---
title: "How to Get SEO Clients: Buyers and Plays"
description: "Who buys from SEO agencies, how many Ken's database lists (690,331 as of Oct 17, 2026) and 5 outbound plays to reach them."
path: /lead-generation/seo-agencies
family: lead-generation
updated: 2026-10-17
data_as_of: 2026-10-17
html: /lead-generation/seo-agencies
sources:
  - "https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-pricing/"
  - "https://seranking.com/blog/seo-pricing/"
  - "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history"
  - "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes"
  - "https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business"
  - "/pricing"
facts:
  buyer_companies: "690,331"
  data_as_of: "Oct 17, 2026"
  typical_deal: "$6,000-$36,000"
  suggested_lane: "Campaigns"
  most_common_size_band: "5-10 employees"
  email_cost: "1 credit ($0.02)"
  ken_database: "250M people and 24M companies"
---

# How to Get SEO Clients

Ken's database lists 690,331 companies that fit the buyer profile for SEO agencies, as of Oct 17, 2026. With a typical deal of $6,000-$36,000 (estimate) and that many buyers, volume outbound in Campaigns fits best.

**Disclosure:** Buyer counts come from Ken's company database. Ken is our product.

## Search These Buyers in Ken

**In short:** 690,331 companies in Ken's database match this buyer filter, as of Oct 17, 2026.

### Ken Search

Query: US companies with 5-200 employees in industries that win customers through search: legal, medical practices, construction, real estate, retail, hospitality, fitness, software and financial services.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Companies in Ken's database | 690,331 |
| 5-10 employees | 366,012 |
| 11-50 employees | 268,821 |
| 51-200 employees | 55,498 |

Snapshot of Oct 17, 2026, refreshed weekly. Counts only, no company records.

Action: [Find these buyers free in Ken](/waitlist) (cost: Free to search, 1 credit ($0.02) per valid email)

## Who Buys From SEO Agencies?

**In short:** Businesses that get leads or sales from Google hire SEO agencies, mainly local service firms, online stores and B2B companies, and the owner or marketing lead signs.

**Companies that buy from SEO agencies**

| Buyer trait | Typical buyer |
| --- | --- |
| Industries | Retail and e-commerce, Law practice, Dental and medical practices, Home services and construction, Software development, Real estate |
| Company size | 1-10, 11-50, 51-200 employees |
| Titles to contact | Owner, Founder, Marketing Manager, Head of Marketing, E-commerce Manager, Head of Growth |

## How Many Buyers Can You Reach?

**In short:** 690,331 companies in Ken's database, as of Oct 17, 2026.

690,331 companies in Ken's database match the buyer filter for SEO agencies as of Oct 17, 2026. The filter: US companies with 5-200 employees in industries that win customers through search: legal, medical practices, construction, real estate, retail, hospitality, fitness, software and financial services.

These are companies in Ken's database (250M people and 24M companies), not every company that exists. The count refreshes weekly.

**Buyers of SEO agencies by employee count, Oct 17, 2026**

| Employees | Companies | Share of buyers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 5-10 | 366,012 | 53.0% |
| 11-50 | 268,821 | 38.9% |
| 51-200 | 55,498 | 8.0% |

Companies in Ken's database. Bands come from each company's listed employee count.

## Plays That Work

**In short:** 5 outbound plays for SEO agencies, each tied to a trigger you can spot.

**Outbound plays for SEO agencies**

| Play | Channel | Trigger | Angle | Example first line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Traffic drop after a core update | Email | Google's Search Status Dashboard logged a core update, most recently on May 21, 2026, and your rank tracker shows the company's pages fell after it. | Write to the Marketing Manager or owner with the specific pages that lost rankings and what you would change on them. | Several of [Company]'s service pages dropped after Google's May 2026 core update, and I have notes on the three that fell furthest. |
| New site or domain | Email | The company launched a redesigned site or moved to a new domain in the last three months. | Write to the Marketing Manager about old URLs that now return errors instead of redirecting. Google recommends permanent redirects from old URLs to new ones during a site move. | Some old [Company] URLs now return a 404 after the redesign instead of redirecting, so the rankings those pages had are at risk. |
| New location | Email | A dental group, law firm or home services company announced a new location. | Write to the owner or marketing lead of a multi-location business about a location page and local listings for the new site. | Saw [Company] is opening a new location - right now a search for your service in that city shows no page from you on the first results page. |
| SEO hire posted | LinkedIn | The company posted a job for an SEO Specialist or Content Marketing Manager. | Write to the Head of Marketing offering to cover technical SEO and content while they hire, or to support the new hire with work one person can't do alone. | Saw [Company] is hiring an SEO specialist - we can run the technical fixes and content plan now, so your hire starts with work already moving. |
| Rival outranks them locally | Email | A search for the company's main service plus its city shows a nearby rival above it in the map results and the first organic results. | Write to the owner of a local service business when a nearby rival ranks above them for their main service and city search. | When I search for your main service in your city, a rival firm shows above [Company] in both the map pack and the first organic results. |

## Campaigns or 1:1 Accounts?

**In short:** With 690,331 buyers and a typical deal of $6,000-$36,000 (estimate), volume outbound in Campaigns fits best.

