SEO Leads: A 6-Step Guide on How to Get SEO Clients

Whether you’re an established SEO bureau oregon a freelancer conscionable starting out, leads are the lifeblood of your business.

To make new, applicable leads and clients, you request a strategy that you tin instrumentality and amended implicit time. And we’ll assistance you bash precisely that.

In this article, you’ll larn the explanation of an SEO pb and the six steps to getting great leads.

An SEO pb is simply a imaginable lawsuit who has expressed an involvement successful your SEO services. They either find you archetypal and get successful touch, oregon you proactively scope retired to them and connection your services.

And here’s however you get them.

The archetypal measurement is creating oregon providing a tailored SEO work for peculiar industries. These services tin scope from offering SEO consultations with a minimal monthly retainer to serving a circumstantial niche (e.g., lawyers).

When I archetypal pivoted from web plan to SEO, I made the mistake of trying to connection a afloat SEO service.

Then astatine the time, Ryan Stewart said successful a podcast to beryllium large astatine keyword probe and merchantability it to agencies.

So I did.

Looking astir the SEO industry, you’ll find radical and agencies doing good by specializing successful a peculiar work or niche.

Look at Rankings.io, which specializes successful instrumentality steadfast SEO. Or cheque out Full Stadium, which specializes successful the accounting steadfast sector.

You tin spell adjacent narrower. For example, Haro SEO builds links for clients from the Help A Reporter Out website. In different words, it caters to a niche wrong a niche (link building/digital PR).

Hence, you tin see niche SEO services specified arsenic keyword research, SEO strategy, on-page, off-page, method SEO, content, YouTube SEO, oregon local SEO.

Once you’ve defined your people manufacture and services, determination are 2 ways to find prospects: inbound and outbound marketing.

Inbound

Inbound is wherever prospects travel to you alternatively of you reaching retired to them. Let’s tally done the astir fashionable inbound selling channels that make leads.

Website

Provided you person a website, you tin usage it to make leads if you marque radical alert of your SEO services and promote them to instrumentality enactment by either calling you, sending you an email, oregon downloading an incentive.

Look astatine this landing leafage that explains and communicates the maturation benefits of the company’s SEO services. The leafage besides includes a beardown telephone to action: get an SEO quote today.

SEO

You already cognize that integrated postulation is the main postulation root for galore websites.

Use Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to place the applicable keywords your prospects are searching for and measure the imaginable of that traffic.

1. Type “SEO” and prime your country
2. Use the Include filter to participate the manufacture oregon niche you are targeting, e.g., accountants, contractors

You tin spot the Keyword Difficulty (KD), hunt volume, planetary volume, and Traffic Potential (TP) metrics.

Now prime the “SERP” fastener to presumption the postulation to the top pages.

Next, make a landing leafage targeting this topic, outlining what you connection and however to get in touch.

PPC

You tin thrust postulation rapidly if you request leads urgently utilizing Google Ads.

You tin spot this agency’s Google Ad campaigns and the keywords they people utilizing the caller paid hunt diagnostic wrong Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

Groups and communities

My way into SEO was via accepted selling and web design.

As a subordinate of an Adobe web plan forum, I generated leads from different web plan agencies that didn’t person an involvement successful oregon resources for SEO.

Also, the Ahrefs Insider radical regularly runs SEO Speed Dating, wherever members are escaped to station jobs oregon projects they request assistance with—great for pb generation.

And agencies that usage Ahrefs tin use to beryllium featured connected our SEO directory and make involvement successful their services.

Building your reputation

You tin physique a estimation for your services by blogging, utilizing societal media, oregon appearing connected podcasts.

With immoderate hard work, I grew my integrated postulation to respective 1000 monthly visits. I past utilized email selling to connection my services and grooming courses for opted-in subscribers.

Email marketing

I’m fortunate capable to person built up an email database of opted-in subscribers and prospects. But earlier that, I simply went done my email relationship and recovered the email code of each interaction I knew.

I added them to ConvertKit arsenic a conception and emailed them regularly with utile SEO guides.

Social media

Samuel Schmitt builds his societal estimation utilizing Twitter and LinkedIn.

On LinkedIn, Samuel posts assorted resources, specified arsenic nonfiction links and videos, arsenic good arsenic comments and likes contented from radical successful his network.

Podcasts and videos

George Chasiotis is the managing manager of Minuttia, a SaaS SEO agency. He has built up his estimation arsenic an adept successful semantic SEO and topical authority.

I archetypal listened to George connected the SEO Rant Podcast and heard him again talking astir topical authorization with a spouse on YouTube.

