If I meet a potential client who already knows that I do SEO, say because of a referral, I immediately have to deal with the question: Why should I pay for SEO?
That's an important question, in fact, I don't sell SEO services until I have already answered that question. Even if my potential client didn't ask, I'll tell them anyway, because it's important they understand the full value of SEO. Phone book companies have lost 85% of their market share to search engines! Paying for space in a phone book is now almost pointless. Personally, I'm glad for it. I've always hated the phone book, because I could never figure out the right way to look something up. In the end, I could rarely find what I was looking for, let alone in a timely manner. Google, Yahoo, and Bing (MSN) get the same job done a lot better and a LOT faster!
In summary, search engines are the new phone book. Now, instead of buying space in a phone book, you buy space in a search result, or you optimize your site to "organically" come up in the searches. SEO is the key to getting organic search results in the new phone book.
Cheers,
Chris
