The best way to get SEO clients?

35 replies
I have started a new SEO company as I have been SEOing websites for about 10 years now.I am at the top of Google for my search term Guernsey SEO but nobody is searching for that search term. How can they when they have never heard about SEO - the unknown unknown. How do people get SEO clients? Facebook is no good either.
#clients #seo
  • Profile picture of the author jenifersoflous
    Hi,

    Simple 3 steps you follow!
    Promote your website or your agency in social media page
    Start a blog and update your on- page & Off-page (success and failure in optimisation)
    Create a business profile in LinkedIn - you can reach the lacks of customers there.

    Thank you. I hope this will help you.
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    I saw several posts from Lion Zeal Show, and it said cold email outreach is still working like a charm.
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    Create the awareness on social media, email marketing to show people the benefits of SEO. It means you should "train" your target customers before selling to them. Give them some real case studies how SEO helps to boost revenue; indicate problems with their websites, show them how to fix. Be helpful first, then people will contact you.
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    Originally Posted by guernseydonkey View Post

    I have started a new SEO company as I have been SEOing websites for about 10 years now.I am at the top of Google for my search term Guernsey SEO but nobody is searching for that search term. How can they when they have never heard about SEO - the unknown unknown. How do people get SEO clients? Facebook is no good either.
    Ranking a page.. and then ranking a page that actually gets conversions are 2 different things. You need to find the terms that are being searched, and target those. Its not that people are not looking.. you simply are not n the places they are. Try something like " getting more web traffic Guernsey "

    Just some food for thought.
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  • Profile picture of the author echelon
    On top of social media marketing and having a blog, you may also post on craigslist about your SEO services. I had promoted one or more sites in that niche years ago and this is one of the actions I took. Posting content regularly in groups on Linkedin may also get you traffic (more social media).
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Hi GuernseyDonkey,

    Frustrating buddy, I know.

    Clients and business flow to you when you:

    - prove that you know your craft by helping folks for free through your wordpress dot org blog, through YouTube, through podcasting, through guest posting and through any channels
    - build your friend network by generously helping other SEO folks, promoting them and endorsing them

    Clients dig skilled, abundant-feeling, generous people and hire them quickly. But being skilled requires you to generously share your SEO knowledge freely through your blog, through the mentioned channels and by promoting other SEO folks, leading to friendships and cross-promoting opportunities. Promoting other SEO folks helps you release the fear of competition; a huge mental block plaguing most human beings LOL

    Focus less on Google and more on helping folks and connecting with pros in your niche, by mentioning them on your blog and by promoting them. All of your business and future clients grow out of your generosity.

    Ryan
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  • Profile picture of the author bobmcalister
    quickest method is to call sites on the second page of google.
    to anyone who answers the phone, I say ..Hello this is bob,,,you have time for a quick question? sure they say ...then say Do you think the boss would be interested in ranking your site better so you get more clients? shut up..when boss gets on the phone. ..ask him the same question...when he answers..start asking questions about his business,,what type of marketing have you done? have you had anyone else try to improve your rankings? etc...then say, well from WHAT YOU TOLD ME, I think we may have a fit. go from there with what you can do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Posterhead Signs
    Im joined this forum to learn about seo and increase traffic to my site .
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  • Profile picture of the author pdg203
    Scout out some clients that you think would be a good fit for your company and then SHOW them what they are doing wrong with their SEO. Giving them a free SEO report would be a great way to provide some value upfront before they even hire you. There are loads of sites out there where you can generate SEO analysis reports on any website like SEOptimer and then customize the report to your branding.
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  • Profile picture of the author thomarv37
    It's very cheap to use PPC for my local area in regards to SEO related keywords. Only like .85 cents per click. I would check Google Keyword tools to see what keywords in your area are averaging per click.
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  • Profile picture of the author newton
    Best way to sell SEO is not to mention SEO at all. Businesses are hit everyday with spam emails offering SEO services etc and they become blind to anything to do with SEO.


