It’s true; we’ve officially stopped selling SEO as a service.
It’s a decision that we didn’t take lightly but one that we are happy with.
SEO has been a huge part of our business, and it’s going to be an interesting transition going forward.
Did we fall out of love with SEO? Did we have a bad experience? The answer to both questions is NO.
We love helping our clients get incredible results (who wouldn’t) this is why it took us a long time to make this decision. Stopping something you enjoy doing, and are good at, is difficult for anyone.
Even if you’re doing it for the right reasons.
1. We love building websites
We want to focus all our efforts on building the best websites possible.
I actually started my journey as a web designer 5 years ago. I only added SEO to the mix later on once I learned as much as I could about it.
Learning SEO and getting great results for our clients has helped us build better websites. They tend to rank better, they’re more user-friendly, and we can advise our clients what they could do to improve SEO.
My real passion has always been in building websites. Taking an idea or basic sketch and turning into a reality is what excites me. Creating a website from nothing and see it make money for a client is the best feeling in the world, and we want to spend more time doing this.
Another part of what we love about building websites is seeing the finished product. It’s true; a website is never truly “finished” but there is a point where we launch a new website and hand over the reigns to our clients.
At that point I feel a sense of accomplishment.
However, the very nature of SEO means, it’s never-ending. It’s a continuous service that happens month after month and it never really feels complete. Although this is very profitable, I still miss that sense of completion that I get from my web design projects.
2. We didn’t want to hold anything back
We’ve always tried to be as giving as possible when it comes to our knowledge. SEO is a topic I personally love to talk about and could do so until I was blue in the face.
However, when you offer a service like SEO, there’s always a feeling that I should be saving some of the information for my paying clients. Surely the REALLY valuable stuff should be given to paying clients only…right?
NO!
This is another reason we gave it up. We didn’t want anything to be held back when speaking to clients and prospects.
Our goal is to be 100% transparent with our audience, and now we’ve taken money out of the equation, we get to spread our message without any filter.
And I feel really excited about it.
3. We want YOU to learn SEO rather than pay for it
SEO is easier than you think.
Over the past 4 years since I’ve been offering SEO, I’ve realised that Google are making it easier for small businesses to have an impact on the web.
SEO is easier to understand and less technical than ever before.
There are thousands of SEO blogs out there giving free advice on how to optimise your website for search engines. Not to mention all the books, video courses and podcasts that offer guidance too.
Content management systems like WordPress, Weebly and Shopify allow you to optimise your own website easily and start seeing results within weeks.
It’s far more cost-effective for you to learn and understand the basics and try your hand at at it first.
Even if you decide to hire an SEO agency later on, you’ll be able to understand the work that has been carried out. You’ll have a better grasp of what and why things have been done and save yourself some time and money in the process.
4. We get to spend more time helping our clients
We’re developing a new online training centre for our clients where we’ll put together a series of videos and downloads that will help them understand SEO better.
When you hire us to build your website, you’ll have the opportunity to join the training centre and learn everything you need to know to drive more organic traffic to your website.
We’ll teach you everything we’ve learned over the years, and you can implement it yourself without the need for an SEO company.
Now that we’ve stopped providing SEO services, it means we have more time to invest in training.
5. We are still offering SEO consulting
Although we are not taking on new SEO projects, we are not going anywhere, and we can still help you with your SEO strategy.
We offer hourly 1-2-1 coaching via Skype, and we also offer a website critique service where we’ll review your website and send you a video with our feedback.
These services allow us to help more people for a one-time fee. No contracts, no monthly fees, just 100% help and advice tailored around your needs.
What happens now
So what does this mean, is the last time I’m going to talk write about SEO?
Nope.
I’m planning on writing a lot more SEO content for my audience; I want to start recording more videos and creating ebooks too. I just want to give away my knowledge, rather than save it for my SEO clients.
Summary
It’s never easy cutting a service from your business. Especially one that’s been very profitable over the years. I made this decision even though it went against my business instincts. I went with my heart instead. And I’m happy that I did.
If you want to take advantage of our website critique service, hit the button below. We’ll send you a 30-minute website critique video telling you how to improve your SEO.
Over to you
Have you ever made a decision that didn’t make sense on paper? Maybe like me, you chose to go with your heart rather than your head. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Web designer & marketer for small businesses. Martin is an experienced search engine and web design specialist, with over a decade of experience working with large corporations to small businesses.
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