As the editor of the Search Engine People Blog I think results (hard data) can do a good job here. When you have a couple of Reading Grade 11 articles on your site and a couple of Reading Grade 8 ones, you can start to show “this works clearly better than that — which results do you prefer?”

I encourage my clients (engineering, construction and technology) to co-write with me. I ghost-write for some of my clients and find that mixing in articles the clients write are sincere.

There are two steps to working in a client’s article – the first step is training. The second step is editing the onpage Search Engine Optmised keywords. The process of learning and edits can be challenging (and confrontational).

There is a point where both the client and I have to compromise. Sometimes the quality of the story has to be diluted to simplify the topic and engage the business person buying the solution.

What works best to maintain the combative (but passionate) client’s motivation through the alignment of the work?