SEO is an incredibly competitive field, so it can be difficult even for established SEO agencies to achieve sustainable profitability. Thankfully, businesses are learning the importance of having a robust digital presence. This is a great time to start, scale, and sustain an SEO business.
In this article, let’s delve into the key strategies that can make your SEO agency more profitable. Most of these strategies have internal implementation, so they are well within your control, like your agency’s branding and pricing strategy. This makes them relatively easy to execute, yet the benefits to your profitability are top-tier.
Table of contents
- Specialize in a particular niche
- Focus on retaining existing clients
- Develop a strategic pricing structure
- Upsell SEO products and services
- Improve your internal processes
- Utilize the power of networking
- Invest in branding and marketing
1. Specialize in a particular niche
Instead of offering generalized SEO products and services, you can niche down. This has many advantages. By niching down, you can concentrate your efforts and gain in-depth knowledge and reputation in a specific SEO niche. This can also open you up for cross-selling opportunities. Look at Marketer’s Center, for instance. It’s a white label SEO agency specializing in local SEO. It has gained a reputation for this particular niche, and it can cross-sell between many SEO services, like citation boost and clean-up and Google Business Profile optimization.
- Develop in-depth knowledge and expertise in a specific niche. As an SEO professional, you have to continuously learn about SEO if you want to be competitive. But if you offer generalized SEO products and services, it can be difficult to keep up because there are so many things you need to study. But if you specialize in only a few aspects of SEO, you can focus your efforts there and provide more tailored and effective solutions to your potential clients.
- Build a strong reputation in this specific niche. It’s not easy to build authority and credibility, especially when you are just starting out as an SEO agency. But it’s more manageable if you focus on a specific niche. When you have a good reputation, you can also command premium pricing for your SEO products and services, which can only help in your SEO agency’s profitability.
- Take advantage of cross-selling SEO products and services. You can cross-sell within your niche since your SEO clients may be needing your other offerings as well. For example, if you are into local SEO and you have a client looking to build citations, you can also offer them to build links and optimize their business profiles. You can also cross-sell to other niches if you have multiple niches in your SEO arsenal.
2. Focus on retaining existing clients
When SEO agencies try to maximize their profits, they often look for new clients. There is nothing wrong with this strategy, especially when they are at the point where they are looking to scale their SEO operations. But they shouldn’t ignore the strategy of simply retaining their existing client base. Your existing clients will give you a stable revenue stream, giving you more financial flexibility and power for other strategies.
- Communicate regularly with existing clients. Clients leave for different reasons, and many of which are outside of your control, like changing business priorities. But there are also reasons within your control, such as the lack of value. When clients don’t see the value of your agency and its work, they can let you go. Show them value with regular communication. Give them reports and updates regarding their SEO progress. Be proactive too when communicating, so you can address their concerns, questions, and unique needs and wants.
- Adapt to their changing digital marketing needs. Your SEO clients are businesses after all. Their business and SEO objectives may change over time, depending on a variety of factors such as the size and age of the business and changes in their industry and customer behavior. As the SEO provider, you should be able to adapt to these changing business and SEO objectives. If you can’t, they may let you go, and worse, they may even switch to an SEO agency that can adapt.
- Invest in client education. Keep SEO clients happy and satisfied by involving them. Hear what they have to say about SEO strategies and executions. However, they can’t really make informed decisions and insights without the proper SEO knowledge and expertise. This is why it’s wise to invest in client education. Provide educational materials to your SEO clients. You can also host training sessions and webinars.
3. Develop a strategic pricing structure
Your pricing structure is a crucial aspect of your SEO agency’s profitability. To maximize profits, you have to be strategic in your approach. This means you should have a deep understanding of the market, so you can be competitive in the industry. You should also have a clear value proposition, so you can address client needs and wants and understand the value you provide to businesses. Pricing packages, customization options, and performance-based pricing are three things you should look into.
- Implement tiered pricing packages. The online world is incredibly diverse. Businesses looking for SEO products and services will have variety. You will see small businesses just starting out, like local coffee shops. You will see businesses with limited budgets, like e-commerce stores. And you will see multinational corporations with more room for different kinds of SEO products and services. Your tiered pricing packages should reflect your potential client base. It’s a good idea to have basic, medium, and enterprise-level packages to cater to different potential clients.
- Provide customization options. Standard packages are great. But some potential clients will have unique needs and wants that your standard packages won’t be able to accommodate. This is where customization options are crucial. Your packages should be flexible enough to add or remove specific SEO products and services and adjust pricing when necessary.
- Consider performance-based pricing. How your agency is being paid is also a customization option you can consider. For instance, you can opt for a retainer model, where clients pay a fixed fee for ongoing services. This is a good option because your agency will have a predictable income stream. You can also try performance-based pricing, where clients pay for specific and measurable results. This is a good option, especially for clients with high expectations.
4. Upsell SEO products and services
Upselling involves offering additional or upgraded SEO products and services to existing clients. It’s great at increasing the profitability of your SEO agency. But remember that you should not blindly upsell. You should provide a valid reason for the upselling, or else, you will just look like a sleazy salesman trying to extort more money from your existing clients. If you can successfully upsell, you can make more money for each SEO client. You also improve client retention since SEO clients who are invested in a broader range of products and services are more likely to stay.
