One of the biggest challenges businesses face is how to attract more business. For our white label SEO reseller partners, they regularly ask how to get SEO clients that truly can benefit from organic traffic. This article will go through several strategies and examples of how to better attract clients that align with your business and are the right fit for SEO.
Why Should You Sell SEO?
To start off, we want to talk about why you should sell SEO as an agency, a web developer, or various other internet-related companies. If you’re new to this or have reached a point in your business where you’re looking to scale even greater than you have been able to, consider the white label partnership approach.
Selling SEO services and working with a white label partner is an easy win for you. It’s a way for you to start to bring in new customers, a new revenue stream with a high-demand product, and add a new offering to your product lineup that can truly help your clients. This type of partnership eliminates overhead costs, such as bringing on new tools, software programs, and experienced employees. It’s an easy way to grow and scale your business with minimal cost and effort on your end.
14 Proven Strategies on How to Get SEO Clients for Your Business
- Offer a Free Audit
- Create an Affiliate Partnership Program
- List Your Business on Directories
- Ask for Referrals
- Contact through Outbound Calling and Emailing
- Cross-Sell to Current Customers
- Partner With a White Label Provider
- Produce Informative Content and Helpful Resources
- Make Organic Search a Priority
- Leverage Paid Ads
- Share Your Expertise
- Give Out Branded Swag
- Put Yourself in The Room Where It Happens
- Monitor Social Media Accounts
1. Offer a Free Audit
People love free options, especially when it’s something that can actually help their business. So why not offer free SEO audits or an audit of their website performance? It’s an excellent selling tool for you because it provides hard data that supports your position on why they need help with their SEO.
There are a lot of website submission tools available online that you can use, including ours. Test out our free website submission tool and see what kind of SEO improvements can be made to your client’s website.
2. Create an Affiliate Partnership Program
Working with other industry professionals in establishing an affiliate partnership program can be beneficial for everyone involved – you, your partner, and the client. This doesn’t have to be a direct competitor. Instead, look for a complementing industry partner like a web development, graphic design, or paid advertising agency.
By referring business to affiliate partners on projects or campaigns that are out-of-scope for your specialty, it can create a lucrative opportunity to get new clients. And you won’t have to work so hard to cold call or outreach, your partner establishes the connection for you.
3. List Your Business on Directories
As would be the recommendation for your local SEO clients, follow the same advice for your business and get it listed on local, national, or industry-specific directories. It’s a simple way to increase your reach and get seen by more people that are looking for help with SEO.
Directories and listings can help you find new SEO clients that are warm leads rather than cold leads because they’re already looking for an agency or organization that can help them with SEO, they just need to narrow it down to who can do it best.
4. Ask for Referrals
It’s said that word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools in your sales arsenal. People trust what other people have to say about your business and their experience with it. That’s part of why online reviews are so important. But one of your greatest methods of finding new SEO clients is from your existing customers.
Referrals aren’t necessarily formal documents. It could look like asking a customer if they know of anyone else who could benefit from SEO services. You could ask those who have seen success with SEO to leave a review on Google, Clutch, and other trusted platforms. It may be leaving a testimonial that you have posted on your website for all visitors to see.
If potential customers can see that you’re trustworthy and do a good job, you’re more likely to get a sale. And if a current client recommends you to someone else, you already have a foot in the door. Don’t be afraid to reach out and see if those you’re already connected to can help facilitate new conversations with others who can benefit from the SEO services you offer.
If it’s a feasible option for your business, incentivizing existing clients with discounts or other promotional perks is a great option. A referral to their friends, family members, and acquaintances can go a long way in helping you find new SEO clients.
5. Contact through Outbound Calling and Emailing
Did you know that outbound calling and cold emailing is still one of the most popular methods for finding new SEO clients? People still talk on the phone, and it’s not just texts and emails! Talking to a potential client allows you to make that personal connection and help them understand how your company can help theirs grow through an SEO campaign.
If you don’t have a strong lead gen channel that is bringing in potential customers for you to sell to, consider this idea:
Look for any business on positions 30+ of Google SERPs in your local area. For example, looking for a ‘carpet cleaner in Fairfax, Virginia’ yields a lot of options. Those within the top 10 may not have an immediate need for SEO. But those listed beyond the first SERP desperately do and are missing out on a lot of valuable traffic by just not being visible.
You can start doing outbound calls or email outreach to help them understand the benefits of SEO. Showing them their problem by showing up in the results of Google helps them understand the value of SEO from the beginning.
While speaking with someone on the phone makes it easier to establish a connection with others, emailing is still a highly effective channel of communication as well. Use tools like Hunter.io to find contact information if it’s not readily available so you know who you’re reaching out to.
6. Cross-Sell to Current Customers
One of your greatest resources are the customers you already have! They already use your company, and like what you’re doing for their website or business. Use that to your advantage!
If you approach them with a, “Hey we’re offering a new SEO product that you could benefit from for the following reasons: _______. They are more likely to listen because you’re already helping them grow. Take advantage of the greatest lead gen list you can get with the clients and customers you already have and serve!
7. Partner With a White Label Provider
Along the lines of cross-selling to current customers, you may have a list of existing clients that would benefit from SEO but you’re not offering those services yourself. Maybe you’ve thought about adding on a new service but are put off from the high risk, costs, and resources that are associated with new product or service offerings.
If this is you, there are options for you to increase your revenue streams successfully without taking on the burdens that often come with it, and that’s by partnering with an experienced company that provides white label SEO services.
