How To Start An Seo Agency

Are you looking to start a SEO agency?

If you talk to any entrepreneur, getting started is one of the hardest parts of launching your own business.

There are many things to consider, such as:

• Validating your business idea
• Setting up your business structure
• Launch ideas for your business
• Determining your marketing strategy
• And much more!

In this detailed guide, we lay out all the steps to help you get started and run your business successfully.

💡 Introduction To Starting A Seo Agency

Is Starting A Seo Agency Right For You?

There are many factors to consider when starting a SEO agency.

We put together the main pros and cons for you here:

Pros of starting a SEO agency

• Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

• Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

• Traffic to your website

A SEO agency gives people a reason to visit your website and to keep coming back to you!

• No overhead costs

To get your SEO agency started, there are no costs associated with overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a lot of time and money!

• High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Cons of starting a SEO agency

• Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your SEO agency, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

• Longer Sales Process

A SEO agency can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

• Security Issues

With any Saas business, data loss and security issues may arise throughout your process of building your product. It's critical that you understand exactly what you're responsible for and how to avoid potential issues down the road.

Players

Big Players

• WEBRIS (4 Alexa Ranking)
• Ahrefs (1.75K Alexa Ranking)
• WebRevenue (17.8K Alexa Ranking)
• Bloggers Ideas (18.4K Alexa Ranking)
• semalt.com (19.1K Alexa Ranking)

Small Players

• GR0 - Revenue $1.8M/month
• StudioHawk - Revenue $720K/month
• Rankings.io - Revenue $700K/month
• Digital Position™ - Revenue $390K/month
• On The Map Inc - Revenue $350K/month
• SharpNet Solutions, Inc - Revenue $350K/month
• Digital Next - Revenue $290K/month
• 51blocks - Revenue $210K/month
• The Creative Collective - Revenue $200K/month
• Pneuma Media - Revenue $200K/month
• High Voltage SEO - Revenue $180K/month
• Elit-web - Revenue $150K/month
• BrandBurp Digital - Revenue $100K/month
• Skynet Technologies - Revenue $100K/month
• PageTraffic - Revenue $100K/month
• Inquivix - Revenue $100K/month
• Bloggers Ideas - Revenue $100K/month
• SEO Hacker - Revenue $84K/month
• Content Refined - Revenue $83K/month
• Pearl Lemon - Revenue $80K/month
• Profit Parrot Marketing and SEO Company - Revenue $50K/month
• Conversion Perk - Revenue $45K/month
• Regex SEO - Revenue $40K/month
• Novus Digital Ltd - Revenue $40K/month
• Travel Tractions - Revenue $35K/month
• Salt Water Digital - Revenue $35K/month
• Base Coat Marketing - Revenue $30K/month
• WebRevenue - Revenue $30K/month
• Weichie.com - Revenue $30K/month
• Big Star Copywriting - Revenue $30K/month
• Straight Up Search - Revenue $30K/month
• Paper Box SEO - Revenue $28K/month
• The Links Guy - Revenue $25K/month
• HelloSEO - Revenue $25K/month
• Windhill Design LLC - Revenue $21.9K/month
• Inbound Blogging Ltd - Revenue $20K/month
• MagicSpace SEO - Revenue $20K/month
• Spear Growth - Revenue $20K/month
• Hiperion Marketing - Revenue $20K/month
• Front Page SEO - Revenue $12K/month
• Rex Marketing and CX - Revenue $10K/month
• 1ON1 SEO Training - Revenue $10K/month
• Tatum Digital Agency - Revenue $10K/month
• 7 Eagles - Revenue $10K/month
• Rise Visible - Revenue $8K/month
• Fruity Llama - Revenue $8K/month
• Lead Comet - Revenue $8K/month
• Anachak Design - Revenue $7K/month
• Topnotch SEO - Revenue $7K/month
• Busy Living Better - Revenue $5.2K/month
• SiteGuru - Revenue $5K/month
• Wolfate - Revenue $3.5K/month
• Content Spotlight - Revenue $1K/month

Search Interest

Let's take a look at the search trends for seo services over the last year:

How To Name Your Seo Agency

It's important to find a catchy name for your SEO agency so that you can stand out in your space.

Here are some general tips to consider when naming your SEO agency

• Avoid hard to spell names: you want something easy to remember and easy to spell for your customers
• Conduct a search to see if others in the space have the same name
• Try not to pick a name that limits growth opportunities for your business (ie. if you decide to expand into other product lines)
• As soon as you have an idea (or ideas) of a few names that you love, register the domain name(s) as soon as possible!

Why is naming your SEO agency so important?

The name of your business will forever play a role in:

• Your customers first impression
• Your businesses identity
• The power behind the type of customer your brand attracts
• If you're memorable or not

It's important to verify that the domain name is available for your SEO agency.

You can search domain availability here:

Although .com names are the most common and easiest to remember, there are other options if your .com domain name is not available. Depending on your audience, it may not matter as much as you think.

It's also important to thoroughly check if social media handles are available.

As soon as you resonate with a name (or names), secure the domain and SM handles as soon as possible to ensure they don't get taken.

Here's some inspiration for naming your SEO agency:

• Rank Booster check availability
• Analytical Rank check availability
• Keyword Position check availability
• Logical.ly check availability
• Trafficked check availability
• Magnet Buzz check availability
• SimpleGrowth check availability
• Agency360 check availability
• Smartgrowth.ly check availability
• Traffic Driver check availability
• Focused Bandwidth check availability
• Page Maniacs check availability
• Topped Organically check availability
• Domain Search check availability
• Target Monsters check availability
• Kickstart Keyword check availability
• SEO Sages check availability
• Rank Planner check availability
• Globalkeyword check availability
• Spark & Shine check availability
• Quality Search check availability
• Search Keyword check availability
• Innovation and Analytics Inc. check availability
• Stuffed SEO check availability
• Grow & Rank check availability
• Rank Me Top check availability
• Brand Burrito check availability
• Growth Bootcamp check availability
• Organic Status check availability
• Footprinted SEO check availability
• Keyword Alley check availability
• Proficient Domain check availability
• Organic Searcher check availability
• mouSEOvers check availability
• DigiSEO check availability
• PageRanked check availability
• Top-Level Growth check availability
• BrandAura check availability
• Web First check availability
• SearchEngine Target check availability
• The Radiant Reach check availability
• Targeted check availability
• Rank to Success check availability
• Rank Hunt check availability
• Keyword Hack check availability
• Dynamic Rank check availability
• Keyword Wizard check availability
• The Top Click check availability
• Page Optimizer check availability
• SEO Tracker check availability
• Unique.ly check availability
• Branded SEO check availability
• The Rank Attack check availability
• Ethical Growth check availability
• Maximized Growth check availability
• Search Optimal check availability
• Rank Conversion check availability
• Optimized Audience check availability
• SEO Master check availability
• The Social SEO check availability
• Search Expertise check availability
• SEO Auditor check availability
• SEO Optimizer check availability
• SEO Bunch check availability
• Long Tail Proof check availability
• Growth Hunt check availability
• Researched SEO check availability
• Boost Doctor check availability
• Search Visibility check availability
• Strategy SEO check availability
• Beyond Search check availability
• SEO Genius check availability
• RapidOrganic check availability
• SEO Spot check availability
• Rank Proximity check availability
• Bing Group check availability
• Strudel Google check availability
• Popular Yahoo Trading Co check availability
• 420 Sbi Place check availability
• The Click Optimum check availability
• InternetGoogle check availability
• Nominative Eag check availability
• Ubiquitous Valley Collective check availability
• Ostensible Rita Spot check availability
• The Ostensible check availability

