12 Seo Business Success Stories [2024]
Want to help businesses rank higher on Google? Start an SEO business. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is about enhancing a website’s visibility on search engines, driving organic traffic, and improving site ranking.
Your role? Analyze, strategize, and optimize content and web structure to match search engine algorithms. The demand for SEO expertise is ever-growing, as businesses constantly strive for online presence and relevance.
Set your own hours, take on various clients, and build long-term relationships. If you have a knack for research and a strategic mindset, SEO could be a rewarding entrepreneurial path. With a mix of creativity and analytics, the insights you provide could be the key to unlocking significant online success for your clients.
In this list, you'll find real-world SEO business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a SEO business that makes money.
1. GreenBanana ($7.2M/year)
Kevin Roy, co-founder of GreenBanana SEO, came up with the idea for his business when he realized that clients were looking for simple and quantifiable results from SEO and digital marketing campaigns. After a difficult client meeting, he decided to focus on pay-for-performance SEO and transparent reporting that centered around customer goals and lead generation. With 16 employees and $6 million in revenue, GreenBanana SEO has been listed on the Inc 5000 for the past three years.
How much money it makes: $7.2M/year
How many people on the team: 22
GreenBanana SEO co-founder Kevin Roy explains how his digital marketing company grew from just two employees working on a beer pong table to 16 employees generating around $6 million in annual revenue by focusing on pay-for-performance SEO and being transparent with reporting.
2. High Voltage SEO ($2.16M/year)
Kyle Roof, co-founder of High Voltage SEO, came up with the idea for his business after realizing that most SEO agencies didn't conduct testing to gain insights into Google's algorithm. He saw an opportunity to differentiate his agency by offering scientifically based, bespoke SEO services. This concept resonated with potential clients and helped the business stand out from the crowd, leading to its success.
How much money it makes: $2.16M/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 28
High Voltage SEO co-founder Kyle Roof explains how his company provides bespoke SEO services based on scientific testing and how offering productized services and shifting from month-to-month to longer contracts helped increase their profitability and client lifespan.
3. Scalenut ($1.2M/year)
Mayank Jain, along with his co-founders Gaurav Goyal and Saurabh Wadhawan, came up with the idea for Scalenut after spending a decade each in the digital startup industry. They noticed the challenges that brands face in scaling their content marketing efforts and saw an opportunity to create a platform that helps businesses drive organic traffic and scale their content production. With their MVP product launched in September 2021, Scalenut has experienced rapid growth, with over 100k users and $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $100K
How many people on the team: 30
Scalenut is an AI-powered SEO and content marketing platform that aims to help businesses scale their efforts to nail the entire content life cycle, from planning to creation, which has led to the company turning over $100,000 in MRR within 6 months of launching.
4. PageTraffic ($1.2M/year)
Navneet Kaushal, the founder & CEO of PageTraffic, came up with the idea for his SEO agency after experiencing the impact of the internet during his MBA studies. He tested SEO strategies on his own website and saw it rank in the top ten within months. With a passion for digital marketing and a desire to help businesses succeed, Navneet launched PageTraffic in 2002 and has since grown it into a successful agency with a strong online presence and a global client base.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 80
Navneet Kaushal, founder & CEO of PageTraffic, shares how he started an SEO agency in India in 2002, which now generates over $1.2 million in annual revenue and attracts clients globally.
5. SearchEye ($1.14M/year)
Chris Porteous, the founder of SearchEye, came up with the idea for his SEO platform after witnessing the low quality and standards of the industry. After working with clients who were dissatisfied with previous SEO providers, Chris saw an opportunity to create a better solution and deliver on product expectations. He funded the business out of pocket and through consulting services, and is now focused on driving faster turnaround times, low prices, and consistent product quality for his customers.
How much money it makes: $1.14M/year
How much did it cost to start: $600K
How many people on the team: 16
SearchEye is an SEO platform company that has bootstrapped its way to making $1 million a year, with a goal of hitting $100k per month by December 2021 and $500k per month by December 2022, and currently has around 20 active agency users of the platform.
6. SEO Hacker ($1.01M/year)
Sean Si, the founder of SEO Hacker, stumbled upon SEO while working as an intern. Despite his lack of formal education and experience, he taught himself the ins and outs of SEO through experimentation and launched his own blog, which gained traction and led to his first client. Through word-of-mouth marketing, the success of his blog, interviews, and community-building efforts, SEO Hacker has attracted and retained clients, earning its status as the best SEO agency in the Philippines.
