How To Make Money With SEO In 2024 (With 11 Examples)

SEO is dead only for those who don’t know how to use it. 

I’ve built a full-time online business through SEO content writing. SEO is a vast business, with the average annual salary of an SEO specialist being $80K. 

SEO is anything but dead, and almost every business can benefit from SEO. Today, I will share how you can make money with SEO and build a full-time or passive income with it. 

Though SEO is not a get-rich-quick strategy, it doesn’t need a big setup to get started. It’s mostly about perseverance and consistency more than the setup. 

So, if you’re ready to make it big with SEO, let’s get started.

11 Ways To Make Money With SEO (Beginner To Advanced Level)

1. Get a job at an agency

It’s the easiest way to enter the SEO world if you’re a beginner. 

Agencies manage multiple clients at once, so you can get hands-on experience with costly tools without spending a fortune. 

Since you’ll be handling at least a couple of clients, you get familiar with the everyday challenges an SEO specialist might face. Not to worry about guidance, as you get that in abundance. 

SEO is a super competitive niche. Companies don’t hand over their websites to you without experience. If you don’t have a portfolio, an agency is the best way to build one. You get great experience and exposure. 

Start as an intern and scale your way up. Look for job postings by agencies on LinkedIn or their websites. Network with SEOs and marketers on social media platforms and attend SEO meetups and conferences. These are some surefire ways to join an agency. 

Pros

• Easy to start your SEO journey 
• You don’t need to pay out of pocket to use SEO tools 
• Good for beginner-level to gain experience 
• Helps in building portfolio

Cons

• Managing multiple clients can get hectic
• Income won’t be lucrative as a beginner or an intern
• Limited control and flexibility compared to being self-employed

Money Potential

You might not get the dream pay at an agency, but the real earning is the gained experience. 

Time needed to make good money

Staying at an agency for at least 6 months or a year is ideal. 

2. Freelance To Provide Services

Let’s move on to the ‘ownership of your time’ side. Freelancing gives you ample freedom to earn more with less time involvement. 

Many service providers offer end-to-end SEO, while others focus on selling niche services. Call it a productized service, as you’d sell your versions of your service as a product. 

There are many subcategories of SEO like: 

• Website audits
• Link Building
• Content Optimization
• Technical SEO
• Local SEO
• E-Commerce 

Create customized plans to sell one or more services. The benefit is it doesn’t consume as much time as providing complete SEO services. You can deliver faster results while working with more clients. You can sell on freelancing websites like Fiverr or social media platforms like LinkedIn or X. 

Let’s look at an example of an SEO expert selling their productized services:

This backlink-building expert is Fiverr’s top choice for the service. He charges a minimum of $43,359 and has a 30-day delivery policy. You can calculate his earnings after completing 3,800 orders.

As you can see from the packages’ description, he uses the add-on model to charge extra for a few more backlinks than the started package. That means it should be easy to scale without additional effort. 

Pros

• Easy to scale
• Less investment of time to get higher results
• You can handle multiple projects at once 
• Easy to build a dashing portfolio
• Ability to set your own rates and service offerings
• Flexibility to work from anywhere and on your own schedule
• More control over service delivery and client relationships

Cons

• Highly competitive market, especially on platforms like Fiverr
• Need to constantly market yourself and your services to find new clients
• Potential for clients to be price-sensitive and look for the lowest bidder
• Less stability than a full-time job, with inconsistent workflow and income

Money Potential

Depending on your services and the market rates, you can charge the same or even more if you offer something extra than the other freelancers. 

Honestly, there’s no limit to what you can charge as long as you consistently attract and retain clients. 

Since marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork are highly competitive, getting reviews early on is an uphill task. Start with platforms like Tasquitos that don’t incur any joining fee. You only need to pay a small platform fee for every successful payment you receive.  

Time needed to make good money

The faster you get positive reviews and more known, the faster you’ll start landing clients. 

3. Build SEO tools

34% of Americans have a passive income or a side hustle (Zapier). Given the massive layoffs, it’s only natural to have a second source of income. It’s no different for solopreneurs and freelancers. It’s better to have a passive income when you’re in between projects.

SEO tools are one cool way to make money while you’re asleep. Thanks to the AI revolution, building SEO tools has become a cakewalk, whereas it would have previously taken a coder.

There are many powerful SEO tools, such as Ahrefs, Semrush, and Surfer SEO, but they’re not budget-friendly for many small-scale or local businesses and freelancers. As an alternative, you can provide them with your tools. 

Some of the many tools you can create are: 

• Keyword research tool
• Backlink tracker
• Domain rating checker
• Article writer
• Blog ideation tool
• Text to video converter
• Grammar checker 

Simply use OpenAI to code the tool for you. Run the code on trial data to verify its accuracy and publish it on your website. 

