Implementing systems in your SEO business is crucial, but getting started can be overwhelming or confusing.
You may have tried it before, but gave up because of the complexity or lack of guidance. You may have made some initial progress, but the systems weren’t implemented and tracked effectively.
Systematizing your business well can provide extensive time and cost savings and potentially increase your sales.
By allowing you to focus on the big revenue-generating tasks instead of dealing with the small stuff, you can transform your business from one that moves forward to one that moves you closer to your big goals.
I would go so far as to say that it’s hard to scale or grow significantly unless you have systems in place.
What is a system?
A system is a chain of processes, each containing a sequence of individual steps that make the system operational.
So one process might be creating a form on a WordPress website, but the system might be an entire marketing funnel.
For example:
Form submission > email response > booking discovery calls > call script/plan > close
Why Systematize Your SEO Business?
Benefits of systematizing your business:
It will free up decision-making space for more important matters. Ensure consistency. It helps you stay organized. You can manage your time better. It’s easy to delegate or have team members cover for others. Your customers receive high quality service every time. Prevent things from getting lost or forgotten. It is essential if you ever want to sell your business.
Let’s look at each of them in a little more detail.
Release decision-making capacity
Taking the decision out of your hands can help you focus on crucial work instead of making decisions about less important tasks.
Ensuring consistency
Systems mean that tasks are done in the same order and in the same way over and over again.
This is why production lines always have systems.
Imagine a factory producing chocolate bars, and they all came out tasting slightly different or in three pieces instead of two?
Stay organized
Systems allow you to stay very organized. In some cases, not doing so can have serious consequences, such as your billing system.
Managing your time
While it’s a huge investment of time to set all of this up, once it’s done, you’ll save hours of time throughout the day.
Knowing that your systems are taking care of the day-to-day business means you’re less likely to be pulled away to deal with issues that arise.
This allows you to focus on the tasks that really matter, the tasks that generate revenue, taking care of your customers and working on business growth.
delegation
Handing the work off to someone where there are systems in place makes it much easier for everyone involved. If someone unexpectedly falls ill, it’s easy for someone else to pick up the job.
Customer service
Delivering the same high-quality experience over and over again will keep your customers coming back for more.
They know what to expect and therefore feel comfortable doing business with you.
The systems ensure that all customers are treated exactly the same and that any disputes are handled according to your internal policies.
All of this helps take the emotion out of situations, especially non-payment or complaints.
It helps you remember
If you have a system, it’s much harder to forget to do something.
Think about an email you read last Friday, thinking you’d get it the following week.
But come Monday, you forget all about it, and it sits in your inbox for the rest of the week. Only when your customer is chasing you do you remember that they even exist.
I’m sure we’ve all been there. I sure have.
Systems help prevent this from happening because once an input comes in and feeds into the relevant system, it’s in the right place and starts that individual process.
Long term plans
Do you have an exit strategy for your business?
If so, it may include selling to someone else at some point. If this is the case, systematization is essential.
It is much easier to sell a business that already has systems in place. Delivery is made easier for everyone involved.
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How to get started with your SEO business systems
You may want to look at this as a standalone project, as it may take some time to fully systematize.
Start with the big things, the important things, and the things that will free up the most time for you.
This may also require an investment to allow you to properly automate some of these systems, which will help free up even more time, so budget ahead of time.
Start with one and trace that system from start to finish
Each system will contain several individual processes. We often see these processes recorded as standard operating procedures (SOPs).
I would suggest having a document template with a title, version number, date and number to identify the document and how it fits into the overall system.
You’ll also need to create an index so that at any time, if someone needs to know how to do something, they can go to your systems ‘bible’ and find the relevant one.
Tests and improvements
Once your processes are written and system maps are created, you can move into the testing phase and improve.
Try it as much as you can. Breaking down the system will allow you to consider different scenarios.
Pass your SOPs to someone completely new to the tasks involved and ask them to follow them. A fresh set of eyes can often spot problems that might otherwise be missed.
storage
Don’t currently have a central storage system for all your documents? Now is the time to have one.
You can set up a Google Drive, One Drive or Dropbox account.
Whatever you use, make sure it’s stored in a way that makes sense with clearly written filenames and simplified titles so it’s easy to find everything. Then make sure everyone in your company can access the files.
Periodic review
Once you have your systems in place, it’s important to make sure they remain relevant.
Skip regular reviews of existing systems by going through them step by step and modifying anything that has changed.
Similarly, archive everything that is no longer relevant and add new systems.
This document folder is basically the inner workings of your business, it should tell anyone exactly what they need to do to run the business your way.
In essence, you should be able to walk away from everything tomorrow, and someone else could come in, pick up the systems, and be able to continue.
Systematize and prosper
I’m a big fan of systematization. I believe it is essential to the success of any entrepreneur who wants to grow.
That said, while every area of your business can be systematized, I also believe that our SEO clients also buy into us as people.
So don’t completely lose the element of human connection and the personalization you give them.
A monthly phone call or personalized email will go a long way toward maintaining the relationships you’ve worked so hard to build.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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