How To Get Local SEO Clients as an SEO Agency
Table Of Contents
- The Biggest Mistakes SEO Agencies Make Going After Local SEO Clients
- How to Identify Your Target Local Businesses
- Showcase Your Local SEO Expertise
- Offer Free Local SEO Audits
- Monthly Local SEO Packages
- Network and Build Local Presence
- Traditional and Digital Marketing Outreach
- Cultivate Genuine Connections with Your SEO Clients
- Conclusion
- FAQs
Getting local SEO clients ain't easy. You know that feeling when you're aimlessly spraying and praying outbound messages at every local business in sight, desperately hoping that maybe 1 out of 1,000 will bite on your generic local SEO pitch? Yeah, many of our clients have been there too. Desperately trying to get local SEO clients. It's the pits - a soul-sucking cycle of rejection fueled by a fundamental lack of relevance and value.
Here's the hard truth though, most business owners can smell a half-baked, copy-paste sales pitch from a mile away. They get bombarded with those bland Chat GPT generated "Hi {Name}, I hope this email finds you well” emails every single day from SEO agencies just like yours. We used to do this too, but soon realized that the key to good personalization is good data.
If you want to actually get local SEO clients in today's crowded landscape, you need to stand out like a green mohawk in a corporate boardroom. You must craft a focused strategy that instantly registers as worth their time, attention, and money.
In this guide, I'll walk you through exactly how to pull that off - from identifying your bullseye local SEO clients, to showcasing your positioning and expertise, all the way to cultivating long-term, revenue-generating local relationships.
The Biggest Mistakes SEO Agencies Make Going After Local SEO Clients
I still see so many SEO agencies dropping the ball when it comes to landing local SEO clients. They keep making the same rookie mistakes over and over, completely undermining their prospecting efforts.
Mistake #1: Taking a generic, spray-and-pray approach.
This is probably the deadliest sin of all - treating every single local business the exact same way. Usually, digital marketing agencies justify this approach by saying "Oh, it's just a numbers game". Guys, we're talking about local business owner leads here!
Your local SEO strategy for a plumbing company is going to look completely different than one for a SaaS startup, a restaurant group, or an e-commerce brand. But so many SEO agencies don't realize this. They just blast out the same tired, generic pitch to every potential client:
"Hi {First Name}, we're a premier SEO agency that can help {Business Name} rank higher on Google! Here's what we offer..."
You're kidding me, right? This crap is the marketing equivalent of junk mail. Of course local business owners are completely ghosting you - they can smell the lack of personal relevance from a mile away.
If you want to actually get local SEO clients, you need to get hyper-niche and vertical-focused. Yes, this will shrink your addressable market BUT it will greatly increase your chances of getting more local SEO clients. Spend the time to deeply understand the nuances, challenges, pain points, and opportunities for that specific target market. Literally become the go-to local SEO agency for that target audience.
Then, and only then, can you craft niche-specific messaging that instantly resonates and grabs their attention. You have to make them think: "Oh wow, these guys clearly get my business. They're the local SEO partner we need."
Mistake #2: Lacking a unique value proposition.
The next big mistake I'm seeing your typical SEO agency make is not giving local SEO clients a compelling reason to choose them over all the other SEO agencies coming at them.
We're not living in 2010s anymore. Simply promising to "get {Business Name} ranking higher on Google" is not enough of a value prop. That's a commodity. It's like a plumber saying "we'll unclog your pipes!" Okay... that's the bare minimum.
You need to figure out what makes your agency's local SEO services truly unique and differentiated. Is it:
- Your proprietary process for doing localized keyword research, technical SEO audits, etc?
- Your skills of emerging channels?
- Taking a more holistic "digital front door" approach beyond just website SEO?
- Leveraging exclusive data sources and proprietary technology for deeper location insights?
- Your boutique SEO service model with hands-on collaboration and in-person meetings?
Whatever your X-factor is, you need to magnify it. Make local business owners see you as the premium local SEO choice worthy of charging premium rates. To attract clients you have to stand out from the thousands of other generalist digital marketing agencies agencies making the same empty and non-differentiated promises.
Mistake #3: Not investing in long-term relationships with local business owners.