Remember, having a little extra in your tool is better than what’s already available. That’s how you ensure more people buy your solution than the others.

Example of an Article Generator Tool: Penfriend is an article generator tool that gives you articles without a single prompt. You can create articles matching your brand’s style and edit them further to add expertise.

Pros

• Single time investment
• Constant income flow
• Scalable business model – can serve many customers with minimal overhead
• Chance to build a product-based business rather than just services

Cons

• Highly competitive space with many existing SEO tool providers
• Need to continuously update and improve tools to maintain competitiveness
• Potential challenges in driving traffic and acquiring new customers

Money Potential

It’s scalable because it’s usually based on a subscription model. You can even start small and increase the rates as you upgrade the tools. 

Time needed to make good money

It is simple to turn current website visitors into paying clients if your website currently receives a respectable amount of traffic. This also holds true if you have a sizable social media following.

If you’re starting new, it’ll take some time for the tool to get ranked for its target keyword and to attract visitors from social media as well.

4. Build Custom GPTs

If you’ve been following the AI updates, custom GPTs aren’t new to you. They’re just like ChatGPT but customized for your needs. 

For example: A Custom GPT designed as a content gap analysis tool. It’ll ask you for your website and competitors’ website links and perform a complete analysis like any other SEO tool. 

All you need to do is train the GPT to perform your planned task. Read more about building Custom GPTs here. 

It’s an excellent way to earn from SEO if you’ve been in the industry long enough to understand how tools work, and you can recreate them by training AI. 

These are perfect for small, local businesses or solo marketers with a small budget. They allow you to recreate high-priced tools at affordable prices. 

Here’s an example of a Custom GPT created by Sarvesh Shrivastava for conducting an E-E-A-T analysis of blog posts. 

All I need to do is put the blog post link, and the GPT will give a detailed review. 

Pros

• Potential for recurring revenue through tool subscriptions or per-use pricing
• Chance to differentiate yourself from competitors by offering unique functionality

Cons

• Challenges in ensuring the tool’s accuracy, reliability, and performance
• Need to continuously monitor, update, and maintain the tool as AI technology evolves

Money Potential

OpenAI allows you to sell your GPTs and promote if they get good reviews. Though it’d be a one-time purchase, you can stack multiple GPTs and create a full-fledged digital product to charge more.

Time needed to make good money

It won’t take more than a couple of days to build the GPTs. Getting sales from them depends on your marketing strategy and how you promote them.

5. Website flipping 

You can call website flipping a website brokerage. Like we buy and sell real estate, website flipping is a practice of buying and selling websites for profit.

The process of website flipping involves:

a. Finding undervalued and underperforming websites.

b. Buying a website that’s underpriced due to lack of monetization or low traffic.

c. Improving the website metrics like the UX, content, search engine optimization, and monetization strategies.

d. Selling the improved website for an increased price.

Website flipping brings in significant profits and has become a full-time business for many.

One such example of a successful flipper is Jenn Leach. She’s flipped over 25 websites on Flippa, with one of the websites making her $12,000. She’s made thousands of dollars by flipping websites and now teaches her students how to do the same.

A few key considerations when flipping a website:

• Only purchase websites with some scope for improvement and that can bring significant profit when you sell them. Choose the ones that have a good backlinks game because improving content is easier than building quality backlinks.
• To make good money, you must use trusted platforms to purchase and sell websites. Flippa and Empire Flippers are some of the best platforms and the most trusted by website flippers.

Pros

• Diversification of investments
• Building transferable skills
• Flexibility to work on multiple websites simultaneously

Cons

• Requires upfront investment to purchase websites
• Market fluctuations and changes in search algorithms can impact website value

Money Potential

According to Flippa, a website marketplace, you can earn more than 50 times the monthly revenue of your website by flipping it. 50X sounds like a promising deal. But you must ensure you’re bidding on the right website and selling them with a good deal.

Time needed to make good money

Finding the ideal websites, making the necessary improvements, and locating the right buyers can make business flipping time-consuming. Expert flippers might be able to make steady profits, but it might take them a few profitable flips to achieve that.

6. Sell digital products 

Another passive income stream is creating and selling digital products. 

To increase your digital product sales, you’ll need a healthy website with good traffic. SEO is your best friend here.

Not to forget the social media promotion that brings eyeballs to your website. You can promote the products on LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and X.

If you don’t have a website, another way is to put your products on Gumroad. 

Digital products can be ebooks, courses, apps, PDFs, cheatsheets, or communities. A simple Google Doc or Canva will help you design the products unless you’re going for something big as a community. 

The secret to success is figuring out what irritates your audience and providing solutions. If you can solve a troubling problem, you’ll soon have thousands of buyers. 