How To Create A Slogan For Your Seo Agency:

Slogans are a critical piece of your marketing and advertising strategy.

The role of your slogan is to help your customer understand the benefits of your product/service - so it's important to find a catchy and effective slogan name.

Often times, your slogan can even be more important than the name of your brand.

Here are 6 tips for creating a catchy slogan for your SEO agency:

1. Keep it short, simple and avoid difficult words

A great rule of thumb is that your slogan should be under 10 words. This will make it easy for your customer to understand and remember.

2. Tell what you do and focus on what makes you different

There are a few different ways you can incorporate what makes your business special in your slogan:

• Explain the target customer you are catering your services towards
• What problem do you solve?
• How do you make other people, clients, or your employer look good?
• Do you make people more successful? How?

3. Be consistent

Chances are, if you're coming up with a slogan, you may already have your business name, logo, mission, branding etc.

It's important to create a slogan that is consistent with all of the above.

4. Ensure the longevity of your slogan

Times are changing quickly, and so are businesses.

When coming up with your slogan, you may want to consider creating something that is timeless and won't just fade with new trends.

5. Consider your audience

When finding a catchy slogan name, you'll want to make sure that this resonates across your entire audience.

It's possible that your slogan could make complete sense to your audience in Europe, but may not resonate with your US audience.

6. Get feedback!

This is one of the easiest ways to know if your slogan will be perceived well, and a step that a lot of brands drop the ball on.

Ask friends, family, strangers, and most importantly, those that are considered to be in your target market.

Here's some inspiration for coming up with a slogan for your SEO agency:

• For Mash, Get Seo.
• Next To The Breast, Seo's The Best.
• Seo Gets It Done On Time.
• Commit Of The Suu
• Ostensible And Incredible
• You Too Can Have A Seo Like Mine.
• My Anti-Drug Is Seo.
• Organic Suh, 420 Hang
• They're Waffly Seo.
• Endless Possibilities With Seo.
• And On The Eighth Day, God Created Seo.
• Work Hard, Hang Harder
• Beware Of Expensive Seo.
• From Oblique To Specified
• Seo Beat.
• From Unwomanly To Powder Puff
• Nothing Is Faster Than Seo.
• Demy Suh, Feminine Xue
• Seo For When It's Quitting Time.
• Two Seo Are Better Than One.
• I'd Sleep With Seo.
• Don't Say Brown, Say 'Seo'.
• Think Seo.
• Seo Chews 'Em Up And Spits 'Em Out.
• Demonstrative And Optative
• Spot Of The Sbi
• Simple Impartial Seo.
• Seo Prevents That Sinking Feeling.
• Ostensible Rita, Demy Slowly
• Google - Be Prepared.
• Point Of The Eag
• Yow Is What We Do
• Seos With Characteristic
• Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Seo.
• There's Only One Thing In The World I Want And That Is Seo.
• Nominative Susies Are What We Do
• Home Of The Hsu
• Designed For Seo, Engineered To Last.
• Order Of The Suh
• Just Like Seo Used To Make.
• Let's Seo!
• Do You Have The Seo Inside?
• Every Seo Has A Story.
• Seo, What Else?
• Central Heating For Seo.
• Think Seo.
• Nominative Waps Are What We Do
• Because Seo Can't Drive.
• Mba Is What We Do
• Work Hard, Hang Harder
• Sweet As The Moment When The Seo Went 'Pop'
• There's Lots Of Fun In Seo.
• It's A Bit Of A Seo.
• There's A Bit Of Seo In All Of Us.
• Nominative Chui, Nominative Xiu
• Seat Of The Rita
• Seo - One Name. One Legend.
• Put Of The Saps
• Feminine Deve, Great Xiu
• Position Of The Sbi
• Nominative Xues Are What We Do

The Consulting Business Model

When implementing a consulting business model, you have a number of approaches to choose from:

Here are a few of the most common consulting business models:

1. The Time-Based Model

This is one of the more traditional consulting business models - where your rate, terms, and scope of work are outlined at the very beginning of the project.

Typically, with this model you would choose a day rate or an hourly rate.

2. The Project-Based Model

With a project-based model, you and your client agree on the scope of work you will be performing for a set amount of money.

There is typically a contract in place which covers the deliverables and expectations from both parties.

3. The Retainer-Based Model

The retainer model involves providing ongoing service for your clients over a specific period of time.

You may not provide a specific deliverable for your client, but instead, a broad scope of work over a set period.

4. The Consulting-Firm Model

This model is becoming more and more popular. The consulting firm model involves hiring freelancers or employees to complete work for your clients on your behalf.

Typically, in this situation, you still manage the relationship with the client, but you delegate some or all of the work to your team.

Which model should you choose?

The best way to determine which business model you will choose is to research other entrepreneurs or agencies in your space that are offering the same or similar service.

This will allow you to identify your competition, set your pricing, and determine your target audience.

Learn more about starting a SEO agency:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a SEO agency?
-> Pros and cons of a SEO agency

Need inspiration?

-> Other SEO agency success stories
-> Examples of established SEO agency
-> Marketing ideas for a SEO agency
-> Seo agency Instagram bios

Other resources

-> Seo agency tips

🎬 How To Start A Seo Agency

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Seo Agency

If you are planning to start a SEO agency, the costs are relatively low. This, of course, depends on if you decide to start the business with lean expenses or bringing in a large team and spending more money.

