Aleyda Solis recently published the results of her SEOFOMO survey, revealing actionable insights about where SEOs are acquiring clients, the types of clients they attract, and their promotional strategies to gain more business.
Aleyda Solis is a well-known digital marketer specializing in International SEO. She publishes the SEOFOMO + MarketingFOMO Newsletters and is renowned for advocating best SEO practices and speaking at search conferences globally.
This survey, conducted with a self-selected group of 337 respondents, offers a perspective on how SEO businesses expand, who their clients are, and the services they provide in 2024. The data presents valuable information for digital marketers aiming to grow their businesses.
For instance, most respondents indicated their specialization is in Technical SEO. This is logical as addressing website issues to ensure easy crawling, indexing, and understanding by search engines is a core aspect of optimizing a site for search engines.
This is the kind of work SEOs specialize in:
- 64% Technical SEO
- 60% Content Focused SEO
- 54% SEO Generalist
- 51% SEO Management
- 14% Link Builder
- 8% Other
Only 14% of respondents answered that they build links for clients. This does not mean that link building is not a priority; instead, it reflects its complexity and the challenge of specializing in this area.
Who Answered The Survey
Aleyda’s survey included 337 respondents who self-identify as SEO specialists:
- 44% are Full-Time Agency SEO consultants
- 32% are freelance and independent SEO consultants
- 24% are part-time SEO consultants
- 6% identified simply as Other
Data About SEO Clients
The survey results revealed that most respondents work with small to medium-sized clients. Specifically, 49% work with sites having less than 100K URLs, and 33% work with client sites containing between 100K to 1 million URLs.
Local search SEO appears to be a major segment for small to medium businesses. This market, once difficult to scale with quality service at a reasonable cost, has evolved. Today, agencies can partner with platforms that offer high-performance website building tools integrating marketing and SEO capabilities, which also streamline client management and billing. These technological advancements enable SEO agencies of any size to scale more easily, allowing them to focus on marketing and SEO rather than platform technology.
SEOs working with larger clients represented 18% of the respondents. While working with large multinational B2B companies can be lucrative, it also comes with limitations regarding the extent of influence one can have with their SEO. Accepting partial wins and understanding that not all wishlist items will be fulfilled is part of the process.
This Is Where SEOs Get Their Business
There is considerable diversity in where SEOs get their business, reflecting individual strengths and priorities. Not everyone can be a social media influencer or public speaker at industry events.
Referrals
The most cited source of clients is referrals from other companies and clients, accounting for 77% of responses. Cultivating happy clients and promoting an SEO business pays off in referrals.
Ranking In Search Results
Focusing on ranking for phrases that attract more clients was the second largest reported source of new clients. This approach suits SEOs with a geographic reach or those focusing on a specific vertical like personal injury. Combining a vertical focus with a geographic market can be easier to rank for than general terms, especially given Google’s tendency to personalize general search queries.
Social Media
Many respondents reported social media as a source of SEO clients, with 26% indicating it as a source of new clients and referrals. This makes sense as SEOs can attract business through extensive social media participation and conversation engagement. Building a large social media following validates expertise and can be a key channel for obtaining referrals. Successful SEOs promoting through social media often avoid controversial topics but support popular causes, demonstrating social media’s importance in client base building.
Events
Twenty-five percent of respondents cited events as a channel for attracting clients. Speaking at events can enhance reputation and lead to client referrals. Successfully speaking at events involves delivering engaging, uncomplicated presentations to avoid losing or boring the audience.
Top sources of SEO client business:
- 77% Client Or Company Referrals
- 39% SEO
- 26% Social Media
- 25% Industry Events
- Blog posts, studies, research
- 15% Other
- 14% Cold Outreach
- 9% Paid Outreach
Getting Clients Requires Proactive Work
Though many SEOs reported receiving client and company referrals, reaching this point requires cultivating happy clients, marketing their business, and demonstrating thought leadership. Each SEO professional has unique strengths, whether it’s speaking, thinking, creating videos, or sharing on podcasts. Discover and excel at your superpower to succeed.
Read the full survey results in the SEOFOMO State of SEO Consulting – Survey 2024 Results.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Khosro