    You need a way of getting your foot in the door by offering smaller services. Find something wrong or that can be improved with their website and fix it for free. Create free videos showing what is wrong with their website and how you can fix it. Tell them how much business they are losing to their competitors because they are not ranked in Google. Offer to do their social marketing for free.


    Lots of ways to try and get that first 'in'. Be different. Provide value first. You'll then get the trust to be able to charge the right price for your service.
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  • Connect with your target audience
    If your customers can't find you (through organic search or your advertising), the only option left for you is to go after them yourself.

    This is where most of my efforts have been invested in these past few years and where I have been able to convert the biggest clients I have ever worked with.

    Your strategy here would be to:

    Establish the criteria for the search;
    Find people who seek SEO advice;
    Reach out offering your help and expertise.
    Before you start:
    Build a list of your target keywords
    You know you're searching for people seeking SEO help or looking for an SEO agency; but they will not always express their needs so explicitly. Your client prospects may be asking more specific questions that have to do with particular aspects of SEO -- think recent Google updates or manual penalties. Before you start your client hunt, it's a good idea to sit down and make up a comprehensive list of keywords you'll use in your search, both generic SEO-related terms and more specific key phrases -- preferably related to aspects of SEO you specialize in. Here's an example of what your list may look like:

    choosing an SEO agency
    best SEO companies
    recommend an SEO agency
    how much do SEO services cost
    recovering from Penguin
    how to build quality links
    getting rid of bad backlinks
    Google manual penalty
    The where:
    Here are the places to look for potential clients
    People in need of SEO help usually have similar questions, and these questions are usually placed on similar websites:

    1. SEO and business-related websites
    LinkedIn Pulse posts, LinkedIn Groups, SearchEngineJournal, SearchEngineLand, MOZ, SEOChat, DigitalPoint Forums, eConsultancy, UKBusinessForums, etc -- all these websites can be a perfect place to find potential SEO clients.

    The strategy here is that you want to roam these websites looking for comments or posts regarding personal SEO or digital marketing experiences.

    In order to quickly sieve through pages of these websites, use simple search commands on Google such as:

    site:example.com your keyword
    site:example.com "your keyword"



    Tip: Getting too many results?
    If you're overwhelmed with the amount of results you get for your queries, you can narrow it down to make sure you're only participating in the latest discussions and answering questions that were posted not long ago. To do that, hit Google Search Tools on a Google results page, click Any time, and select the date range you'd like to receive results for.



    2. Yahoo Answers, Quora, and Google Product Forums
    Countless amounts of site owners or SEO managers have either complained about a recent Google penalty that they have received or have asked for advice on the issue.

    "Relationships gained from Yahoo Answers and Google Product Forums are responsible for around 90% of my client base."

    Yahoo Answers and Quora are two great little hangouts for experts on any subject one can imagine, including all SEO-related topics. Simply run your site:answers.yahoo.com and site:quora.com searches on Google.

    You'll probably be surprised how many questions don't have an answer yet. So get writing!



    Google Product Forums is the place you go to ask for advice or share your expertise on a plethora of topics. Webmasters and business owners frequently share their SEO-related problems on the forums -- a perfect spot for you to step in and offer advice.



    Tip: Out of keyword ideas?
    Don't worry if you've run out of keyword ideas to use for your prospect searches on Google. Browse through Google Product Forums' Webmaster section -- you'll be surprised to find that no less than half of the posts have to do with SEO.



    After you run the search, you should end up with a list of dozens of prospects you could potentially reach out and pitch SEO services to. But first, you need to categorize your prospects and build the right strategy for pitching each group.

    The who:
    Identify your market and segment your audience
    Your ideal strategy will depend a lot on whether you're pitching your services to Big Brands or SMEs (small to medium enterprises). So before you get down to the outreach, you have to segment your prospects and refine your list to make sure you're reaching out to the right people in the right way.