We’ve outlined two common scenarios for “pre-opening” costs of starting a SEO agency and outline the costs you should expect for each:

• The estimated minimum starting cost = $62
• The estimated maximum starting cost = $58,061

Startup Expenses: Average expenses incurred when starting a SEO agency.	Min Startup Costs: You plan to execute on your own. You’re able to work from home with minimal costs.	Max Startup Costs: You have started with 1+ other team members.
Office Space Expenses
Rent: This refers to the office space you use for your business and give money to the landlord. To minimize costs, you may want to consider starting your business from home or renting an office in a coworking space.	$0	$5,750
Utility Costs For Office Space: Utility costs are the expense for all the services you use in your office, including electricity, gas, fuels, telephone, water, sewerage, etc.	$0	$1,150
WiFi & Internet: Whether you work from home or in an office space, WiFi is essential. Although the cost is minimal in most cases, it should be appropriately budgeted for each month!	$0	$100
Total Office Space Expenses	$0 (min)	$7,000 (max)
Employee & Freelancer Expenses
Payroll Costs & Fees: Payroll cost means the expense of paying your employees, which includes salaries, wages, and other benefits. This number depends on if you decide to pay yourself a salary upfront and how many employees you have on payroll. At first, many founders take on all responsibilities until the business is up and running. You can always hire down the road when you understand where you need help. Keep in mind, if you do plan to pay yourself, the average salary founders make is $50K.	$150	$250
Employee Hiring Expenses: Apart from payroll and benefits, there are other hiring employees costs. This includes the cost to advertise the job, the time it takes to interview candidates, and any other turnover that may result from hiring the wrong candidate.	$1	$2
Employee Rewards: It's vital to acknowledge and reward workers, whether they hit their goals or do a great job. This does not have to be costly. In fact, simply taking workers out to a meal or giving a gift or bonus is among the many ways to show how the worker is valued!	$0	$100
Total Employee & Freelancer Expenses	$151 (min)	$352 (max)
Website Costs
Website Builder: The cost of your website will vary depending on which platform you choose. There are many website builders on the market, so it's important you choose the right one for your business and overall goals. To learn more about your options + how to build a great website, check out this article.	$10	$500
Web Designer: Web design includes several different aspects, including webpage layout, content creation, and design elements.If you have the skills and knowledge to design your website on your own, then outsourcing this to an expert may not be necessary. There are plenty of other ways you can design a beautiful website using design tools and software.	$200	$6,000
Domain Name: Your domain name is the URL and name of your website - this is how internet users find you and your website.Domain names are extremely important and should match your company name and brand. This makes it easier for customers to remember you and return to your website.	$12	$200
Business Email Hosting Service: An email hosting runs a dedicated email server. Once you have your domain name, you can set up email accounts for each user on your team. The most common email hosts are G Suite and Microsoft 365 Suite. The number of email accounts you set up will determine the monthly cost breakdown.	$1	$15
Website Hosting Costs: Server hosting is an IT service typically offered by a cloud service provider that hosts the website information and allows remote access through the internet. A hosted server can help you scale up and increase your business’s efficacy, relieving you from the hassles of on-premise operations.	$0	$300
Website & Live Chat Tool: If your business values high-end customer service, you must consider utilizing a website chatbot. Website chatbots play a pivotal role in converting site visitors into long-term customers. Typically, there are different tiers of pricing and features offered by Live Chat service providers.	$0	$200
Total Website Costs	$223 (min)	$7,215 (max)
Business Formation Fees
Small Business Insurance: Depending on which state you live in and the business you're operating, the costs and requirements for small business insurance vary. You can learn more here.	$500	$2,000
Permit and License Fees: Depending on your industry, there are certain licenses and permits you may need in order to comply with state, local, and federal regulations. Here is an article that goes over all the permits and licenses you may need for your SEO agency.	$50	$700
Trademark: Filing trademark registration will protect your brand and prevent other businesses from copying your name or product. USPTO has several different types of trademarks, so the cost to apply can vary (typically anywhere from $400-$700).	$0	$700
Lawyer Fees: Although you may want to avoid attorney fees, it's important that your business (and you) are covered at all costs. This comes into play when creating founder agreements, setting up your business legal structure, and of course, any unforeseen circumstances that may happen when dealing with customers or other businesses.	$0	$1,500
A Patent: Patents provide protection against others stealing or selling your idea.Securing a patent can be very valuable, but it's important that you are 100% sure this will be a smart business move for you, or if this is something to consider down the line.The process of securing a US patent can be both lengthy and pricey, and typically includes filing an application with the USPTO.	$5,000	$15,000
Set up business: LLC & Corporations: The first step in setting up your business is deciding whether your business is an LLC, S Corp or C Corp. The cost for this depends on which state you form your business and which structure you decide on. We put together an article that goes over the 10 Steps To Setting Up A Business.	$50	$500
Total Business Formation Fees	$5,600 (min)	$20,400 (max)
App Creation Costs
App Development: App development is the process of creating software intended to run on a mobile device.In addition to coding, there are other elements to consider:- design- back end development- security- architecture- testingMany businesses hire an expert that has the technical knowledge to design and develop an app.Depending on the scope of your project, the cost can vary. Some business owners learn to code on their own to minimize these costs, and others, hire a developer to work for them part-time or full-time.	$1,000	$20,000
Total App Creation Costs	$1,000 (min)	$20,000 (max)
Software Expenses
Design Programs & Software: These programs might include the Adobe family of design tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. This is typically a monthly subscription ranging from $10-$50/mo.	$0	$50
Email marketing tool: If you plan to grow your email list and email marketing efforts, you may want to consider investing in an email marketing platform (ie. Klaviyo, MailChimp). We put together a detailed guide on all of the email marketing tools out there + the pricing models for each one here.	$0	$100
IT Support: IT support installs and configures hardware and software and solves any technical issues that may arise.IT support can be used internally or for your customers experiencing issues with your product/service.There are a variety of tools and software you can use to help with any technical issues you or your customers are experiencing. This is a great option for businesses that do not have the means to hire a team of professionals.	$150	$2,000
Accounting & Invoicing Software: It's important to have an accounting system and process in place to manage financials, reporting, planning and tax preparation. Here are the 30 best accounting tools for small businesses.	$0	$50
CRM Software: CRM (customer relationship management) software system is used to track and analyze your company’s interactions with clients and prospects. Although this is not a necessary tool to have for your business, implementing this, in the beginning, may set your business up for success and save you valuable time.	$12	$300
Project Management Software: You may want to consider using a project management and collaboration tool to organize your day-to-day. This can also be very beneficial if you have a larger team and want to keep track of everyones tasks and productivity. For a full list of project management tools, check out this full list here.	$0	$25
Internal Communication Tool: If you plan to have multiple members on your team, you may want to consider an instant message tool such as Slack or Telegram. The cost is usually billed per month (approx $5/user/month) or there are freemium versions available on many platforms.	$0	$20
Social Media Management Tools: If you plan to do social media marketing for your SEO agency, you should consider investing in a social media automation or publishing tool. This will save you time and allow you to track performance and engagement for your posts. Here is a list of 28 best social media tools for your small business.	$0	$50
Payroll Software: The main purpose of payroll software is to help you pay your team and track each of those payments (so that you don't have to do it manually). If you do not have any employees or have a very small team, payroll software may not be necessary at this stage. Here are the 11 best payroll tools for small businesses!	$0	$200
File Hosting Service: It's important to make sure the information for your SEO agency is stored and protected should something happen to your computer or hard drive. The cost for this is affordable and depends on how much data you need to store. To learn more about the different options and pricing on the market, check out this article.	$0	$299
Total Software Expenses	$162 (min)	$3,094 (max)
Total Starting Costs	$62 (min)	$58,061 (max)

