So, you’ve decided to start an SEO agency. What’s next?
Search engine optimization has been one of the competitive markets in the past few years. At the moment, hundreds of thousands of agencies operate in this field globally.
So, when you decide to launch an SEO business, you have to understand that the competition is going to be rigorous, and it will take commitment and hard work to stand out from the pack.
Luckily, this niche remains highly viable and profitable. It’s possible to launch and grow if you know which steps to take. And we’re here to guide you through this step by step.
How Does the Current SEO Market Look Like: A Brief Overview
In 2024, the size of the global search engine optimization services market was valued at $79.45 billion. Based on its high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%, it’s projected to reach $173.89 billion by 2029.
If there were ever a right time to start a profitable SEO business, it must be now. However, you have to understand the changing SEO landscape and niche trends before you do.
So, what shapes the foundation of modern SEO? Artificial intelligence is one of the most prominent trends changing the industry.
These days, more people rely on LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and other full-fledged AI-powered search engines, as well as new AI-powered SERP features, such as Google’s Overviews. This shift in users’ search behavior leads to the growth of zero-click searches.
This naturally means lower traffic, even for those websites that rank first in SERPs. And it gives rise to the entirely new field of SEO known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
The growing GEO trend, as well as other industry changes, are something you have to consider when building your business.
How to Start an SEO Agency From Scratch: Key Steps to Follow
Identify Your Niche & Target Audience
Running an all-purpose SEO agency business can sound lucrative. However, the truth is that spreading your focus across all niches from the very start can actually slow down growth.
Building authority across all niches at once is hard. It also means competing with large and reputable agencies. And it can be too much to handle for beginners.
The good news is that it’s much more manageable if you pick a specific specialization from the start. Analyze the key knowledge, skills, and expertise that you and your partners have to detect your starting niche.
This will make it easier and faster for you to map out your ideal customer and build authority. Later, as your business grows, you will be able to gradually scale to other niches.
Next, define the ideal customer for your SEO business. Knowing who your target audience is, you can adjust your unique selling proposition to their specific needs and pain points and gain a strategic advantage.
Define the SEO Services You Plan to Offer & Set Up Your Unique Selling Proposition
Many beginners falsely assume that providing a broad list of SEO services will help them acquire more customers. In reality, however, this can lead to a lack of resources, excessive load, and difficulty surviving the competition.
So, how do you decide what to focus on? The best approach is to analyze the market and find areas with the highest demand and profit capacity.
At this moment, there is a rising need for GEO, voice search optimization, AI content generation, and cleanup, etc.
Focusing on services related to industry trends can help you make your business future-proof and stand out. At the same time, good old SEO basics also remain important. There is a high demand:
- Local SEO
- On-page optimization
- Technical optimization
- Programmatic SEO
- Content strategy and link-building
- Brand SEO and PR
- International/multi-lingual optimization
To make the right choice, firstly gauge the resources and expertise your team has. Secondly, analyze the growing tendencies and find areas with lower competition. Find where your resources and TA’s demands overlap and narrow down your service offering based on it.
Based on the selected services, create competitive and flexible pricing. It’s recommended to organize your pricing into several packages to tailor your offering to clients with different needs and budgets.
And while you set up your pricing, you also have to detail your unique selling proposition (USP) that converts prospects into customers.
A good and persuasive USP should explicitly state why customers should hire you instead of other agencies. To formulate it, research the biggest pain points and unmet needs of your TA and define how you cover these needs best based on your unique expertise, technology, or process.
Speak the language of benefits and results that your customers can gain with your help. Emphasize things like flexibility, a tailored approach, outstanding customer service, etc. And use real-world cases and testimonials as social proof to add value to your USP.
Build an Effective Agency Team & Set Up SEO Software
After you define the overall direction of your SEO business, you need to shape an effective team and prepare your tech stack. Even before hiring employees, take time to study common SEO agency team structure options, such as:
- Traditional hierarchical structure
- Flat Structure
- Pod or squad structure
- Freelance (decentralized) structure
After you choose a suitable structure, focus on hiring and onboarding your employees. It’s crucial that you provide them with proper training and clarify each person’s roles, objectives, and tasks early so that everyone is on the same page.
