What makes a good SEO prospect?
Before we begin looking at tips to find SEO clients, it's important to first nail down the characteristics that make up a good prospect. Understanding these traits will help you focus your efforts and ensure that you're approaching businesses that are the most likely to benefit from your partnership. Here’s what you need to know to get started:
Identify market niche
First, evaluate the prospects' market niche. A good SEO prospect could be a business operating in a specific industry or targeting a particular audience. By offering tailored SEO services to these prospects, you can demonstrate how your expertise aligns with their unique needs and challenges.
Online presence
Additionally, consider their online presence and website quality. A well-maintained website with room for improvement is a good sign, as it shows that the prospect values their digital presence.
Look for websites that have some basic SEO elements already in place, such as:
- Relevant content.
- Clean URL structures.
- On-page optimization.
These clients are generally more receptive to SEO recommendations since they already understand the importance of being visible online.
Compare the competition
Next, assess the prospect's competition and industry. If their competitors seem to be dominating search results, this could be an opportunity for you to step in and level the playing field.
Illustrating the competitive landscape can help to showcase how your SEO reporting insights will make a tangible difference in their online performance.
Gauge potential
Are they a startup with ample room to grow, or an established business seeking to expand their online reach? Identifying clients with a hunger for growth and an appreciation for online SEO will help you to more likely encounter a mutually beneficial partnership.
Related topics:
- How Google local listings information is collected and sourced
- The role of SEO reputation management
1. Understand the needs of SEO clients
To do well in SEO and keep a good connection with your clients, it's important to know what your local businesses want in the first place. Your clients might be in different industries and have different hopes and goals in mind.
If you're an SEO expert, you should really get to know their businesses and understand how what you do matches with what they want to achieve. You can do this in several ways:
Visibility in Google Maps
You should think about how Google Maps SEO can help your local businesses. Using the right methods can boost their chances of showing up near the top of search results, helping companies that depend on local customers to stay afloat, gain a competitive edge.
Concentrating on these local factors demonstrates to your clients that you know the ins and outs of their industries and what it takes to get results.
NAP information
Another crucial area to concentrate on when working with clients is NAP data in SEO. Ensuring their business information—Name, Address, and Phone number—is consistent across all online platforms is key for strengthening local SEO.
Many folks tend to think the journey of a user and their experience with a brand kicks off when they reach out via phone, email, or spend time on a company's website. However, the journey starts much earlier.
According to Google, there are five key touchpoints that typically lead to a purchase or some positive action on a website:
- Using a search engine.
- Visiting a physical store or other location.
- Checking out a retailer's website or app.
- Exploring another website or app.
- Using a map.
The user's journey actually commences when they first encounter your brand, be it in search results, the Local Pack, on a map, or at your brick-and-mortar store.
Here's why having a consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) is vital: Users need reliable information to smoothly continue on their journey.
We often assume that users discover our local businesses and brands primarily through our websites, guest posts, outreach efforts, and Google Business Profile listings. However, users come across our brand via a variety of online platforms, including the directories where we create citations and listings (Search Engine Journal).
So how can you lead your client on the right path? Guide them through how to optimize their local listings and explain the significance of accuracy and consistency in their NAP information to enhance search engine rankings.
Keep things transparent
Finally, it's essential to keep things clear and wide open. Ensure that your clients grasp the worth of your services and have a good idea of when they can expect to see results. Always offer them updates and reports that are easy to understand, so they can track the progress you're making.
When you're transparent and approachable, you'll earn their trust and loyalty, which will help you maintain long-term relationships with your clients.
Understanding your SEO clients' unique needs and adapting your approach accordingly will result in more successful campaigns and happier customers.
2. Find prospective SEO clients within a niche
It's perfectly fine to cast a wide net, but there are times when you can reel in bigger opportunities by narrowing your focus when finding SEO clients. Concentrating on a specific niche offers several advantages. It gives you a competitive edge when crafting customized strategies, allowing you to grasp your SEO clients' needs more effectively.
Moreover, it provides an opportunity to gain valuable insights into the industry and what resonates most with your intended clientele. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can achieve this:
Determine your niche
To get started in finding your niche SEO clients, you first need to identify industries or markets that could benefit from your expertise. You might choose to specialize in serving restaurants, from there you can boil it down to only ones that sell sushi, for example.
Once you've determined your niche, focus on local search strategies that can elevate your clients' online visibility and enhance their connection with their target audience.
Package your services
People don’t want products, they want solutions to problems getting in their way. To find SEO clients in your niche, create services that touch on these pain points and match their needs, goals, and budgets. This way, you'll not only meet their requirements but also build your reputation and attract more clients.
Leverage your network
Connecting with professionals who also specialize in your niche, like web designers, content creators, and marketing agencies, can help point you in the right direction to find more SEO clients. Working together with these experts can expand your reach, gain valuable knowledge, and create more opportunities for your business.
Harness social media
Using social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook is a powerful way to show your stuff and get new SEO clients, and here's how:
Let's say you post a case study about a local bakery that saw a significant increase in website traffic and foot traffic after implementing your SEO strategies. You can showcase the specific steps you took, the results achieved, and the impact on the bakery's revenue.
This real-life example not only demonstrates your knowledge and expertise but also provides potential clients with a tangible success story.
Additionally, you can actively participate in relevant groups and discussions, offering advice and solutions to common SEO challenges within your niche. Consistently is the name of the game in social media. That means sharing your expertise and engaging with your audience regularly will help to establish yourself as a trusted authority in your field.
This approach not only helps you attract new SEO clients but also positions you as a go-to resource for businesses seeking SEO solutions tailored to their specific needs.
Serve up excellence
Finally, stay engaged with your existing clients and nurture long-term relationships by providing excellent customer service and ongoing support. Happy customers are more likely to refer you to their network, which can help you find new SEO clients within your niche.
Establish yourself as an SEO authority and expert
When you’re a local business, budgets can be tight, and for most, that means treading carefully when choosing where and how to spend it. To draw in risk-averse clients, it's important to establish yourself as a trusted expert in the field.
Proving your expertise can build trust and credibility, making it more likely for potential clients to pick your services over others. Here are some helpful tips on how to position yourself as an SEO authority:
Stay in the know
Firstly, continually educate yourself on the latest SEO techniques and industry trends. Stay updated on algorithm changes, search engine marketing tactics, and local SEO strategies. This knowledge will not only help you serve your clients better but also display your commitment to staying at the forefront of the industry.
Share your knowledge
Secondly, create and share valuable content that showcases your expertise on your website. This can include blog posts, case studies, webinars, and as we mentioned previously, social media updates. All these pieces of content should be focused on helping businesses improve their online visibility.
Regularly publishing insightful content reinforces your reputation as an accessible and knowledgeable SEO expert.
Engage with your peers
And finally, network with other professionals in your area. Attend industry events, join online forums, and contribute to thought leadership discussions on social media. By engaging with others in your field, you can learn from their experiences, share your own knowledge, and potentially find opportunities for collaboration. These connections can lead to referrals and further expansion of your SEO client base.