Search engine optimization or SEO is a digital marketing trend that is crucial for businesses today. Many people spend most of their time online, so companies are moving their marketing techniques to the Internet instead of traditional media like televisions or posters. If the companies don’t have in-house SEO, they will outsource it from agencies, and SEO consulting businesses are in demand.

If you’d like to leave the corporate world, here’s how you can start your SEO consulting business:

Step 1: Learn About SEO and Become an Expert

For you to offer SEO services to other companies, you have to know the job description first. Familiarize yourself with it, and become an expert. You can start by reading articles online such as WebMarketing123-courses. You’ll have to do a lot of reading since SEO is a broad topic. You have to learn about these:

1. Keywords

Keywords are vital to SEO. Search engines rank your website or web pages with the help of keywords. You’ll have to know about keyword research, meta tags and descriptions, written content, and many others where you have to include the keywords.

2. Content

You have to know how to create quality content. Articles or blog posts, images, graphics, and videos are what you’ll mostly find on websites. Those things need proper optimization with the right use of keywords and tags, so search engines rank the particular page high on search engine results pages or SERPs.

3. Website Development

 Responsive website design also helps in high rankings in SERPs. A website is responsive if it’s mobile-friendly and has fast-loading pages. Sites must be able to adapt to different screen sizes because a lot of people use their smartphones or tablets when searching online.

4. Web Analytics Tools

You also have to learn about tools that help you track the progress of a website or webpage. Google analytics and FoxMetrics are examples of the tools you can use.

Step 2: Learn About Business

Since you’re starting your own company, you need to know how to run a business. You could have all the SEO knowledge in the world, but if you don’t have any business-related skills, you won’t be able to establish a stable company. There’s also much to learn here so you could take business courses in universities or online or you can do extensive reading and research through books and online articles too.

1. Basic Business Skills

First, you need to know the general skills that every business owner should have. These are essential no matter what industry you’re in because you need it to operate your company. The skills you’ll need include:

• Financial management
• Marketing
• Customer service
• Networking
• Leadership
• Communication
• Planning and problem solving 

2. Create A Business Plan

Once you gained proper business skills, you can now create a business plan. It’s important that you learned the skills first, so your business plan you’ll come up with has details and is feasible.

• Define your goals and objectives. You can start small like acquiring at least five clients or finding a proper office instead of your garage, which you can also do if you like.
• Get the necessary permits to run your business.
• Calculate how much money you need and have. Is it enough? If it’s not, then you’ll have to come up with other financial sources such as borrowing from financial institutions.
• Create branding for your company. Think of a catchy name, maybe even create a logo for your business that will help establish your brand’s name.
• Prepare your marketing strategies.

Step 3: Marketing

After making your business plan, it’s now time for execution. When you finally have everything ready, you now have to start getting clients. To do that you can do these things:

1. Fix Your Website

Your website will be like your resume. If you want to convince your potential clients, they need to see that you successfully applied your skills to your site. Even if you haven’t had your first client yet, at least you already have experience in practical application.

2. Use Social Media

Social media is never out of digital marketing strategies. It is one of the most useful tools businesses can use to promote their company. You can use it for ads, for reaching out to your audience, and for answering inquiries from your followers or potential clients.

3. Attend Conferences

Those events are great places to build networks. You can connect with other people from your industry, and maybe they’ll help you get clients. For example, if you meet someone who offers only website development but their clients need a keyword expert they could refer the clients to you then return the favor when you can.

Final Thoughts

 There’s a lot to learn when you’re planning to start your SEO consulting business. It’s going to take some time, so make sure that before you hand in your resignation letter, you have the finances to support yourself while you build your future empire. Have a lot of patience, and you’ll soon reap the rewards of your hard work.