Raising Money For Your Seo Agency

Here are the most common ways to raise money for your SEO agency:

What Skills Do I Need To Succeed In Starting A Seo Agency?

As a SEO agency, there are several essential skills and characteristics that are important to identify prior to starting your business.

Let’s look at these skills in more detail so you can identify what you need to succeed in your day-to-day business operations:

Advice For Starting A Seo Agency

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a SEO agency:

Rick van Haasteren, founder of SiteGuru ($5K/month):

My main takeaway is to always focus on which problem you need to solve and use a data-driven approach to work towards a solution.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Rick Hoskins, founder of On The Map Inc ($350K/month):

A very common mistake that I’ve seen over the years is focusing too much on product/service and not enough on the sales. Think about how you’re going to sell the product and then push for the execution.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Alan Silvestri, founder of Growth Gorilla ($25K/month):

Having clarity on what we value helps us steer in the right direction for our business and life to get what we want out of them.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Alan Silvestri, founder of Growth Gorilla ($25K/month):

The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll learn from your mistakes (‘cause there will be many of those). Learn from others who have done what you want to do and take massive action.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Nathan Elly, founder of Digital Next ($290K/month):

Everyone has thoughts of grandeur and some sort of destination to work towards but the reality is when starting out there is hard work to do. If you work hard, stick to your ethics and deliver on realistic expectations; the rest will fall into place.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Alan Silvestri, founder of Growth Gorilla ($25K/month):

Feel free to try different things, but give yourself a deadline for any of those. If something fails, try another one and keep going until something sticks.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Bob Weichler, founder of Weichie.com ($30K/month):

Look up to people that inspire you but never compare your journey to theirs! Learn from them so maybe you can do it better, but every journey is unique.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Chris Dreyer, founder of Rankings.io ($700K/month):

Reading books shouldn’t be a chore; you should be enjoying the growth.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Mike Leonhard, founder of Compose.ly ($/month):

Don’t be afraid of getting feedback and criticism from others. Actively seek it. You need to leave your bubble to get valuable feedback.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Roger Parent, founder of Digital Position™ ($390K/month):

I wasn’t a proper CEO until this year. Now that I’ve stepped into this role, truly, I can’t even begin to describe how much my life has improved.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Chris Dreyer, founder of Rankings.io ($700K/month):

Find someone whose work you admire and apply both their mistakes and successes to your own trajectory. Most any mistake that can be made has been, so take advantage of the availability of the stories of others to sidestep the pitfalls that caught them.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Kevin Miller, founder of GR0 ($1.8M/month):

In 2022 we expanded from 1 core service to 8 and in 2023 we will expand this to 14.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Rick van Haasteren, founder of SiteGuru ($5K/month):

If I would have known how hard it would be to build an SEO tool, I probably never would have started.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Rick van Haasteren, founder of SiteGuru ($5K/month):

For all the product builders out there: never underestimate how long it takes to build something amazing. It requires lots of iteration and customer feedback until something is really valuable to your audience. Don’t give up, and keep going!

Read the full interview ➜

-

Noah Riggs, founder of Busy Living Better ($5.2K/month):

Never become complacent doing your job, learn more, provide value, and make your skills undeniable.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Joy Hawkins, founder of Sterling Sky Inc. ($/month):

Investing in and caring about the well-being of your staff is by far the best business decision.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Jitendra Vaswani, founder of Bloggers Ideas ($100K/month):

Many prosperous businesspeople got their first start by working for someone else. It's okay to take it gradually at first.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Taylor Ryan, founder of Klint Marketing ($/month):

You have to really love and believe in what you do if you’re going to stick with it.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Russell Michelson, founder of Paper Box SEO ($28K/month):

When you make your living doing one time projects, like building websites or consulting on projects, you always have to be on the hunt for new clients. With SEO, revenue is long term and accumulates.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Russell Michelson, founder of Paper Box SEO ($28K/month):

While choosing to take time off usually isn’t good for the bottom line, it’s important to remember why you do what you do. Money is important, but it’s not everything.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Ben Dankiw, founder of NAV43 ($95K/month):

Hone your craft through trial and error. Get started, and make sure you love it enough to get through the boring stuff.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Leslie Gilmour, founder of Cube Digital ($25K/month):

Build your product or website where you earn revenue.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Deepak Shukla, founder of Pearl Lemon ($80K/month):

Be sure to spend time building up your own name and tying that to the business...it helps build trust and authority.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Derryck Strachan, founder of Big Star Copywriting ($30K/month):

New businesses need to think about positioning carefully - and many people get this bit wrong, usually by not being defined enough in what their brand is about.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Kyle Roof, founder of High Voltage SEO ($180K/month):

One of the huge advantages of starting a service-based business is that you do not need a lot of capital to get things started. Essentially, you are cash flow positive on your first client.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your SEO agency.

Why?

Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.

For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.

You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:

• Executive Summary: Brief outline of your product, the market, and growth opportunities
• Overviews and Objectives: Overview of your business, target customers, and what you need to run your business
• Products and Services: Specifics on the products and services your business will provide
• Market Opportunities: Analysis of customer demographics, buyer habits and if your product is in demand
• Marketing: Outline of your marketing plan and how you plan to differentiate yourself from other customers
• Competitive analysis: Analysis of your competition and the strengths and weaknesses therein
• Operations: Hierarchal structure of the company and what it will take to run the business on the day-to-day
• Leadership Team: Detailing roles and responsibilities of each manager based on their specific skill-set
• Financial Analysis Understanding of all expenses, operating budgets, and projections for the future.

Learn more about how to write a business plan here

Determine Which Business Bank Account You Need

There are hundreds of banks out there, and it can be overwhelming to find one that's right for your business.

