SEO Agency Service Launch Playbook

Who this is for

SEO and digital marketing agencies adding an ongoing content production service for their clients.

Before you start

• A written definition of what one unit of the service includes: research, drafting, editing, images, publishing.
• A named editor responsible for reviewing every piece before a client sees it.
• A place to keep each client’s brief: audience, voice, topics to avoid and approval contacts.
• Access to your own agency website, to use as the first project.

Step 1

Plan the service

Define the service tightly enough that two editors would deliver the same thing.

1. 01Write the service scope: deliverables, turnaround, rounds of revision and what is out of scope.
2. 02Design the approval path: who drafts, who edits, who signs off on the client side.
3. 03Choose your own site as the pilot and plan a single topic cluster for it.
4. 04Decide how you will report on the work without promising outcomes you do not control.

Step 2

Create on your own site first

Run the full process internally before selling it.

1. 01Produce the pilot cluster using exactly the process you intend to sell, timing each step.
2. 02Record every place the process stalled and change the scope or the checklist to fix it.
3. 03Set up a separate voice and brief for each client so their content never borrows another’s tone.
4. 04Write a sample deliverable you can show a prospect, clearly labelled as your own content.

Step 3

Publish and package

Launch the service publicly and onboard the first clients.

1. 01Publish a service page that describes the process and the deliverables in plain terms.
2. 02Agree with each client whether you publish to their CMS or hand over files for them to publish.
3. 03Onboard one client at a time until the process holds up under real deadlines.
4. 04Keep an internal log of what was delivered, when and who approved it.

Step 4

Measure delivery and value

Track whether the service runs well and whether clients find it useful.

1. 01Track turnaround and revision rounds per piece, and look for clients or topics that need more of either.
2. 02Report search visibility from each client’s own search console rather than from estimates.
3. 03Review the scope after the first few months and adjust what one unit includes.
4. 04Ask clients which pieces they found most useful and plan the next quarter around their answers.

Common pitfalls

• Selling the service before running it. The first client becomes the pilot, and it shows.
• Promising rankings or traffic. Report what you delivered and what search console shows, and leave predictions out.
• One voice for every client, which makes their content sound alike and makes it obvious who wrote it.
• No single editor accountable for what leaves the agency.

Where Opus Rank helps

Tutorials for the parts of this plan you can do in Opus Rank.

• Invite your team and manage roles

  Give editors and writers their own access with the right workspace role.

• Create and use brand voices

  Keep a separate voice for each client project.

• Build a topical map

  Plan a cluster for the pilot and for each client.

• Export an article

  Hand over finished articles as files when a client publishes them.

Related playbooks

• Consultancy Launch Playbook
• SaaS Product Launch Playbook
• Home Services Launch Playbook