done deal but for the most part unless theres a huge price discrepancy they normally sign on for SEO services; however, before they do that I still give them a run down or audit of their site normally done with Ahrefs since most times I don’t have access to their GA or other analytics platforms right off the bat. So I do exactly that for this business owner and they message me back super concerned with the numbers I’m displaying to them saying it doesn’t match what they see in analytics. No problem right? I just explain how Ahrefs works and that their calculations are done on a different formula and should be used a guide not an exact metric because GA is a direct reflection of your website on Google, which they just couldn’t get over me saying that it didn’t line up perfectly despite me saying I don’t have access and would gladly use GA if they were willing to share access with me. They began to continually question me about Ahrefs and how credible of a tool it is, whether or not I was scamming them, and all this extra stuff.
Long story short I lose the client as they just can’t get over this Ahrefs problem, and to make matters worse I get an email from Ahrefs a day or two later saying how they’ll be updating their metrics to reflect a more accurate representation of GA rather than a conservative one……. You love to see the $2,000 tool I bought losing me clients.
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1 Reply
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The tool hasn’t lost you a client.
The client has been lost either because of their unwillingness to understand the difference in data, or you not being able to explain it properly,or a combination.
Blaming ahrefs here is ridiculous . -
Always get ga access. These tools make everyone look like tools if given the opportunity.
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Ahrefs didn’t lose your client. He was lost before you began.
For starters, I bet he probably didn’t have the proper filters in place within GA.He was probably logging traffic that were him, workers, and who knows what that wasn’t real traffic.
Personally, I think you dodged a bullet is what you did. This guy was going to be a headache to work with.
I see no reason to blame Ahrefs. All of these tools give out nonsense in one form or the other. SemRush does the same thing. It acts like keywords are going up or down 30-60 places every few days when they aren’t even moving. Traffic data from none of the other tools would have lined up either.
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That client probably wasn’t worth your time anyways. Think of it as ahrefs helping you dodge a bullet.
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I have never seen any traffic estimate tool be close to accurate. I don’t even look at them anymore because of this and I would never show it to a client
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I always get GSC access before sending a quote. Always.
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Tbh this sounds like a client who woulda been a complete pain in the ass. Sucks to lose out on money, but you might have saved your sanity a bit here. Best wishes with your business moving forward!
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First lesson to teach in SEO is what you see going on isn’t what’s going on.
I use SEM, Ahrefs and Spyfu…all have their merits. My datasets are a combo of what all 3 spit out.
Think of it like CIA, NSA, FBI…all know who you are….all will find different info. Doesn’t mean the info is wrong but the trick is learning how that info fits into the larger picture.
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Why would you love that?
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I wouldn’t attribute the problem solely to the tool. It seems that the issue lies in a process that you have adjusted improperly.
In general, when dealing with tools that cost 2000 dollars, agencies, customers and contracts, resolving client issues does not involve severing relationships. Furthermore, posting about it on a forum will certainly not provide any assistance. Blaming the tool alone won’t be very helpful either.
Instead, it’s better to focus on how to regain the client’s trust and prevent similar mistakes in the future. Be professional.
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This is simply a lesson for you.
It sounds like SMB is your target customer. Most business owners in that audience aren’t going to be SEO savvy. However, they will be extremely concerned with every single detail related to their business. It’s effectively their baby.
Plugging their domain into ahrefs and then sharing the technical analysis with them — is a recipe for creating a monster. You’ll end up with customers who want to look over your shoulder at every opportunity.
You need to communicate details from a 5000′ view early in the conversation.
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Are you comparing estimated traffic to actual traffic? Those will literally never match because they’re measuring two completely different things…
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Hey I don’t appreciate being called a tool
Sorry I read the r/divorce sub too much
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You lost the client, not Ahrefs.
You had the proof, the hook; the client liked it, and you should have put the proposal in his hand. Instead, you gave them an audit that did not match their data. You wanted to assure them that working with you would be amazing, but you created doubts and raised more questions.
Learning to pay attention to the buyer’s desire is an excellent lesson.
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