How To Train A New Employee: 7 Tips For Growing Agencies

As the leader of a growing SEO agency, you know expanding your team is both exciting and daunting. You want to set your new hires up for success, but developing an effective training program can feel overwhelming. How can you ensure they quickly become productive team members who deliver great results for clients?

This article explores the importance of training new employees and provides seven expert tips tailored to the unique needs of SEO agencies like yours. These strategies help you create an effective training process that empowers your new hires and drives your agency’s growth.

Why Training New Hires is Crucial for SEO Agencies

Training and development play a vital role in the onboarding process for new employees, regardless of their role or business type. A well-structured onboarding program increases employee retention rates by nearly 70% over three years.

Think about the challenges you face when bringing on new team members. You need them to get up to speed quickly on your agency’s tools, processes, and clients. But you also want them to understand your unique culture and values. Effective training is the key to making that happen.

Here are three reasons why investing in training is so critical for your SEO agency:

1. Your Tech Stack

Your agency relies on a diverse range of technology systems, platforms, and tools to streamline campaign management, reporting, and communication. Some tools may be familiar to your new hires, while others are unique to your agency.

Your training process must provide a comprehensive overview of the tools your new employees use day-to-day. Don’t just tell them what the tools are – show them how to use them effectively. Share your best practices, productivity hacks, and insider tips. The goal is to set them up to work efficiently and autonomously from day one.

2. Efficiency and Expertise

As an experienced agency leader, you know success often lies in the small details – the insider knowledge, hard-earned productivity tips, and little tricks that make the work easier and the results better. These insights are often locked in the heads of your seasoned employees.

A well-designed training program captures that institutional knowledge and passes it on to your new hires. Document and share best practices, processes, and productivity tips to shorten the learning curve and maximize the efficiency of your entire team.

Encourage your veteran team members to share what they know. Create opportunities for shadowing and mentoring. The more your new hires can learn from the experts, the faster they’ll become valuable contributors.

3. Client Service Excellence

At the end of the day, your agency’s success depends on the results you deliver for clients. When new employees aren’t properly trained, it’s not just their own performance that suffers – it’s your agency’s reputation and bottom line.

Think about a time when an undertrained employee dropped the ball with a client. The fallout from those mistakes can haunt your agency for months or years.

A comprehensive training program is your quality assurance safeguard. It ensures every team member is equipped to meet and exceed client expectations. Investing in training means investing in your agency’s ability to retain clients, build profits, and establish an industry-leading reputation.

7 Expert Tips for Training New Employees

Now that we understand the significance of training for your SEO agency, let’s explore seven actionable tips to help you create a comprehensive and effective training process:

1. Clear Expectations

When a new employee joins your agency, they’re eager to make an impact but often unsure exactly what’s expected of them. Paint that picture with crystal clarity.

Review your job descriptions. If they’re outdated or vague, update them with the key priorities and skills required to succeed. Talk through each element with your new hire. Share examples of what success looks like, and answer their questions.

Document and share the specific training plan you’ve created for their role. Show them what they’ll learn, what skills they’ll develop, who they’ll work with. Give them tangible milestones to work toward.

One of the most effective tools for this is a 30-60-90 day plan. Here’s a sample outline you can adapt:

Timeframe	Key Objectives	Milestones
First 30 Days	Complete onboarding training Shadow client calls and meetings Earn relevant industry certifications	Conduct first solo client call Familiarize with agency tools
Days 31-60	Manage 1-2 client accounts Complete advanced training Join new business pitch meetings	Achieve first client deliverable Demonstrate autonomy in key tasks
Days 61-90	Manage 3-4 client accounts Contribute to process improvements Participate in business pitches	Exceed client KPIs Take ownership of client projects

A roadmap like this gives new hires a clear sense of direction, priorities, and progress. It helps them stay motivated and helps you track their development.

2. Individual Needs

Every new employee comes to your agency with a unique blend of strengths, gaps, goals and learning styles. Unlock their full potential with training tailored to their needs.

Get to know each new hire beyond their resume. Sit down for an in-depth conversation about their background, skill sets, blind spots, and aspirations. Ask what kind of support and development they need to do their best work.

Some key questions to explore:

• What energizes you most about this role? What makes you nervous?
• What relevant skills and experience do you bring? Where do you have room to grow?
• What parts of the job do you feel most and least confident about?
• How do you prefer to receive feedback?
• What are your goals for your first 90 days? Your first year?

Use these insights to customize your core training program. Prioritize sessions that close key skill gaps. Provide extra mentoring in areas where they feel less confident. Pair them with veterans who complement their strengths.

Continue these stay interviews over time to understand your employees’ evolving needs and provide the right growth opportunities. The more you tailor development to the individual, the more effective and engaged your team will be.

3. Mission and Purpose

Training is about more than just skills and knowledge – it’s your chance to ignite a deeper sense of connection and commitment in your new hires.

Think about the best job you’ve ever had – a job that motivated you to go above and beyond. Chances are, what made it fulfilling was feeling connected to a larger purpose. When employees have that sense of mission, their engagement soars. Highly engaged teams are 21% more profitable.