How much money it makes: $1.01M/year
How much did it cost to start: $60
How many people on the team: 50
SEO Hacker built an impressive business offering a dozen digital marketing services, growing from $10,000 to over $1,000,000 in annual revenue, serving high-profile clients like Toyota and Unilever, with a dedicated team of 50+ professionals.
7. Tao Digital Marketing ($480K/year)
Matt Tomkin, founder of Tao Digital Marketing, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing frustrations with other agencies' lack of communication and understanding of a business's goals. With his background in owning and running businesses, Matt knew the importance of delivering tangible results and effective communication. He validated the need for his services and gained knowledge by working with a freelance client, leading him to start Tao Digital Marketing and achieve monthly revenues of £12-15k with a team of 4.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How many people on the team: 6
Tao Digital Marketing, a search engine marketing specialist agency based in the UK, grew from a side gig to a £12-15k per month business with a team of four, helping B2B clients with their organic search service or SEO and becoming a Google partner.
8. GoEdison ($216K/year)
James Harper, the founder of GoEdison, started the business after seeing a major need in the small business realm for better marketing. With experience in the industry and a desire to provide a better service, Harper launched GoEdison and quickly gained positive cash flow. The company has since evolved and now focuses on specific services such as B2B lead-generation email marketing and Google advertising. A content strategy proved successful in attracting clients, and GoEdison is now planning for major growth in 2020.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
James Harper founded GoEdison, a small business marketing agency that specializes in B2B email drip campaigns for service-based businesses specializing in strange niches, achieving $17,000 - $20,000 in recurring revenue, attributing their success to keeping their business model simple and evolving over time.
9. OneSEO ($180K/year)
Samer Awada came up with the idea for OneSEO.io while running a digital agency and realizing the inefficiency of spending hours on link acquisition and blogger outreach. He saw the demand for SEO services and decided to create a scalable solution by packaging his agency's SEO services into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model. With a beta version of OneSEO, he was able to generate over $1,000 in revenue in the first month and, a year later, the company had a monthly recurring revenue of $15,000.
How much money it makes: $180K/year
How many people on the team: 2
OneSEO.io is an SEO marketing business that helps digital agencies and business owners increase website relevancy, generating over $50,000 in revenue with an average MRR of $15,000 through Facebook ads and email marketing, with a focus on providing value to leads and building trust.
10. Front Page SEO ($144K/year)
Janet Camilleri, the founder of Front Page SEO, initially started her business as Redland City Living, a local magazine-style blog. However, after a year, she realized that this wasn't what she truly wanted to do. In 2014, she rebranded as Front Page Web Writing, and eventually transitioned her business to specialize in search engine optimization (SEO). It took time for her business to become profitable, but with the help of a business coach, she has seen immense growth, surpassing her goal of making $100,000 AUD last year and expanding her team.
How much money it makes: $144K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Janet Camilleri, the founder of Front Page SEO, turned her love for writing and passion for the web into a boutique digital marketing agency specialising in SEO, which has seen tripled turnover and doubled profits in the past year and launched a DIY SEO HQ membership program to guide small business owners.
11. backl.io ($62.4K/year)
Philipp, a product manager in Switzerland, created SEO Kickstarter as he struggled to get traffic for his shared flat site without using ads. Frustrated by the manual effort of backlink outreach, he automated the process and launched a guide, now boasting $5K MRR.
How much money it makes: $62.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 0
A Product Manager builds a successful side business that generates $5K MRR by creating an SEO guide for startups, turning initial failures into a profitable venture with a Twitter launch strategy that brings in 87 sales and $3400 revenue within a day.
12. 411Writers ($60K/year)
Constantin Coutun, the manager of 411Writers, came up with the idea for the business while working at 411 Locals as a blog writer. After realizing the potential of his writing team was being limited to the company's clients, Coutun decided to create 411Writers to help his department and provide a platform for writers and editors to express their creativity. Through strategic marketing efforts and the launch of new services, such as targeting app developers and offering a Guru content plan, they were able to attract and retain customers.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 65
Content writing company 411Writers started with $13.99 and now generates over $50,000 revenue per month, providing clients with unique website content for both search engines and human readers.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