Next, you need to find and set up your SEO tech stack. Choose quality and functional software that aligns with the specific types of services you’re offering. Choose software that’s also scalable. It should allow for automation of repetitive tasks and seamless integration with other tools in your tech stack.
For example, tools like the SEO API by SE Ranking are a great choice for automating backlink analysis, keyword data collection, and competitor insights. This tool delivers actionable data right into your agency’s dashboard, ensuring smooth client reporting and saving time.
Register & Set Up Your SEO Business Structure
Before you launch and start acquiring customers, you need to take care of one more, incredibly important thing – the structure and registration of your SEO agency.
Generally, there are four business structures that work best for this kind of business:
- Sole proprietorship—It is the simplest form of organization. It is easier to set up and manage, and it implies less paperwork and fuller control over your business. However, it implies a very high level of personal liability, meaning that your personal assets and savings might be at risk if your business faces debts, lawsuits, and other issues.
- Limited liability company (LLC)—An LLC is another popular type of organization. Its primary benefit is the possibility to separate your business liabilities and personal assets. Unlike a sole proprietorship, an LLC doesn’t put your personal assets at risk. And it also looks more credible in the eyes of customers.
- Subchapter S corporation (S Corp)—An S Corporation is a more complex form of organization that requires more corporate paperwork and formalities. Its core benefit is a more reasonable taxation. In an S Corporation, you can set yourself on a salary (instead of self-employment), which allows lower tax rates.
- C corporation (C Corp)—A C Corp is an organizational structure that fully separates your legal and tax entity. Simply put, you generally are not personally liable for the corporate wrongs. Your company fully operates under its own name. This, however, can lead to double taxation.
When setting up your SEO business, carefully study the ins and outs of every organization type to find the right structure for your agency. Ideally, consult with a specialist to find the optimal option.
Start Your Growth by Acquiring SEO Clients
Now, this must be the hardest stage of your agency launch. However, in order to really get started, you have to get your first clients. So, where do you look for them?
There are a few popular customer acquisition channels that a new SEO agency can use:
- Upwork and other freelance platforms—This is a place where clients are actively looking for specific types of services, so if you reach out to them actively, you can get your first wins rather quickly.
- Cold email—If well-targeted and personalized, cold emailing can be a very scalable outreach method that lets you connect with prospects who perfectly match your niche and ideal client profile (ICP).
- Networking—Word-of-mouth greatly affects buying decisions both in the B2C and B2B sectors. In fact, 52% of small businesses report that referrals are the #1 source of new customers who become loyal buyers, which is why networking and building strong relationships in your niche are crucial acquisition strategies.
- SEO and content—Consistently publishing relevant and quality content and optimizing for visibility in search shows your expertise as an agency. This might not be the fastest acquisition strategy. But it’s one of the most sustainable ones.
Establish a Strong SEO Agency Reputation Through Branding, Marketing & Partnerships
Acquiring B2B clients isn’t just about outreach and networking. In order to grow, you need to establish a strong brand and build authority that will make people recognize you and come to your agency for the SEO services they need.
There are three core elements of reputation building:
- Establish a strong online presence. Apply your knowledge and expertise to build and optimize your website, create social media profiles, and business profiles to ensure organic discoverability. Consistently publish high-quality and optimized content to build trust and authority.
- Create a strong brand identity. Create a distinctive logo, brand colors, voice, and messaging that reflect your unique identity. Make your branding consistent across all channels, including your website, social media, and other channels.
- Establish yourself as an industry expert. Try digital PR and strategic partnerships to share your expertise and build a reputation as a leader in the field.
- Don’t neglect advertising. Although long-term strategies like SEO will help you create sustainable growth, your new SEO business will also greatly benefit from the rapid surge in visibility and traffic that paid advertising can offer. Use well-targeted ads in search engines and social media to get in front of the prospects who match your ICP and generate quality leads.
Summary
Starting an SEO business is still a good idea. This market is growing rapidly and remains in high demand among customers across all fields. So, if you do it right, starting your own agency can open up huge profit and growth opportunities in the long run.
As you now know, a successful launch relies on three key pillars – research, planning, and a growth mindset. From defining a specific niche and services to establishing authority, all these steps matter for growth.
Follow the roadmap we shared with you here to build a viable business that succeeds!
