How To Get SEO Clients
If you were wondering how to get SEO clients without the hassle or embarrassment of cold calling, these 6 tips will surely get you started.
KEEP IN MIND: Every SEO agency and individual has a method that is unique to them. Not every way to get SEO client will be a fit for you. However, test some of these methods out and find what works for you. That’s how I was able to find methods that work for me!
Getting Started
Before you set out to get SEO clients and build your business, you will want to have a system in place to streamline the work process and provide the best services possible. I recommend having a system in play prior to taking on a large amount of clients. Depending on how you do SEO, this might mean using a program such as Trello to enable you to work with a team, setting up your team, and having a strong skillset in SEO.
You should certainly understand what is SEO. And you should feel confident in your ability to rank your clients.
Below are some tactics for obtaining new SEO clients. So let’s get started!
Finding New SEO Clients: 6 Actionable Tips
Tip 1: DO SEO
Tip #1 is the ideal way to get SEO clients. Doing SEO to your own website (in a way that drives quality traffic and gets you leads) is what we all want, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, because of the SEO industry and the amount of competition (qualified agencies), it isn’t that easy to rank for the term SEO. Unless your Moz or Neil Patel, your better off trying to rank for long tail keywords instead of something like SEO or search engine optimization.
What you can do to get started is begin with a list of queries your customers might be using to find out information to solve their problems (that you will help them solve). Keep in mind, most customers aren’t too familiar with how SEO works. For this reason, they might be searching for something related to fixing their website so they can find it online.
FREE TOOLS: There are tons of tools you can use without paying a cent. A great tool for finding long-tail keywords and questions your customers are probably asking is Answer The Public. This is a great tool to figure out topics for blog posts that can drive traffic to your website and improve SEO!
GET STARTED: You’re going to need to take time doing SEO to your website. It’ll take several months, but once you’ve done it successfully, you’ll see tons of leads and phone calls start to come in!
Believe me- my website has become a lead-magnet! And if you want me to teach you how to do that to yours, I will. Just ask me!
Create a keyword list and work on properly optimizing your website by doing some stellar on-page SEO. Also, be sure to optimize content properly. If you want more information on how to do that using Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, check out this article here. Also, it’s important to do off-page SEO and begin to get exposure through blogging, social media and guest posting.
If you manage to rank your website in a way that gets you new customers, then congratulations. This is the most sought out and desired way to find new clients.
Tip 2: NETWORKING AND FORUMS
Networking by using BNI meetings, LeTip International, Meetup.com or similar groups provides a unique and reliable way to get new SEO clients. I’ve personally attended both BNI meetings and LeTip meetings. They allow you to attend for free two times and I highly recommend going just to check it out if nothing else.
Now, I’m gonna be real with you. These meetings weren’t for me. I’m still a fan of Tip #1, if you didn’t already guess. But if you’re comfortable talking about your brand and don’t mind paying dues for membership (for some of the groups), you will definitely find new business by attending. Just make sure you assess the groups properly so you’re not putting money into a group that doesn’t have members who will use your services.
The purpose of BNI and LeTip is to network with other members and refer people to other members business. It’s a professional society and not everyone will be invited to join. As far as Meetup.com, you can tailor finding a group to the kind of clients you wish to take on and any business networking groups they have in the area.
In addition to meetings, forums provide a unique opportunity if you’re more of the type to participate in online forums. If you’re looking for Real Estate SEO clients, joining a site such as Bigger Pockets could provide you with a great way to talk to people in need of SEO services.
Tip 3: FACEBOOK ADVERTISING
Using Facebook advertising is a great way to get new business and leads. Consult with a marketer so you understand the importance of facebook ad design and you can do it on your own or enlist the help of someone else. Facebook is great to target people in a way that’s very specific. If you have a niche you work with primarily, you can easily reach millions of people who work within that industry and could be potential clients. Be sure to reference successful facebook ads examples and you should find success in this method of building your SEO business.
Tip 4: MANAGEMENT-WARE
Using Management-Ware to scrape data off the internet is a great way to prospect. It’s free and an awesome tool for building lists of businesses you can target.
You can set parameters to scrape a business’s info that meets specific criteria. You an scrape data by location and using specific keywords as well.
Management-Ware software is easy to use and there are many tutorials that can help you get accustomed to the software. I’ve used it, and personally feel it’s a great way to gain new business.
Tip 5: CONTACT WARM LEADS
Contacting a “warm lead” is much different than cold calling. A warm lead might be someone you know who has expressed interest in SEO. Or a warm lead might be someone you are connected to on social media.
You can warm up leads in many different ways. You can send them postcards or a few emails before reaching out. This way your not just calling them without any prior interaction. You can also do a video audit of their website prior to reaching out. This will definitely spark interest and raise the chances of you getting them as a new client.
Tip 6: FOCUS ON REVIEWS
Shifting some of your focus to reputation management and review generation is a really great idea for you to pick up new SEO clients. Most people want to know if a company is good prior to purchasing services or a product. For this reason, reputation management has become increasingly more important.
If you think about some of the last purchases you made, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were like me. I personally only purchase items or go to restaurants that have at least 4 stars and a large number of reviews (when compared to similar items or services). I’m pretty confident to say that many people have this same mindset, and it won’t be changing any time soon.
Instead of wanting to delete your Yelp account if you get a few bad reviews, focus on building your reputation and responding in a more positive way. This is another organic way that is sure to lead new clients in your direction.
Conclusion:
You have quite a few options for getting new SEO clients. If you test these 6 methods, you are sure to find one that works well for you. It’s a matter of your own personal style and comfort level. We wish you much success and hope you’ve learned a lot from these 6 tips to get SEO clients without cold calling!
