Small and local businesses out there need a smart and robust website to stay ahead in their game today. This means building an online presence and positioning high on search engine rankings.
If you’re in the service of providing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and thinking of ways to sign on your first clients, we’ve got your back. We have done the homework on proven strategies and pathways for you to learn how to sell SEO services, or improve for growth.
It isn’t the most difficult task to locally sell SEO, but it is not a cakewalk either. There are many layers of challenges even if you are a veteran in content marketing and SEO services, and the thought of pitching to a local supermarket chain or even a gym can seem daunting still.
An immensely competitive market makes sure that the clients you target are swamped with other agencies’ pitches. Yours must therefore be a compelling case for a client to give you their account.
But fret not, we are here to help. With this mini-guide to prepare better towards extending your services among your local clientele and foster a long-term business relationship.
Finding and Approaching Potential Clients
Before a successful SEO proposal, focus on your groundwork in finding potential customers.
Unsure how to go about it? Here are a few approaches for how to sell SEO services:
Create your Niche
Many businesses want SEO services, and your strategies therefore will fit any industry. Yet, nevertheless finding your area of expertise is crucial.
If you’re just starting out, it would do you good to research on sectors such as health, lifestyle, B2B, and so on to arrive at your focal interest.
But if you’ve been around a while, identify where most of your clients belong and deep dive into it. This ensures your agency fits the prospective client’s overall needs.
Establishing yourself as a specialist in a specific industry is a significant selling point to use as an advantage when preparing a pitch. Inbound marketing will help identify and build strong networks for more leads.
Turn up the Social Buzz
A digital footprint is vital to convince clients about your potential. Digital marketing and social media are tied together, so make your presence felt across platforms.
Build a Website
You should pay extra attention to your business website for it’s the face of your company.
Work with your web designers to place visual cues across web pages, graphics, and CTAs and optimize content with significant backlinks and meta descriptions. Link building strategies like placing infographics and guest posts are one of the best SEO tactics for higher conversion opportunities.
Create Informative Online Content
Aim to educate audiences on how to sell SEO solutions or set up analytics dashboards, to attract relevant visitors on your page and boost organic search traffic. Create interactive channels of posts, blogs, and newsletters to gain traction.
This way, you attract businesses that are actively interested in what you have to offer. Blend these with email marketing messages to leave an imprint for possible future leads.
Build a Brand and a Reputation
Once your website begins to climb up in organic searches, make sure to give your brand a unique voice. Push valuable content and post opinions on common niche forums to impress local clients.
Selling SEO to local businesses is an uphill task if you are not projecting yourself as a valuable brand. This will require patience, so brace yourself for long determined work.
Businesses need to know you exist for you to sell SEO. Make yourself visible, but steer away from a hardcore sales approach.
It is not easy to make a good reputation, so work towards satisfying output delivery for current clients. With a string of successful local SEO sales and outputs, your own clients may garner attention to the brand via word-of-mouth. Become a part of local business communities and forums, address sessions, and build familiarity.
Along with that, set up lead generation strategies and keep revamping them with time for growth. Additionally, you should consider opting for personalization in email campaigns for better visibility.
Identify and Track Businesses.
There are multiple ways you could approach a business and involve many tools. Implement your expertise and trail clients for the right pitch.
Begin with a simple keyword search in the area– for example, local spas.
- Record advertisers and other top results to create a database.
- Use a CRM to manage and keep track of your leads. Observe businesses moving through your pipeline and prioritize accordingly.
- You can use the omnipotent Google Analytics to track leads efficiently. The best lead-tracking tool allows you to set destination goals and combine them with attribution to identify their exact source. Furthermore, it also lets you to set custom events that prompt possible leads at any given time. You can use this with the Google Tag Manager to draw insight into tracking leads.
Lead tracking and management software
- Alternatively, you can take a more direct approach of looking up and contacting prospective clients first-hand. Although this process is challenging, good strategies like well-written cold emails can pay off.
Craft a Perfect Cold Email
With inboxes full of them, you need an email that stands out from all the spam businesses that already exist.
Prevent your email from going to the dreaded spam folder by doing the following:
- An eye-catching subject line is the first step. You barely have a few seconds to grab the reader’s attention, and the subject is the most valuable element. Design promoters to follow up on an email after a few weeks. Don’t spam, but just put in a reminder about your SEO services that are available for their needs.
- Design sophisticated yet straightforward templates to convey your sales message. Have options and run pilots to check better response rates.
- Keep it real, and do away with overtly flowery and misleading captions. Many businesses have spam filters in place to funnel out unwanted emails. You don’t want to be one on that list, so keep away from trigger words to fight your way into the primary inbox.
Make your Sales Pitch Stand Out
Now that you’ve finally narrowed down on serious local SEO clients, reached out, and captured a few warm leads- pat yourself on the back, but don’t celebrate just yet.
There is more work to do for a stellar pitch that seals the deal.
To stand out from other shortlisted agencies or an existing SEO provider, you should consider the following:
Define your Value Proposition
Warren Buffet says, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” All the sales communication must drive home your value proposition. Focus on presenting the importance of your services on the table and how clients are to benefit from roping you in.
Focus on Defining your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Consider the following key points to improve your chances of selling local SEO services:
- Applicability to business – do you meet the customers’ needs?
- Your Value – What are your services; how will the clients benefit from the sales process?
- Uniqueness – how are you special from other SEO agencies?
Ask these questions when working on the proposition. Remember to add in visual elements to take it up a notch. Additionally, also take a look at the 7 Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, People, Physical Evidence, Process, Promotion to include relevant action points for a crisp delivery.
Show your Value, Don’t Merely Tell
This golden rule is crucial for your website.
Past client testimonials are a reliable source for building trust among new clients and hence you might want to consider the following:
Include Customer Reviews
Studies suggest about 97% of B2B buyers consider user-generated content such as peer reviews to be more credible than other types. A direct positive recommendation or gathered client feedback quickly puts you in a good light, as clients always seek external assurance of quality.
Post the feedback on your website with real names and contact of as many clients and share the same in your pitch, should anyone need validation for your services.
Paste this across your social media handles in the form of regular and repurposed posts and hashtags.