Events and conferences

You tin be galore SEO conferences to web with others successful the manufacture and physique connections and imaginable business.

But bash events and conferences beryllium if you privation to link with clients directly?

The SEO Works successful Sheffield joined its Chamber of Commerce arsenic a patron subordinate (like a sponsor).

For £10K, it gets:

• Featured successful fortnightly newsletters to different Chamber members.
• Advertising abstraction successful Chamber magazine.
• Dedicated email to the concern database 4 times per year.
• Displayed connected the Chamber website.
• Promoted socially.
• Invited to networking events.
• To big its workshops for Chamber members.

If this benignant of rank is beyond your budget, you tin place web plan meetups successful your area.

For example, determination are various web plan meetups successful my area.

If I be these meetups, I’ll casually driblet into conversations I bash SEO; perhaps, I’ll find a fewer connections.

Word of rima and referrals

Word of rima refers to recommendations from friends and family, and it tin beryllium almighty erstwhile it comes to expanding sales.

For instance, I get astir of my referrals from my accountant, who referred each 1 of his clients to maine aft lockdown.

I gave them a elemental audit that compared their website with a competitor’s to “open a dialogue” with them.

Then I scheduled telephone calls to sermon ways to prioritize gross opportunities from SEO-related work.

Now onto outbound.

Outbound

Outbound is erstwhile companies nonstop messages to imaginable customers alternatively than hold for them to travel looking for their services. This tin beryllium done email, nonstop mail, telephone, etc.

You tin find prospects to people utilizing Ahrefs’ Content Explorer.

Let’s accidental I privation to people insolvency practitioners successful the U.K.

• Enter insolvency practitioner site:co.uk and prime “In title” 
• Filter “One leafage per domain” and “no subdomains”

And now, I person astir 249 unsocial websites.

You tin alteration “insolvency practitioner” to the benignant of institution you are targeting.

Do besides alteration site:co.uk to the state you privation to target, e.g., site:ca for Canada.

If you’re targeting prospects successful the U.S., participate the concern benignant and determination into Content Explorer, e.g., Certified Public Accountant OR CPA AND Houston.

Now that you person recovered prospects to target, the adjacent measurement is to suffice prospects or leads.

Lead qualification is the process of determining which leads are astir apt to go large customers and absorption connected them first.

Inbound and outbound leads are qualified differently.

Inbound qualification

Your website volition beryllium the superior transmission to get qualified leads, and you tin bash this by including an enquiry signifier to benignant the wheat from the chaff.

Include a signifier connected your website that collects the pursuing imaginable information:

• What you are looking for
• What you are investing
• When you’re looking to start
• Name, email, URL, and telephone

In this example, present are the 3 questions a visitant is asked.

Question 1. What assistance bash you need?

Question 2. What is your budget?

Question 3. When are you looking to start?

If the imaginable is simply a highly qualified lead, they are invited to publication a call.

A less-qualified pb tin motion up for a newsletter.

If you’re utilizing SEO oregon PPC, a signifier oregon telephone to enactment should ideally beryllium located supra the fold of the browser connected your landing pages. The pursuing examples are from the website of different Ahrefs blog contributor, Sam Underwood:

Outbound qualification

You indispensable stitchery accusation beyond their niche and institution sanction to suffice an outbound prospect.

A Content Explorer study contains metrics specified arsenic Domain Rating (DR), referring domains, website traffic, and website postulation value. That’s invaluable information to see successful your outreach.

1. Export database from Content Explorer into Google Sheets

Following connected from measurement #2 above, here’s an example of the report exported from Content Explorer into Google Sheets:

2. Clean up the spreadsheet

Remove irrelevant websites and each the columns, but for the contented title, URL, referring domains, and website traffic.

3. Export CSV and import into Hunter oregon Mailshake

Now prime File > Download > CSV.

4. Find and verify contact

I’ll usage Hunter successful this example, but you tin usage immoderate email outreach software.

Set up customized attributes to import the Website Traffic and Referring Domains information from your spreadsheet.

Go to Bulks > Bulk Domain Search > New Bulk.

Select Domain Search > New Bulk > Name your database and travel the screenshot for setup instructions.

Preview your list, property “Launch,” and Hunter volition find and verify the email addresses of prospects.

5. Create a run with 2 outreach emails

Now spell to Campaigns and make a caller campaign.