**Lane check for SEO agencies**

| Check | SEO Agencies | Points to Accounts (Coming) when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical deal (estimate) | $6,000-$36,000 (first-year retainer value), midpoint $21,000 | Over $15,000 |
| Buyer companies in Ken's database | 690,331 | Fewer than 25,000 |
| Suggested lane | Campaigns | Both checks pass |

Ken's estimate: 12 months of a $500-$3,000 monthly retainer. In the source's poll of 439 SEO providers, last updated August 2024, $501-$1,000 a month is the most common retainer and agencies charge $3,209 a month on average.

Ken's view: when one deal is worth more than $15,000 and there are fewer than 25,000 buyers, each account is worth researching and writing to one by one. Otherwise volume wins: a Campaign of short email and LinkedIn sequences reaches more of the market for the same effort.

## Objections

**In short:** What buyers tend to say back to SEO agencies, and how to answer.

**Objections SEO agencies hear from buyers**

| Objection | How to answer |
| --- | --- |
| SEO takes too long. | The full effect does take months. We start with fixes that can move rankings sooner, like broken redirects, title tags and pages already ranking on page two, and you'll see them in the first monthly report. |
| We got burned by an SEO agency before. | Then ask any agency, us included, for the exact work done each month and the rankings and leads tied to it. If a report doesn't show what was done, don't pay for it. |
| We already have someone doing SEO. | Good. We can audit what's in place and take the technical work they don't have time for, like redirects, site speed and structured data. |

## FAQ

### How do SEO agencies get clients?

In Ken's view, referrals and their own search rankings bring in much of the work. Outbound adds businesses that just had a reason to care: a ranking drop after a Google update, a site relaunch with broken redirects or a new location with no local page. Open with the problem you found on their site and save the service list for later.

### How much do SEO agencies charge?

In Ahrefs' poll of 439 SEO providers, last updated August 2024, $501-$1,000 a month was the most common retainer and agencies averaged $3,209 a month. In SE Ranking's December 2024 dataset of 260 agencies, 64% offered monthly retainers below $1,000. Price for the work the client needs and show what each month includes.

### When is the best time to email a business about SEO?

Right after something changed their search traffic. Google's Search Status Dashboard lists each core update with its start date, including the March 27 and May 21, 2026 core updates, and Google says rankings can fluctuate after significant changes to a site. A redesign launch, a domain change or a new location are also good moments.

### Should I send a free SEO audit in the first email?

Send one finding and keep the full audit for the reply. A broken redirect or a page that dropped after an update is easy for them to check and shows you looked at their site. Offer the full audit as the next step.

### What does the CAN-SPAM Act require of a cold email?

In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email, and the FTC says it makes no exception for business-to-business email. Its requirements: no false or misleading header information, no deceptive subject lines, identify the message as an ad, include your valid physical postal address, tell recipients how to opt out, honor opt-outs within 10 business days, and monitor anyone who sends email on your behalf. Other countries have their own rules. This is general information, not legal advice.

## Do this in Ken

### Find These Buyers in Ken

Open Ken Search with the buyer filter for SEO agencies, narrow it to your territory and best-fit size, then send the plays above as a Campaign over email and LinkedIn.

1. Search companies with this filter: US companies with 5-200 employees in industries that win customers through search: legal, medical practices, construction, real estate, retail, hospitality, fitness, software and financial services. Searching is free.
2. Narrow the list to your territory and size band, then pick the titles to contact: Owner, Founder, Marketing Manager.
3. Find valid emails at 1 credit ($0.02) each and add the list to a Campaign.

- Link: [Find These Buyers in Ken](/waitlist)
- API: `POST /v1/search/companies`
- MCP tool: `search_search_companies`
- Cost: Free to search, 1 credit ($0.02) per valid email

## Related

- [Lead generation by niche](/lead-generation)
- [How to Get Web Design Clients](/lead-generation/web-design-agencies)
- [Lead Generation for Marketing Agencies](/lead-generation/marketing-agencies)
- [Lead Generation for Staffing Agencies](/lead-generation/staffing-agencies)
- [Lead Generation for SaaS Companies](/lead-generation/saas)
- [Get a free campaign built](/free-campaign)
- [Cold Email for Digital Marketing Agencies](/use-cases/digital-marketing-agencies)
- [Ken pricing](/pricing)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ahrefs, SEO pricing: how much does SEO cost (439 people polled) | https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-pricing/ | 2026-10-17 |
| SE Ranking, SEO pricing survey insights | https://seranking.com/blog/seo-pricing/ | 2026-10-17 |
| Google Search Status Dashboard, ranking incident history | https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history | 2026-10-17 |
| Google Search Central, Site moves with URL changes | https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes | 2026-10-17 |
| FTC, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business | https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business | 2026-10-17 |
| Ken pricing (credit costs) | /pricing | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.