An example of successful digital product sales:

Erica Schiender, an editing coach, launched a course with more than 1000 buyers within a week of the launch. The success was a combined result of:

• Her expertise
• Promotional tactics on LinkedIn and X
• Track record of her solving her audience’s problems 

Here’s a glimpse of the landing page of the course. 

Pros

• Passive income stream once the products are created
• Ability to scale and sell to a wide audience online
• Low overhead and production costs compared to physical products
• Flexibility to continuously create and launch new products

Cons:

• Increasingly competitive market with many players offering similar products
• Need to continuously promote and market products to drive sales
• Potential for products to become outdated or irrelevant over time

Money Potential

The income potential for selling digital products is huge, with top creators earning anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000+ per month. Factors like product pricing, sales volume, and the ability to build an audience and email list play a major role in determining earnings.

Time needed to make good money

The time required is directly proportional to your experience. The more experience you have, the faster you can create products. 

7. E-Commerce Store Or Dropshipping

The dropshipping model, in particular, allows you to sell products without inventory hassles. 

By optimizing product pages, creating SEO-focused content, and building backlinks, you can generate consistent revenue streams from online stores. 

Both e-commerce and dropshipping bring in massive profits if you tie them with SEO. Nykaa, an Indian e-commerce website, is an example. Its annual profits revenue has continuously increased from INR 5.5 billion to INR 51.44 billion from 2018 to 2023. 

You can utilize your SEO expertise to offer consulting services to other e-commerce businesses looking to improve their online visibility and conversions. This creates opportunities for both passive and active income.

Pros

• Potential for passive income from stores
• Can scale e-commerce operations over time
• Leverage SEO skills for direct revenue

Cons

• Competitive e-commerce landscape
• Need to optimize product listings constantly
• Managing supplier relationships in dropshipping

Money Potential

Top e-commerce SEO experts and store owners can earn $5,000 to $50,000+ per month, depending on the scale of their operations and the effectiveness of their SEO strategies.

Time needed to make good money

Building a successful e-commerce/dropshipping business powered by SEO typically takes 12-24 months of consistent effort.

8. YouTube SEO

YouTube is the second biggest search engine after Google. With a rise in the integration of videos in blogs, using YouTube is like killing two birds with the same stone. 

As it’s a search engine, you can use your SEO skills to make your videos rank high. You can monetize YouTube using ads after reaching 1000 subscribers and 4000 views in 12 months. It also works if you get 1000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views in 90 days. 

For some, a possible drawback of YouTube is coming in front of the camera. Facing the camera can be a real task, but that problem is nearly solved with AI. You can start a faceless channel using top-notch graphics and video editing skills. It doesn’t matter whether you show your face as long as you give valuable and helpful information. 

Pros

• It is the biggest platform for video content creation, meaning much more traffic with good content
• Serves as a boost for blog posts as video content helps in better rankings
• More affiliate and sponsorship opportunities as audiences have started consuming more video content. 
• A good place for beginner or intermediate SEOs to start earning from their skills

Cons

• Time-consuming process of planning, recording, editing, and publishing consistent video content
• Potential challenges in building an engaged subscriber base and driving consistent views

Money Potential

You can make YouTube SEO a full-time profession. Many YouTubers have turned their skills into 6 or 7 figure businesses. 

Time needed to make good money

Starting a YouTube channel and consistently creating content takes time. Getting decent views and subscribers also requires more time than other SEO channels and services. But it’s equally rewarding if you stay consistent. 

9. SEO training/Courses

Got years of SEO knowledge? Consider sharing it through training. 

The upside of creating and selling training or courses is you can package it into online or in-person training and sell it on your website or platforms like Udemy and Teachable. 

Samy Thuillier is doing just that. He’s released four SEO courses on Udemy that have 3000+ students enrolled. 

It’s not difficult to create a course. You just need to choose a highly demanded topic and structure the course such that it helps your students transform into a better SEO.

Here are a few ways you can offer SEO training: 

• Paid courses on Udemy, Coursera, Teachable, etc.
• Paid community with a monthly or annual subscription.
• In-person SEO workshops or boot camps.

Use AI if you’re struggling to come up with a proper format. With ChatGPT and Claude 2.0, you can generate the first draft of your course outline within minutes without scratching your brain. Customize the draft to suit your course’s needs and add content from your experience. 

Pros

• Highly customized learning experience
• Ability to command premium pricing
• Build long-term relationships with clients

Cons

• Requires significant time investment
• Limited scalability compared to digital products
• Need a manager in case you choose to build a community

Money Potential

SEO coaching can range from $100 to $500+ per hour, with long-term engagements driving the highest earnings. In-person training can also go up to $2000. It’s one of the highest-grossing ways to earn from SEO in the long term.

Time needed to make good money

Only the time will it need to create the course and distribute it. With a strong online presence and a strategic promotion, you can make thousands of dollars within a day of the launch. 

