How to Get SEO Clients

If you own a small business, you’ve seen this email:

“I noticed your website isn’t ranking on the first page of Google…”

It’s sent to everyone. It says nothing about anyone.

And Google’s own guide for business owners tells them to be wary of SEO firms that email them out of the blue.

So you start behind.

Your email has to prove, in the first line, that a person actually looked at their business.

Here’s how to do that — over and over, without it eating your week.

step 1Pick businesses where one search is worth a lot

SEO takes months. Pick businesses where a single new customer from search matters to them:

• Emergency trades — plumbers, HVAC, garage doors, locksmiths
• Clinics — dentists, physical therapists, vets
• Lawyers and accountants — one client is a big job
• Multi-location businesses — every location needs its own Google profile

Then pick one service and one city to start: “water heater repair in Cincinnati,” not “local SEO.”

step 2Find the businesses just outside the top results

Here’s the part a lot of SEO outreach gets wrong.

The best prospect isn’t the business nowhere on Google.

It’s the good business sitting just below the top results — strong reviews, real customers, missing one or two fixable things. You can actually help them, and you can show them the gap.

Search the way a customer would: “water heater repair Cincinnati.”

Look at the Maps results. Note who shows up first, and where each prospect sits.

Clifton Heights already wins that search. Skip them.

One honest warning: Maps results change with where you search from and who’s searching.

Treat it as a snapshot, not a ranking report — and say so when you write.

step 3Do the 10-minute check, not the 40-page audit

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence.

It also says complete, accurate information and more reviews can help.

That tells you exactly what to look at:

• Google profile — is the main category right? Are the services listed?
• Reviews — how many, how recent, compared with the top 3
• Website — is there a page for the service they want to be found for?
• That page’s title — does it say the service and the city?
• Name, address and phone — the same on the website, Google and Yelp?

Pick the one gap that’s easiest to explain to a plumber.

That’s your email.

step 4Send an email that isn’t “the SEO email”

Look at what’s missing.

No “page one guaranteed.” No “I noticed your website isn’t ranking.” No 40-page PDF.

A real search. A real number. One fix. One small yes.

And never promise a ranking. Google’s guide puts it plainly:

“No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.”

If your email promises one, you’re the email Google warned them about.

step 5Use contact forms, then follow up

Many trades list only a contact form. Use it — same note, three lines, your name and website.

Then follow up, with something new each time:

1. Day 0First email

   The search, the gap, one question.

2. Day 3Quick bump

   “Want the screenshot? Happy to send it.”

3. Day 7Just send it

   The screenshot and the two changes — no strings.

4. Day 14Close the loop

   “I’ll stop here. If you ever want a second opinion, reply anytime.”

On day 7 you stop asking and hand over proof. They can check every word of it themselves.

step 6Sell a small first project, not a 12-month retainer

An SEO retainer asks an owner to trust you for months before they see much.

That’s a big ask from a stranger.

So start with something small, fixed and visible:

1. 01
   Fix the Google profile

   Categories, services, hours, photos. One price, done in a week.

2. 02
   Build the missing service page

   The water heater page they don’t have.

3. 03
   Report what changed

   One page, plain English: what you did, what you’ll watch.

4. 04
   Offer the monthly plan

   Reviews, new pages, profile posts — every month.

The first project shows them how you work.

And it shows you whether they’re a client you want for a year.

step 7Partner with people who already have the client

• Web designers — many launch sites with no SEO plan
• Marketing agencies that only run ads
• Freelance writers who write blogs but don’t do technical SEO
• Bookkeepers and business coaches who hear “nobody finds us online”

Offer white-label work, or a simple referral swap.

Here’s what that looks like when your AI team builds the list:

Partner outreachWorking

Find web design studios in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky that don’t offer SEO, and write to each about partnering.

Find web design studios and check their services pages27/27

19 don’t mention SEO anywhere on their site. 8 already offer it, so I skipped them.

I wrote each one a short note offering to handle SEO for their launches, white-label or by referral. Want me to send the first 5? Nothing goes out without your OK.

Cincinnati web studios — 19 partners.csvSpreadsheet

Tell your agent what to do…

The lines not to cross

Some SEO work gets your clients in trouble. Don’t sell it:

• Promising a #1 ranking, or any ranking by a date
• Buying reviews, writing fake ones, or paying for 5-star ratings
• Hiding bad reviews with threats — the FTC’s rule bans review suppression
• City pages that are the same page with the town name swapped
• Buying links to boost rankings

Google’s spam policies call out the last two. The FTC’s 2024 rule covers the reviews.

Honest work is also your best pitch. It’s the one thing the spam emails can’t offer.

What to do this week

1. 01
   Pick one service and one city

   “Water heater repair in Cincinnati.”

2. 02
   Find 30 businesses just outside the top 3

   Good reviews, one fixable gap.

3. 03
   Send 10 emails a day

   The search, the gap, one question.

4. 04
   Send the screenshot on day 7

   Let them check it themselves.

5. 05
   Write to 5 web designers

   Offer white-label SEO for their launches.

Or hand the searching, checking and writing to your AI team — and spend the week on client work.

Questions