    If you are trying to connect with Big Brands, then the person who you have to communicate with will usually have a title that reads: Digital Marketing Director, SEO Manager, Head of SEO, Marketing Director, Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, etc.

    If you are trying to connect with SMEs, the person you will have to communicate with will usually have a title that reads: Founder, Co-Founder, CEO, Owner, Co-owner, Managing Director, etc.

    The how:
    Pitch your services the right way
    Use the right tone with each group.
    Your 'tone of voice' when dealing with each of the Big Brands and SMEs will be completely different. For Big Brand individuals, you will have to consistently be chasing and be insistent on arranging a chat or get together during work hours (9 to 5). Remember most of these marketing or SEO managers are not that keen to make a deal, especially since their participation on these forums might be outside of office hours or for personal gain rather than for the company they represent.

    For SME individuals, any time and any place to connect is ideal, you simply offer your two cents of advice and let them chase you.

    Don't hard-sell, build trust instead.
    When reaching out, you don't want to go in for the hard sell straight away. Offer your customized advice, guidance or tips on each case and go as far as to offer an hour of video consultancy or a face-to-face sit down. The trust and bond you will form will soon transform free advice into a paid business deal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Experito
    Is your URL bridgedigital.gg/services/seo (position 1) or
    guernseydonkeyseo.co.uk (position 6 in Google)?
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    Cold outreach with free SEO audit report always bring best result.
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  • Profile picture of the author dilek101
    Certainly not by spamming their e-mails and sending generic messages. Whenever I buy new domains I get massive massive spam in my inbox. One of the best ways is to show what you can do and provide actual proof of your past work and also your website should rank quite good for a few keywords.
    I have doubled-tripled my clients traffic and enquiries so if someone asks them about an seo / developer they just recommend me. Also if you search for an seo company in my area my website is the first result.
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  • Either just dig through the web or go the easy way - get a business contact data provider. Anything from Hunter to Oxyleads. Then just concentrate on the approach format and text.
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  • Profile picture of the author tobinjohny
    Promote your website or your agency in social media page
    Build a list of your target keywords.
    The where: Here are the places to look for potential clients.
    The who: Identify your market and segment your audience.
    The how: Pitch your services the right way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Habibur Rahaman
    Go to more market place for seo clients
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  • Profile picture of the author jessicamorgan
    This isn't how SEO works. If you're willing to drive audience to your website organically, you need to perform a keyword research and make a list of the possible keyword terms people would be using to find SEO businesses. You also need to perform an audit of your site and address all of the on-site elements. SEO has gain popularity and has become a very common practice.
    Also analyze your website content, if the content doesn't describe your offered services clearly then it won't be easier to make site rank for the targeting keywords. I would recommend to contact a reliable content writing services like Content Development Pros to draft SEO-friendly web content that can help Google recognize your business niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author gunwithdraw
    I use PPC for this
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  • Profile picture of the author HerbertMendez
    Finding clients in any consulting business is not always easy and with years of experience on the agency side, I know the problems you face winning new SEO clients and educating them. Here i have given few of the ways through which you can get SEO clients easily. Offer Free Facebook Business Page Creation Service, Offer Free SEO Audits, Hold Local Marketing Seminars or Networking Events, Attend Trade Shows in Various Industries (not just SEO), Create a Local Marketing Facebook Group in Your Town / Region.
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  • Profile picture of the author alordincans1
    Oh man, let me tell you. It's tough. I've been running an agency for the past two years.

    I started doing some outbound marketing, outreaching on LinkedIn (here's a good guide on how to do it: https://astrogrowth.com/linkedin-lead-generation-guide/) and through cold e-mails and I managed to book about 3-5 sales calls per week.

    However it's tough to get qualified calls through outbound, and you always start in a position where you're kind of begging to get them on the phone, even if you are careful trying to be perceived high-value.)

    I'm now focusing on just inbound: content marketing and SEO.

