Many SEO agency owners complain that onboarding is a time drain. Between chasing client details and managing manual tasks, what should be a smooth process turns into a frustrating bottleneck. One owner even told me they lost a client due to delays.

The issue isn’t the kickoff call—that usually goes well. It’s the repetitive, unoptimized tasks that steal your time and energy.

A straightforward fix could be to automate your onboarding. In this article, I’ll share 12 tools to streamline your process, free up your time, and help you focus on what matters most—delivering results and growing your SEO agency.

A great onboarding process simplifies tasks for both you and your clients while delivering benefits that directly impact your agency’s success:

1. It builds trust and lasting relationships

Clients form first impressions during onboarding. If your process is chaotic, they’ll quickly question your expertise. But when onboarding runs smoothly, clients feel reassured and confident in your agency. It justifies premium pricing, especially when you demonstrate your expertise early with valuable insights or suggestions.

2. It helps you understand and align with client needs

Manual information-gathering can delay progress and frustrate clients. Meanwhile, a streamlined onboarding process collects everything you need upfront. You're positioned to deliver results when you align with client priorities early—whether it’s keyword strategies or technical fixes. Also, clients who feel understood are more likely to stick around.

3. It helps you save time and focus on strategy

Chasing incomplete forms or assisting clients to access accounts wastes time better spent on strategy. Tools like Leadsie and Content Snare automate these steps, saving you and your clients time.

With less admin work, your team can focus on high-impact tasks like developing growth strategies or uncovering SEO opportunities. 

Onboarding involves many small tasks that can pile up quickly when done manually. This list highlights tools to automate these tasks, save time, and help you focus on what truly matters.

Moz Pro is an all-in-one SEO tool that streamlines everything from audits to strategy creation.

Here’s how you can make the most of it:

Evaluate SEO performance: Use the Domain Overview feature to find metrics like Brand Authority, Domain Authority, and Page Authority. You can also spot critical issues like pages with 4xx errors, lost linking domains and linking domains by spam score.

Conduct keyword research: Use Keyword Explorer to find high-value keywords, identify competitor gaps, and group keywords by intent to avoid cannibalization.

Simplify reporting: Use the custom automated reporting feature to share updates on rankings, link health, and on-page Insights. Tailor reports to match client priorities and demonstrate the value of your work.

Nancy Dibert says:

"I’ve used Moz Pro for about six years. It has the features I need—competitor analytics, keyword volume, technical audits—and the cost is competitive. If I had to choose only one tool, it would be Moz Pro."

What I like about Moz Pro:

When I tested Moz Pro to analyze my website, the Domain Overview feature stood out. It showed me where my content lacked topical authority, which helped me prioritize backlinks and optimize pages. For SEO agencies pitching potential clients, this feature can uncover quick wins and help you position yourself as a problem solver.

Unexpected tasks, like technical fixes or extra consulting hours, often arise during onboarding or while managing client work. How do you bill for these without confusing your client or complicating the invoice? 

With Clientary, you can create a billing portal where clients can:

• View billable hours, invoices, and project progress in real-time
• Stay informed and aligned, reducing concerns about unexpected costs

Matthew Channell from TSW Training shared:

"We create a portal where clients can view billable hours and invoices and track project progress. It’s also convenient to generate expense reports, timesheets, and payments for clients within a specific timeframe."

What I like about Clientary:

I like the recurring invoicing feature in Clientary. For instance, I billed a client for additional time spent on keyword analysis outside the original scope. Clientary automatically tracked the hours and generated a detailed invoice with notes explaining the extra work.

Granting clients access to assets like Facebook Ads Manager, Google Analytics, or Google Ads can feel tedious. It’s that onboarding step that seems out of your control. Thankfully, Leadsie changes that.

Instead of walking clients through complicated steps, you share a custom link with pre-set permissions. Clients review the request and grant access. It eliminates confusion, reduces back-and-forth, and makes the process painless.

Local Splash shared why they love Leadsie:

“We used to wait days or weeks for clients to manually add us. Now, it happens in minutes, often on the same call.”

Pro tip: Add a quick video tutorial to your access request email to help clients understand the process.

Arvind Rongala from Edstellar shared that their biggest onboarding challenge was scattered communication and job management. Keeping clients and teams on the same page felt nearly impossible until they started using Favro.

“When we sign up a client, we make a timeline that lists all the meetings, content creation, and feedback cycles in one place.”

Favro keeps everyone aligned by visually mapping out the onboarding process. During client meetings, you can show timelines for each step, clarifying what’s happening and when. Teams working on content, technical SEO, and outreach can manage tasks independently while clients stay updated through shared boards and timelines.

What I like about Favro:

Collaboration is effortless. Clients can leave comments, upload files, or share feedback directly on tasks. Automatic updates keep them informed of progress without endless follow-ups, ensuring everyone stays on the same page.

Google’s appointment booking feature can be a cost-effective alternative to Calendly. As Fabian Maume from Tetriz.io notes, it’s built into Google Workspace and can save you a few dollars each month.