What this means is that the company you’re partnering with will provide you with SEO strategies and deliverables to implement for your client campaigns that are branded with your company logo and information. The white label partner works behind the scenes for you and your business can take the credit for the work!
We’ve found that this is beneficial and sustainable for both partners. One already has the bandwidth, resources, and experience to deliver successful results. Meanwhile, the other partner has a list of viable clients that can truly benefit from SEO.
8. Produce Informative Content and Helpful Resources
A great way to get new SEO clients is through content marketing. You can leverage content resources that business owners find value in. If you’re targeting a specific niche or industry, create a guide on what they can do now to optimize their website for technical SEO and start gaining visibility.
Offering up valuable and helpful information with no strings attached can help develop a trusting relationship with potential clients. It shows that you know what your stuff when it comes to SEO, but that you also know how to cater this to their industry or business needs. Here are some ways in which you could do this:
- Publish frequent blog posts and produce Google E-E-A-T worthy content
- Provide free resources like white paper and guides that readers can download and refer to on their own time
- Link to free resources online that speak to the latest industry best practices and updates
- And more!
Get creative here! Put yourself in their shoes and figure out what you would find valuable working in that type of business.
9. Make Organic Search a Priority
We have to throw this one in, mainly because it works, and it works well. SEO gets you found online, in a natural and simple way that potential clients prefer. So if you’re selling it, you should also use SEO as a strategy to find new business. You know SEO works to get you to the top of Google, and that in turn is a surefire solution on how to get SEO clients.
Organic search can be one of the greatest long term lead gen channels. Most consumers start their search online when they’re ready to make a purchase. They want to see which businesses can best help them at the right price. Take advantage of that by optimizing your website for those searching for the very SEO product that you offer.
And as we mentioned above, producing quality, valuable, and E-E-A-T worthy content will help boost your keyword rankings and get you found by the right type of client.
10. Leverage Paid Ads
Paid ads can be part of a winning digital marketing strategy. This gets your business in front of potential customers searching for SEO services without the time it takes to grow your presence organically. Paid ads continue to take up more and more real estate on Google SERPs.
Of course this doesn’t discount the importance of organic, which will always be there. But you can also take advantage of a paid search campaign through Google Ads or paid social ads to reach a greater audience and get clients for your SEO business. Paid ads help to build instant brand recognition for your company.
11. Share Your Expertise
Trust is the foundation of every relationship and it absolutely has to be present even when you’re in the process of finding new SEO clients. It may not be a 100% trusting relationship, but enough to convince people to use your SEO services over a competitor. One way to do this is by contributing to your industry and sharing your expertise.
Do this by engaging on public or local forums, answer community questions about SEO, speak at conferences, or post a webinar once a month. You could also produce helpful content on your website, or contribute to a trusted industry source with guest posts.
When people see that you contribute and engage with your respective industry and community, it demonstrates trust and expertise. If you’re new to this, start small and build up overtime to a cadence that is sustainable for you.
12. Give Out Branded Swag
While it’s a more traditional marketing tactic, it’s effective and as we mentioned earlier, people love free stuff. Giving out branded swag to businesses gives your brand exposure. It helps put your business at the top of mind for them when it comes to choosing an SEO provider, especially if they see your branded merchandise every day at work. It’s also a great way to find and meet new SEO clients in person.
Think outside of the box (avoid the typical pen and fidget spinner). A cost effective and practical option is a webcam cover or clip! With the push for increased privacy, everyone uses it.
13. Put Yourself in The Room Where It Happens
We’ll borrow a line from Hamilton here, and we think Aaron Burr was right. In order to find clients, you have to put yourself in the places where these connections get made. We’re talking events, conferences, webinars (where you attend, not host), and more. We live in a digital world, but real people drive the tech.
Remembering the human element in the work you’re offering makes it easier to show people the real-world impact SEO can make for a small business. We’re tech-powered, human enabled—your approach to SEO should be, too. Networking is a valuable tactic to getting new clients for your SEO business so use these outlets and opportunities to do just that.
14. Monitor Social Media Accounts
Find new SEO clients by brand monitoring your social media accounts. This lead acquisition tool can help filter out the clients who would best be aligned for this type of service anyway, making your job of selling the service significantly easier.
Keep tabs on what’s trending on social media platforms, what types of questions are people asking, and what businesses or services they are looking to fulfill their needs. This information is invaluable and once you have some leads, hop on this opportunity to get new clients for your SEO business!
How to Get SEO Clients: Take the Necessary Steps
Finding new SEO clients can seem like a difficult process. But when you break down this huge picture into smaller pieces, there are so many opportunities for getting new clients for your SEO business.
Everyone’s business is different though. What works for some may not work for you, so it’s important to be diligent and to test out the various strategies and see what works best for your business and area. And once you’ve found your target audience, the next step is to learn how to prospect for clients and close the sale.
As the globally leading white label SEO agency, Boostability aims to help our partner agencies succeed and become sustainable businesses for both themselves and their clients. While selling the product directly to clients is definitely your responsibility as the reseller, we are here to lighten the load.
Every partner SEO campaign has access to Sales Support, which connects you to our team of experts. They can train and support you in successfully selling the product and speaking with your clients. This will help to show the value that SEO brings to their business and website. At the end of the day, it’s all branded under your business. We’ll do the heavy lifting for you!
Learn more about our white label SEO services here!
