The Complete Guide to Starting Your Own SEO Consulting Business

If you’ve got expertise in search engine optimization and believe there’s demand for your services, starting your SEO consulting business might be the right path for you. With a ready market of businesses that need help getting their sites to rank higher on search engines, now is an opportune moment to strike out on your own. If you’re considering becoming a top seo service consultant, this guide will walk you through some important considerations before jumping in and give you the information you need to get started.

How to Start an SEO Consulting Business

There are two main ways to go about starting an SEO consulting business. One is to partner with an existing agency, which might offer you a reduced fee rate for the services you provide or an equity stake in the company. The other is to start your own business from scratch, so you’ll have full control over your customer base, rates, and business model.

Be sure you have the skills to run an SEO business

While many people believe they can start an SEO business, it’s important to make sure you have the necessary skills to do it well. If your website doesn’t rank on page one for a keyword related to your service, you aren’t going to win any business. SEO isn’t something you can do halfway. You need a deep understanding of how search engines work and how to get them to rank your website so it’s the first result that a potential customer sees.

Know your market and your competitors

Before you start your SEO consulting business, you should get a good idea of the market you’re entering. How many businesses do you think would benefit from the type of SEO services you provide? Are there specific types of businesses you want to target with your services? What is the current state of the market for SEO services? How do you see your business fitting into the current landscape? You’ll also want to know your competitors. Who are the companies that your clients are likely to be comparing you to? How much business do they do, and what are their rates?

Build your brand

Once you know what you want your SEO consulting business to stand for, you can build your brand. Whether you’re just starting or want to rebrand an existing consulting business, creating a brand is key. It’s the foundation that everything else is built on, including your website, social media campaigns, marketing materials, and rate structure. 

You can create a brand that is memorable and easy to understand by using consistent messaging, clear definitions of your services and a logo and color scheme that ties everything together. Your brand is a promise to your customers, so make sure you’re being honest. It’s also a way for you to put your stamp on the market and differentiate yourself from the competition.

Decide on your pricing strategy

Once you’ve built a brand around the value you provide and set yourself apart from the competition, it’s time to talk about pricing. This is an important decision that will influence how much work you get and how quickly you grow your SEO consulting business. There are several considerations when determining your pricing strategy. How efficient and effective is your process? What does the market look like for the type of work you do? What is the financial situation of your prospective clients? How much are you willing to grow your business?

Network and market yourself to build demand

If you’re just starting, you’ll need to get your name out there and start generating leads. Networking with potential clients and other people in your industry is a great way to get your name out there. You can attend industry events, participate in online forums, develop partnerships with like-minded companies, and work with prospects that need help with their SEO but don’t have the budget to hire someone full-time. 

Another way to create demand for your services is to create a killer marketing or sales page for your business. This doesn’t have to be an elaborate website with a big price tag. It can be a simple page hosted on a website like Squarespace or Wix that explains who you are and what you do, the value you provide, what your rates are, and how people can get in touch with you.

Conclusion

Starting an SEO consulting business is a great way to earn a steady income in an evergreen industry. As long as businesses need their websites to rank higher, there will be a demand for quality SEO services. There’s never been a better time to start your own business, especially in the field of SEO. With new updates like the June 2019 Core update, there are more opportunities than ever before to help businesses succeed in their online marketing efforts.