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What to include so the reply is useful

Four things, and a message containing them usually gets a substantive answer rather than a request for more information.

• The site. The domain, and if the problem sits in one area, the section or the template it affects.
• What changed, and when. The symptom with a date attached — traffic fell in a particular week, a new site launched on a particular day, rankings never arrived after a particular release. A date makes it possible to line the problem up against everything else that happened in the same window.
• What has already been tried, including by anyone else. A previous audit, a disavow file, a migration, an agency engagement that ended. Knowing what has been done saves you from paying for it twice.
• The outcome you want. Not the tactic — the result. More qualified inquiries, recovery of what was lost, confidence that a planned move will not cost you traffic, or simply an independent read on a proposal sitting in front of you.

If you have a proposal from someone else and want a second opinion on it, say so. That is a legitimate reason to get in touch and it is usually a short conversation.

If litigation may be involved

Where a matter touches actual or anticipated litigation, a conflict check comes first, before any substantive discussion. So in a first message, describe the parties in general terms and send nothing privileged, confidential or case-specific. Once the check clears, the right channel for that material can be arranged.

The first conversation costs nothing

No fee, no obligation, and no proposal unless one is asked for. The purpose is to work out what is actually happening and whether it is worth spending money on — and if the answer is that you do not need the work you came in asking about, that is what you will be told. It happens frequently enough to be worth saying in advance.

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