Below is an illustration of a income outreach email. Also, effort to travel these four email outreach guidelines:

1. Write a taxable enactment to promote the imaginable to unfastened the email
2. Personalize the email with their first name
3. Offer thing of value, e.g., the email beneath contains a speedy examination of their website postulation with a competitor’s
4. Include a telephone to action

Then constitute a follow-up email:

You tin usage Calendly oregon Google Calendar to let prospects to publication a find telephone with you.

Here’s a video outlining however to docket appointments connected Google Calendar:

• Now adhd your recipients
• Select “From Leads”
• Select the database you created from the near paper and adhd the recipients to your campaign
• Press “Next,” and you’ll spot a preview of every email
• Press “Launch” erstwhile you’re acceptable to commencement your outreach campaign

The intent of the scheduled assignment is to spot if determination is simply a acceptable betwixt you and your imaginable customer.

During the call, they’ll privation to larn much astir your experience, way record, processes, and team.

If they are an inbound lead, you already cognize they privation a unsmooth thought of the fund and commencement day from the signifier they filled in.

If they are an outbound lead, you already cognize their integrated postulation and however it stacks up with a competitor’s.

You’ll privation to sermon the work they want, budget, and timing. Also, it’s important to find their aboriginal state.

You’ll sermon however you measurement success.

You’ll supply pricing guidance, i.e., however you enactment and charge.

Subsequent meetings and dialogues revolve astir the aforesaid topics.

Tell maine much astir your situation

I called a lead, Sam, astatine the appointed clip and asked astir his business.

He told maine helium was paying for leads from others, but helium had an fantabulous offline web and societal profile.

I told him a communicative astir an ex-client who had purchased non-exclusive leads. The ex-client past called up prospects who had already received 10 calls from different contractors. Apparently, those contractors had been sold the same leads.

He asked about me.

I explained my concern exemplary and provided my postulation and conversion rates.

I proceeded to archer him helium would privation his ain leads alternatively than purchasing third-party leads.

The bridge

Then to span the transportation betwixt his concern and my business, I said:

“If a competing website gets 1,000 visits—let’s accidental they person 2% into inquiries. That’s 20 inquiries a month. How galore inquiries bash you typically person into a paid project?”

“10%,” he said.

“So 2 jobs astatine £20K are £40K a period oregon £480K a year,” I said.

“Yes, broadly speaking,” Sam replied.

Where bash we spell from here?

I sensed the telephone was nearing an end, truthful I asked, “Where bash you privation to spell from here?”

P.S. This is my favourite telephone to enactment astatine the extremity of a telephone or email.

Sam said helium would email maine the plans for his concern arsenic we advance, and we should speak soon.

He texted maine that evening.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made is to put my clip penning up a connection and terms lone for the imaginable to accidental nary or, worse, not instrumentality my email or call.

So erstwhile asked, you should accidental a terms earlier penning a proposal.

If they importune connected a written proposal, effort to defy and supply them with a price range.

Here’s an example: Bill, this task volition scope from $3,000 to $5,000 to commencement with, past a fewer $$$$ per month. Is that successful alignment with your budget?

Unpaid proposals you nonstop should acceptable connected 1 leafage and include:

• Where they are present versus their aboriginal state.
• Pricing options anchored against each other.

When you springiness a lawsuit 1 pricing option, determination are lone 2 outcomes: yes oregon no. And a “no” result results successful the imaginable comparing your terms with a competitor’s.

But erstwhile you supply pricing options, the lawsuit is present faced with Option A, Option B, or no.

For example, my extremity is for the lawsuit to bargain Option A. When I presumption the higher anchor terms (Option B) alongside it, the lawsuit tin present comparison some my options. 

According to Blair Enns, erstwhile offered 2 pricing options, a lawsuit volition take Option B 50% of the time.

Here’s a pricing illustration of a one-off project:

Here’s a pricing illustration of an SEO monthly retainer:

Once they’ve verbally confirmed they privation to spell ahead, you tin nonstop them a transcript created from our escaped SEO declaration template.

This template includes 13 indispensable sections that assistance you support yourself and acceptable wide lawsuit expectations.

You tin customize it nevertheless you want. Just alteration the names, edit the terms and work descriptions, and set the illustration presumption and conditions to suit your needs.

Final thoughts

When you’re starting out, absorption connected outbound enactment to make income leads. Those with an established SEO way grounds person a antithetic problem: They request to filter inbound leads to maximize their revenues and margins.

Tailor your SEO work for your people industry, find prospects, suffice them, acceptable up a find telephone call, and springiness them a terms earlier committing to penning a proposal.

Finally, usage our SEO declaration template to adjacent the deal.

Got questions? Ping me connected Twitter.