I recently went on a bit of an SEO testing and shopping spree - you've probably read some of the reviews here. And one of the comments I kept making was that nobody would return my emails.

Customer Service Matters

Look, I've been hanging onto that hilarious customer service certificate for a year, knowing that I would use it someday. Because, while it is funny that someone is proud of being 1st runner up in the Greater Atlanta Metro area, they did get the point that customer service is important to, well, customers.

Customer Service in the SEO Industry

What does it mean when people put "free" SEO tools out and they break? Promise rankings. Sell spammy link pages. Engage customers without contracts or SLA's?

I'm not saying that SEO is different from, say, CRM or ERP implementations. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a SAP implementation knows what I mean.

I have to say, if I were some Yahoo Store owner wandering through our little universe I'd probably turn right around and leave.

High Points

Look, there are some really great places our hypothetical new customer could land - SeoMoz, ShoeMoney, Aim, Joost, etc, etc. Lots of helpful advice and some reasonable services for sale at an affordable price. And there are tools, like Hubspot , where you get real customer service.

How is Customer Service Different in SEO-Land?

Is it? I think it is. When a customer buys a dozen seats at SalesForce.com for his freon sales weasels, he may not understand all the bells and whistles and features, but he knows he'll get a good pipeline view and synchronized customer contacts.

If the same guy buys "SEO" to get google traffic and then to improve his landing page, well, he might as well be a Cargo Cultist. He might even enjoy and appreciate the results, but they'll be amazing.

Maybe It's The Enthusiasm

Why is it all so mysterious? I think it is down to several things:

• It's all new, so it's exciting and moving fast
• We all play in Google's Matrix, and it is d*mn mysterious
• The industry is clearly pre-consolidation so there are no big players to set standards. Yet.

What Can We Do?

I think we have to wait it out and let it all grow and mature.

How boring is that? But I've been through several technical 'revolutions' and you get so you can see a pattern. In three to five years it's very likely that the players around today won't be around, that the industry will look a lot different. Different price points, the google matrix will feel different, and customers will know what to expect.

And customer service will suddenly look very important. Even though it always has been.