How To Create A Successful Small SEO Agency With Help From Semalt's New SEO Dashboard
With 60 percent of marketings telling us that SEO content is the source of their leads, we can see a trend of SEO becoming an incredibly competitive field. If you own or work for an agency in this field, you have a deep understanding of it.
When this happens, dependable SEO agencies see their lead start to dwindle before their eyes. Many of them cannot offer a comprehensive option when compared to other providers due to budget constraints. Semalt has provided a new Dashboard and reseller program to ensure your company can compete to address this.
Below, we will dig into how you can use The Semalt Dedicated SEO Dashboard to grow your agency beyond where you might have thought possible. We will also be exploring some additional tips to enhance your agency.
How You Can Start An SEO Agency In The Modern Era
Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be an expert on everything to be a trustworthy agency. Many agencies specialize in a small number of areas, supplementing any shortcomings with other and partnerships.
You also don't have to handle everything in-house. Your ultimate goal as an agency is to have an area of specialization initially. If you eventually plan on internalizing those resources, that involves a certain degree of success before you begin that process.
To address some of these concerns, we are going through some tips you can keep in mind to start your agency:
- Start with a free site audit or offer a trial period
- Underpromise and overdeliver
- Create a blog or newsletter that receives regular contributions
- Share case studies and success stories
- Know what you are doing
- Hire a White Label company to supplement your shortcomings
- Don't forget social media
Start With A Free Site Audit Or Offer A Trial Period
The word "free" also comes with a reaction that makes people jump for anything. The people seeking out this free stuff often don't need it, but they are happy to take it.
When it comes to attracting your first visitors, your first step will be to provide a hook. This hook often comes in the form of a free audit, one of the most effective ways to get them started.
This hook allows them to explore how handy your tools are. It is also an opportunity to gather their email address. You can send them special deals that encourage them to take the next step. Once they see how useful your services are, they will stick around.
Semalt's Dedicated SEO Dashboard and reseller program take care of much of this process for you. They also handle account management and password resets.
Underpromise And Overdeliver
One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an SEO company is sounding like a spam bot. You do this by offering them ridiculous claims that have no evidence behind them. This habit makes people believe you are about to sell them a lemon, causing an immediate feeling of distrust.
We are not suggesting that you downplay the quality of your services, but rather state your services' intent. Suppose you believe and have evidence that your blogs typically double their traffic, show them with data. Otherwise, focus on the effort you put into your process, showing them it is a proven SEO-based growth method.
With Semalt's SEO Dashboard, you can have a proven data-set that people can see. Supplementing that your currently existing SEO services will potentially push you over the edge, painting you as that expert in the SEO field.
Create A Blog Or Newsletter That Receives Regular Contributions
Going back to our intro, you may recall that we mentioned that 60 percent of marketers say that inbound content is an incredibly important source of traffic for them. A good portion of this content comes from people using search engines to find answers to questions through blog content.
When you hear "content is king," this is where they focus.
To properly compete these days, you need a source of regular content. Many people do this on a blog post, as it also provides a steady source of refreshing content. Because Google is always looking for the latest content, having a regular release schedule bodes well for your potential to rank for your search engine of choice.
You can also choose to update people through a regular newsletter, which will contain extra tidbits on top of your blog. Newsletters are great because they provide you an excellent platform for direct advertisement. It is also a clear sign that you have won the first great challenge: getting someone's contact information. By offering a newsletter full of inspiring and educational content, you keep people coming back for more.
Share Case Studies And Success Stories
The importance of showing people what you can do is paramount. With three out of four people saying that word of mouth has influenced their marketing decisions, it is a huge missed opportunity to not have testimonials on your website.
The modern testimonial doesn't merely offer a five-star award with no details; it has to tell a story. One of the more powerful ways you can offer this story comes from video testimonials.
Video testimonials are incredibly powerful, as they are in an easy-to-consume format. Also, word of mouth tends to work better if people can hear their praises.
Even if you struggle to get video testimonials, you can cite high reviews on websites like Trustpilot. However, be warned of competing SEO companies who may review blast you to get ahead.
Know What You Are Doing
While you don't have to be an expert in all aspects of SEO, you need to be an expert in your specialty. That means if your target is to optimize someone's website using blog content, you need to understand how to handle on-page SEO. You also need to know how to share this experience with others who don't have it.
If you are a small agency, websites like SEMRush, SkillShare, and LinkedIn offer relatively inexpensive training on the subject. You can also choose to bolster this by getting a degree or hiring someone who has a degree in marketing, be sure that you trust them with your business.
You will also need to stay up to date with the latest trends and changes. So while you are creating a blog, you need to follow several blogs, even those of your competitors. By staying up to date with the industry leaders, you will know what they are doing and have a chance to outpace them.
Your eventual goal will be to gain enough marketing expertise to understand and be up to date with Google's latest changes. Google's developer blog is essential.
Hire A White Label SEO Agency To Supplement What You Don't Handle
A company that can handle everything through a single conversation is more valuable than one who can only take one aspect. While there is undoubtedly appeal and expertise that comes with specialists, you risk losing your business if you don't hire a white label agency.
A white label agency is someone who offers the resale of their services under someone else's brand. The brand that resells the service gets credit for providing a comprehensive product. At the same time, the agency receives the bulk of the payment, minus some potential commission.
Semalt's dashboard comes with its reseller program. So while your client is looking at their success while working with you, they can supplement that with an additional SEO campaign provided by Semalt. The contribution of other service gives you a higher quality offering as you contribute the remaining piece.
Don't Forget Social Media
In the chaos of running a new business, it is pretty easy for you to forget about social media. It's only natural, but you need to make it part of your regular site-building process. Why? Because almost 50% of the entire world's population uses it.
Forgetting about social media kills an entire potential channel for your company. If you can have one post a day, this will help you get noticed. If you hire a freelance manager to take some of the leg work off you, you can focus on more important things.
The posts have to be related to your field. Some small businesses make it a daily point to ask people how their day is doing and take a goofy picture at the office. Whatever you want it to be, don't be afraid to play with a few ideas. Social media is also a great platform you can use to announce the most recent blog posts and newsletter releases.
Conclusion
Semalt's New Dedicated Dashboard changes the game in the small-business SEO field. If you want to create a company to be like Ahrefs or Ubersuggest, you have the power to do that with greater ease with the tracking features that come with this new dashboard.
Using the guide above will also give you some other good ideas for starting your own business. Whatever your goals are, reach out to Semalt to find out the best way that you can grow your SEO agency.