    SEO in particular can be amazing if you want to remain in a local niche. most of the times it isn't as competitive to rank for "SEO Your City."

    Content Marketing it's harder and way more long-term as you truly have to create valuable and remarkable content (which btw, as you probably already know, will boost your SEO.)

    I've heard different thought about Facebook Ads for generating leads for agencies, but this largerly depends on your budget and knowledge.

    I would say stick with what you know already.

    And keep in mind that having a agency means running a B2B business where sales cycles are waaaay longer than just instantly buying a $20 product on a eCommerce.

    It happened to me that people read my content 1 year ago and only when they were ready they were ready they hired us for a 3k deal.

    It's a chess game, your moves will only see results in the long-run.
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  • Profile picture of the author 479
    It's not so much about getting clients as it is good clients. We've all had clients who are tire-kickers / wantrepreneurs / or I call them "walkers" since I like the "Walking Dead" so much lately (just got turned on to it).



    Local SEO won't do you much good if you live in a small tourist town like I do, and networking is only as good as the type of people you meet. Again, if you live n a small isolated tourist town, where most people are old and rich, everything is a joke to them. What businesses there are, are franchises or very small "mom and pop" operations that don't understand SEO, or see any value in web design when they can go to Wix and "get a website for free!" So it's about quality over quantity.



    I recommend networking at the largest city near you, volunteering with a local chapter of SCORE (but being keenly aware of what you're getting into with them - you can't mention paid services or charging for anything in any way someone can prove or they will ban you for life but if you give presentations and mention your business and give out cards that way, and use it to network to meet larger business owners it can potentially work). Give the same PPT presentation to different local associations, business networking groups, Chamber events, and so on and you come to be seen as the Trusted Expert. Since most everyone involved with SCORE.org is 70-80 years old, almost none of them know what SEO is or what a website is; they think it's a fad for kids or tied into playing games online. You'll quickly rise to the top wherever you get involved with them. You just have to play their social game and get referrals in-person and verbally, and never do anything via email or where someone can complain that you charge for services and you can get alot of leads indirectly.



    I also go to Indeed and look up remote jobs, Craigslist, contact local agencies for white label work, and go to conferences and every networking event possible. If you're political, get involved politically. My wife landed a job through volunteering at events and I got a job creating a website for a local politician running for office and several advisory jobs and tons of testimonials and references. If you volunteer and are unpaid, only do it for "reduced cost" never free, and ask for referrals to local lawyers, law firms, accountants, and speaking gigs to organizations they are a member of in exchange for that work.



    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author rkahn
    I know of Facebook Groups that are exclusively dedicated to helping digital marketing agencies find new clients. On this forum, a successful internet marketer shared very interesting facts about the clients he had acquired in the past.

    He noted that no more than 5-10% of leads convert into clients in the first meetup whereas more than 30-40% of leads took more than 6 months to mature.

    The point being that not all SEO and other digital marketing leads can be converted in the first meetup. Don't be discouraged. Even the pros can take up to 6 months to convert clients. Just be persistent and focus on building long-term relationship while adding value.

    If you learn how to do that, you will never have problem finding clients in any industry, not just digital marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author naviown
    Promote your skills on various forums. Especially forums like these. Build a portfolio and then work up from there. Client will require samples so you gotta have those.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yvon Boulianne
    best way i use is to blast thousands of email to local business, 14% answer rates (10% say interested, 4% say get lost) so that work very well, overwhelm with leads (just trash 28 leads a few days ago as i was too busy to call them back and it was too late after a few weeks but who cares, i have as much as i want lol)
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  • Profile picture of the author gilcags
    I haven't tried selling SEO upfront, I normally start with creating client sites, mainly small business. Then pitch in a site maintenance and later on, they start asking about getting more leads and clients, etc.. So I normally have them start the conversation first.
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  • Profile picture of the author 777King777
    Im joined this forum to learn about Growth and increase traffic to my site. Who can give me some advices to start with it? THNX
    P.s. Sorry for my English
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  • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
    Originally Posted by guernseydonkey View Post

    I have started a new SEO company as I have been SEOing websites for about 10 years now.I am at the top of Google for my search term Guernsey SEO but nobody is searching for that search term. How can they when they have never heard about SEO - the unknown unknown. How do people get SEO clients? Facebook is no good either.

