Cold email template

Cold email template for SEO consultants and local SEO

A first email to a local business that's invisible for the search its customers actually type, with a small, free finding instead of an audit pitch.

Subject: plumber in leeds

Hi Raj, When I search "emergency plumber Leeds" on my phone, your site isn't on the first page, but your Google reviews are better than everyone's who is. I wrote down three searches like that one where you should be showing up, with one fix for each. Want me to send them? Sam

53 words. The business and the people are made up; the shape is what works.

Why this gets replies

A search he can type himself in ten seconds. No jargon, no "domain authority".
It notices something good about his business (the reviews) as a fact, not as flattery.
No promise of rankings. Promises are what every SEO spam email makes, and what he's learned to ignore.
The gift is specific and finished: three searches, three fixes. Not "a free audit call".

Facts to open with

The first line is the whole email. Spend two minutes on their website, shop or Google listing and find one of these:

A search their customers would type where they're not on page one
Their Google Business profile is missing hours, photos or services
Two locations share one page
Their page titles are just the business name
Their reviews are better than the competitors who rank above them

Then say what it means for their customers, not what you'd do about it.

The free offer

The three searches their customers type where a competitor shows up and they don't, with one fix for each. Small, finished and useful even if they never hire you. That's what makes "yes" an easy reply.

Follow-ups

In the same thread, each one shorter than the first and adding something new. Stop the moment they reply.

About 4 days laterHi Raj, one of the three is quick: your Google Business profile lists "plumbing" but not "emergency plumbing" as a service. Want the other two?

Two weeks later, the last oneHi Raj, I'll leave it here. If you want the three searches later, reply "list" and they're yours.

Send this to 50 businesses, each with their own fact. ScoutKite finds small businesses who published their email on their own site, reads each site, and writes this kind of email from one true fact about them. You approve every one; it goes from your own inbox.

Use this template →

The rules ScoutKite will follow

"Use this template" starts a campaign with these rules and the free offer filled in. You can change any of them.

Keep it under 80 words
Open with one search their customers would type and where they show up for it
Never promise rankings, traffic or page one
No links, no audit, no prices
End by offering the three searches and asking if they want them

Check yours

Writing your own version? Run it through the cold email checker for spam words and length, and get follow-ups from the follow-up writer. More templates: web designers, bookkeepers and accountants, photographers, social media managers.