The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) field is a very competitive one — and except you’re an an expert or engage the services of one — getting good visibility and organic traffic flow to your website can often be a tough nut to crack.
There are lots of ‘professional’ agencies out there offering brands the Midas touch to grow their businesses online, but more often than not, they skip the most vital elements for growing SEO for businesses the smart way.
Whether it’s an established brand looking to consolidate its share of the market or a startup trying to make a statement, no modern CEO in this fast-paced digital era can afford to treat their SEO business like child’s play.
If you are an SEO professional or plan to start your own SEO business, here are smart tips to help you build and grow businesses for clients in a smart way
Start local: Some SEO practitioners are often in a hurry to market their services to a global market. They seem to quickly forget there are lots of potential local customers that can give their brand a boost in revenue.
It is not wrong to want to quickly go global, but it is important to first solidify before you diversify. This means establishing an easily recognizable brand name in your local market and gaining the required confidence, experience and exposure to become globally accepted.
When you launch your SEO business, it is important that you advertise your services to potential customers in your local market. This will build your brand locally and help you enjoy several benefits:
- You will develop professional relationships with business that need your services and get both repeat businesses and referrals from them;
- Starting out in the local market will help you build the portfolio that willd make you relevant in the international market;
- It will help you build trust in your brand which will come in handy when you decide to expand your reach;
- It is a very good source of immediate business as you can tap into your personal contacts and professional network.
If managed properly, the local market is a very viable source of steady work and revenue for your SEO business.
Go looking for the customers: Not every business will come through your website. Sometimes, you need to get off your seat and go looking for them. Your aim is not only to attract traffic to your website but to scale up your business. With that in mind, it is important that you go looking for your customers where they are most likely to be found.
A lot of customers looking for the service you offer go on freelance websites to discuss their needs. Websites like these have thousands of individuals and businesses posting SEO projects and looking for SEO professionals every day. Go online and search for websites like these, look for SEO projects available and if it is something your agency can handle, then by all means go for it.
Gone are the days when you have to spend time and money cold calling and sending thousands of newsletters. The bulk of your customers can be found on freelance website. If you do a good job and earn their trust, you can turn some of these freelance clients into loyal customers
Join a networking group: The bulk of SEO market is found online, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot make use of offline sources for your marketing.
To build your SEO business, it is vital that you take advantage of every available source of networking available to you. Build your professional network both online and offline.
There are several offline networking groups that can be of great help to the growth of your business. Look for other professionals in your industry to network with. This will help you build your market pool.
You can also look for and participate in local industry related seminars and conferences, you will get to meet a lot of new and interesting people who can help you with referrals and ideas.
Also, you could explore online social networks to build your professional network. Linkedin is a very good place to meet people in the same industry as you, or people who have connections with industries relevant to what you do. Build your network on social media, join professional groups and regularly contribute so that people can know about you and remember you when they have a job that you can do.
Have a strong understanding of social media: 
It is no longer news that social media provides one of the most effective ways of promoting a website. For your SEO business to be effective, you need to have a strong understanding of social media. You can use social media to drive traffic to websites, engage customers and improve website page ranking. A good knowledge of social media is a powerful tool that every SEO professional must have.
Besides using social media for your clients, you can also leverage on the platforms to boost your company’s chances of getting more customers. You can share insights, SEO tips and techniques on your social media account which can help boost your company’s credibility and attract more clients.
Take advantage of outsourcing: A very good way to scale up your SEO business is to share some of the heavy workload with third party companies. It doesn’t matter if you are a one man operation or you have a full team of SEO experts at your beck and call, there are times when you will have more work than you can handle, or when you need to cut down on unnecessary expenses.
It costs money to hire, train and pay the professionals needed to meet up with your growing business; therefore outsourcing to an already established company who specializes in exactly what you need is the ideal solution that would help you get more done for less.
This will also give you the time and opportunity to focus on other aspects of your business without losing customers or revenue.
