One of the most popular and successful types of internet home business is SEO consultancy. With so many digital properties out there and so many businesses trying to get a foothold in their niche, search engine optimization is one of the most in-demand services.
In order to start your own SEO consulting business, you need to become an expert first. You can do this by signing up for several reputable online courses and then building your reputation working for an employer. The right moment to start your internet home business is when you have an established reputation and a network of people who can vouch for your experience and support you in your quest.
Once you have reached this level, it is time to launch your SEO consulting business. Here is how you do it:
1. Create a Professional, Well-Optimized Website
The best way to advertise your SEO consulting services is through your own website. Use the best practices in building a fast loading, easy to navigate and mobile ready website and put your skills to work to make your website show up on Google searches for popular keywords in your niche.
In this way, you can get a lot of traffic on your website and, combined with a solid online marketing strategy, you will improve your conversion rate.
2. Share Your Portfolio
It will take some negotiating skills to convince your previous employer or some of the companies you worked for as an employee to allow you to list them on your portfolio page. This is why it is important to maintain good relationships with everyone you worked for (or with) in the past. Having a portfolio is a big step in the right direction to persuade a website visitor to choose to hire you.
3. Build a Brand
Every business needs a brand and every professional strives to create and maintain a personal brand. Building a brand goes beyond finding a logo, a color palette and a font style. A brand is expressed through your biography on social media channels, through the tone of voice you use in blog posts and online discussions – in short, your brand image should be represented and recognizable in everything you do.
4. Create a Referral Program
The first people you turn to in order to make your internet home business known are your friends and acquaintances. This is why networking skills are so important in this line of business. A recommendation from someone who knows you and believes in your skills and experience is more valuable than any marketing campaign.
This is why you need to have people you can count on – people who will vouch for you. A referral program is great in bringing you a first wave of clients, but only as long as there are people who are willing to stake their own reputation in recommending you.
5. Become an Active and Helpful Online Presence
Being active and helpful online can be done in different ways:
⦁ Through guest blogging
⦁ Through your own blog and social media accounts
⦁ By answering questions on professional platforms such as LinkedIn and Quora.
In this way, you will build your reputation and your personal brand, and you will reach more people who will most likely become at first your followers on the social media and, later on, clients.
Running your own internet home business as a SEO consultant is not an easy job, as you can see, because you need to be permanently active and involved in finding clients and keeping them loyal. But it is a rewarding career if you love independence and the possibility to increase your income through hard work and dedication.