Why You Struggle to Sell SEO

As the modern business environment increasingly gets more digitized, SEO is pivotal in helping businesses make major strides in establishing a solid digital footprint. The rapid rise of SEO in the last decade signifies a shift in consumers’ purchasing habits. So, as we get deeper into the age of the internet, SEO is valuable in many significant ways, especially for businesses operating online. 

While some businesses succeed with what appears to be the most popular digital marketing strategy, many are finding it a challenge. It’s not easy to rank high and stay relevant on search engine results, and it can be frustrating. But why do some businesses struggle as SEO resellers in selling this service? This article details why your clients might be struggling with SEO and tips on how to solve them. Let’s get started!

Who Buys SEO?

Every business needs marketing, so technically, any business can potentially benefit from SEO. Establishing an impactful online presence is paramount today, requiring an immense focus on SEO. However, certain business enterprises, in certain industries, depend on advanced access to SEO and other digital marketing strategies more than others. They consist of businesses operating in highly competitive industries or those exclusive to the digital environment. Companies that fall into the categories below tend to rely more on SEO to be found online: 

• Restaurants and entertainment 
• Online exclusive companies 
• Professional service companies (accountants, IT, legal experts, financial advisors, etc.)
• Medical and dental service providers 
• Real estate 
• Multi-location enterprises 

Understanding the Value of SEO

Having your clients invest in SEO can help drive incredible value to your business, as well as theirs in today’s world of search. It’s considered the most viable and cost-effective strategy for understanding and reaching as many customers in key moments. SEO offers more than just increasing your site’s overall online searchability and visibility. Here are a few ways strategically investing in SEO can have a meaningful impact on your client’s business:

• Generates quality traffic that can increase engagement and conversions
• Enhances trust and credibility of your brand
• Optimizes user experience
• The impact is more permanent, and value compounds over time
• Provides 24/7 promotion
• Offers comprehensive analysis

How is Selling SEO Different from Selling Other Digital Marketing Products?

Many people consider SEO a synonymous term for digital marketing, even though that’s not the case. The reality is that despite being connected, the two are entirely different marketing concepts. While SEO involves using tools and practices to help a website gain a higher search engine ranking, digital marketing is a far broader umbrella that encompasses any strategy you can incorporate to promote your brand online, including SEO. So, it’s important to understand that selling SEO services differs substantially from selling other digital marketing products. 

For instance, selling it is more straightforward. It involves selling services to improve the ranking of a site or a web page on the search engine results page (SERP). On the other hand, selling other digital marketing tools can sometimes involve using ads, posts, videos, or social media to increase outreach. 

Other sources of differences include scope and experts. Whereas SEO involves a narrower scope, that is, search engine results, depending on the digital marketing product, the scope can be broader—for example, content marketing. Whether you decide to adopt your SEO strategy in-house or outsource, you’ll need a dedicated expert to help you execute it well. The specialist for other digital marketing tactics will depend on the product. 

Reasons Why SEO is the Right Option

Many business owners encounter the idea of committing to SEO to improve their online presence multiple times, but only a few vie for the top-shelf rankings. In specific, a majority of small business owners hesitate to invest in SEO out of a lack of knowledge and the idea that they don’t need it. So let’s face it–not many people understand the fundamentals and mechanics of SEO, so misconceptions, like it’s too technical or ineffective, are common. Many businesses don’t believe that their target audience is searching for them online and rely too heavily on word-of-mouth (WOM). 

WOM marketing is still highly effective, but the landscape is shifting and 53% of shoppers use search engines for research before making a purchase or decision to ensure they’re making the best possible choice.

In addition, such owners believe SEO is something for certain businesses, most established brands with high budgets for digital marketing.

None of this is true; SEO is not technical. On the contrary, it is a simple and easy-to-execute marketing strategy and is certainly readily available for all businesses, regardless of size, nature, or industry. So here are three reasons SEO is the right option for your business:

• SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that promises incrementally more sales and profitability.
• It differs from other advertising methods in that it taps into consumers with clearer intention to buy, helping you target consumers at every stage of the buying cycle and significantly lowering your cost per acquisition (CPA).
• It is a cost-effective marketing strategy with a great return on investment (ROI).

5 Reasons Why SEO Might Not Be Working for Your Clients

Your client has committed to SEO after realizing its significance and learning how it can transform your business. However, they’re not seeing a substantial outcome from their decision. Instead, their SEO strategy seems to fail and their site is still in deep waters in search engines. Here are a few reasons‌ on why this could be: 

1. Unrealistic Timeline

Though very effective, SEO isn’t a quick fix; it requires time. It can take up to six months of fully-fledged and consistent SEO strategy before clients see the effects. So, if your client is after speed over sustainability, SEO may not be the right option for them. Various factors are involved in how fast they rank higher on SERPs, including website’s age and authority, competitors, errors and hosting issues, and penalties hindering rankings. You want to aim for long-term thinking for a successful SEO strategy. 

2. Difficulty Differentiating SEO and PPC

A client’s SEO strategy isn’t yielding desirable results because they may be mistaking it for PPC. Even though they both drive traffic to your website, they differ in terms of how they are used to attract traffic–they are not interchangeable marketing approaches. While SEO is organic, you pay in PPC advertising to generate traffic. Also, PPC will drive leads in the short term to a website, whereas SEO will inform a long-term strategy. So, their SEO may not be working because they are probably mistaking it for PPC.

3. DIY SEO Strategy

SEO marketing is a complex and demanding process requiring certain skill sets and expertise. Unless you’re an expert with tons of experience, your best bet is outsourcing your SEO strategy. You’re bound to make mistakes such as ignoring certain keywords, using too many keywords, and producing unengaging content. In some cases, these errors predispose you to Google penalties and drive your site or web page further down the SERPs. 

4. Outdated Tactics

Because Google and other search engines constantly update their algorithms, SEO changes every day. So, if your client doesn’t feel their SEO isn’t living up to its expectation, revisit certain tactics; they may be out-of-date. It is in your best interest to always ensure your SEO strategy aligns with the Google Algorithm if you want to enjoy meaningful results. 

5. Extremely Competitive Niche

Your campaign might be doing everything right, but some efforts may never pay off for reasons beyond your control. Achieving a higher search engine ranking in a highly competitive industry with multiple established competitors with superior marketing budgets and strategies is challenging. Your client may think their SEO is failing, but the reality is that competition is just too intense. Realize that SEO building and success don’t happen overnight and that your clients need to update SEO to stay ahead of their rivals constantly. 

Take Your SEO Strategy to the Next Level

As we’ve seen, SEO is essential for your client’s online marketing campaign. It is vital to strengthen an online presence by helping clients rank higher in SERPs, drive traffic, lead to conversions, and establish brand trust and authenticity. However, to see the result, you need months of consistent work. And even then, you may not realize the potential of an SEO strategy. 

Partnering with Boostability to deliver SEO can provide you and your team with extra support in learning how to sell SEO more effectively and with proven strategies designed to deliver results in various industry verticals. Learn more about our SEO Partner Program here and get in touch with a team member today for answers to your questions!