Selling SEO
Selling SEO can be hard. Here are three methods to get your client on board.
Method 1
"Ranking #1 for these keywords could give X amount of traffic"
Using a benchmark on organic CTR (like this one) , we can estimate a traffic growth if we are able to rank #1 for all keywords.
| Keyword | Current ranking | Target ranking | Search volume | Current CTR | New CTR | Current traffic | New traffic | Traffic gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [keyword 1] | 10 | 1 | 1000 | 2,50% | 28% | 25 | 276 | 251 |
| [keyword 1] | 20 | 1 | 1000 | 0,50% | 28% | 5 | 276 | 271 |
| [keyword 1] | 30 | 1 | 1000 | 0,00% | 28% | 0 | 276 | 276 |
| [keyword 1] | 40 | 1 | 1000 | 0,00% | 28% | 0 | 276 | 276 |
| 1074 |
Pros: clear visual of potential.
Cons: traffic gain doesn’t account for other keywords that could drop.
Method 2
"300 hours this year could give this"
List all of the tasks that you think you would need for your SEO strategy. Assign an estimate of hours needed for each task and add them all up. Assign a potential traffic gain for each task. If an article today gives around 4000 clicks within a month period, a new article is likely to give the same. Do an estimate for technical tasks also to assign value for each task.
Using this template is a good start: SEO Fremdriftsplan | 2024 ⤴ (google sheets)
Pros: Gives a good overview of all tasks and how they can benefit the business
Cons: Gives the buyer an opportunity to nitpick what tasks should be focused on and potentially remove those that wont give increased organic traffic (ex. technical improvements).
Method 3
"X amount spent on SEO has given Y"
Similar to the one above, you could translate your hours to the clients budget. For example 300 hours * your hourly rate = total SEO budget
Pros: Easy for client to understand
Cons: Doesn’t allow for much profit
Either which way we sell SEO it is important to communicate that SEO takes time and that the return on investment accrues over time. It is difficult to give a clear representation of what the return can be but the work that has been done won’t go away. Therefore, time spent on SEO today could give double return in a month but also tenfold in a year.