- Show the value of the upsold SEO products and services. You upsell not just to earn more per client. You also do it to provide more value to your SEO clients. Explain how your upsold SEO products and services contribute to your SEO clients’ objectives, whether it’s enhanced brand authority, increased visibility, or whatnot. While explaining, focus on the benefits, so the clients can clearly see what they are getting into.
- Back up your offer with good reasoning. To not appear like you are merely trying to get more money out of your SEO clients, you should present a good reason why you are upselling. This may mean you have to prepare audits, progress trackers, and reports to strengthen your case. Back your reason with professional insights and numbers. You can also explain how the upsold SEO products and services can provide more comprehensive solutions.
- Capitalize on trust. There are many ways to build trust. You can build an SEO portfolio to showcase your expertise and results, communicate regularly with your clients to keep them in the loop, or create authoritative content online for people to consume and share. When people trust you, they are more likely to be receptive to your upsell offerings.
5. Improve your internal processes
SEO agency profitability is not just about the money that goes in. It’s also about the money that goes out. It’s important to minimize the money that goes out and at the same time not cut corners that can affect productivity, SEO results, and client relations. If you have a sound internal process, you can actually improve your agency’s productivity and its relationship with clients and leads.
- Don’t cut corners when it comes to tools. There are many ways to save money for your SEO agency, but cutting corners when it comes to tools is not one of them. Make sure you invest properly in all your SEO tools, like Ahrefs and Moz Local. You invest too in project management tools, like Asana and Trello. And don’t forget about communication channels, like Gmail and Zoom. These tools greatly enhance your internal processes and SEO executions.
- Standardize procedures. Your tools will be useless if you don’t know how to use them efficiently. Maximize efficiency by creating standard operating procedures for all your processes. The consistency in workflow will not just enhance efficiency but also help avoid errors. It can also help track processes better, so you can optimize them further.
- Try white label solutions. You can employ a white label SEO agency, so you can outsource some of your SEO offerings to it. You get the credit for the SEO results even though you are not technically the agency who has executed the SEO campaigns. White labels are great if you are looking to scale your SEO operations and reduce operation costs. Marketer’s Center is a white label SEO agency you should look into.
6. Utilize the power of networking
Networking is a potent strategy to expand your SEO agency’s reach. With networking, you can acquire new clients, get high-quality leads, build partnerships with other agencies and businesses, and boost your credibility and presence. All these provide good opportunities to get more profits for your SEO agency. But remember to not be a leech. When networking, you have to provide value too, so the collaboration is beneficial to all parties involved.
- Use outreach strategies to get more leads. Actively reach out to potential clients to get more SEO leads. There are online and offline approaches you can try. Online, you can try email outreach and social media. Offline, you can try cold calling and attending networking events. When reaching out, make sure you are not being too sales-y. Offer value first and personalize your approach instead of just trying to land a sale to improve your bottom line.
- Develop a referral program. You don’t have to start from scratch when you are networking. You can use your happy and satisfied clients as leverage. Develop a referral program, so your SEO agency can get recommended by these clients to their peers. You can also ask these clients to leave reviews on your business and social media profiles, like your Google Business Profile, to boost your credibility and attract SEO leads.
- Attend local events. Get into conferences, seminars, workshops, and other events where potential clients and partners meet. Be prepared to engage in conversations, share your expertise, and present your elevator pitch for your SEO products and services. But remember to be authentic and genuine. Be interested in others and listen to what they have to say, and they will do the same for you.
7. Invest in branding and marketing
If you invest in branding, you can position your SEO agency as an authority in the industry and provide a clear value proposition to your potential clients. If you are established, you can even command higher prices. And if you invest in marketing, you can improve your brand’s visibility and attract a broader client base. All these can have a positive impact on your SEO agency’s profits.
- Establish a brand identity. Your brand should have a distinctive logo and other visual elements that can separate it from others. It should also have a clear brand voice. Your visual elements and messaging reflect so many things about your company, such as its expertise, unique selling propositions, values, and overall identity.
- Build an online presence. You are already doing SEO for your clients. Chances are, you also know a thing or two about digital marketing as a whole, not just SEO. Apply what you know to your own company. Build a website, social media profiles, and business profiles. Optimize them for search engines and users. Regularly publish high-quality content addressing potential client concerns and frequently asked questions in the industry. Position yourself as a leader in the SEO space.
- Invest in advertising. Google Ads and social media ads are particularly great. Google Ads are great because your agency can appear on relevant search results. The SEO leads you will get are high-quality because they are already looking for such products and services. Social media ads are great too because your agency can target very specific demographics and interests. The high-quality leads are more likely to become real paying clients, growing your client base and improving your SEO agency’s profitability.
Make your SEO agency more profitable with these tips
Maximize SEO agency profits by changing some aspects of your business model, such as your branding, niche specialization, and pricing structure, and improving the efficiency of your client communications and internal processes.
If you want to succeed in the competitive field of SEO, your agency will need a balance of expertise, client-centricity, and effective business management. This balance will not just make your SEO agency profitable, but also give it a foundation for growth and sustainability.