Finally, the third biggest mistake I see SEO agencies make again and again is taking a transactional, churn-and-burn approach with their local SEO clients. They're burning any potential for referrals, testimonials, and long-term revenue.
You have to remember - you're not just another SEO company or SEO consultant to these local businesses. You're an extension of their team, a true partner invested in their growth. Yet so many agencies treat local SEO as a one-and-done engagement.
As an SEO company that is focusing on local SEO clients, your reputation and relationships are everything in a tight-knit community. Many local business owners talk to each other. They refer companies and services to their colleagues all the time. If you deliver incredible results for a local SEO client, that's an invaluable referral source on a silver platter.
But if you provide subpar service, are opaque in your communication, fail to unlock valuable insights - that client relationship is dead. And in this hyper-connected local business world, news of losing a client travels fast. It can completely nuke your ability to get local SEO clients in that area ever again.
From the very first engagement, you need to view every new local SEO client as an opportunity to cultivate a long-term partnership that produces endless new business through referrals, reviews, testimonials, and more.
How to Identify Your Target Local Businesses
Like I mentioned earlier, the biggest mistake I see SEO agencies make when trying to get local SEO clients is failing to properly identify and segment the local businesses they should be targeting. Don't try to blast a generic message to every business owner in your city! It is a surefire way to waste time and tank your conversion rates and your SEO agency reputation. The key is building a sniper-focused list of potential clients that match your ideal customer profile.
Step 1: Define your sweet spot local businesses.
The first step is to get crystal clear on what types of local SEO clients are the perfect fit for your SEO services. What industries or verticals have you crushed it for in the past? What size companies in terms of revenue, employee count, or funding stage do you have the most expertise in? Identify the core criteria like location radius, business model, tech stack, growth stage, etc. that make up your agency's sweet spot.
For example, your bullseye potential client might be local CPG companies headquartered in Seattle making $5-20M in revenue with 50-100 employees. Or maybe it's DTC e-commerce brands in LA county doing $2M+ in revenue on Shopify with a distributed workforce under 25 people. Get hyper-specific on the attributes of your ideal local SEO leads.
Step 2: Map the local business landscape.
Once you've locked in on your ideal client profile, you can start mapping the landscape of local businesses that could be a fit for your SEO agency. Leverage a mix of free and premium tools like LavaReach to build this list:
- Local chamber of commerce and industry association member directories
- Yelp, Google Maps, and other online listing sites for your city
- Local newspapers, blogs, subreddits to stay pulse on new business growth
- Simple Google searches by area and keywords like "{city} + {industry} + companies"
As you uncover promising potential clients, add them to your new clients list complete with key details like website, contact info, tech stack, funding, competitors, etc.
Step 3: Enrich data with prospecting tools.
While manual research is important, you'll want to automate as much of the data enrichment as possible using prospecting tools. AI tools like LavaReach can instantly pull a wealth of firmographic, technographic, and situational data on your potential SEO clients like:
- Company size, revenue, funding details
- Tech stack and website analytics
- Hiring trends, expansions, and other triggering events
- Decision maker contacts and org charts
The more robust the data you can gather upfront on these local businesses, the better you can prioritize the most fit SEO leads and personalize your cold outreach.
Get SEO Prospects
to Chase You
Provide value throughout your outreach with LavaReach's automated site audits.
Showcase Your Local SEO Expertise
Most business owners research and vet multiple SEO agencies before hiring, so it's crucial to optimize your online presence. You want local businesses in your area to instantly recognize you as the go-to local SEO authority.
The first step is to ensure your agency's website is fully optimized for local search.
- Claim or update listings on Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, etc.
- Implement on-page best practices like location pages, schema markup, etc.
- Build location-specific link equity through local backlinks and citations
- Showcase city/area named content like “{City} SEO Services"
You'll also want to create hyper-localized content that speaks to the unique needs and challenges of businesses in your city. To attract businesses, publish in-depth guides, case studies, and videos tailored specifically to your target market will help you start ranking for lucrative local SEO queries.
In addition to your website, lean into other local platforms to showcase your SEO expertise. Claim and optimize listings on sites like:
- Local chambers of commerce and business association directories
- Yelp, Clutch, and other area-specific review platforms
- Local subreddits, Facebook groups, Slack communities, etc.