Here are some factors you may want to consider:

• Location - Is your bank close enough that you can easily make deposits or get cash?
• Low Fees - Make sure to understand any and all fees associated with setting up and maintaining your bank account. Ask for a list - banks usually try to keep this hidden and in the fine print.
• Online Banking Services - Make sure you can easily navigate through your online portal and you have easy access to everything you need.
• Line of Credit - What do your options look like (even if you don't need this now, you may need this down the road).
• Every bank has something that differentiates them from the rest, so make sure whatever that is applied to your needs and values.

Check out this list of the 13 Best Banks for Small Business in 2020 and what makes them so unique.

Setting Up Your Seo Agency (Formation and Legal)

When it comes to setting up your business, you may find yourself in a place where you have to make some financial and legal decisions.

The first thing you'll want to decide on is whether you want to be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.

These three options are found to be the most common when starting a small business, and all serve to protect your personal assets and also provide you with certain tax benefits.

• LLC: All income and expenses from the business are reported on the LLC personal income tax return.
• S corp: Owners pay themselves salaries + receive dividends from profits.
• C Corp: C Corps are separately taxable entities that file a corporate tax return (Form 1120). No income tax is paid at the corporate level and any tax due is paid at the owners individual expense.

Depending on where you're conducting business, you'll also want to consider securing the proper permits, licenses and liability insurance.

Learn more about securing the right permits and licenses ➜

Need to start an LLC? Create an LLC in minutes with ZenBusiness.

How Do I Pay Myself As A Small Business Owner?

Most entrepreneurs start a business to do something they love- but at the end of the day, you still have bills to pay (maybe now more than ever).

But it's important to strike the right balance - if you pay yourself too much, you could be putting your business at risk.

There are two common ways to pay yourself as a business owner:

1. Owner's Draw

Many entrepreneurs pay themselves through an owner's draw. This means that you are technically sean as "self-employed" through the eyes of the IRS and are not paid through regular wages.

At the point that you collect money from the draw, taxes typically are not taken out - so make sure you are prepared to pay these taxes once you file your individual return.

As an owner who takes a draw, you can legally take out as much as you want from your equity.

This type of compensation is suited for Sole props, LLCs, and partnerships. If you’re an S corp, you can pay yourself through both a salary and draw if you choose.

2. Salary

If you decide to pay yourself a salary, you will receive a set and recurring amount. This will be taxed by the federal government and the state you reside in.

The reality is that it can be really complicated to set your own salary, so we have some tips for you to consider:

• Take out a reasonable amount that allows you to live comfortably but also sets your business up for success
• Consider the number of hours you are working weekly + the type of duties you are performing.
• Set your salary based on your industry-standard, location, and profits (or projected profits)
• Look at your P&L statement: Deduct your own pay from that amount. This is important so you can first tackle important business expenses, and then pay yourself from the amount leftover.
• Pick a payroll schedule (and stick to it)! In the US, it's most common to pay yourself and employees twice a month.

To learn more about how to pay yourself and what is a reasonable amount, check out this article.

How To Price Your Seo Services

One of the most challenging aspects to starting a SEO agency is determining how much to charge for your seo services.

When businesses under-price their product, this can be extremely detrimental to their bottom line and reputation.

Often times, businesses under-price their products to drive demand and volume, but that last thing you want is for customers to view your product/service as "cheap." Additionally, this can have a big impact on the type of customer you attract, which can be difficult to recover from.

On the other hand, when businesses over-price, this tends to be just as damaging to the business.

When customers buy, it's likely that they will explore the internet and look at other competitors to ensure they're getting the best value + deal. This is why it's so important that you research your competition and understand where you land in the marketplace.

Here are some factors to consider when pricing your product:

Understand your customer

It's important that out of the gates, you identify the type of customer you want to attract and how much they're willing to pay for your service. One great way to do this is by surveying your customers. Here are some important items you'll want to takeaway:

• Customer demographic: Age, gender, location, etc.
• Buying habits of your customer: What they buy + when they buy
• Level of price sensitivity with your customer

All of these segments will help you identify the type of customer you're attracting and how to price your product accordingly.

Understand your costs

When pricing your seo services, it's critical that you first identify all of your costs and consequently mark up your seo services so you can factor in a profit.

The actual cost of your seo services may include things like:

• The actual cost to make the product (ie. raw materials, supplies, manufacturer).
• Shipping + overhead fees
• Rent
• Operating costs to run your business

You may want to consider creating a spreadsheet with every single expense involved in operating/owning your business. This will give you an idea as to what you need to generate in order to at the very least, break-even and will help you price your products to factor in a profit.

Create revenue goals

When determining the price of your seo services, you'll want to create goals for revenue + how much profit you want your SEO agency to make.

This process is simpler than you may think:

1. Think about your breakeven cost (by completing the above step).
2. Create a revenue goal based on your break-even cost
3. Evaluate the # of items you plan to sell in a given period (make sure this is a realistic number)
4. Divide your revenue goal by the number of items you plan to sell

This figure will help determine your estimated price per product in order to meet your revenue goals.

Evaluate your competition

The last piece in determining how to price your seo services is by simply looking at your competition.

The best way to do this is by finding like-minded businesses that offer product(s) with similar perceived value. Then, you can compare prices of the different businesses and determine where your seo services fits best in the marketplace.

All of these factors play an equal part in pricing your seo services, so it's important you evaluate each one individually to come up with an accurate price that will help optimize your business from the start.

Rate Calculator: How to Calculate The Price For Your Seo Services Services

Our calculator is designed to be simple and easy to use.

The goal is to help you set realistic expectations and understand the hourly rate you should be charging to make your desired profit.

Please input below:

Identify Target Customer

A very critical piece in building SEO agency is to identify your ideal target customer.

• Develop a niche and create a consistent brand that reflects your target customer.
• The colors, logo, content, and overall website should resonate with your target customer and should draw them in by helping them solve their specific "need".

Building an MVP (Minimal Viable Product)

When building a SEO agency, it's critical that you first validate your product/service rather than rushing to build it right away.

This could save you months, if not years of building the wrong product/service.

If you're hoping to decrease any sort of risk that comes with launching your SEO agency, designing a prototype can be a great way to de-risk your situation.

The point of your seo services prototype is that it doesn't have to be perfect.

In the beginning stages, it doesn't matter how rough V1 of your prototype is, it's more important to just get started and you can always refine from there based on feedback from your network and most importantly your customers.

How To Build A MVP

Here are several different ways of building a prototype/MVP:

• Start by building a landing page to see if customers actually need your product and if they are willing to pay for it
• Build a very basic version of your idea and ask for immediate feedback from potential customers
• Present a problem and solution via Facebook/Instagram Ads and see what the response is like

Kevin Miller, founder of GR0 dives deep into the process of designing and prototyping their product:

🚀 How To Launch Your Seo Agency

Build A Website

Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).

