Personal experience: I opened a SEO-agency in the region and left in plus

Business in the area of ​​SEO is very ambiguous: some do not want to deal with search engines and depend on online, while others believe that the golden antelope ran somewhere in the first line of the issue of "Yandex", or Google. We spoke with the founder of Internet Marketing Agency of Vladimir and figured out how to organize the work of with freelancers who prevents to become the leader of search results and why regional customers - a real hell.

Student part

I studied at the Vladimir State University at the Faculty of Information Technology. In 2007 he was in the second year, and the guys from our department offered to earn. Like any student, I wanted to get my own money, so I responded. It turned out that SEOs need an assistant for a major project.

My tasks included working with text and technical factors on the site, as well as the placement of links to our resources elsewhere. So increases the credibility of the site, so he went up in search results. The global objective of the SEOs - come out on top, so that the link passed as many people as possible, and resources to get maximum traffic.

I liked to SEO, therefore parallel with the work I studied the information about the progress of the web. My first book on this subject was the publication of Igor Ashmanova "Optimization and promotion in search engines». I read it for two weeks and immediately began to apply the advice into practice.

Working in a large city portal

When I realized that I wanted to continue to develop in the field of SEO, settled in the regional studio "Vladimir Media", which created its own project - a city portal. The company lived due to the fact that selling banners and placement on the site. My goal was to promote the portal: the increase in the number of visitors that come from search.

For six months of work with the attendance of 100 people has increased to 1000 per day. We have grown in 10 times, although I have not applied a Herculean effort.

The fact that the SEO sphere was pretty young, so the site is not organized even basic things. As a result, we have optimized its structure, job titles, and bought with links to external sites - at the time the method worked fine. The result was not long in coming: we quickly went to issue and gathered a lot of traffic.

Over time, the studio began to provide services to the client promotion: we have promoted not only the project, but also strangers. I led this process. Tasks and was a bit of money, too - about 10-15 thousand per project.

Your blog and the first money from ads

All this time I pored promotion nuances. There have been several SEO-blogs on which I sat. Of the main - Shakin.ru and blog "Dimka", Which is now no longer functioning. Then in the head crept into the idea that I also want to share their experiences. In August 2008, I registered the domain SEOinSoul.ru, who has now moved on impulse.guruI created a blog and began posting posts. The first materials surveying services, helping to promote the sites, and then began to share an experience that contact your city portal: I tell what techniques work and how to affect the result of the innovations search systems.

The number of subscribers has begun to grow, the first comments. Six months after the opening of the blog, I sold advertising banner, it will cost the customer $ 25 per month. As the number of banners has increased and the price of accommodation too. In 2009 I won the third place in the ranking SEO-blogs. All this motivated to continue to work and write articles.

Thanks to the blog I started to get customers - people who need to promote the site. From this point in my life came a freelance project that I worked in parallel with the work in the studio and learning. For the promotion took no more than 10 000 rubles per month - it is a little. I was not such a great experience, so I could not set a high price.

The crisis, the army and lost blog

In 2010, the number of customers coming to your blog, began to grow, and the situation has worsened in the studio. Because of the crisis, we had to move to an apartment to the director. Any prospects I have not seen, so left "Vladimir Media".

After university, he went into the army, so the year has dropped out of the sphere. All the projects are handed over to other specialists and with our clients, we amicably parted ways. I had prepared positions for four months ahead, to continue to blog. Closer to muster the publication is published every two months, but it has helped to keep at least some activity.

After my return to work on the blog continued. Thanks to the recommendations and the articles I was able to return to a few customers. Over time, the number of projects has increased and approached the 15, but physically within a month I did not have time to conduct them in parallel.

Once the end of the period for one of the clients I have not done anything.

I remember very worried that people pay for anything. It was a very important warning bell for me, after which I realized that it's time to assemble a team and delegate responsibilities.

A team of three people and their agency

In 2011, I began to collect a remote command on the exchange of freelancing: posted one-time tasks to solve at least some of the issues. Several months of work in this mode, but nothing good came of it. Working with freelancers - constant stress. They lack accountability, so you never can not be sure of the result. Need at least a year, to a remote employee proved to be effective, but this time I did not.

At the end of 2012 I registered IPAnd in 2013 he began assembling a team offline. Now for me it is important that the person was a flexible, learning and really wanted to work in SEO, and then I wanted people to have a basic knowledge of website promotion. As a result, a job interview, I invited only those who have had experience in this field. Tackling passed two men who trained in major Vladimir companies. I began to teach their particular problems, but communication with the client was on me.

the salary of employees and working on their heads

For almost a year we have worked for five of us: me, two oflayn- and two-line staff. The first office was modest and budget. Of the city a bit, so that you have chosen for a pleasant interior. Rent a cost of 15 thousand rubles, two computers worth 40,000 rubles, and the tables and chairs - a maximum of 10 000 rubles. The salary of office workers together accounted for about 45 000 rubles.

At the 2014th increased the number of customers, team also began to grow. We were joined by another SEO-experts and account manager. Last helped me to communicate with clients and took some of the projects themselves. I began to feel much freer.

At the end of 2015 digital sphere began to grow more actively than before. People were carrying the money from the offline to the network promotion. Clients became more and more, so we expanded staff to 12 people and moved to roomier office. There was a time when a team of eight people working in the office on 20 squares: we sat on each other's heads. Fortunately, in the new building completed the repair quickly and we were able to breathe freely.

