What if we told you that selling SEO doesn’t have to be difficult?

You’ve probably tried it before and ran into some roadblocks when trying to convince your clients to invest in SEO. 

Well, that’s because SEO is one of the most misunderstood marketing channels out there, not because it doesn’t work. 

There are plenty of clients who have unclear expectations or are still reeling from the poor execution of past SEO campaigns. 

If they weren’t able to achieve their SEO goals in the past, they’ll probably be quite skeptical about trying it again (and understandably so). 

However, you don’t need massive amounts of hype or million-dollar campaigns to sell SEO. 

All you need is:

  1. Clear logic. We’ve been in the SEO game long enough to know that certain tactics yield consistent results, so there’s no need to make false promises.  
  2. Strong data. The numbers don’t lie, and the evidence proves time and time again that SEO is an extremely effective marketing channel with the lowest cost-per-lead and a compounding ROI. 
  3. The right framework. There’s a time and a place to bring up SEO to clients, so you need to know when to whip out your SEO pitch. For instance, does one of your clients wish they could generate more traffic or raise brand awareness? That’s the perfect time to broach the subject of SEO! 

This guide will teach you how to turn hesitation into SEO buy-in, so don’t go anywhere! 

Why Stakeholders Push Back on SEO 

First, understand that your role isn’t to pressure anyone into an SEO campaign. 

Instead, you’re here to reframe the conversation around SEO and clarify its benefits. 

As we said, there will be clients and stakeholders who’ve had bad experiences with SEO in the past, and they will likely offer some pushback whenever you bring it up. 

Common objections include:

  • SEO is too slow. There’s no getting around the fact that organic SEO takes time to start generating results. However, experienced agencies like ours know how to leverage quick wins to speed things up. Moreover, SEO is a long-term game by nature that delivers compounding returns (i.e., content that ranks well will continue to generate leads and sales into the future). 
  • It’s too expensive. While there are some agencies that overcharge for SEO services, the idea that it’s too expensive is a bit of an illusion. SEO actually has the lowest cost-per-lead out of any marketing channel, especially once you start seeing results. 
  • We tried it before, but it didn’t work. Clients who weren’t able to achieve their SEO goals with a prior agency will obviously have some restraints about trying it again. There are many components to SEO, and not all agencies provide services of equal quality. By sharing your client’s success stories and presenting real-world data, you’ll have an easier time getting them to buy into the idea. 
  • Paid ads are more reliable. Lots of stakeholders appreciate the immediate results that paid ads provide, but they fail to realize how expensive they truly are. A click does not guarantee a conversion, but you have to pay every time someone clicks on one of your ads. Also, your online visibility disappears the second you stop paying. SEO enables you to save money by eventually weaning off paid ads entirely. 

At first, these objections may seem difficult to overcome. 

Yet, if you come armed with facts, case studies, and raw data, SEO becomes an easy sell. 

Bearing that in mind, let’s learn how to sell SEO the smart way. 

Reframing the Conversation around SEO’s ROI 

Your clients need to understand one very important thing:

SEO isn’t an expense, it’s an investment in compounding visibility and lead generation. 

Every action you take during an SEO campaign, from building backlinks to creating keyword-optimized content, contributes to these two goals. 

More backlinks mean more trust with Google and the opportunity for your content to rank higher. 

More high-ranking content equals more opportunities for your target audience to discover your brand and convert into customers. 

See how there’s a compounding effect?

Once you have a considerable library of content and a completely optimized website, you’ll begin generating leads and sales without spending a dime or lifting a finger. 

Thus, the way to sell SEO is to emphasize long-term efficiency over short-term traffic, especially when discussing PPC (pay-per-click) ads. 

Using cost-per-lead instead of cost-per-click

Here’s a pro tip: you should tell your clients to measure cost-per-lead instead of cost-per-click. 

Why’s that?

It’s because, as we said before, clicks don’t guarantee conversions. 

Imagine that you pay a high CPC (cost-per-click) for a keyword related to your most important product, but your website has poor loading speeds. 

That means whenever someone clicks on your ad, they probably won’t have the patience for your site to load, meaning you’ll waste a ton of money on clicks. 

Cost-per-lead (CPL) is a far more reliable metric because it measures how much money you spend to generate an actual lead, not just a click. 

The formula is very simple:

CPL = total marketing spend / total number of leads generated 

So, if you spent $1,500 on SEO and generated 40 leads, your CPL would be $37.50. 

$1,500 / 40 = 37.5

This is actually very low and within the typical CPL range for SEO, but more on this in a bit. 

If you want to determine the true effectiveness of a client’s PPC campaign, calculate their CPL instead of CPC, and compare it to the average CPL SEO can provide.

That’s one of the best ways to clearly show the superior ROI of SEO compared to PPC. 

For example, let’s say one of your clients spends $3,000 on paid ads but only generates 20 leads. 

Let’s do the math. 

$3,000 / 20 = 150 

That means the client’s CPL is a whopping $150, which is actually pretty standard for PPC campaigns. 

Once you show them that they could save $112.50 per lead by switching to SEO, the choice should become clear. 

