Offering SEO services as a freelancer is a proven way to earn passive income. You could earn as much as $50 – $150 per hour helping businesses increase their online visibility.
Over 10,500 websites are established every hour, which works out to roughly 252,000 websites per day. These statistics show the sky is big enough for everyone that wants to offer SEO services as a freelancer.
Every business that owns a website wants to build a solid online presence. So the major hurdle now is how to start offering SEO services as a freelancer. What are the steps you need to take to become a freelance SEO provider? Follow the tips below..
Increase your SEO knowledge:
Starting a business without proper knowledge of the niche is a recipe for disaster. That is why acquiring a solid SEO knowledge is the first thing you need to do before starting your freelance SEO business.
You first need to understand what SEO is. Then acquire a deep understanding of how search engines crawl, index, and rank websites.
Understand the different aspects of search engine optimization. There is on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. Here is a quick breakdown:
- On-page SEO: The on-page SEO process includes keyword research, keyword placement, headers, meta description, and meta tags. On-page SEO involves activities performed on a website to improve ranking and authority.
- Off-page SEO: The off-page SEO process involves activities performed outside the website to improve online visibility and authority. These include link building and authority building.
- Technical SEO: The process involves improving website loading speed, mobile-friendliness, and URL structure. The essence of technical SEO is to improve website performance and user experience (UX).
As a freelance SEO provider, you must understand these things. Build a solid SEO foundation before you start offering it as a service to businesses. Now, let’s move to the next step.
Decide on the niche and SEO services:
While calling yourself a “general SEO professional” looks appealing and can obviously expose you to more opportunities, it also opens the door to more competition. It’s like a small fish swimming in the sea. You will face competition from larger SEO firms that practically have the manpower and capacity to deliver general SEO services effectively.
Instead of claiming to be the jack-of-all-trades and prospective clients starts seeing you as a master of none, choose a specific niche. For example, your niche can be ecommerce off-page SEO.
Once you pick a niche, decide which SEO services you want to offer. Here is a list of services:
- Content optimization and keyword research services
- Link-building services for small businesses
- Local search engine optimization services (You can focus on a specific city in the U.S. or a state).
- Technical SEO and website audit
Choosing a specific niche as a freelance SEO provider offers two significant benefits. The first is that it lowers the competition, making it easier for you to get projects. The second thing it does is allow you to charge higher. Prospects will see you as an expert because you focused on a specific niche.
Treat freelance SEO as a business:
Having built a solid SEO foundation and chosen a niche, it’s time for you to treat SEO as a business. How? Every business needs a website or landing page. Not having a website is like running a business without a physical office or store. People won’t take you seriously. You can’t grow your business that way.
So, here are the steps to take:
- Build a professional-looking website: You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to build a fancy website when you haven’t even made a cent. Just create something simple, but professional. You can even use only a landing page. The essence of having a website is to have a platform where you can list your contact information, services, testimonials, etc., for prospective clients to see.
- Have a proper contract and work template: Prepare a professional contract that outlines deliverables, the timeline, and payment terms, and include your cancellation policy. The essence is to provide clarity and avoid legal issues that may arise from misunderstandings.
- Deploy effective invoicing software: Use PayPal Business, FreshBooks, or QuickBooks. Doing so will make prospective clients see your business as legitimate.
- Legalize your business
Build a solid portfolio:
Clients don’t bank on mere promises to hire SEO experts. They hire base on results one has achieved from past projects. It’s not enough to say you can help a website rank high in SERPs within a month. Have you actually achieved the same results for similar projects? If yes, what are the tactics you deployed? Potential clients want to see the results and know the tactics before hiring you.
Having a professional-looking website isn’t enough to convince prospective clients to hire you. It’s your portfolio that will do the convincing. So, highlight the results you achieved when you handled similar projects in the past.
Show the before and after traffic you generated for a client, including how you improved rankings, click-through rates, and conversions. Include case studies of the different SEO projects you have handled.
Don’t have any paid clients yet? That’s not a problem. You can approach small businesses and offer to provide SEO services to them for free or at a discount. You can also start a mock project.
Choose pricing model:
The next step is to decide on your pricing model. You can choose hourly rates or a fixed price. You can include either or both pricing model. Your fixed price could be based on a project milestone, such as website audit and setup.
You can research your industry to know pricing model most freelance SEO experts like you are using. You can charge $50-$70. There is also room to increase your price as you gain more clients and build a solid portfolio.
Market your SEO services:
Unless you plan to hire marketers, you must be ready to take charge of your marketing online and offline. Marketing is crucial as it will determine the outcome of your freelance journey.
How can you market your freelance SEO service?
- Optimize your website: Proper optimization will improve your chances of ranking high in search engines, making it easier for prospects to find you. Optimize your website for your niche, and populate it with helpful content.
- Participate in local business events and workshops.
- Build a solid online presence on social media.
- Use freelance platforms like PeoplePerHour, Upwork, and Fiverr to build reviews. Clients can hire you as an agency on these platforms.
- Perform cold outreach.
Conclusion
These are the steps to start offering SEO services as a freelancer. The first step is to acquire solid SEO knowledge. Get the required training and real-world experience before you venture intothe business.
Starting a SEO freelancing business can be a rewarding side hustle or even a full-time hustle for you. You can even turn it into a full-fledged business.
Thousands of websites are created daily. So there are enough clients who need help to improve online visibility. Just start your SEO freelance service using the tips in this post.