Don't just create bare-bones listings. Use these as another avenue to share case studies, get testimonials from past clients, and establish yourself as the local SEO authority.
Another way to attract local SEO clients and get their attention is through hyper-relevant case studies. Document your biggest local SEO wins and be sure to include (with the approval of the client of course):
- The client's business name, vertical, location
- Their key challenges and goals before hiring you
- The specific local SEO strategies and tactics implemented
- Quantifiable results like ranking increases, traffic, leads, revenue impact
- Visuals, screenshots, client testimonials to bring it to life
Case studies build crucial social proof and show potential clients what's actually possible with a properly executed local SEO campaign. Host these on a linkable page, track engagement, and integrate them into relevant local directories and business listings.
Offer Free Local SEO Audits
One of the most effective ways to get your foot in the door with potential SEO clients is by offering a free SEO audit. This provides immense value upfront while giving you a chance to identify key opportunities to improve their online presence. When done right, free SEO audits can be a lucrative lead generation engine.
Why free SEO audits are so effective?
Many local business owners understand the importance of SEO but lack the technical expertise to properly analyze and fix issues themselves. Comprehensive free SEO audits act as the perfect lead magnet by:
- Demonstrating your SEO expertise and experience
- Surfacing quick wins to get buy-in and build trust
- Quantifying the revenue impact they're currently missing out on
- Giving you a direct line to decision makers
Rather than trying to make a sale from the jump, free SEO audits warm up potential clients and allow you to guide them through the buying process.
Of course, performing hands-on SEO audits manually for every single potential client is unsustainable. You'll need systematic processes to automate and streamline SEO audit generation via SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush. You will have to pay premium for these tools compared to tools like Ubersuggest, but it's well worth it. Alternatively you can let LavaReach handle all the research, we even pull all of these data in to write hyper-personalized messages.
On a walkthrough call or meeting be as clear as possible. If they're not familiar with SEO at all (and I bet most of them aren't), use analogies, share relevant stories, and client testimonials. Interpret the findings for the business owner, outline a game plan to capitalize on the opportunities, and hopefully sell your local SEO services.
Come prepared with a structured presentation that:
- Highlights the most impactful issues and quick fixes
- Articulates the long-term revenue impact of not resolving these problems
- Lays out a phased content marketing approach for how you'd tackle their SEO
- Overcomes common objections like cost, timeframes, resources, etc.
The free SEO audit puts you in a position of authority while giving prospects a teasing peek at how you'd transform their online presence. From here, it's about guiding them toward your monthly SEO packages.
Monthly Local SEO Packages
Once you've landed an initial sales conversation after delivering a free audit, it's time to present your local SEO services. Packaging your offerings into simple monthly retainers is the best way to consistently acquire new local SEO clients without scaring them away with quarterly or annual commitments.
When it comes to pricing your monthly SEO packages, I recommend you avoid the classic mistake of racing to the bottom with cut-rate fees. Position yourself as more of a premium SEO agency and lead with value-based packages tailored for local businesses:
- Baseline package $X/mo: On-site optimization, local listings, citation building, etc.
- Accelerated package $X/mo: Everything in baseline + link building, GMB management, reviews, etc.
- Custom package $X/mo: Fully customized SEO strategy, content, PR, etc.
Most SEO agencies also provide separate one-time services like SEO technical audits, site migrations, etc. that can be tacked onto the monthly retainers as needed. But the core local SEO offerings should be bundled into recurring packages.
When selling these packages to local business owners, highlight your unique advantages compared to generalist digital marketing agencies or SEO consultants, such as:
- Localized search expertise tailored for their city
- Proven case studies with other local businesses in their industry
- Availability for in-person meetings/collaboration (this one is big for local business owners, many still prefer in-person meetings)
- Deeper integration into the local community and ecosystem
You can also add value through supplementary SEO services like:
- Local citation building and reputation management
- Localized content production (blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.)
- Social media marketing for local presence
The goal is to provide a comprehensive, premium local SEO solution tailored from the ground up for local businesses.
