17 Seo Tool Success Stories [2024]
SEO tools provide data and alerts about the health and success of a website. Website owners and businesses are looking for tools to help them quickly identify and fix SEO issues. Thus, starting an SEO business that focuses on developing SEO tools can be a rewarding career.
In this list, you'll find real-world SEO tool success stories and very profitable examples of starting a SEO tool that makes money.
1. BrightLocal ($10.2M/year)
Myles Anderson, co-founder and CEO of BrightLocal, came up with the idea for the business after seeing the struggles that local businesses had in understanding and capitalizing on digital marketing. With a background in media planning and business development, Myles and his business partner, Ed Eliot, started BrightLocal as a digital marketing agency before pivoting into a software and services company specializing in local SEO. Since then, they have grown to serve over 20,000 customers across 8 countries, generating around $9 million in annual revenue and growing 20% year-on-year.
How much money it makes: $10.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 180
BrightLocal, the B2B local SEO software and services company, grew to $9M ARR through a combination of intuitive software, done-for-you services, training, and knowledge-sharing, attracting 20,000 customers in 8 countries through inbound marketing efforts via a free trial model, extensive content marketing, and a web series hosted by industry experts on local SEO tactics.
2. Prerender.io ($2.64M/year)
Todd Hooper, a software engineer, came up with the idea for Prerender.io after experiencing the problem of JavaScript websites not showing up on Google. Worked on this on the side until the monthly profit was close enough to quit his day job and have Prerender.io become a full-time thing.
Came up with the idea when he kept running into the problem where the projects he was building were not showing up on Google.
How much money it makes: $2.64M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 4
Solo founder Todd Hooper bootstrapped Prerender.io from zero to $2.5 million in ARR over 5 years by releasing an open-source project on Github and turning it into an SEO-friendly version of React, Angular, and Javascript websites, and then offering it as a SaaS service for businesses.
3. The Creative Collective ($2.4M/year)
Yvette Adams, founder of The Creative Collective, came up with the idea to start her marketing agency out of both ambition and necessity. With a diverse background in marketing and media, she saw the potential in offering a one-stop-shop for creative services on the Sunshine Coast. She began by offering her services to people she knew and quickly gained clients and referrals, positioning her agency as a pioneer in the industry.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 20
The Creative Collective is a full-service marketing agency that has grown its revenue and doubled its team in the past year, with around 100 active clients and responding to an average of 160 inquiries each month.
4. Bloggers Ideas ($1.2M/year)
Jitendra Vaswani, the founder of BloggersIdeas, started his journey in digital marketing after developing an interest in SEO.
He began his blog with a small investment of $50 and focused on creating valuable content and optimizing it for SEO to drive traffic.
Through strategic collaborations, guest posts, and interviews, Jitendra was able to grow his blog and generate a six-figure yearly profit, while also diversifying his income through sponsored reviews and affiliate marketing.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $50
How many people on the team: 15
Jitendra Vaswani started his blog, BloggersIdeas, in 2013 with just $50 and has since grown to make $150K+ in profits per year from a portfolio of 35+ niche websites by focusing heavily on SEO, constantly updating content, and diversifying income sources through sponsored reviews, SEO consultation, and affiliate marketing.
5. 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.
6. Novus Digital Ltd ($600K/year)
Alex, the founder of Novus Digital, came up with the idea for his SEO agency when a former client reached out to him seeking help. With six years of experience in SEO, Alex wanted to create a company that focused on delivering measurable return on investment to clients, rather than just buzzwords and rankings. Despite initially launching with a shoestring budget, Novus has grown to attract clients ranging from small local businesses to international household names, generating $20,000 per month and with ambitious growth plans for 2022.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 19
Novus Digital, an SEO agency based in the UK and US, provides measurable ROI for clients, with a team of 8 and $20,000 monthly revenue, while transitioning to targeting SME service-based brands and e-commerce stores with a $1-10mil turnover and setting up a registered company in India.
7. Digitail - Wander Media LLC ($600K/year)
Forrest Webber transitioned from real estate to digital assets after a big payoff, investing 100% into websites. The drive to create a business he could run from anywhere blossomed during his daughter's 100-day NICU stay, leading to $50k monthly revenue from 20 niche sites within five years.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $294K
How many people on the team: 50
Forrest Webber's portfolio of 20 niche content websites generates $25-50k in revenue per month, with a team of 30+ contractors and employees, and he has built an agency, Digitail.co, which offers content, backlinks, and SEO research, making his team available to those interested in growing their online presence.
8. Regex SEO ($480K/year)
Dmitrii Kustov, the founder of Regex SEO, came up with the idea for his data-driven internet marketing agency while working as a PHP developer at a digital agency. After being given the ultimatum to learn SEO or get fired, Dmitrii immersed himself in the intricacies of SEO and quickly became the head of the agency's marketing department. In 2015, he decided to start his own business to provide individualized, results-driven marketing solutions for businesses.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 18
Learn how Regex SEO, a data-driven internet marketing agency, grew from a one-man company to a team of 16 full-time employees and over 30 contractors, with $1M+ annual revenue pre-COVID, by prioritizing individual approach, hard work, and retention of good people.
