Seo Agency

42 Tips For Starting A Successful Seo Agency (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own SEO agency? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting a SEO agency:

Where to start?

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

Need inspiration?

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

Other resources

-> Profitability of 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:

#1: Alan Silvestri, founder of Growth Gorilla:

We chatted with with Alan, founder of Growth Gorilla ($25K/month). In our interview, Alan says:

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 ➜

#2: Deepak Shukla, founder of Pearl Lemon:

We chatted with with Deepak, founder of Pearl Lemon ($80K/month). In our interview, Deepak says:

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 ➜

#3: Rick van Haasteren, founder of SiteGuru:

We chatted with with Rick, founder of SiteGuru ($5K/month). In our interview, Rick says:

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.

Additionally:

Look back every week and every month at what you did, and how you grew. You’ll realize that despite the fact that your to-do list is far from done, the company is in a better position than before.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Rick van Haasteren, founder of SiteGuru:

We chatted with with Rick, founder of SiteGuru ($5K/month). In our interview, Rick says:

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 ➜

#5: Alex Robinson, founder of Novus Digital Ltd:

We chatted with with Alex, founder of Novus Digital Ltd ($50K/month). In our interview, Alex says:

I’m excited to see the progression of our sales team. I’m excited to delegate business growth and I’m willing to sacrifice equity if needed to find the right person. I’m also excited for all the new industry challenges and to take on bigger and bolder projects.

Additionally:

Focus on providing the best service possible…keep the clients you have happy, and every new client builds on that foundation.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Kevin Miller, founder of GR0 :

We chatted with with Kevin, founder of GR0 ($1.8M/month). In our interview, Kevin says:

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

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Bob Weichler, founder of Weichie.com:

We chatted with with Bob, founder of Weichie.com ($30K/month). In our interview, Bob says:

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 ➜

#8: Mike Leonhard, founder of Compose.ly:

We chatted with with Mike, founder of Compose.ly ($/month). In our interview, Mike says:

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 ➜

#9: Taylor Ryan, founder of Klint Marketing:

We chatted with with Taylor, founder of Klint Marketing ($/month). In our interview, Taylor says:

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

Read the full interview ➜

#10: Joy Hawkins, founder of Sterling Sky Inc. :

We chatted with with Joy, founder of Sterling Sky Inc. ($/month). In our interview, Joy says:

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

Read the full interview ➜

#11: Rick Hoskins, founder of On The Map Inc:

We chatted with with Rick, founder of On The Map Inc ($350K/month). In our interview, Rick says:

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.

Additionally:

I’ve always been pretty averse to debt.

Further:

Don’t rely too much on one big client. It’s better to have a solid pool of clients, so when you lose one, the impact on your revenue stream isn’t as severe.

Read the full interview ➜

#12: Nathan Elly, founder of Digital Next:

We chatted with with Nathan, founder of Digital Next ($290K/month). In our interview, Nathan says:

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 ➜

#13: Alan Silvestri, founder of Growth Gorilla:

We chatted with with Alan, founder of Growth Gorilla ($25K/month). In our interview, Alan says:

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.

Additionally:

Most issues with clients can be avoided by simply sending them a message saying that something went wrong and explaining why instead of doing nothing and waiting until they find out themselves.

Further:

In order to find something you like doing, you have to try a few other things that you dislike doing. You’ll never know what it is that you enjoy if you don’t try a few different things.

Read the full interview ➜

#14: Noah Riggs, founder of Busy Living Better:

We chatted with with Noah, founder of Busy Living Better ($5.2K/month). In our interview, Noah says:

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

Additionally:

Becoming successful by any measure requires a lot of commitment and sacrifice. If you don’t have a meaningful reason for why you are trying to accomplish something, then you aren’t very likely to stick with it when things get hard.

Read the full interview ➜

#15: Alan Silvestri, founder of Growth Gorilla:

We chatted with with Alan, founder of Growth Gorilla ($25K/month). In our interview, Alan says:

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 ➜

#16: Russell Michelson, founder of Paper Box SEO:

We chatted with with Russell, founder of Paper Box SEO ($28K/month). In our interview, Russell says:

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.

Additionally:

The subreddits /r/smallbusiness and /r/bigseo have been invaluable in helping me grow the business. They’re active communities where people have candid, insightful conversations.

Read the full interview ➜

#17: Rick van Haasteren, founder of SiteGuru:

We chatted with with Rick, founder of SiteGuru ($5K/month). In our interview, Rick says:

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

Additionally:

Once I had established that people liked the product and would sign up for it, I built it into a full-blown SEO tool

Further:

Define your ideal target audience that would value and pay for your product and then start hanging out where they hang out

Also:

Keep going, don’t give up. Don’t expect to have a big hit in a few weeks. Building a great product takes time

Read the full interview ➜

#18: Leslie Gilmour, founder of Cube Digital:

We chatted with with Leslie, founder of Cube Digital ($25K/month). In our interview, Leslie says:

Build your product or website where you earn revenue.

Read the full interview ➜

#19: David Riggs, founder of Pneuma Media:

We chatted with with David, founder of Pneuma Media ($200K/month). In our interview, David says:

Culture can’t be manufactured. Culture can’t be created overnight. Culture is a byproduct of consistent work and decision making.

Additionally:

Stick it out! Time is the greatest asset as you build a business. The longer you stay in the game, the harder it is to beat you, and the smarter you become at “playing the game of business.”

Read the full interview ➜

#20: Chris Dreyer, founder of Rankings.io:

We chatted with with Chris, founder of Rankings.io ($700K/month). In our interview, Chris says:

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

Read the full interview ➜

#21: Chris Dreyer, founder of Rankings.io:

We chatted with with Chris, founder of Rankings.io ($700K/month). In our interview, Chris says:

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.

Additionally:

When everyone gets busy, everyone naturally needs thinks that the company needs to hire more staff, but in most cases, there needs to first be a retrospective on the circumstances that are making us busy and ways that we can improve efficiencies within our existing team.

Further:

If you’re just selling hammers, a consumer is going to shop on price, because there are hammers in many stores. If you focus on a unique service, product, or offering that solves a problem, you are instantly seen as the best… because you’re the only one solving that problem.

Read the full interview ➜

#22: Roger Parent, founder of Digital Position™:

We chatted with with Roger, founder of Digital Position™ ($390K/month). In our interview, Roger says:

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 ➜

#23: Russell Michelson, founder of Paper Box SEO:

We chatted with with Russell, founder of Paper Box SEO ($28K/month). In our interview, Russell says:

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 ➜

#24: Jitendra Vaswani, founder of Bloggers Ideas:

We chatted with with Jitendra, founder of Bloggers Ideas ($100K/month). In our interview, Jitendra says:

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 ➜

#25: Ben Dankiw, founder of NAV43:

We chatted with with Ben, founder of NAV43 ($95K/month). In our interview, Ben says:

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 ➜

#26: Derryck Strachan, founder of Big Star Copywriting:

We chatted with with Derryck, founder of Big Star Copywriting ($30K/month). In our interview, Derryck says:

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 ➜

#27: Kyle Roof, founder of High Voltage SEO:

We chatted with with Kyle, founder of High Voltage SEO ($180K/month). In our interview, Kyle says:

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.

Additionally:

SEO has been dying my entire career and not only has it not died, but it has also flourished. Everything that was supposed to kill SEO created opportunities.