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Got my first 2 SEO clients. Would love some real-world advice from people doing this daily
Posted by on January 5, 2026 at 7:25 amHey everyone,
I’ve been quite active on this sub lately, asking beginner questions and honestly, thanks to many of you, the guidance has been super valuable. Last time I asked how to get started in SEO. I’ve now landed my first two clients (both friends)..One is opening a new hospital, and another is a government contractor
Since this is my first real set of SEO projects, I’d love some advice from people who’ve been doing SEO professionally.
A few questions I have:
- What do you usually do when a lead comes to you? My current assumption is: run an SEO audit of their existing online presence..Is this how most of you start, or do you follow a different flow?
- SEO audit..what actually matters? What factors do you always include in an audit?
- Pricing & scope: Do you usually start with a one-time audit + roadmap, or go straight into a monthly retainer? How do you avoid underquoting when starting out?
- Timelines & expectations: How do you explain realistic SEO timelines to clients, especially when they’re new businesses.
- Tools: Which tools are actually part of your daily workflow, and which ones are just nice-to-have?
Basically I want to understand how experienced SEO professionals would actually proceed in a situation like this..
Thanks again.
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1 Reply
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You’ve been asking beginner questions and now you have 2 SEO clients?
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That is awesome. Well done!
Your customers will want to know about whats cooking. I would suggest you upskill on Looker Studio and Loom. This way you can easily explain to them what is happening with their website’s SEO performance.
I would also get very active in backlink exchanges. The sooner the better. Make friends with other SEOs and website owners.
Get a good long tail keyword research tool like Shuttle SEO, and a the 30$ plan from ahrefs that includes their keyword explorer.
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Congrats on landing your first clients! Starting with a full SEO audit is usually a solid move it shows value and helps you define a clear roadmap. For scope, some pros do a one-time audit first, then move to a monthly retainer. Be honest about timelines SEO takes months to show results. Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush cover most daily needs, the rest are optional.
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Start with a paid audit to define scope before discussing retainers since friends often blur boundaries. For those YMYL niches, prioritize technical health and trust signals immediately because Google holds medical sites to much higher standards.
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