How to Make Money With SEO

1 year ago 100

SEO isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme—it often takes years of hard enactment to marque a surviving from it. The large thing, though, is its versatility. There are galore ways to monetize SEO skills, which each suit antithetic people.

Want to cognize immoderate of the champion ways to monetize your SEO skills?

Let maine amusement you how.

1. Selling productized SEO services

Selling productized SEO services or, successful different words, creating standardized versions of services sold arsenic products is simply a large mode to marque wealth with SEO. 

The vantage of this method implicit providing full-service SEO is that it is faster to deliver, which means you’ll mostly get paid much regularly.

Productized SEO services tin see but are not constricted to:

  • SEO audits
  • Keyword research
  • Link building

So who is making wealth doing this?

Glen Allsopp has blogged extensively astir how helium made six figures from providing SEO audits, which shows however lucrative this peculiar method can be. 

Gaps' Glen Allsopp making six figures with video audits

Another vantage of productized SEO services is that they tin beryllium sold connected freelancer websites, wherever buyers hunt for circumstantial SEO tasks alternatively than a afloat managed SEO service. 

Here’s an illustration of a productized work for Google My Business I recovered connected a fashionable freelancing site.

Productized work  GMB illustration  via People Per Hour

As we tin spot from the statement below, everyone gets the aforesaid format of audit, which means it should beryllium comparatively casual to scale.

Same audit for everyone; productized work  details via People Per Hour

So what are the astir fashionable forms of productized SEO services you can sell? 

SEO audits

It mightiness not look similar much, but this seller beneath has 1,000+ income and charges £125 (~$155) per audit. This means that helium has sold ~$155,000 worthy of SEO audits. 

Detailed SEO audit example, via People Per hour

SEOs person antithetic methods for completing audits, but if you privation to commencement providing them arsenic a productized service, you should cheque retired our SEO audit post first. 

In that post, you tin spot that the halfway elements of an SEO audit person been breached down into antithetic checks, which you tin usage arsenic a ground for your audit.

They are:

  • Check for manual actions
  • Check integrated traffic
  • Check for HTTPS-related issues
  • Check that you tin lone browse 1 mentation of your website
  • Check for indexability issues
  • Check for mobile-friendliness
  • Check page speed
  • Check Core Web Vitals
  • Check for breached pages
  • Check for sitemap issues
  • Check basal on-page elements
  • Check for declining content
  • Check for contented gaps
  • Check for different method issues

You whitethorn privation to adhd further checks yourself, but this gives you a model to commencement providing SEO audits arsenic a productized work and commencement making money.

Keyword research

Another productized SEO work you tin merchantability is keyword research. The basal process for creating a keyword probe papers is simple: You probe the applicable metrics for a fixed keyword and past study them backmost to the client.

There is nary shortage of SEOs connected freelance sites who person made decent wealth by providing keyword probe arsenic a productized service.

We tin spot from the illustration beneath that if we multiply the income by the merchandise cost, the seller has made ~£12,000 from selling keyword probe successful this peculiar gig.

Keyword probe   productized service, via People Per Hour

To commencement making wealth with keyword probe arsenic a productized service, you indispensable absorption connected what website owners want. 

They volition astir apt privation to cognize the champion keywords to target. You tin supply this to them by identifying low-competition keywords.

Using Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, you tin easy find 20 low-competition keywords and complaint $XX for this.

Recommendation

If you privation to brushwood up connected your keyword probe skills, commencement by watching our Sam Oh’s video:

Let’s look astatine however we tin place low-competition keywords related to “macbook air.”

First, spell to Keywords Explorer and plug successful the keyword “macbook air.” The overview volition amusement the keyword’s difficulty, hunt volume, postulation potential, planetary volume, and adjacent fashionable questions astir the topic.

Overview for the keyword "macbook air," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

This accusation tin assistance clients find whether oregon not to people a peculiar keyword arsenic portion of their wide SEO strategy.

To place low-competition keywords successful this topic, we request to click connected the Matching terms study and filter by KD from 0 to 25. 

Matching presumption     study  for "macbook air," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Once we person done this, we tin spot that the request for utilized MacBook Air models is high—this unsocial whitethorn beryllium an absorbing penetration you tin stock with your client.

