How to Start Your Own SEO Business

This article is for those of you who are learning search engine optimization (SEO) or working in the field with a view to starting your own SEO business or on-selling your services as an SEO contractor or freelancer.


Planning and Preparation

First up, you need to think about what type of SEO services you are going to provide and what type of goals you would like your business to achieve. You’ll need to prepare a business plan and answer questions such as the following:

• Will I require finance?
• What are my long and short term goals?
• How will I market my business?
• Who are my potential customers?
• Who are my competitors?
• What services will I offer?
• What should my business / trading name be?


Getting Started

Next, you need to decide how to set up your business structure. You’ll need to answer questions like:

• How will I structure my business? Will I be a sole trader? A partnership? A company?
• Will I need to hire staff?
• What taxes will I be liable for?
• Do I need to create a business bank account?
• What type of business stationery/marketing materials do I need?


Your Workplace

A key component of your new business is its location. Ask yourself questions such as:

• Do I need to rent commercial office space or serviced offices?
• Can I work from home?
• Can I claim home office expenses?
• Do I have a dedicated workspace?
• Can clients access my workplace easily?
• Do I need to purchase equipment or furniture?
• Should I buy a desktop or laptop computer?
• Do I have adequate room for extra staff?
• Can I set and stick to reasonable working hours?


Tools of the Trade

In the SEO business, there are quite a few “must have” tools of the trade that you will find indispensable. Some of these are huge time-savers and others are vital if you run an online business. These include:

Hardware

• At least one desktop computer with plenty of memory and hard drive capacity
• Broadband, ISDN or Wireless Internet connection
• Separate phone/fax lines
• A cell phone and/or palmtop
• A reliable fax machine or PC fax software*
• An answering machine*
• A printer / scanner / copier*
• A file cabinet / desktop filing system
• A large desk with drawers
• A comfortable, ergonomic office chair

* There are a large number of product manufacturers that offer a combination of all these elements in the one machine.

Software / Tools

There’s plenty of tools and software available to help the busy SEO / SEM operator. Here are some of my favorites:

• Freshbooks Invoicing and Timesheets
• Keyword Discovery
• Proposal Kit Proposal Creation Software
• ClickTracks Log File Analysis Software

You’ll find other tools and software in my articles 20 Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools and 20 MORE Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools.


Subscriptions

• Search Engine Watch
• The Search Light
• Search Engine Marketing News
• High Ranking's Advisor
• Search Engine Report
• Search Day
• Marketing Pilgrim
• Pandia


Books / E-books

• Search Engine Visibility
• The Nitty Gritty of Writing for the Search Engines
• Ring Bell For Service Usability Report


Memberships

• SEO Consultants
• SEO Pros
• SEMPO


Open for Business!

When you’re ready to start business, you need to spread the word about your business and start dealing with clients. You’ll need to address things like:

• What domain name should I buy?
• Can I design my own web site?
• How will I market my business online?
• How will I promote my business offline?
• What are my short and long term marketing goals?
• What clients do I want to attract?
• How will I invoice clients?
• How do I want clients to contact me?
• What type of client contract do I need?


Getting Clients

Finding clients can be difficult for new business start-ups. You haven’t yet developed a reputation and you have no clients to vouch for the quality of your services. Here are a couple of suggestions for attracting new clients:

• Ask friends and family if they need or know of anyone seeking SEO services.
• Approach your favorite charities and offer to do some pro-bono work in return for publicity and use of their case studies.
• Join SEO industry organizations like the SEO Consultants Directory.
• Spread the word you are open for business.
• Hang out at SEO forums and chat rooms offering free advice.
• Commence a PPC campaign targeting persons seeking SEO services.
• Optimize your own site so you rank high for SEO related searches!


Other Considerations

• Having a watertight contract
• Having a professional services proposal (e.g. Proposal Kit)
• Business and indemnity insurance


Keeping Clients

Once you have your clients, keep them happy. Try to address these issues:

• How can I provide the best customer service?
• How can I solicit client feedback on my services?
• Should I offer a satisfaction guarantee?
• Is my contract client-friendly?
• How can I reward my best clients?
• What can I on-sell to my clients? (Would you like fries with that?)
• Do I want to give my clients corporate gifts?
• How should I regularly keep in touch with clients?


Working in the SEO Industry

The SEO industry is a strange beast. It’s growing enormously fast, due to the boom in search and so the demand for search engine optimization services is huge. However it is also plagued with a bad reputation, thanks to a handful of fast-talking, money-grabbing companies claiming to be SEO experts and taking advantage of web site owners with little knowledge of how search engines work.

For this reason, if you choose to work in the SEO industry, you may come across some skepticism and doubt from clients who have been burned by shoddy operators in the past. You’ll need to work extra hard at overcoming client fears and proving the value of your services.

But as long as you truly know what you are doing, can prove the ROI on your services, educate your clients about the SEO process, use ethical business practices and follow the guidelines set down by the search engines, you should build up a good reputation quickly.

Here are some resources that will help you in this direction:

• Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008
• Writing Useful Articles That Readers Will Love (Finding Your SEO Niche)
• Google Information for Webmasters: SEOs
• Questions to Ask Before Hiring a SEO Company
• Selecting a Search Engine Optimization Company
• What SEOs Expect From Their Clients
• Working Well With Your Search Engine Optimization Firm
• Let Your Trusted SEO Do Their Job
• Search Engine Optimization

Getting Help

Even if you’re a seasoned pro at search engine optimization, there’s always something more to learn. Occasionally, there will be times when something has you completely baffled or you don’t quite know how to handle a particular client situation. That’s when you need a little advice or guidance from your peers.

The following forums are popular hang-outs for persons in the SEO industry. Whether you’re a novice or veteran, you’ll always learn something new, make new friends and possibly even get new clients by visiting regularly and contributing your time to the webmaster community:

• Cre8asite Forums
• SEO-News Forum
• High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum
• SearchEngineWatch Forums
• Webmaster World
• Search Engine Forums
• SitePoint Forums

Growing Your Business

After you’ve been in business for a while, there comes a time when you’ll need to decide whether to expand and take on more and more clients or to cap your growth capacity and turn down new projects. Here are some things to consider when that time comes:

• Do I want to expand my business?
• Do I really need more clients?
• Can I hire more staff?
• Should I take on an admin person or virtual assistant?
• Should I take on temporary or contract staff?
• Can I outsource some aspects to specialists?


Pitfalls to Avoid

Here are a few common pitfalls to avoid when running your own business:

• Don’t fail to create a business plan and update it regularly. Small businesses don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.
• Don’t let bad creditors get away with it – always chase overdue invoices before they cause a cash-flow problem and make sure your Terms of Trade are clearly available on your site, on your invoice and in your proposals.
• Don’t get caught up on administrative tasks. Delegate them where possible so you can concentrate on your clients and your business.
• Don’t forget to communicate with your staff regularly. Make use of collaboration software to manage your client projects effectively.
• Don’t take on more clients than you can handle.
• Don’t discount your services if you can help it – recognize the value of your knowledge, time and services.
• Don’t lose sight of your goals – spend at least one day per week on marketing and business development.
• Don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s better to let someone else handle a client than do a poor job of it yourself.
• Don’t become a workaholic, make sure you work reasonable hours and take regular vacations with your family.
• Don’t burn-out. Keep asking: Am I enjoying myself? Remember to have fun!!



How to Start Your Own SEO Business - To learn more about this author, visit Kalena Jordan's Website.

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