[jason]

Ok, what do I do if I have a potential new client that is in a similar industry as an existing client of mine? They might be going after some of the same keywords. Is there a way to legally and safely take on both clients? The new client will be a higher paying client and I will be able to secure them in a long term contract. I don’t want to have to drop the old client. Can this be done?
thanks
jason

[Dana]

Hmmm, good question.
Tricky.
I don't know how to tackle that one.

With general business issues, you would simply inform your client of a non-disclosure agreement and that would be that but handling clients with the same key words could be very tricky.
I'm interested to see how other people respond here.

It might be best to set a policy up front on taking on only one client at a time with specific parameters to the project and not bringing in a competing client for X amount of time.

For example, if you signed Pepsi and promised them specific rankings, you might say that you wouldn't take on a competitor like Coke for a minimum of 6 months following the project end date.
This is just off the top of my head. I'm looking forward to other members' take on this one.

[Jamie]

Check your contract. Im assuming you have one with your current client. If you don't then technically you are under no legal obligation to them although you may want to consult local trading laws and maybe a lawyer. If your contract states that you will attempt to secure them the highest rank possible under certain key phrases then it is a conflict of interest if you take on the new client and attempt to get them into the same key phrase.

In which case inform your new client that you can only work with them on other key phrases not related to the other client. If both clients are gunning for the same keywords then you can really only work for one otherwise it does present a conflict of interest.

Jamie

[ScottHughes]

It depends what your specific job description is. If you are just helping them Search Engine Optimization their sites, then you can optimize both sites. However, if you are supposed to actually make their site get a good rank, then you would have a conflict, in which case you can't responsibly take on both clients.