Now we person a database of the lowest contention keywords to people for this keyword. To download this report, click the Export fastener successful the apical right-hand corner. Then reappraisal and format the information successful your template earlier sending it to your client.

Link building

Links are inactive considered 1 of the astir important Google ranking factors. If you tin assistance get them for a client’s website done outreach oregon by creating contented that attracts links naturally, this tin beryllium a invaluable skill.

Returning to our freelance site, immoderate complaint £750 (~$927) for 5 DR 40 impermanent blogs via blogger outreach.

Guest station  example, via People Per Hour

If we multiply the merchandise terms by the sales, we tin spot that this idiosyncratic has had 67 sales, meaning they person made ~$62,000.

When it comes to nexus building, it is not the astir straightforward work to productize, but you tin instrumentality the pursuing approach: 

  • Create a work on the lines of: “I volition onshore 10 impermanent station placements for $1,000 for your website.” 
  • Assuming you get a ~20% deed rate, it volition mean that you volition person to find and transportation 50 sites for this to work—quite achievable.

If you privation to cognize the nonstop process of however to physique links, the champion mode to bash this is to cheque retired our updated link gathering guide.

Sidenote.

You indispensable cognize astatine slightest the SEO basics earlier attempting to merchantability productized SEO services. If you are knowledgeable astir SEO and supply genuine worth to your customers, you volition basal a amended accidental of increasing your business.

If you bask writing, creating contented for websites whitethorn beryllium 1 of the fastest ways to marque money. There has ever been a changeless request for high-quality contented writers successful SEO, and that inclination looks acceptable to proceed based connected the hunt measurement inclination beneath for the operation “content creator.”

Keyword overview of "content creator," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Out of each of the methods here, this 1 has the lowest obstruction to entry. So agelong arsenic you are a reasonably bully writer, you tin marque six figures penning content.

Six figures whitethorn dependable similar a lot, but it is achievable. For example, Elise Dopson, a freelance contented creator, managed to physique a six-figure penning business from scratch, each by the property of 21.

So however tin you find a contented penning occupation and commencement making money?

To find contented work, you person respective antithetic options: 

You tin hunt fashionable freelance sites, articulation a contented agency, oregon adjacent conscionable cheque retired fashionable Reddit threads specified arsenic /r/hireawriter, /r/forhire, and /r/freelance—where you tin stock your contented penning services.

Recommendation

Always work the subreddit rules earlier sharing your contented services. Otherwise, the mods whitethorn delete your station if you autumn foul of the rules. For example, successful /r/hireawriter, they person the pursuing rules.

To amusement you however casual it tin be, I acceptable up a basal advert connected a fashionable freelance tract to “write an engaging 500-word nonfiction connected immoderate topic.” I didn’t see immoderate accusation astir qualifications oregon see a portfolio of my work.

Content penning  service, via People Per Hour

After 177 views of my advert, I got an connection of work:

Offer of enactment    for penning  content, via People Per Hour

And past another…

Offer of enactment    for penning  content, via People Per Hour

Hopefully, this shows however straightforward it tin beryllium to commencement making wealth by penning content.

If you are caller to SEO, you whitethorn wonderment what a “niche site” is. This operation is SEO jargon for “a blog astir a peculiar topic.” 

Here are 2 examples of niche sites that absorption connected a peculiar topic:

  • The Coffee Maven – A niche tract focused connected everything to bash with coffee.
  • Spaniel King – A niche tract focused connected Spaniel dog care.

So however bash you marque wealth with a niche site?

The archetypal happening is to physique postulation to your site. Once you person immoderate traffic, you tin commencement to monetize it. One of the easiest ways to bash this is utilizing Amazon Associates, but it’s worthy noting that the commissions person been reasonably debased successful caller years.

The magnitude of wealth that you marque with a niche tract tin alteration from period to month. But it is wide that if you instrumentality to it, the income tin beryllium important successful the long term.

Here are 2 examples from Flippa of sites making decent wealth from their respective niches.