A new era in the world of SEO and Technical Department

Customer was so much that was not enough professionals who can lead the project. We got a job and looking for employees under the new budget. Classical profit of the company amounted to 20-30% of the order. About 50% is spent on staff salaries, and the rest - the administrative and overhead costs.

Now 20 people work in impulse.guru. We are located in a business park in the town center and gradually seize the neighboring offices. We have 110 square meters.

In 2019 search engine optimization has evolved. Result in SEO depends on how the recommendations will be implemented specialist, so we have taken on more and web development. First organized by the technical department and the edits were engaged only in the system, and now the finished project from scratch.

Profit agencies and free schedule

When I was a freelancer, it turned out to earn about 100 000 rubles. With the new office profit greatly subsided, but I deliberately went to this step. If you close all by yourself, weaving will be the ceiling. The first time the agency profit was 50 000, but gradually increased. We worked and the three of us still do not earn more than 100 000 rubles, but the pressure on me decreased markedly. I'm not dying from an infinite number of tasks.

The agency business all depends on the number of projects and to download. Theoretically, you can earn in the region of up to 1 million rubles, and major Moscow players get so much more.

Calculate your monthly income is difficult: in March can reach a large customer with a budget of 300 thousand rubles, and in July he will leave, and you will sink to 100,000 rubles. If we evaluate the annual profit is 500 thousand rubles a month for our agency - a proven figure.

Dips and insights

In the process, we have experienced a lot of fakapov, but each carried a lesson. For example, when the state became more we are faced with a major problem: a lot of projects, but there is no one to perform the task. We hired new staff, but could not immediately delegate to them the real problem.

To resolve the issue was possible thanks to an established system of education. We have gathered the knowledge base and introduced a gradation of specialists: Junior, Middle, senor. Every employee knew what skills should have to climb to a new level. From that moment on we became fast train beginners and distribute the load correctly.

Then, faced with the problem of the mirror: the people were, but we could not download them at least 60%. Then I decided that it is necessary to work on the sales funnel, and we began to use the method of cold calling. This is a nice version of the download of production, but by 2019 we completely abandon it. the lifetime of such projects is quite small.

Now we focus on large clientsWhose marketing and search engine optimization already rebuilt. We sell expertise, which allows you to get much more traffic in the long run. As a general rule, contracts are concluded for at least a year. In addition, actively participated in various conferences and seminars and webinars. market training increases the number of incoming applications.

Work exclusively with regional projects - also fail. We tried to move the market in Vladimir, but the local client specific: it does not have large budgets and are not He understands that the site can really cost 200 000 rubles, because it works on him five months specialists. We tried to form the Party of Regions, but in 2016 efforts were in vain. Right now we are making a second attempt, but it is much easier to concentrate on the Moscow market, where it is understood and developed by the customer.

Another error - work only word of mouth. At some point, the recommendation may result. In addition, we can not control who and how we advises. For a team of four people sundress - this is acceptable, but when you have 20, it is impossible to hope for. We started to run active sources of advertising and deal with content marketing. For example, take a writer who writes articles about promotion of sites.

For a long time we did not engage in standardization and regulations - did everything on a whim. It seemed that every case is unique, but it is not so: 80% of projects are similar, so that most of the things can be standardized. We used to do a technical audit of about 10 hours, and the process is automated now takes no more than four.

Prospects and key business issues

In business related to SEO, not very bright future. Companies are now investing not so much money in online promotion, both in 2014. Sphere continues to grow, but more slowly than before. However, start-up companies all still live at the expense of 20 clients, so the overall economic component can not be too concerned about their area.

Subject to the excitement becomes cannibalization SERPs. At the top flaunt as many as four of advertising placement, and they can become, and five in the near future. Moreover, the "Yandex", for example, actively buying various projects: "Avto.ru", "kinopoisk" and others. Of course, the first to appear in the issue they.

Third-party projects increasingly difficult to get traffic from search engines, because the same "Yandex" trying to pick it up yourself. One of the outputs - evolution. We use search engine marketing and extract traffic through other sites that are somehow present in the search. There are difficulties, but we can deal with them. However, without a high expertise in this area to come harder.

Life hacking by Ilya Rusakov

• Grow experts within the agency. 90% of success in the field of digital - is the expertise of employees who are working on projects. Teach the children that they become professionals and can help clients.
• Standardize processes. Write regulations: how much time you need to answer a client or how often to hold meetings resume. These are standard things that you need to adjust to the project were properly and accurately. In addition, it is important that professionals understand the priority of a task. First of all you need to do things that will bring results in the shortest possible time.
• To develop as a specialist. On business courses very often told that only need to choose your favorite niche and start, but the probability of success in this case tends to zero. First of all it is necessary to turn out a sufficient examination, and then competently enter the desired scope. So the chance that everything will turn out to be much higher.
• Develop managerial skills. Working with people - a very important skill that you need to learn. Read books on the subject. My favorite - "Perfect head"Isaac Adizes and"Tools head"By Vladimir Winters. They will tell you how to set goals and to win credibility. I also like the book "Jedi technique"Which was written by Maxim Dorofeev. It's about how to manage time, and a large-scale projects.