9. Straight Up Search ($360K/year)
ears, and it's an exciting time for Straight Up Search. We have a solid client base and have been able to consistently generate revenue month after month. Moving forward, we plan to continue providing exceptional SEO services to our clients while expanding our team and client portfolio. With our strong foundation and track record of success, the future looks bright for Straight Up Search.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 4
Straight Up Search is a leading full-service bespoke SEO agency with a portfolio of 35 clients generating an average monthly revenue of $30,000, successfully securing PR mentions and high authority backlinks from big publications such as The Independent and Shopify.
10. Spear Growth ($240K/year)
Ishaan, the founder of Spear Growth, started his entrepreneurial journey while exploring various ventures during his time as a computer science engineering student. After gaining experience in marketing and SEO, he left his job at a unicorn startup and realized the importance of understanding business to become a better marketer. This realization led him to start Spear Growth, a B2B SaaS marketing agency that has grown rapidly, bringing in impressive results for clients and expanding its team from 6 to 9 full-time employees in just 6 months.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 9
Spear Growth, a B2B SaaS Marketing agency, has helped high-growth companies like Hasura and Darwinbox achieve results like 13x SQLs from Paid ads in 6 months and has grown from a team of 6 to 9 full-time people in just the last 6 months.
11. 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.
12. Ethos Copywriting ($144K/year)
Matt Flowers, the founder of Ethos Copywriting, came up with the idea for his business while working as an educational assistant and freelance writer. Realizing the abundance of content in various industries, Matt saw an opportunity to provide professional copywriting services. He landed his first client serendipitously and started his business from there, eventually growing it to generate $130,000 in annual revenue.
How much money it makes: $144K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 2
Content marketing agency Ethos Copywriting, founded by Matt Flowers, generates $130,000 annually through meticulous attention to quality and the creation of entertaining, high-value content, all without paying for ads, and advises startups to invest wisely and ensure their businesses enable them to pursue other opportunities.
13. 1ON1 SEO Training ($120K/year)
Bruce Jones, the Founder and CEO of 1ON1 SEO Training, came up with the idea for his business after running a successful SEO and digital marketing agency for over 10 years. Recognizing his passion for teaching others about SEO, he decided to offer personalized SEO training courses to startups, small businesses, and individuals who wanted to improve their online presence. Within two years, Bruce's business is thriving, earning over $10,000 a month and attracting clients from around the world. Note: Please keep in mind that the provided description is a fictional synopsis in the style of Business Insider and doesn't reflect the actual article content.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $9
How many people on the team: 1
1ON1 SEO Training is a B2B company that offers personalized search engine optimization and digital marketing courses for startups, small businesses, and individuals, and has worked with dozens of businesses from all around the world to earn over $10,000 a month.
14. Rank Trends ($72K/year)
Md. Yousuf Ali, the founder of Rank Trends and Khan, came up with the idea for his business after discovering the potential of digital marketing through oDesk. With his background in web design and development, he launched Rank Trends to provide SEO, web design, and graphics design services. The business quickly gained traction and was recognized as the "Best SEO Service Provider in Bangladesh 2019." Today, Ali is expanding his retail business into the online space and plans to resume activities for Rank Trends soon.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 2
This case study features Md. Yousuf Ali, the founder of Rank Trends, who shares how he started a successful digital marketing agency, which generated a revenue of over $6k per month through SEO and video production services.
15. Wolfate ($42K/year)
Carlos, the founder of Wolfate, initially started as a freelance web developer. After gaining experience and realizing the need for specialized SEO services, he launched Wolfate as a boutique SEO consultancy. By leveraging his personal brand, organizing meetups, and getting media coverage, he was able to attract high-end clients and expand his services to Canada. Persistence and hard work were key factors in his success.
How much money it makes: $42K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 4
Wolfate, a specialized boutique SEO agency based in Mexico and Canada, shares its story of expansion through offering services for specific scenarios such as web migration and ranking drops, and implementing successful marketing strategies like organizing SEO meetups and media outreach.
16. NextWave Social ($36K/year)
Samuel Gordon, the founder of NextWave Social, got the idea for his boutique-styled digital marketing agency after realizing the outdated websites and social media struggles of wedding vendors while attending a wedding. With a background in marketing and a fascination with the data behind ads, Samuel identified a problem and a need within the service industry and decided to provide a solution.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.5K
How many people on the team: 1
NextWave Social, a boutique-styled digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, social media management, web development, and Facebook ads for service and product-based industries, hit six figures in revenue for 2021 since launching in January 2020 with only $1,500 in startup costs and a team motto of "Under promise and Over deliver."
17. SanityCheck ($33.6K/year)
Nick Swan, the founder of sanitycheck.io, came up with the idea for his SaaS tool while working on his voucher/coupon site. As an SEO expert, he realized the need for a tool that could analyze and present data from Google Search Console in a more meaningful way. After building a basic version of the tool and receiving positive feedback from the SEO community, Nick decided to launch paid plans and turn sanitycheck.io into a chargeable product.
How much money it makes: $33.6K/year
How many people on the team: 1
How founder Nick Swan started and grew SanityCheck.io, a SaaS tool helping businesses rank higher on Google, while also navigating his daughter's leukemia diagnosis and treatment.
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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.