From day one, immerse your new hires in your agency’s mission and values. Share the story of why you do this work. Paint a vivid picture of the clients you serve and how your work improves their businesses and lives. Spotlight your community involvement and how you make a difference.

Throughout training, tie the practical lessons back to your larger mission. When teaching a tool, emphasize how it helps your team drive better client results. When reviewing a project, discuss how it ladders up to the client’s big-picture goals. Continually connect the “what” to the “why.”

4. Knowledge Sharing

Training isn’t just about what knowledge you share, but how you share it. Make the learning stick with a program built around proven principles of adult learning and knowledge retention.

Create opportunities for active practice. Build simulations, exercises and hands-on experience into every element of your training. For a new SEO specialist, that might look like:

• Shadowing an expert colleague conducting keyword research, then doing research for a mock client
• Watching a veteran create content, then writing their own sample article with feedback
• Listening in on a client report call, then roleplaying a call with their manager

Offer blended learning formats. Blend self-study time with in-person sessions. Use written guides, video tutorials, live demonstrations, group discussions, and one-on-one coaching. The variety engages different learning styles and provides crucial repetition.

Provide performance support resources. Create a library of job aids, checklists, templates and guides organized by topic, so employees can quickly find what they need on the job. Assign mentors who can answer questions and provide feedback as new hires encounter real-world situations.

Extend learning beyond a single event into an ongoing process, supported by rich performance support resources. The more equipped your employees feel to handle any challenge, the more they’ll thrive in their roles.

5. Mock Client Calls

Client communication is the lifeblood of your agency. How well your team interacts with clients directly impacts your retention and referrals.

Give new hires ample practice in client scenarios before putting them in front of a real client. Start by having them listen in on real calls and debrief afterwards. What went well? What could have been better?

Move into roleplaying. Create mock scenarios covering typical client interactions:

• A kickoff call with a new client
• A regular status meeting
• Presenting a deliverable
• Discussing results and ROI
• Handling a client concern
• A quarterly business review

Make the scenarios as specific and realistic as possible. Provide the background details they’d have for a real client.

Pair new hires with a veteran team member to practice these calls as if they were real. Provide feedback on their communication skills, presentation decks, and active listening.

Keep practicing until they demonstrate the poise and professionalism to handle any client conversation. The confidence they develop will lead to more productive and profitable client relationships.

6. Engagement

Starting a new job can be overwhelming. Add in the potential isolation of remote onboarding, and it’s easy for new hires to become disengaged.

Make your training program an engaging, interactive experience that helps new employees feel valued and motivated from day one.

Focus on building relationships. Schedule one-on-one welcome chats, host virtual team lunches, and assign a buddy from outside their immediate team.

Make learning active and collaborative. Create opportunities for new hires to contribute ideas, ask questions, and learn from each other. Breakout group discussions, interactive challenges, and practice sessions are great ways to boost engagement.

As you develop your content, pay attention to pacing and variety. Mix up formats, topics and activities to keep energy high. Punctuate long sessions with brain breaks or quick games.

Give new hires a voice. Ask for their input and feedback at every stage:

• What topics do they want to explore more deeply?
• What activities are most and least helpful for their learning?
• Where do they feel most and least confident so far?
• What ideas do they have to improve training?

You’ll gather valuable insights to optimize your program and send a clear signal that you value each individual. That’s the foundation of an engaged, high-performing team.

7. Ongoing Support

Learning and development shouldn’t end along with your formal training program. Continue investing in your employees’ growth throughout their time at your agency.

Schedule regular one-on-one check-ins with each new hire, both during and after their training period. Use this time to:

• Review their progress and performance
• Provide coaching and feedback
• Identify additional training needs
• Discuss their professional development goals

Work together to create personalized plans that outline key skills to build and milestones to reach. Identify specific resources that will help them get there.

Create a culture that makes learning an everyday part of the job for every employee. Encourage teams to share knowledge continuously. Host lunch-and-learns on industry trends. Celebrate development milestones and certifications. Make growth a core part of your agency’s DNA.

Demonstrating commitment to your employees’ ongoing development increases the likelihood they’ll stick around and go above and beyond for your agency.

Conclusion

Building an effective training program for your SEO agency is one of the highest-impact investments you can make. Equipping new hires with the knowledge, skills and support to succeed boosts their performance and confidence, and your agency’s results and reputation.

As you develop or refine your approach, remember these key principles:

1. Set crystal-clear expectations for the role and training process
2. Get to know each new hire’s individual strengths, needs and goals
3. Connect daily tasks to larger purpose and mission
4. Use proven techniques for effective knowledge-sharing
5. Provide ample practice in real-world client scenarios
6. Prioritize engagement and interaction throughout training
7. Make learning and growth an ongoing priority

You don’t have to do it all at once. Assess your current program and identify a few high-impact enhancements you could implement this quarter. Put plans into action.

Commit to continuously improving your training over time. Seek out best practices. Gather employee feedback. Keep refining, keep enhancing, keep investing in your team.

The agencies that will thrive in the coming years are those that recognize employee development as a critical driver of success. Build training into the fabric of your agency’s culture and cultivate an unstoppable team.