1. Pick a domain name that's easy to remember and easy to type
2. Choose a Web Hosting Plan (ie. Shopify, Squarespace)
3. Make sure you choose the right theme and design
4. Implement the proper page structure (ie. about page, contact page, pricing etc)

To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide.

Best Website Platforms To Use For Your Seo Agency:

There are a variety of websites platforms out there, and it's important to choose the right one that will set you up for success.

Here's everything you need to know about the two most common platforms for your SEO agency:

WordPress

Free and open-source content management system based on PHP and MySQL.

Free to use/open source but you will need to pay for the hosting.

• Pricing: Freemium
• Twitter: @WordPress
• Website: https://wordpress.com/

Businesses using WordPress:

842 successful businesses are using WordPress ➜

Get WordPress ➜

Squarespace

The all-in-one solution for anyone looking to create a beautiful website.

• Personal Plan: $12/month
• Business Plan: $18/month
• Basic: $26/month

• Advanced: $40/month

• Pricing: Freemium

• Twitter: @squarespace

• Website: squarespace.com

Businesses using Squarespace:

133 successful businesses are using Squarespace ➜

Get Squarespace ➜

Web Design

Once you have chosen the domain, web hosting, and platform, it's time to get started with the design phase.

Themes are a great way to produce the fundamental style and identity of your website - this includes everything from your font design to your blog post styles.

One of the best ways to get started is to simply explore the various themes (free or paid depending on what you're looking for) and test them on your site.

If web-design really isn't in the cards for you, you may want to consider outsourcing a web designer to help bring your vision and brand to life.

Traditional Launch Strategies For Your Seo Agency:

There are various different ways you can launch your SEO agency successfully.

Here are a few different strategies to get customers excited about your SEO agency:

• Set up a Facebook page for your business. This is a great way to establish an online presence
• Host an event in a fun location with drinks & food. This is a great way to get exposure in the local community.
• Get Press! Pitch your story to the media and you may just land in an amazing publication
• Live sales to get customers excited
• Send a hand-written letter in the mail with a discount on your services to the local community/neighborhoods.

Chris Dreyer, founder of Rankings.io dives deep into the process of launching the business:

🌱 How To Grow Your Seo Agency

Social Media Advertising

Social Media Advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to SEO agency.

There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.

Let's talk about a few of the main platforms and what makes them unique:

• Facebook Advertising - more than 2 billion monthly users. Facebook is the best for lead generation + capturing email addresses for e-commerce businesses.
• Instagram Advertising - approximately 500 million monthly users and has a higher audience engagement rate than any other platform. Instagram ads are best for linking to a product page or landing page and reaches the 18-29 age group most effectively.
• Twitter Advertising- Small businesses typically use twitter ads to drive brand awareness, but the platform is meant more for organic engagement (and is not as heavily used for paid advertising)
• Pinterest Advertising - 175 million monthly users and most effectively reaches the female audience. Pinterest is great for promoting products without "promoted". The promoted pins have a way of blending right in.
• LinkedIn Advertising - 227 million monthly users and is geared towards the B2B market and generates the highest quality leads. Great platform for recruiters, high-end products and services that will help businesses

It's important to first define your goal/objective so that you don't waste time and money into the wrong platform:

Here are some different questions to ask yourself as it relates to your goals:

• Do I want to simply drive brand awareness?
• Do I want to drive users to my website to gather information?
• Do I want to increase sales and get my customer to take action?

From there, choose the platform that targets your audience best and start experimenting!

Learn more about social media advertising ➜ here.

Grow Your Email List

The more engaged list of emails, the more engaged customers, which ultimately leads to more sales.

One of the best ways to start growing your list is by providing your customer with something free (or discounted) in return.

This could also be anything from:

• Ebook
• Fascinating case study
• Video series
• Free week of the product
• Discount on the product

Learn more about how to grow your email list and improve email marketing ➜ here.

Add an exit-intent popup to your online store

A great way to double, or even triple, your email opt-in rate and to grow your list is to add an exit-intent popup to your site, and offering a discount or content upgrade for subscribers.

Here's an example of what that might look like:

Improve Your Email Marketing

Different types of emails

Here are the most common types of email campaigns you can send to your customers and their benefits:

• Welcome emails - the perfect way to provide information from the start with a clear CTA. Make sure to tell your customer everything they need to know about your product or service.
• Newsletters - a great way to give customers updates or send out your latest content
• Product launch emails - the quickest (and easiest) way to increase sales is by selling to current customers. Make sure they're the first on the list to know about your new product
• Promotional emails - promote discounts, deals coupons etc. Try and make this feel exclusive and for a limited time only
• Abandoned cart emails - give your customers a reason to complete their purchase!

Here's a great resource for finding curated email designs, for all types of email campaigns!

Abandonded Cart Flow

The abandoned cart workflow is one of the most effective strategies for turning your lead into a customer, and a powerful tool to have if you're an e-commerce business.

Think about all the times that you went on a shopping frenzy only to add items to your cart and then either forget or realize nows not the right time to pull the trigger.

Then, minutes later you receive an email saying "Hurry up! Your cart is waiting - and we want to provide you with 20% off your order."

Maybe that's the special touch (and discount) you needed to pull that trigger.

Implementing this workflow can automatically trigger this for your business every time a customer abandons their cart.

Here's a great example of an abandoned cart email from Brooklinen:

Things they do well:

• Showcase 5-star reviews from other customers
• Offer a small discount + free shipping
• Great design + clear call to actions!

Improve your SEO

SEO is not just about driving traffic to your site, it's about driving the RIGHT traffic to your site, and ultimately, converting leads into customers.

One of the most important aspects of SEO is understanding what your customers are searching for, otherwise known as "keyword research."

Here are some tools that can help you choose the right keywords for your SEO agency.

• Google Ads Keyword Planner invaluable for discovering search trends.
• Google Search Console is very helpful once your website is up as it shows you what words/phrases are generating traffic.
• Ahrefs and SEMRush are paid tools that allow you to look at results of your competitor's website.

Publish Great Content

Finding keywords is an important piece of the puzzle, but Google also ranks your site based on the actual content you produce, as this is what your customers are reading and engaging with.

There are various different "forms" of content that you may want to consider diversifying on your sites, such as blog posts, articles, studies, and videos.