In addition to locking in new local SEO clients on your monthly packages, look for smart ways to expand existing accounts:
- Up-selling from baseline to accelerated packages as they see results
- Cross-selling complementary services like web design, paid ads, CRO, etc.
- Annual accounts for discounted rates in exchange for longer commitments
- Referral fees for any new business they send your way
The more services and value you can provide to your local SEO clients, the stickier those new clients become over time.
Network and Build Local Presence
While digital outreach is a core prospecting channel for local SEO leads, you absolutely cannot overlook the power of hitting the streets and building a strong local presence. Cultivate genuine connections with local business owners. They inherently trust companies that are engrained in the same community they operate in.
1. Attend speaking events, networking meetups, and local conferences.
Online events are cool but if you really want to close more local SEO clients you have to get yourself and your SEO agency's name out there by attending popular local events, networking meetups, and conferences with prospective clients. A few to consider:
- Chamber of commerce/networking mixers
- [City] Business Alliance/Leadership events
- Launch parties for local startups and businesses
- Industry-specific conferences (restaurants, legal, retail, etc.)
The goals here are to network with prospective local SEO clients, get introductions to key stakeholders, and potentially even land speaking opportunities to showcase your SEO expertise. You also may want to avoid marketing conferences. They good for staying up-to-date on marketing trends and what not, but not good for finding prospective clients.
2. Sponsor local blogs and publications.
In addition to in-person events, look for opportunities to build your local brand authority through sponsorships and guest posting on relevant local blogs/publications like:
- Neighborhood/city newspapers and business journals
- Industry association websites and newsletters
- Local podcasts or YouTube channels
- Startup/entrepreneurship community blogs
Provide valuable insights through guest posts, get featured as an expert source, or sponsor content. This will elevate your SEO agency's credibility in the eyes of local businesses.
3. Partner with local services.
Another way to facilitate steady local SEO client acquisition is to formalize partnerships with complementary local services. For example:
- Local web design agencies
- Digital marketing consultants
- Business development consultants, fractional CMOs, etc.
- Local chambers to get featured in membership materials
Create mutually-beneficial revenue share agreements or commission structures. If partners are consistently exposed to quality work from your SEO agency, they'll have no issue confidently referring new clients your way.
Get SEO Prospects
to Chase You
Provide value throughout your outreach with LavaReach's automated site audits.
Traditional and Digital Marketing Outreach
While networking and building a local presence is crucial, you'll also cannot neglect outbound prospecting channels to consistently feed your sales pipeline and close more SEO clients.
One of the most direct ways to attract local SEO clients is through dedicated cold outreach campaigns tailored specifically for your local target audience. A few approaches I always recommend SEO agencies consider:
- Email marketing: Build segmented lists of local businesses in your sweet spot and launch multi-touch drip sequences showcasing your local SEO case studies, free SEO audit offers, success stories, and more.
- Cold calling: On your cold calls focus on the unique digital marketing challenges faced by different local business industries in your area.
- Direct mail and/or gifting: Send personalized direct mail packages or gifts to potential clients.
The key to making these traditional outreach channels effective is hyper-relevant messaging and precise audience segmentation based on the data you've already gathered.
You'll also want to utilize paid advertising channels to increase your reach and brand awareness with local business owners:
- Local service advertisements: Set up campaigns to target [city] + [service] keywords.
- Retargeting: Run targeted retargeting advertisements promoting things like your free SEO audit to local businesses who have already engaged with your website.
- Local Facebook and Instagram advertisements: Leverage location targeting and other demographic filters to get hyper-local with social advertisements.
- YouTube and OTT advertisements: Get your local SEO messaging on connected TVs, streaming devices, and YouTube in your specific geographic areas.
The goal with paid advertising is to inexpensively increase brand visibility, drive leads into your sales funnel, and educating local businesses on why they absolutely need to consider SEO services.
Finally, you'll want to invest in an active social media presence tailored for local SEO leads. Here are some tactics you can implement:
- Geo-targeted content marketing, local hashtags, location-based posting
- Running engaged local communities through Facebook and LinkedIn groups
- Leveraging local influencers and content creators for promotion in your city
- Creating localized video content optimized for visibility in your areas
Social media allows you to essentially digitize traditional "boots on the ground" local marketing in a highly measurable and cost-effective way.
