How to Effectively Manage a Growing SEO Client Base

As your SEO agency grows, you may find yourself managing an increasing number of diverse clients. If you don’t manage your growing SEO client base effectively, some clients may feel neglected and look the other way, affecting both your reputation and revenue.

To effectively manage a growing SEO client base, SEO agencies need to adjust their business model and strategy, internal processes, and client relations.

Table of contents

• Specialize your SEO services
• Automate and scale
• Streamline processes
• Maintain regular communication
• Seek feedback from SEO clients for improvement
• Invest in education and training
• Build strong relationships with transparency and trust

1. Specialize your SEO services

This is your first adjustment to your SEO agency’s business model and strategy. Niche down and specialize your SEO services. Generalist SEO agencies are okay. But they may find it difficult to scale because they have such diverse clients with diverse needs and wants.

If you specialize in a niche, like local SEO for example, the clients you acquire will have similar needs. This makes it easier to manage a growing client base, delivering results, and keeping SEO clients satisfied.

• Look at your SEO team’s strengths and interests. To determine what specialization your SEO agency can niche down to, take a look at your SEO team. Chances are, your members are already leaning towards specific core competencies. For example, if your team has highly competent individuals in citations, Google Business Profile optimization, and local link building, local SEO may be a good specialization for your SEO agency.
• Develop a unique value proposition. This is the value you provide to your SEO clients. It doesn’t just involve results. It can also involve your unique SEO approaches and processes, personality, and even moral values. When you have a clear unique value proposition, you can use it for your branding, marketing materials, and SEO pitches.
• Do your research before investing too much. Before you commit to your chosen specialization, determine first whether the commitment and investment are actually worth it. Is there enough demand for this specific set of SEO services? Is there enough interest in the niche? Are there enough clients looking for such services? If the answer to these questions is yes, you may have a perfect niche in front of you.

2. Automate and scale

As your SEO client base expands, even menial tasks can become time-consuming. After all, you are doing these tasks for so many clients. It’s a good idea to use automation tools for manual and repetitive tasks.

Automation tools improve your SEO agency’s efficiency. Sometimes, they can also improve accuracy and consistency since manual and repetitive tasks are prone to error. These tools are also great at scaling your SEO agency and its operations. With automation at your side, it will be easier to grow without sacrificing efficiency and quality.

• Identify manual and repetitive tasks. Examine your workflow to identify tasks that can be automated. Look for manual and repetitive tasks in particular. Some of the most common among these tasks are content scheduling, keyword research, and reporting. If you know the tasks that can be automated, you can look for the appropriate tools and solutions to finally automate them.
• Look for the appropriate automation tools and software solutions. There are many automation tools and software solutions out there that are specifically designed for SEO agencies. They can involve specific SEO processes like content management, keyword tracking, rank tracking, and reporting. AgencyAnalytics is a good example of reporting solutions you can try to automate and make your reporting process easier and more scalable.
• Implement API integrations. Chances are, you are already using some tools for your SEO processes, such as Ahrefs and Semrush. You can have integration issues when you start using automation tools and software solutions. When looking for such tools and solutions, consider those with easy API integration. If you don’t, communication and data can become inconsistent, making the tools and solutions more troublesome than they are helpful.

3. Streamline processes

Streamlining processes is about simplifying and optimizing your workflow. To do this, you have to identify inefficiencies, remove bottlenecks, and standardize your operating procedures. These will make your SEO agency’s workflow more efficient.

When you are efficient, you save both money and time. You can even make more money because you will have more satisfied clients and more scalable SEO services.

• Identify areas of improvement. Analyze your SEO agency’s entire workflow, from auditing an onboarding SEO client to reporting results. Look for areas where there are bottlenecks and inefficiencies. And then come up with solutions to improve these areas. Many times, the solution can involve automation. But there are also times when proper communication and project management are enough to make a difference.
• Improve communication and collaboration between your SEO team members. Come up with strategies or invest in tools to improve communication and collaboration. This way, your SEO agency’s workflow becomes smoother. A popular approach here is the use of a project management software such as Basecamp, Clickup, and Trello. You should also consider messaging platforms like Telegram and Zoom and shared document repositories like Dropbox and Google Drive.
• Standardize procedures. Develop guidelines for common tasks to ensure consistency and uniformity. This is not just for your SEO agency. This is also for your SEO clients. The problem with non-standardized procedures is that they may give inconsistent products and results to your clients. When procedures are standardized, you can ensure that your deliverables are consistent with what you are always expected to produce.

4. Maintain regular communication

A growing number of clients means a growing number of people you have to talk to regularly. To effectively manage a growing SEO client base, you have to know how to regularly communicate with all your clients. Regular communication shows your commitment to their success and your expertise and professionalism.

Without regular communication, there may also be transparency and trust issues between you and your clients. And this can be the start of the two parties drifting apart.