Use Hard Numbers to Make the Case (Average CPL for SEO and PPC) 

Next, let’s see what real-world data has to say about the CPL of SEO compared to PPC. 

According to research, effective SEO campaigns can provide a super-low CPL of $30 – $60. 

PPC ads, on the other hand, can range from $150 – $300 per lead, and that’s if your website is designed to convert. 

If it isn’t (like the example with poor loading speed), then you’ll pay even MORE per lead. 

You can put it to your clients in simple terms like this:

Would you rather spend $30 per lead or $300 per lead?

If you want the lower CPL, then you’ll need to invest in an SEO campaign. While it’s a long-term game, the benefits wind up drastically outweighing the costs. 

Let them know that the immediate visibility provided by PPC ads comes at a steep cost. That’s not to say that they can’t invest in PPC early on, just that it’s best paired with SEO. 

That way, once your SEO efforts start generating results, you can back off PPC ads and start saving money. 

Also, we’ve perfected the art of targeting quick-win keywords for our clients. 

These are keywords that clients are already ranking for, but not on page one. 

The thing is, it’s much easier to improve an existing keyword ranking than it is to start ranking for a brand-new keyword. 

So, even if the client ranks on page three, with some clever optimization, you can boost its ranking in a few weeks or months. 

Here’s what that looks like:

As you can see, some of these keywords rose in rank by up to 70 positions! 

By identifying these ‘quick-win’ keywords early in an SEO campaign, we’re able to start generating results within 6 months or less. 

This helps speed up the notoriously lengthy SEO process, so we highly recommend using quick-win keywords (and mentioning them to your clients as a selling point). 

Real-world example: 50% traffic boost in 6 months with quick-win keywords 

Our library of case studies contains countless examples of quick-win keywords generating speedy traffic boosts for our clients. 

Let’s look at an instance where we scored 50% more organic traffic for a trust company’s website in just under 6 months. 

Through a combination of technical audits, content creation, and targeting quick-win keywords, we achieved this massive boost in traffic:

As you can see, their traffic is on a consistent upward trend, and that’s thanks to our SEO campaign. 

The client now ranks for over 1,000 relevant keywords related to their products and services. This client’s success story is a great example of:

  1. The effectiveness of easy-win keywords
  2. The compounding effect SEO has when done properly 

These are the types of stories you should share with skeptical stakeholders to help them see the light with SEO. 

What Great SEO Actually Includes (And Why it’s Worth It) 

What are the components of a winning SEO campaign?

If you want to do SEO right for your clients, you need to include:

  1. Customized strategies. Each business will have different goals and SEO needs, so you shouldn’t try to use a one-size-fits-all approach. 
  2. Technical audits. All it takes is one technical issue to ruin your search performance. That’s why you should provide technical SEO for your clients. 
  3. Keyword research. You need to find keywords that are A) relevant to your business and B) aren’t too steep in the way of competition. 
  4. Content creation. Publishing regular content is how you target trending keywords and drive consistent traffic to your website (that you can then convert into leads). 
  5. Link-building. Backlinks are how you build trust on search engines like Google, so link-building is a must. 

If your clients weren’t successful with SEO in the past, it’s probably because they only engaged in one of the components listed above, and not all. 

For example, if a client only created content but didn’t research keywords or perform technical audits, their content would:

  • Not appear for the right searches (since they have no keyword strategy) 
  • Be at risk of technical issues like crawling errors (that could cause the content to disappear from Google altogether) 

This is something you should make abundantly clear to your new clients. For SEO to work, you need a well-rounded approach that leaves no stone unturned. 

For this reason, managed SEO services are a great sell for clients who want an all-inclusive SEO strategy in a single package. 

How to Equip Yourself with the Right Materials 

There are certain tools that make it easier to sell SEO to clients, even if they’re skeptical. 

Here’s what you should keep on hand at all times:

  • Case study PDFs. Client case studies are extremely valuable for convincing new clients to invest in SEO. Compile your strongest case studies and then keep the PDFs handy whenever you consult with new clients.  
  • CPL and CPA statistics. The CPL and CPA statistics are powerful for convincing skeptical stakeholders of the true power of SEO. 
  • FAQ or common objections guide. An FAQ page or a page breaking down the objections we listed earlier is a helpful resource. 

Also, take a consultative approach with your clients. Ask about their business goals, revenue targets, and customer acquisition costs. This will let them know that you truly want to help them and aren’t just looking for a quick buck. 

Final Thoughts: Selling SEO is About Achieving Clarity, Not Overselling 

Selling SEO is about:

  • Reframing the conversation to focus on CPL and ROI 
  • Sharing real success stories to prove the value of SEO done right 
  • Providing clarity about a confusing topic 
  • Taking a consultative approach to help clients achieve their goals 

Check these boxes, and selling SEO becomes a whole lot easier – even for the harshest of skeptics. Once your clients understand the compounding value of SEO, they won’t need to be talked into it, so avoid overselling. 

Do you want to learn more about pitching SEO or reselling our SEO services?

Grab a spot on our calendar today to book a totally free strategy call. Our experts will help you get the most out of SEO, so don’t wait to get in touch!