Clients can choose a slot, generate a meeting link, and receive calendar invites with all the necessary details. You can also customize booking pages for different types of meetings, like strategy sessions or onboarding calls.

What I like about Google’s Appointment Booking:

I love Google’s color coding feature—it makes managing my schedule much more manageable. I can create separate booking types and organize them by color for easy identification.

In SEO, results take time. Hence, it is important to keep clients informed and engaged during onboarding to retain them. GUIDEcx makes this easy with a customer-facing dashboard that provides real-time project visibility.

With in-app collaboration, you can share updates, assign tasks, and gather feedback in one place. 

Pro Tip: Use GUIDEcx’s task assignment feature to break onboarding into clear steps, assign tasks to your team, and set deadlines. 

What I like about GUIDEcx:

The time-tracking feature makes it easy to monitor onboarding tasks, optimize your process, and set realistic timelines. I’ve also found that including time estimates in reports justifies pricing and builds trust because you show the value behind every billed hour.

Scattered emails and files can lead to lost information and endless follow-ups. The solution is a centralized system where all client documents are organized and accessible to your team.

Content Snare keeps client information in one place and sends automated reminders to ensure you receive everything on time—no more chasing clients.

What I like about Content Snare:

Thanks to features like two-factor authentication, the secure platform gives clients confidence when sharing sensitive information. You can also leave comments or join discussions. The automated reminders for incomplete forms keep projects on track and reduce back-and-forth.

Automation is great, but too much can make clients feel disconnected. Loom solves this by letting you record personalized video tutorials, keeping the human touch alive while guiding clients through complex steps.

Dale Broadhead from HelloClicks found Loom useful for onboarding:

"Even though we covered everything in sales calls and emails, clients still missed key details. So, we recorded a 5-minute mini-webinar, embedded it in a landing page, and automated an email with the subject line, ‘Watch this video to ensure your campaigns don’t fail.’ 100% clickbait, but it worked!"

What I like about Loom:

The analytics feature reveals which parts of the video clients find most valuable, allowing you to improve future content. The reaction feature also offers quick feedback, providing insight into what resonates.

Pro tip: Use Loom to record personalized walkthroughs of monthly performance reports. Highlight key metrics and progress, then share the video alongside your report. It helps clients understand their growth and the value of your work.

Emailing back and forth isn’t the best way to collect client information. Instead, use automated systems to send detailed questionnaires that collect and organize client information.

Use Process Street to create automated onboarding workflows with multi-step templates, allowing clients to answer questions at their own pace without feeling overwhelmed. Also, integrations with HubSpot and Zapier make it easy to connect your favorite tools and streamline the entire process. 

Pro tip: Analyze your past onboarding calls to identify recurring questions. Use these insights to create custom templates tailored to your clients, such as local businesses, SaaS companies, or e-commerce brands. It’s an easy way to make onboarding smoother and more efficient.

What I like about Process Street:

One standout feature is its ability to pre-fill forms with client data using response URLs and default values. You can send questionnaires with fields like business name, website URL, and contact details already filled in.

Kajabi is an excellent tool for SEO agencies that want to automate onboarding while keeping it personal. Once a client signs up, Kajabi automatically sends personalized welcome messages, guides, and documents based on triggers like tags or client actions. 

Dan from AdSpace Agency shares:

"I record a short, customized video for each client using Kajabi’s inbuilt tools. The video creates instant rapport, and the feedback we’ve received is overwhelmingly positive."

What I like about Kajabi:

Kajabi’s client portals keep everything in one place. Clients can access their portal anytime to review details or rewatch walkthroughs you’ve shared. Dan noted that switching to Kajabi cut their onboarding time by 30-35%.

If your clients enjoy collaborating during strategy sessions, Miro is a virtual whiteboard for your tech stack. It’s perfect for mapping workflows, approval cycles,  and strategies.

Arham Khan from Pixated agency shared how Miro speeds up approvals:

“Miro helps us customize workflows for each client, saving time for our team and actively engaging clients in the planning process. We’ve seen  faster approvals, fewer bottlenecks, and better team alignment.”

Tip: Use Miro’s sticky notes during brainstorming sessions to capture real-time client ideas and turn them into actionable workflows.

What I like about Miro:

Clients may not always have a clear picture of their target audience, or it changes over time. Miro’s customer journey templates make it easy to map out customer journeys, align strategies, and build visual campaigns.

Dubsado is an all-in-one platform that streamlines onboarding into one easy-to-use tool.

When clients sign on, they receive a fully automated, branded workflow. They can e-sign contracts, complete onboarding questionnaires, and book consultations. Also, Dubsado offers a free trial that lets you onboard up to three clients at no cost—perfect for testing it out.

What I like about Dubsado:

The mobile app facilitates real-time client communication. You can manage workflows with just a few taps, ensuring smooth operations.

Many agencies underestimate the impact of onboarding tools on client experience. Review your current onboarding process and identify bottlenecks like manual tasks or missed communication. Then, choose tools that address these issues. Most offer free trials—test a few to find the best fit.