• Establish communication channels with your SEO clients. You need to streamline your communication process. This isn’t just convenient for your SEO clients. It’s also convenient for you. Having an established communication channel makes it easier for your SEO agency to communicate with and track clients, allowing it to scale smoothly. Different clients prefer different communication methods. Some may require detailed updates and video calls while others may require just emails and text messages.
• Use communication and project management tools to make communication more accessible. Communication tools like client dashboards can enhance communication and collaboration efforts. With client portals and such, documents, reports, and updates are easily accessible. Use project management tools too like Asana and Trello, especially when the SEO clients are heavily involved in the SEO process.
• Assign dedicated account managers. It can be difficult to manage different SEO clients and projects no matter how focused a person is. That person is bound to have lapses. To avoid miscommunication, mismanagement, and other issues, assign dedicated account managers to specific clients and projects. These managers can also ensure that the SEO agency is building strong client relationships and using personalized communication strategies.

5. Seek feedback from SEO clients for improvement

You can actively solicit input, opinions, and suggestions from SEO clients. This can help effectively manage a growing SEO client base because you know what SEO clients value, where improvements can be made, and how to enhance the overall client experience. Being open to feedback also helps in building strong client relationships and improving transparency and trust.

• Include a feedback section in your SEO reports. Surely, you are sending regular SEO reports to your clients. You can sneakily add a feedback section in there to gather the client opinions that you need. To avoid annoying your clients, you can reserve these feedback sections for monthly or quarterly reports. Be proactive as well, like asking specific questions about the effectiveness of the SEO strategies and executions and the overall satisfaction of the clients. By being specific, you are giving the impression that the feedback section is actually for the benefit of the clients as well, not just for your SEO agency.
• Send out post-project surveys. Every time you achieve a key milestone or finish an SEO campaign, you can send out a survey to the client to know more about their thoughts. There are diverse questions you can ask. You can ask about their thoughts on the SEO strategies and executions. You can ask about the smoothness of communication. And you can ask about the overall client experience. These surveys are particularly useful if your client has bad experience with an SEO agency before. They are a great way to differentiate yourself.
• Do regular check-ins and performance reviews. Schedule regular check-ins with your SEO clients to keep them in the loop and address their concerns. This can be the feedback loop you are looking for if you think feedback sections in reports and post-project surveys are too aggressive. Check-ins can help fix problems not just in your client communication, but also in your SEO strategies and executions. Periodic performance reviews are another form of check-ins you may want to look into.

6. Invest in education and training

Investing in education and training is about allocating resources such as time, money, and effort to learn more about SEO, project management, and client relations. When you are updated with all SEO technicalities, know how to effectively manage projects, and handle client relationships well, you can effectively manage a growing SEO client base. The investment can also lead to improved SEO services and client trust.

• Train your SEO team to keep them sharp. Leverage online courses, webinars, and workshops to stay updated with SEO. Get certifications when necessary. But SEO education and training doesn’t always have to be expensive. Your SEO team members can learn from each other by regularly sharing knowledge and insights with each other in in-house educational sessions.
• Learn from SEO and business experts. Follow blogs that talk about SEO, project management, and client relations. Marketer’s Center’s blog is a good example because many of our blog posts talk about SEO as a business. You can learn more about lead generation, SEO, business management, and more. You can also partner with SEO consultants or mentors to learn from their successes and failures.
• Educate your SEO clients as well. Your SEO team members shouldn’t be the only ones receiving education and training. Your clients can use some training as well. Your clients knowing SEO, project management, and SEO agency collaboration can take your relationship to new heights. You can actively educate and train SEO clients with online courses, webinars, and workshops. But you can also quite passively do this with case studies, whitepapers, and other resources.

7. Build strong relationships with transparency and trust

Building strong relationships with transparency and trust is a fundamental strategy for SEO agencies looking to effectively manage a growing SEO client base. It’s about creating a comfortable environment for discussing challenges and objectives, sharing information, and just collaborating in general. It fosters mutual respect and trust. If you do this successfully, you also improve your client retention that can lead to more long-term commitments.

• Share a clear vision with your SEO clients. One of the issues you can have with SEO clients is not having the same goals and expectations. This misalignment can lead to dissatisfaction, making the client look elsewhere. It’s important to define common goals with your clients and align these goals with the proper key performance indicators and success metrics. And of course, make sure that these goals are realistic. If you don’t, you may be shooting yourself in the foot as your clients expect more than what is possible.
• Share detailed reports on SEO performance. Regularly send reports about your clients’ SEO. Make sure that these reports perfectly align with your agreed-upon goals and expectations. Consistency in sending reports can be difficult with a growing SEO client base. But with automation tools and software solutions, it becomes more manageable. You can also explain your strategies and insights in the reports to make them comprehensive and personalized.
• Respect deadlines and own up to your mistakes. Deliver work on time. Respect your commitments. This is easier to pull off if you have realistic goals and expectations with your SEO clients. With that said, mistakes do happen, especially when you are juggling between SEO clients and campaigns. Admit errors openly. Address them and propose solutions to keep the confidence of your SEO clients.

With a few business changes, you can effectively manage a growing SEO client base

Growing and scaling an SEO agency involves a lot of challenges. One of these is managing a growing SEO client base. If you don’t effectively manage a growing SEO client base, your clients can become dissatisfied and look elsewhere, prohibiting the growth of your SEO business.

With a few business changes, you can effectively manage a growing SEO client base. Niche down and specialize your offerings, automate and streamline your processes, invest in information, and build and maintain client relations.