Example of information  connected  niche sites, via Flippa

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine a fewer niche tract examples successful more depth:

1. Coffee Detective

Coffee Detective screenshot, via coffeedetective.com
  • The website offers common-sense tips, guides, and reviews to assistance you marque java at home.
  • If you can’t unrecorded without coffee, past you whitethorn find this an casual taxable to write about.
  • In presumption of monetization, Coffee Detective is monetized by Mediavine and Amazon Associates.

Let’s usage Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to get an thought of however overmuch integrated postulation it is getting and the worth of that traffic.

Overview for coffeedetective.com, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer
  • In the overview, coffeedetective.com is getting an estimated 17,700 integrated monthly postulation and has an integrated monthly postulation worth of ~$11,100. 

If we spell to the Top pages report, we tin spot that ~18% of the postulation comes from conscionable 2 articles. 

Top pages study  for coffeedetective.com, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer

Using Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar, we tin spot that the apical leafage has less than 1,000 words of content—showing that you don’t ever request thousands of words of contented to fertile good connected Google and get traffic.

Word number  for coffeedetective.com page, via Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine different example.

2. Get Busy Gardening

Get Busy Gardening screenshot, via getbusygardening.com
  • This tract has a assortment of posts connected a wide scope of topics related to gardening, specified arsenic increasing food, plot care, and gardening techniques.
  • If you cognize a spot astir gardening, this tin beryllium an fantabulous taxable to write about.
  • In presumption of monetization, Get Busy Gardening is monetized with Mediavine and Amazon Associates.

In Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, let’s instrumentality a person look astatine the estimated integrated postulation and its value.

Overview for getbusygardening.com, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer
  • We tin spot that getbusygardening.com is getting ~438,000 integrated monthly postulation and has a worth of ~$105,000.

Let’s spell to the Top pages report. We tin spot that 5.1% of the site’s postulation comes from a azygous article.

Top pages study  for getbusygardening.com, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer

These examples amusement that adjacent a elemental idea, specified arsenic making java astatine location oregon gardening tips, tin supply a life-changing income. 

However, if we look person astatine some sites, they started being progressive astir 2016. So it has taken them astatine slightest six years to physique up to these integrated postulation levels. 

So portion creating a niche tract tin beryllium financially rewarding successful the agelong term, it’s not the quickest mode to marque wealth with SEO.

4. Create an e-commerce oregon dropshipping site

Both e-commerce and dropshipping are good known for their six-figure lawsuit studies. A speedy browse of Flippa shows america that galore sites are changing hands for six figures oregon more.

List of sites already sold for six figures, via Flippa

Here’s an illustration of an e-commerce website, Code and Quill. According to Flippa, it has a monthly nett of $2,576/mo.

Code and Quill's illustration   connected  Flippa

Here’s different illustration of a dropshipping site, Barbell Standard, which according to Flippa, has a monthly nett of $20,496/mo. This tract is lone 2 years old.

Barbell Standard's illustration   connected  Flippa

If you privation to marque wealth with e-commerce oregon dropshipping, you volition archetypal request to place astatine slightest 1 merchandise you tin beryllium reasonably definite volition merchantability online. 

In my opinion, the simplest mode to bash this is to:

  • Find a tract selling products successful the class you are funny in.
  • Plug it into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.
  • Check the Top pages report.

Check retired the illustration beneath of maine doing this.

Top pages study  for thetoyshop.com, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer

Once I plugged a website into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, the keyword “fidget toys” caught my attention.

Let’s click connected “fidget toys” and spell to the overview to instrumentality a person look astatine this keyword.

Overview for "fidget toys," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

A speedy five-second cheque shows that this crisp highest occurred successful April 2017 and again successful May 2021. It’s wide from the inclination graph that this is not a large merchandise to make a store astir astatine the moment. 

Recommendation

It’s captious to sense-check your keywords because, sometimes, your cognition of a keyword’s popularity whitethorn disagree from the data.

In a antithetic example, let’s accidental you wanted to acceptable up an e-commerce tract selling fashionable variations of hoodies. You tin easy find each the variations of the astir searched for hoodies utilizing Ahrefs.

To bash this, participate “hoodies” successful the hunt barroom of Keywords Explorer and click connected the Matching presumption report successful the sidebar. 

