9 Seo Software Success Stories [2024]
SEO software is a computer program that is designed to handle search engine optimization tasks by optimizing the website content, managing backlinks, and other SEO activities.
SEO is something that you need to do for your website or blog in order for it to get any traffic. Some of us are new to SEO, even if we are SEO experts. SEO isn't just a craft, but an art form as well.
Making your own SEO software is more than potentially profitable. It also lets you interact with the people who use your software and allows you to figure out best practices from the data you collect.
In this list, you'll find real-world seo software success stories and very profitable examples of starting a seo software that makes money.
1. 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.
2. Huckabuy ($1.32M/year)
Geoff Atkinson, Founder and CEO of Huckabuy, came up with the idea for his SEO software platform after driving crazy growth in SEO as the SVP of Marketing at Overstock. He saw a gap in the market and realized that many SEO agencies and consultants were not delivering the results they promised, so he decided to create software that actually worked. After building a great product and leveraging his network, Huckabuy started attracting customers and securing big enterprise contracts.
How much money it makes: $1.32M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 18
Huckabuy, an SEO software platform, has grown to make $110,000 in monthly revenue, having landed big enterprise contracts such as SAP and Salesforce, by starting out focusing on building a great product, networking, and securing lucky breaks from podcasts and interviews.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Morningscore ($660K/year)
The founder of Morningscore, an SEO tool built like a computer game, came up with the idea after realizing that customers had trouble investing in SEO due to a lack of knowledge and reliance on sleazy consultants. They wanted to create a tool that would make SEO easier and more accessible. With a focus on gamification and space exploration, Morningscore has gained over 600 customers and achieved 300% year-over-year revenue growth without VC funding.
How much money it makes: $660K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500K
How many people on the team: 9
Morningscore, an SEO tool with gamification elements, grew to 600+ customers with an MRR of $40,000 in 3 years without VC funding, and achieved 300% YoY revenue growth; the founder shares insights on launching too early, not comparing growth to bigger-funded competitors, and the necessity of funding for hyper-growth in high-competition industries like SAAS.
6. SheerSEO ($360K/year)
Ayal Aldema, the founder of SheerSEO, saw a gap in the market for online SEO tools when he couldn't find any reliable options and all he found were scammy desktop applications. With 10 years of software engineering experience and a previous successful website, he launched SheerSEO for free and relied on SEO skills to gain customers. Today, the business generates $30,000/month by selling its SaaS service to webmasters and SEO professionals.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 1
Founder Ayal Aldema built SheerSEO, an online SEO software, to fill a gap in the SEO market, offering a free service to help clients optimize their sites, which now makes $30,000/month by selling SaaS service to both webmasters and SEO professionals.
7. Prime Marketing Experts ($108K/year)
Michael Krieger, the founder of Prime Marketing Experts, was inspired to start his business after developing a passion for marketing and website building through his involvement with a healthcare nonprofit organization. Recognizing the demand for digital marketing and website development services, he rebranded his business and focused on providing high-quality SEO and web development services. Today, the company has experienced significant growth and continues to attract and retain customers through referrals, networking, and a strong social media presence.
How much money it makes: $108K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 2
Prime Marketing Experts is a successful digital marketing agency that offers a wide variety of digital marketing solutions and has grown their business to $100k per year through referrals, building customer relationships, and expanding their focus with sales consulting services.
8. SiteGuru ($60K/year)
Rick van Haasteren came up with the idea for SiteGuru while working as a project manager at an internet agency. He noticed that with every website launch, there were small SEO issues that affected the site's performance in search engines. He wanted to create a checklist for developers to address these issues, but instead built a tool that could automatically find and fix them. After validating the idea and receiving positive feedback, he built SiteGuru into a full-blown SEO audit tool.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How many people on the team: 0
SiteGuru is an SEO tool that crawls your website and finds SEO issues, offering actionable tasks to fix them, with 6000 users and an MRR of $400.
9. H-supertools ($24K/year)
Hasan, the founder of H-supertools, came up with the idea while developing tools for his own online business. He realized that these tools could be valuable for others as well, so he decided to offer them for free on a website. Through content creation and word-of-mouth, he attracted a large user base and was able to monetize the platform through various revenue streams.
How much money it makes: $24K/year
How many people on the team: 4
H-supertools founder Hasan developed a set of free SEO and digital marketing tools generating $2k per month in profit using Google Adsense, affiliate marketing, selling ad spaces, and email, plans to launch a membership option, and has attained over 80k registered users and 300k monthly visits in less than two years.
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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.
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