So let's discuss what google considers "good content:"

• Length - This will vary depending on the page, however, generally having a sufficient amount of content helps search engines recognize that your site is a good source for a specific topic
• Engagement - The longer people stay on your website to read your content, the higher Google will rank your website. It's important to have informative and "thick" content that keeps people reading
• Avoid Duplicating Content - Google will recognize this and may consider your content to have low value
• Ensure pages load quickly - This will also help with engagement and time spent on your website
• Shareability - Create content that people want to share, and is easy for them to share, especially to their social media accounts (ie. "click to tweet" is a great example of this).

Another element of creating good content is creating consistent content.

If (and hopefully you are) publishing content frequently, it's important to stick to a schedule - this helps build brand trust and easy user experience with your customers.

Planning out your content with a content calendar is key to staying consistent.

Here are a few great content calendar tools that can help you:

• Trello
• Airtable
• If you prefer to keep it simple, your average spreadsheet is just as useful!

Backlinks

Backlinks are an important piece to SEO, as they allow for other websites to link to your content.

Search engines recognize that other sites are essentially "verifying" your content and essentially rank you higher because of this.

Of course, some links are more valuable than others and can affect your site in different ways.

For example, if a highly valuable and credible site like the New York Times links to a page on your website, this could be remarkable from an SEO perspective.

Aside from organically getting mentioned from other sites, there are other ways that you can increase and earn backlinks:

• Create infographics with relevant data that people want to share
• Promote your content on different sites/look into "guest blogging"
• Contact influencers/journalists/bloggers and ask them to mention you!
• Write testimonials for other sites in exchange for a backlink
• Leverage existing business relationships

Learn more about the fundamentals of SEO ➜ here and check out Neil Patel's 3 Powerful SEO Tips below

Build A Blog

One of the most effective ways to build brand awareness and grow your business is through consistently blogging.

We've outlined some useful tips for you to consider when creating content:

Consistency and Quantity

Quality is important, but it should be the standard for any content you publish.

What’s more important is consistency and quantity.

Consistency is as simple as committing to publishing and sharing a certain number of posts per week. For me, that’s three per week right now.

This kind of commitment is key, because one day, a random post will blow up, and you will have never expected it.

Oversaturation

The easiest mind trap is to think "I’m posting too much", and “I need to give my readers/audience/this platform a break”.

This is nonsense.

There is no such thing as oversaturation. Well, there is, but it is just someone else’s opinion.

For every person that tells you you are posting too much, there is another person that wants even more of your content.

You should ignore people’s opinions on how much you post.

Patience & Persistence

Keep posting, keep trying, and keep putting out good content on the regular. Your time will come, and when it does, it will change everything.

The only thing you have control over is your content.

You can’t control how people will react to it. You can’t control pageviews, likes, or shares.

So the only metric you should focus on is how much content you can put out in a week, month, etc.

Where to share your blog content

Mailing List

I know it sounds obvious, but the best places to share your content is on your mailing list. It is guaranteed traffic and it is a great way to get rapid feedback from your most loyal readers.

Send newsletters often. I have done once a week since starting, and I’m moving to twice a week soon.

Work on increasing your mailing list as well. Look into ways to increase your conversion rate to your mailing list. I added a flyout popup thing to my site and now I’m collecting ~30 emails per day.

An email newsletter is one of the most powerful assets you can have and it is worth its weight in gold.

Reddit

Reddit is one of my favorite places to promote content.

It is a very scary place because you will often get banned or heckled, but it can really pay off.

Create social media accounts for your blog, the main ones I use:

Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Set up Buffer and share all of your blog posts to all of your accounts. All of these little shares really do add up.

Automate this as much as possible. I automated all of my social media for Starter Story.

Facebook Groups

When I started out, I put together a spreadsheet of relevant Facebook groups for my niche, and I would post to these groups whenever I had a big story I wanted to share.

Experiment With Pay Per Click Ads (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.

Here are some tips to consider:

• Consider connecting the ad to your corresponding landing page so that the audience receives the necessary information after clicking on the ad.
• Conversion Tracking: When running PPC campaigns, be sure to run the ads with conversion tracking.
• Focus on quality keywords, even if there are few as this will save you time and money. When assessing the performance of a keyword, it's important to track the expense, conversion, and cost per conversion, as well as the ROI.

PPC advertising can be a very important lead generator as long as it's done properly. Your PPC campaign is intended to drive traffic to your website and help the business scale.

Additionally, if the campaign is not having the desired results, you can make the necessary changes immediately to improve them.

🏃🏼‍♀️ How To Run Your Seo Agency

How To Retain Customers For Your Seo Agency

Retaining customers is one of the most effective ways to grow your SEO agency.

Oftentimes, it's easy to find yourself focusing on generating new customers, vs retaining your current ones.

Look at it this way - you are 60-70% more likely to sell a new product to an existing customer than you are a new customer.

That's not to say that finding new customers and revenue streams is not important, however, the easiest (and most inexpensive) source of new revenue is right there in front of you.

Here are some ways you can retain customers for your SEO agency:

• Responding to comments on social media
• Send discounts (or freebies) to loyal customers
• Provide valuable content, for free
• Write a hand written thank you note
• Provide awesome customer service and build relationships with customers

To find out more tips and tricks on retaining customers, check out this article ➜ here

Amit Raj, founder of The Links Guy dives deep into the process of attracting and retaining customers:

Diversify Your Product Line

Adding new products to your business is a great way to expand into new markets and grow your business.

It's important to note that adding new products and diversifying may not be in the cards for you right this moment, and that's okay. You can always consider it down the road.

Here are some reasons you may want to considering adding/diversifying your product

• Meeting the needs of your customers
• Establish yourself as a top provider in your industry and stay ahead of the game with competition
• Resistance to downturns/trends fading
• Create new revenue streams

How To Crush The Sales Process For Your Seo Agency

You may find yourself in a spot where you're ready to hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process.

Regardless if you have one or thirty salespeople, it's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

Mike Korba, co-founder of User.Com walks us through the entire sales process and which teams are responsible for what:

Word of Mouth

The most tried and true way to grow a SEO agency is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.

Why you should focus on word of mouth:

• Consumers trust word of mouth above all other forms of marketing
• 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising
• 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe it is the most effective form of marketing

Learn more about word of mouth in our guide: 30 Ways Founders Grow Their Business ➜

Outsourcing

If you can afford to hire someone to help support your SEO agency, outsourcing is a great way to save you time and energy.

Most importantly, outsourcing can help you focus on the core growth of your business, versus spending your time on day to day tasks that other people can do just as well!

If you do plan to outsource your work, it's important to be hyper-familiar with the actual work involved.

Why is it important to be hyper-familiar with the work?