Cultivate Genuine Connections with Your SEO Clients
While all the prospecting strategies up to this point are focused on landing your first local SEO clients, the real work begins once you've onboarded those new clients. SEO is an enduring effort that requires continuous optimization and relationship building. We all know that SEO takes a while to really kick in so make sure you cultivate genuine connections with your new clients.
When it comes to local SEO, your agency's reputation and word-of-mouth is everything. Most business owners in the same city know and talk to each other. If you deliver incredible results for a client, that's an invaluable referral source for landing their friends' and colleagues' businesses.
On the flip side, providing subpar service and losing a local SEO client can absolutely nuke your ability to acquire new customers in that area. Local businesses are hyper-connected communities where news travels fast.
This is why nurturing and cultivating genuine relationships with your local SEO clients has to be the top priority from day one. You're not just another vendor - you're an extension of their team.
This brings me to my next point, one of the best ways to build a rock solid reputation is by proactively soliciting reviews and testimonials from your local SEO clients. Encourage them to:
- Leave reviews on platforms like Yelp, Google, Clutch, etc.
- Provide written or video testimonials for your website
- Refer colleagues they think could also benefit from your SEO services
- Participate in case studies to showcase your quality of work
You can even explore creative ways to incentivize reviews and referrals through things like percentage discounts, free bonus months of service, Amazon gift cards, etc. The key is to systematically build social proof.
In addition to testimonials and referrals, make sure you're constantly providing value and collaborating with your clients through activities like:
- Scheduled check-in calls to discuss campaign performance
- In-person meetings, lunches, or events (when possible)
- Consistent reporting and actionable recommendations
- Introduction to your networks, partners, other local connections
The more visible and communicative you are, the more indispensable your SEO agency becomes to those local businesses. They'll see you as a true partner invested in their growth rather than just another vendor.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, offering local SEO services to nearby businesses could be a core revenue stream for many SEO agencies. But the vast majority of them are completely ignoring this goldmine opportunity.
Most business owners understand the importance of showing up in local search results, but they don't have the technical understanding or bandwidth to properly execute an effective local SEO strategy themselves.
Will it require an investment of focus and effort from your SEO team? Absolutely. But make no mistake, the payoff of a predictable stream of local businesses paying top dollar for your SEO services makes it all worthwhile. Not to mention the referral engine you'll ignite by delivering solid results.
FAQs
What are the benefits of targeting local SEO clients for my agency?
Focusing on local SEO clients provides steady recurring revenue, higher likelihood of referrals and word-of-mouth from the local business community, ability to charge premium pricing for hands-on local SEO services, and opportunities to cross-sell additional offerings like web design, social media marketing, etc.
What are some ways to showcase local SEO expertise to potential clients?
Optimize your website and content for local SEO keywords, create localized case studies with quantifiable results, claim listings on platforms like Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, and local directories, guest post on community blogs, actively engage on local online channels like subreddits.
How do I prioritize my agency's local SEO leads?
Enrich data on potential local SEO clients using AI prospecting tools like LavaReach. Things like hiring and expansion signals, tech stack, competitor analysis. Score and prioritize based on fit for your SEO services. Focus on accounts most likely to see immediate ROI from your local SEO offerings.
Should I offer any free services like SEO audits to attract clients?
Absolutely! Providing free SEO audits acts as the perfect lead magnet to attract clients. It proves your SEO expertise while giving you a foot in the door to identify opportunities and guide potential clients through the buying process for your local SEO services.
How can I structure my agency's local SEO pricing and packages?
Most SEO agencies offer baseline, accelerated, and custom local SEO packages charged as recurring monthly retainers ($X/mo). Offer SEO services like on-site and off-site optimization, local listings management, content, link building, etc. Provide value-add for big SEO projects. Separate charges for one-off projects.
About Daniel Zhao
Daniel Zhao is a multiple time founder with years of first-hand experience in B2B sales and revenue leadership. He has a consistent track record of helping companies experiment and implement outbound in SaaS and other industries. Throughout his career, Daniel has set up numerous outbound motions for the first time for companies that previously had not found success with sales led customer acquisition.