We tin present spot the astir fashionable hoodie variations, allowing america to presumption our e-commerce store effectively.

Matching presumption     study  for "hoodies," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

The keyword “anime hoodies” sounds interesting—let’s instrumentality a person look astatine this keyword by clicking connected the link. 

Overview for "anime hoodies," via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Once you person clicked the keyword, you should spot the overview screen again. We tin spot that this keyword’s inclination varies rather a lot, but it has been comparatively affirmative implicit the past few years.

If you privation to maximize your profits successful e-commerce and dropshipping, you volition request to see the existent inclination of the product, its Keyword Difficulty, and Traffic Potential.

So what precisely is “website flipping?”

In elemental terms, website flipping is the process of buying a website, improving it, and selling it for more money. 

Website flipping tin beryllium peculiarly lucrative if you person a fewer years of acquisition moving successful SEO already.

For example, here’s a lawsuit study wherever a website was flipped for $136,000 successful conscionable 16 months. 

Website flipping lawsuit  study, via Empire Flippers

Here are immoderate cardinal points to retrieve erstwhile flipping websites for money:

  • When purchasing a website, you privation to look for 1 with bully links but wherever the contented tin beryllium improved. You tin usage Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to assistance you determine on this.
  • According to Flippa, returns for flipping websites tin beryllium much than 50X its mean monthly earnings. In different words, if a website has mean net implicit the past 12 months of $1,000 per month, it tin beryllium worthy ~$50,000.
  • Once you person a unsmooth thought of however overmuch the tract is worth, you volition request to take a broker. Empire Flippers provides specified a work and is 1 of the astir trusted platforms wherever you tin bargain and merchantability websites.

Website flipping tin beryllium lucrative, but you indispensable recognize what to look for erstwhile purchasing a website. It besides helps to person astatine slightest a basic cognition of SEO

Once you person gained respective years of acquisition successful SEO, you whitethorn consciousness that your skills are amended utilized to assistance others larn the skills you person acquired. 

Authority Hacker did conscionable that to physique a six-figure business. 

Premium SEO grooming  landing page, via Authority Hacker

You tin bash this arsenic good by creating high-quality SEO courses for in-person oregon online coaching. You tin merchantability these courses and grooming materials done your website, Gumroad, Udemy, Teachable, oregon immoderate different platform.

To get acceptable up selling your course, you volition archetypal request to determine what format it volition be in. 

Here are a fewer examples of ways you tin merchantability your people successful antithetic formats:

  • Provide escaped video lessons connected YouTube and monetize with ads
  • Provide premium video lessons connected a paid level (Udemy, Teachable)
  • Create templates oregon instructions for circumstantial tasks and merchantability connected Gumroad, e.g., tract velocity optimization for WordPress
  • Set up an adept online assemblage and complaint a monthly subscription fee
  • Create a documented people and supply one-to-one grooming successful idiosyncratic oregon remotely

If you person a inheritance successful teaching, this method could beryllium an fantabulous mode for you to make money.

It whitethorn not beryllium the astir breathtaking method to marque wealth with SEO, but providing SEO consulting services is 1 of the astir tried and tested approaches for making money—it’s however galore SEOs marque their living.

It’s challenging to verify the magnitude SEOs are making from consultation, but our survey suggests implicit 25% of respondents charged ~$101–150 per hour, with immoderate charging ~$750 per hour. 

How overmuch  bash  SEOs complaint  per hour

If you privation to get started with SEO consulting, cheque retired our how to get a occupation successful SEO post. It volition springiness you a bully overview of what to expect erstwhile looking for SEO jobs and pursuing a much accepted SEO vocation path. If you are determined, you tin get to a elder relation successful conscionable a few years. 

Final thoughts 

SEO tin beryllium highly lucrative—but it does instrumentality time, effort, and a bucketload of determination to marque the big bucks.

It’s worthy remembering that the radical making the astir wealth successful SEO are not ever the astir well-versed method SEOs. Crucially, however, they cognize however to leverage their skills to make money. 

Maybe you can too? 

Got questions? Ping maine on Twitter.

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