• So you can understand how long it takes
• So you understand the full process, edge cases, things that can go wrong.
• So you can explain it in detail to your employee.
• So you can make sure it actually works (for example - how do you know cold email works for your business if you’re not on the ground floor trying it out?)
• Understanding the tasks at a deep level will save you a lot of time and money.

Build a Referral Program

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get the word out about your business and acquire new customers. Especially when you are starting out, it’s important to build a solid referral program to encourage existing customers to help you find new ones.

A great way to do that is by offering a reward (ie. credit on your service or cash) to customers that refer you to their friends and family.

A fantastic referral program will help with clout, credibility, and establishing yourself in the space.

Provide Great Customer Service

Providing exceptional care and creating relationships with clients is a great way to build your reputation and retain customers.

Whether you are an online business or a physical business, it's highly important to communicate with customers and make them feel like they are the priority.

Just remember: customer service represents your brand, values, vision and YOU as a person.

Resources

We put together the best resources on the internet to help you start your SEO agency.

Tools

• Platform tools such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Google Shopping, Bing Shopping, Custom Built, Wix.com, Weebly, Webflow, Magento, Digital Ocean, BigCommerce, Adobe Creative Cloud, React, Amazon Web Services, Node.js, AWS infrastructure, Laravel, Django, Vue, HighLevel, Canva, trello, firebase, Vercel or Figma
• Email tools such as MailChimp, Klaviyo, Campaign Monitor, Mailerlite, SendinBlue, ActiveCampaign, G Suite, Automizy, Hunter, Buzzstream, Linkedin sales navigator or Lastpass
• Social media tools such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Hootsuite, Buffer, Tumblr, Reddit, Medium, Tiktok or Vimeo
• Advertising tools such as Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Google AdSense, Twitter Ads, Amazon Ads, Taboola, Outbrain, LinkedIn Ads, Instapage, Google ads, Apple Search Ads, Monumetric, Pinterest Ads, AWIN, Mediavine, doubleclick, Yelp Ads, AdThrive, Ezoic or Brave
• Design tools such as Canva, Adobe Suite, Sketch, Figma, Affinity Designer, Procreate or HubSpot’s form builder
• Shipping tools such as ShipStation, USPS, UPS WorldShip or FedEx
• Analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Sumo, Google Tag Manager, chartmogul, Plausible Analytics, Posthog or Google Forms
• Productivity tools such as Google Suite, Dropbox, Slack, Asana, Microsoft Office 365, Trello, Basecamp, Apple Keynote, Notion, Monday.com, Calendly, Jira, ScheduleOnce, Airtable, Todoist, Yesware, SparkMail, ClickUp, Discord, Adobe Premiere Pro or Google Meet
• Payments tools such as Paypal, Stripe, TransferWise, Apple Pay, Venmo or Authorize.net
• Customer service tools such as Zendesk, Freshdesk, TawkTo, Front, jivochat, FAQ by Aheadworks or Zoho Desk
• Blog tools such as WordPress, Squarespace, Thrivethemes or Blogger
• Accounting tools such as Quickbooks, Xero, Wave, Google Sheets, Freshbooks, bench or ADP
• Fulfillment tools such as ShipBob
• App tools such as Zipify, Flexify, Pixel Cat, WP Forms or Flutter
• Crm tools such as Hubspot, PipeDrive, Zoho, close.io, Bitrix24, Dubsado, Salesmate, Bigin By Zoho CRM or Service Provider Pro
• Freelance tools such as Fiverr, Upwork, freelance.com or FreeeUp
• Affiliate tools such as Refersion, Rakuten, ShareASale, AvantLink, Skimlinks, Amazon Associates, Commission Junction, Impact Radius, Rewardful or PartnerStack
• Education tools such as Udemy, Coursera, Teachable, Skillshare or Masterclass
• Stock images tools such as 123rf, Getty, Unsplash, Pixabay, Shutterstock, adobestock, depositphotos, Pexels, Envato Marketplace, Freepix or Istockphoto
• Sales tools such as Mailshake or Salesforce
• Crowdfunding tools such as Kickstarter
• Seo tools such as Ahrefs, SEO ranger, Benchmark Hero, Agency Analytics, Screaming Frog, Yoast, Unamo, clearscope, Moz, VidIQ, KWFinder, Construct Media, The hoth, SERanking, Alexa, Surfer seo, Rankmath, SpyFu or Sitebulb
• Inventory tools such as Craftybase
• Web hosting tools such as WP Engine, Kinsta, GoDaddy, Hostinger, WPX or Cloudways
• Reviews tools such as Trustpilot, Yelp, Reviews.io, Rivyo, Power Reviews, Google My Business, TripAdvisor, G2 Crowd, Product Hunt, Glassdoor, Clutch, RevLocal or Google Reviews Widget
• Podcast tools such as SoundCloud, Libsyn, Spotify, Transistor.fm or BuzzSprout
• Software deals tools such as AppSumo or Secret
• Financing tools such as Shopify Capital, Brex, AMEX or Penta
• Payroll tools such as Wagepoint, Intuit or Rippling
• Sms tools such as Twilio
• Wholesale tools such as Husboro
• Referral tools such as HOUZZ
• ** tools** such as Accelo, ZoomInfo or Office Interactive

Books

• Understanding Seo: A Systematic Approach To

• Agency: Starting A Creative Firm In The Age Of Digital Marketing (Advertising Age): Rick Webb

• Checklist Manifesto

• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

• The Win Without Pitching Manifesto

Web Resources

• Start A Seo Agency - Business Ideas - Starter Story
• How To Start An Seo Company

Videos

• How To Start An Seo Company In 2020 (A-Z Process)
• How To Start Your Own Seo Agency

Case Studies

• How I Started An SEO Agency For Lawyers Generating $3.6M/Year
• How I Developed A $400/Month SEO Audit Tool In My Free Time
• How I Started A $2M/Year Search Marketing Agency In Australia
• How I Started A $350K/Month SEO Agency
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See exactly how online businesses get to millions in revenue

• 4,818 founder case studies
• Access to our founder directory
• Live events, courses and recordings
• 8,628 business ideas
• $1M in software savings

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Join Starter Story

See exactly how online businesses get to millions in revenue

• 4,818 founder case studies
• Access to our founder directory
• Live events, courses and recordings
• 8,628 business ideas
• $1M in software savings

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Join Starter Story

See exactly how online businesses get to millions in revenue

• 4,818 founder case studies
• Access to our founder directory
• Live events, courses and recordings
• 8,628 business ideas
• $1M in software savings

Join Starter Story

Join Starter Story

See exactly how online businesses get to millions in revenue

• 4,818 founder case studies
• Access to our founder directory
• Live events, courses and recordings
• 8,628 business ideas
• $1M in software savings

Join Starter Story