How to sell seo services? [Updating 2024]

Selling SEO is easier than most people think. Well, it really sells as easily as anything else.

How easy this is for you as an agency owner or as a web professional really depends on what type of agency owner you are.

You will see some agency owners start their agency because they are good at selling and know they can sell agency services. While others are technicians and craftsmen by nature, skilled in professional services. The latter often have a hard time selling SEO if that's not their area of ​​expertise.

It definitely helps to know your service or product in order to best sell it. However, that doesn't mean you have to be an expert on the subject.

What I'm going to attempt in this article (and possibly a series of articles) is a resource that will enable you to successfully sell SEO solutions without knowing the specifics that a seasoned strategist or expert would know.

This is a conversation we've been having with our white label SEO partners, so we're very happy with it. Selling SEO services is more about understanding your customers and their business than understanding how to build links or optimize page speed.

1. How to Sell SEO Services: Three Scenarios

I'll outline some scenarios where you might want or need to sell or showcase organic SEO as an option for your clients. We then examine the strategies we use and the methodological differences between these scenarios.

2. Sell SEO services to attract potential clients in need

We're talking warm leads here. Someone has requested more information from your site, or you have received a glowing recommendation. This lead has indicated an interest or priority in SEO.

This is by far the easiest scenario to handle, and it's the one where we can help you improve your completion rates. It's really important to understand one key factor here.

Your potential client has already expressed an interest in SEO and understands (at least to some extent) what it means for their business.

In other words, they already believe in SEO, and now your job is to communicate to them why they should choose your agency, and strategize and execute accordingly.

3. Selling SEO services as an add-on to other services

In my opinion, this can really differentiate you as an agency and unlock more earning potential in your business.

The scenario here is that you have an existing relationship and you serve this client in some way - maybe you've done a web project or handled some other area of ​​their marketing.

While they may not have specifically asked for SEO services, you have identified organic search as an area of ​​opportunity for their business, and since you are their trusted partner, you want to get them to focus on SEO and offer them an additional sell service .

In other words, they've been sold to you as an agency, they just haven't been sold to SEO as a service.

4. Sell SEO services as an entry product to cold contacts

While this is a very interesting topic, and many SEOs talk about using paid or free SEO audits as a business development plan, that's not the focus of this article. Instead, I might consider creating this content separately in the future.

The idea here is that, based on your leads, you've identified a potentially good customer match who could also benefit from SEO. But they have no experience with you as an agency, and you don't know their history with SEO.

5. The Step-by-Step Process of Selling SEO

5.1. Gather additional business context

This is important because it allows you to speak directly to the areas of the business they want to focus on, their priorities, or the most profitable areas of the business. This will show that you really know their business and are paying attention.

There's nothing worse than targeting your entire pitch on an opportunity where a company exists that won't bring them a profit or that they don't like doing it.

Learn about their business by asking questions.

5.2. Conduct a discovery audit of problems and opportunities

It's like a free SEO audit. Or you want to do any sort of discovery. We conduct free audits.

This looks at the technical aspects, keyword relevancy, content, site structure, local relevancy, link profile as well as reviewing opportunities to see what areas of our business we can really fast-track their business in order to make a good profit at the start of the campaign .

We provide these for free to our white label SEO partners, but it's also easy to create them yourself.

5.3. Identifying the right SEO and where to start

If you're selling to an existing customer, you'll likely make the above discovery without contacting the customer, and only if the customer is a good fit for organic service will you really want to reach out and start a conversation. However, if this is a good tip, you should be extra sure that the site and company are a good fit for your campaign structure and SEO approach.

Sometimes a website doesn't have enough content and needs to focus on content creation before moving on to other growth-oriented efforts. It's important to emphasize this early on to avoid expanding the scope or increasing the budget during the event.

5.4. Ask Key Questions + Opportunities + Your Approach or Process

They fit perfectly. We learn more about your business and your specific market and the opportunities it offers you.

Now is the time to share some of this and enlighten them on how you will approach your process and help them grow through SEO.

I'm quick to overlook this step, but building an SEO sales pitch is so important that I'll cover it in another article, because it deserves an in-depth discussion.

5.5. Submit a bid detailing the cost and scope of the work

After providing the results and action plan, it is ideal to also provide a written scope of work that explains how the activity will work and establishes the process, all tasks, deliverables, etc. This usually includes pricing and introductory licensing.

5.6. Let's sign up and book a kickoff conversation

unsubscribe. We provide these proposal and scope of work documents to all partners, but you can easily plug them into any third-party bidding software for quick and easy approval and deposit.

With approval, you are now in the customer journey where we need to focus on their satisfaction and confirm they are making the right decision.

This usually starts with a kickoff call to book an SEO campaign.

6. Topic related questions

6.1. What are the key factors to consider when selling SEO services?

When selling SEO services, it's important to consider factors such as the client's business goals, target audience, competition, and current online presence. By understanding these factors, you can develop a tailored SEO strategy that addresses the client's specific needs and goals, and provides measurable results.

6.2. How can you demonstrate the value of SEO to potential clients?

To demonstrate the value of SEO to potential clients, it's important to showcase the benefits of SEO, such as increased website traffic, higher search engine rankings, and improved brand visibility. You can also provide case studies and examples of successful SEO campaigns you've worked on in the past, and explain how your strategies and tactics can be tailored to the client's specific business goals.

6.3. How can you differentiate your SEO services from those of other providers?

To differentiate your SEO services from those of other providers, it's important to focus on your unique selling proposition (USP). This might include your expertise in a specific industry or niche, your ability to provide a personalized approach to SEO, or your track record of delivering results for clients. By highlighting your strengths and demonstrating your value, you can stand out in a competitive market and win more business.