10. Consultation

Consultation is a big part of whatever industry you may be in. 

If you like mentoring or offering personalized guidance, consultation might be right for you. This could include regular calls, email support, and detailed feedback on participants’ SEO projects and strategies.

Cater to aspiring SEO professionals and business owners looking to improve their online presence. Many SEOs have made a full-time living out of consultation. 

Danny Sullivan, Neil Patel, Rand Fishkin, etc., are some of the top SEO consultants.

Pros

• Opportunity to build long-term relationships with clients as a trusted advisor
• Flexibility to set your own rates and terms for consultation services
• Potential to position yourself as a thought leader and authority in the SEO industry

Cons

• Limited scalability compared to more passive income streams like products or tools
• Reliance on your personal time and availability to deliver consultations

Money Potential

Though it’s challenging to say the exact range in which SEO consultants charge, depending on your expertise, you can charge from $100 to even $1000 per hour. 

Time needed to make good money

It depends on how well you market your services and your existing authority in the industry. Since consulting is an advanced skill, you already have some industry authority that you can leverage to build trust and gain more clients. 

11. Build a blog

Starting a blog is the most convenient way to earn more through SEO. Apart from the obvious benefits of selling your services through the blog, there are other ways to earn good money. 

Affiliate marketing

Here, you promote other products through your blog. Multiple products related to your niche offer to make you an affiliate. 

You either write reviews, roundup articles, or comparison posts, and the products you feature offer you a commission. 

You get a commission whenever a reader clicks on the affiliate links in your blog posts and makes a purchase. 

Make sure you don’t make the entire blog about affiliate articles. Google doesn’t rank purely affiliate websites that well. Even before the update, Google didn’t like affiliate sites. And after the update, you need to walk on eggshells. 

Affiliate marketing in itself is right. It’s got a bad reputation because of those who misused it to get ranked. 

If you want to do affiliate marketing:

• Don’t add an affiliate link to every single blog post.
• Don’t post 5-10 affiliate blog posts in a day. (Actually, don’t post that many blog posts in a day)
• Answer a question in the post, such as how to use AI tools for writing. Then, link to the best AI tools post with the affiliate link.
• Be open about having affiliate links in the post.

SEO is key to ranking the affiliate articles so you can start earning through them. 

Start with the low-hanging fruits of long-tail keywords, which help you rank sooner. Then, move on to more competitive keywords. 

Many affiliate websites use programs like Amazon Associates. These programs have pros and cons. The commissions are much lower, but you get one for each item the user buys after clicking on your affiliate link. 

Even if they add items to their card that are not related to what you’re promoting, you benefit if they land on the products after visiting the one you’re promoting. This makes the program lucrative to many. 

Other such programs are eBay, Awin, Commission Junction, etc. Read their guidelines carefully before you decide to choose one.

Referral partnerships

It’s when you partner with a business to promote their products in return for a commission. 

A referral partnership is similar to affiliate marketing except for you can partner directly with a business. You don’t need to go through the route of becoming an affiliate. 

Use review articles or simply informational or educational posts to promote your partner. The good part is these partners don’t need to be directly aligned to your niche. For example, if you’re a recruiter, promoting an app for mental health would also benefit you and your partner. They get the promotion they need, and you reap benefits from what you do—blogging!

Ads

Even if you don’t blog, you must be familiar with Google Ads. Every Google user has seen them at some point. 

Consider setting up a Google AdSense account once you start seeing significant daily traffic to your blog. It’s ideal to create an account after you reach the 1000 visits per day threshold, but some start before. 

There are other better options that pay more per click, like MediaVine. It takes care of setting up the ads, so you don’t have to divide your time between content creation and ads. 

Pros

• Full control over the content, branding, and monetization of your platform
• Potential to build a loyal audience and community around your blog
• Synergies between blogging and other SEO service offerings

Cons

• Significant upfront time and effort required to consistently create high-quality content
• Difficulty in standing out and gaining traction in a crowded blogging landscape
• Need to continuously optimize content, marketing, and monetization strategies
• Potential challenges in converting blog visitors into paying customers

Money Potential

The income potential for a successful SEO-focused blog can be very high, with top bloggers earning anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000+ per month.

Time needed to make good money

Building a profitable blog that generates meaningful income through SEO and content marketing often takes 1-2 years of persistent work.

| Suggested reading: Use email marketing to increase sales

Going Forward

These 11 ways are the most common methods to make money through SEO and convert it into a successful business.

Some are suited for beginners who are just finding their footing in the industry, while others are more tailored for experienced professionals.

But there’s no limit to how far you can go with a little innovation. Read some SEO case studies if you’d like to dig deeper.

Got some questions? Let’s talk on LinkedIn.

Frequently Asked Questions

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