    Hello Martin

    We actually run one of the largest Agencies in the UK and SEO is one of the services we offer.

    But we don't sell SEO. We sell Increased Profits.

    I had a look at your website and you give some good information there. But small business owners are not interested in SEO, some really don't even know what it is. And for many, reading through your website explaining SEO services, would be like forcing them to sit down and read the operating manual of an electric can opener. Equally boring to them even though you and I know it is valuable content.

    All they are interested in is making more profit. Spelt PROFIT not spelt SEO!

    So most would not be searching for SEO services anyway, no matter how many keywords you ranked your site for.

    So we sell the concept of increased profits or more clients/customers (same thing really), no matter what services we are selling. (we are a full service Agency)

    So we are not sitting here waiting for potential clients to contact us, we are reaching out to contact them. One very simple example was just a postcard saying "We Can Help You Make More Profit " "Call Me - 00000000000" "Lindy" (We made the Headline industry specific, so for example - "We Can Help You Make More Profit With Your Landscaping Business"

    One campaign where we used that postcard was for Gardeners/Landscapers. We printed a small case study booklet with testimonials from some of our Landscaping clients (as to how we had increased their customer base and profits) that we offered to them on the phone call.

    Another fun campaign was to Lawn Mowing Services, We used what is called Lumpy Mail, sending some physical item in a package. So to start with, a mailing with something lumpy in it will stand out and be opened. We sent them a piece of artificial lawn with a mailing that said something like: If they wanted some bigger mowing jobs to just call us. (something like that)

    We did another lumpy mail campaign for landscapers in the US. That time we sent them some small rocks with a colour flyer showing some rock landscaping, and headline on our flyer saying we could turn those small rocks into big rocks - just call us.

    These campaign provide us with heaps of qualified leads, they are calling us so we know they are interested in increasing their customers and profits. They are only very marginally interested in how we will do that, as long as we produce results for them they remain happy clients.

    Cheers
    Lindy
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  • Profile picture of the author ahmed2520
    1. Select a Niche (Or a Few Niches)
    2. Content Marketing for Getting More SEO Clients
    3. Remarketing Using Facebook, LinkedIn, Email, and Google AdWords
    4. Running Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn Ads to Cold Traffic
    5. Leveraging Referrals
    6. Ranking Locally
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  • Profile picture of the author Chasing Media
    Some best ways to get SEO clients are:

    Promote your website in Social Media to gain more attention
    Make strong your content and share it, strong always gets the good result
    Gain leads by using Q/A sites like Quora and use forums
    Send emails and create video related to SEO, it will help you to generate leads.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    I have read what most contributors have said here and it can be summed up to just three things.
    1. Create awareness about what you do. The best way to do this is to write blogs and have them posted on guest sites. If the articles can be backlinked to your website, the better for you.
    2. Use the social media. Facebook may not have worked for you because you wanted instant results. Be patient, it takes time.
    3. Use paid adverts, especially on Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author kebumen
    SEO is mistery. For my, SEO is related with driving traffics. If your goal is increase the traffics come to your blog, a lot of way you can do, such as writing article, share your blog on social media, off line promotion, guest blogging, and many more. Basically, all those way is driving traffics constantly.
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  • Profile picture of the author AlbertDavid
    You need to do some SEO yourself. And try marketing like email, affiliate etc. Start a blog and you can get guest bloggers t your site, who'd be happy you have your post in their site as well. Since you're just starting up, you can even try in job posting sites to look for leads to work with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Natural Puerh
    Unbelievable thread, a ten year SEOer doesnot know how to find customers!
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