You’ve built an amazing website. You love it, your client loves it, and customers are flocking in.

You’ve got to admit: you’ve done a great job. You’ve created a sharp design, written loads of terrific content and added exactly the right SEO (or whatever we’re calling it these days) to get the site on the front page of search engines.

It’s time to pat yourself on the back, promote the new website through your online portfolio, and try not to blush when you receive that glowing testimonial.

But then you hear it.

That phrase. That simple sentence. That series of words that means all those hours you’ve spent behind the scenes adding alt tags, crafting glorious sentences and perfecting the Places page have been in vain.

“They found us on Google,” says your client. Hordes of new shoppers have been through their doors, online orders are up and social media’s buzzing with hot chat about this brilliant business.

Yet it’s not thanks to the new website. Oh no. When your client asks customers where they heard about the company, the automatic response is to say it was Google. Or Facebook. Or some kind of directory site. But generally it’s Google.

Yes, good old Google has saved the day.

Now, you know and we know that the only reason your client’s firm is popping up on search engines and social media is because of all your hard work. That if it wasn’t for the quality of your site, it wouldn’t so much as appear on Google, never mind several times on the first page.

Sadly, your client doesn’t see it that way.

As far as your client is concerned, Google suddenly, magically, acknowledged their brand and decided to display it to the worldwide web.

Never mind all the programming, all the tweaking, all the carefully-constructed phrases and the big promotional push to get more followers and likes. When anyone asks your client where so many new customers are coming from, their answer is always, “They found us on Google.”

But surely, you point out, those customers are responding to the presence of the website and its ability to be recognised by search engines.

“No,” replies your client, “they haven’t looked at the site. They came straight from Google.”

So is now the time to sit down and explain how search engines work? Is it your cue to teach your client about algorithms and ranking factors? Do you need to grab your client’s head and thrust it into your Mac’s monitor, screaming, “Google is only recognising your website because we put it there!”?

Maybe not. Maybe it isn’t much of a problem. But what happens when other business owners ask your client about their newfound success? Does your web design agency get a well-deserved recommendation, or does Google get all the credit?

Chances are, your potential client (any recommendation is to a potential client, right?) is equally clueless when it comes to search engine marketing. As far as they’re concerned, if another business is reaching the big time thanks to Google, they want a piece of that action. They’ll probably assume it’s time to invest more in Adwords.

So what’s the solution? Should you pull out a Powerpoint presentation with pretty pictures and colourful charts? Should you simply take it on the chin?

Or should you use it as an opportunity to describe your dedication to this website and keeping it on top of those rankings? It’s doing so well right now, but Google is ever changing and you’re keen to recommend a plan of updates to ensure consistent performance…

Okay, that might not quite give you the credit you deserve, but it at least reminds the client why you’re such an important part of the marketing process.

You could possibly even point them in the direction of this blog. And don’t forget to mention you found it on Google.

Posted by Dan.