I always ensure my SEO proposals address the most common questions a prospective client is likely to have, and I tailor the answers specifically to the client's stated business needs. I will have gathered requirements, goals and expectations on an initial discovery call, and will begin by summarising the concerns or current state of a client's website, before moving on to suggest ways each concern or issue can be rectified. I like to keep things positive and explained in plain English (no complicated terminology), so I may state what is critical and what I see as a more optional, 'nice to have' extra, to work around any budgeting concerns. These extras might be added as an extra, optional 'phase 2' of the work. I then like to state proposed timelines and scope, a list of deliverables, priorities and reasons for each action I propose. I also list out required tools, any access or permissions required and costs (plus, who is responsible for them). I also always include my rates, any extra options and the expected outcomes. Adding in simple screenshots from SEO tools can be helpful where it supports and explains my suggestions, but this will usually form part of an in-depth audit which will be an initial phase of the work once a project is confirmed. Doing all the above has led to a great acceptance rate of my SEO proposals.
In order to maximise its chances for success a SEO proposal should take the client through a number of steps beginning with establishing an understanding of the core SEO issues and opportunities in a prioritised manner. This step should exhibit any errors that affect the website and its users at the top of the list, followed by SEO best practices applicable to the website in question, and only then supplemented with SEO opportunities to further optimize existing content and expand the website's content strategy to new topics, if applicable. At this stage, it is crucial to ensure the client understands the issues, their priorities and is left with a view of the of the long-term potential of SEO applied to their website. Secondly, it is important to realise that the vast majority of clients are only interested in SEO for the benefits it might bring to their bottom line. So putting together a 12-months forecast with notes outlining such aspects as target keywords and their respective position shifts as a result of SEO efforts, the associated increases in organic traffic and, if possible, further linking this to conversions and even the client's average order value to provide clear targets on revenue growth, where this is indeed the main goal. This step is by far the most difficult and sensitive one, but there are a number of SEO tools that facilitate the collection and processing of SEO data which enable a somewhat realistic forecasting, including SEOMonitor. Finally, most clients' primary concern at the proposal stage is credibility, so putting in the work to understand a client's industry and personalising your SEO expertise to the client's needs and circumstances, linking SEO actions to clear and tangible targets and outlining the reporting methodology for it can go a long way in making the pitch successful.
Why great SEO proposals include competitor analysis Our most successful SEO proposals have included some level of competitor analysis. This shows that you’ve done your homework, and understand the client’s place in the market. The analysis should cover key aspects such as website traffic, keyword rankings, backlink profile, and identify gaps and opportunities the client can take advantage of. It should also be presented in a way that’s clear and concise to demonstrate your expertise. I have found that a great SEO competitor analysis sets a solid foundation for the proposed SEO activities, and makes your recommendations more credible and actionable. Conducting this analysis has consistently enabled me to win large contracts, and eventually drive significant improvements in my clients' SEO performance. Everyone wins. Jules Canlas, Founder of Embarque.io
One of the main things that should be present in every SEO proposal is the SEO Project Roadmap. With a proper roadmap, you can show your client your idea for the project, how you want to approach it, and how you want to deliver particular parts of the project. Create a delivery plan for particular months and be transparent with the client about what type of work will be delivered. Adjust the road to meet the client's needs. That's how you can build trust, credibility, and strong business relations.
Every SEO proposal should have a statement of how reporting will be done and what will be covered in the report. The biggest frustration business owners have with SEO isn't the success of a campaign or lack thereof. They understand that SEO is a difficult game. The biggest frustration they have is not knowing what is being done and feeling they are not getting something valuable for what they are spending. When they know they will receive a report of actions done and results achieved, they feel much more comfortable about agreeing to the proposal.
SEO Manager at Swot Digital
Answered 2 years ago
A successful SEO proposal should include a tailored strategy that aligns with the client's unique business goals and target audience, backed by comprehensive competitive analysis. Instead of generic tactics, it must detail how the SEO efforts will drive growth specifically for their niche, using insights from the competitive landscape. It should include: Customized Keyword Strategy: Identify high-value keywords relevant to the client's industry and their customers' intent. Competitive Gap Analysis: Highlight opportunities by showcasing what competitors are missing and how the client's website can fill these gaps. Content Plan with Unique Selling Points: Propose content that leverages the client's unique strengths and addresses their audience's pain points. ROI Projections: Provide realistic, data-driven projections of traffic, lead, and revenue increases. Implementation Roadmap: Outline a clear, phased implementation plan with timelines, responsibilities, and expected outcomes. Transparency and Integrity: Assurance of transparent reporting and communication, avoiding guarantees of specific rankings, but focusing on sustainable, long-term growth. This approach ensures the proposal is not just about SEO tactics, but about positioning the client for market leadership through tailored, actionable insights and demonstrates expertise, builds trust, and shows a clear path to achieving the client's business goals. Smilja Pjesivac SEO Manager at Swot Digital: https://www.swotdigital.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/smilja-pje%C5%A1ivac-62b932168/
Headline: Traffic Projections & Resource Planning to achieve them Answer: While most SEO proposals will include competitor insights as well as a clear content & growth action points, most SEO proposals do not include traffic projections. While this might be debatable on whether to include traffic forecasts or not, often times it is a good indicator to convince the client in terms of what they can achieve through the course of the SEO campaign. However, just adding traffic growth projections aren't enough. Most clients are pumped up when onboarding a new SEO agency but when the agency hands a boatload of actionables, brands often get scared and don't provide enough support in terms of resourcing for either tech or content initiatives. Which is why it is best if you are able to provide them a clear path of requirements you need from the brand in terms of dev team capacity or dedicated content resources to work on SEO initiatives. This is a foolproof way to get buy-in from the client even before onboarding them so that you can set the right expectations in terms of their organic growth goals and the proposed resourcing required to achieve that. In our case, when we switched to adding resourcing capacity in our SEO proposals, the campaign effectiveness went up by 35% where the clients were able to deliver on tech and content initiatives as per the planned dates.
How you'll deliver the information to get it actioned. Many times an SEO agency will work with a company, provide them a huge list of things to do in an unreadable spreadsheet, and then peace out. I will always make sure I walk the client through how the feedback/audit will be presented, prioritised and broken down into what the team needs to know to implement. ie. How are you going to work with the content team? How will you pass over info to the technical team if the site needs to be updated? How are you going to integrate with the team to ensure implementation isn't an issue? How often are you going to going to be around? And how does the client keep in contact with you? I've found many times you'll lose a deal because the communication set up isn't laid out clearly from the get go, and those terms don't work for that client.
Make sure there are no misunderstandings. Recapitulate what the SEO collaboration will entail: SEO audit + content creation + content writing. Be clear about this so the client knows what to expect. Highlight the length of the project: 1 month for auditing, content research and drafting; 2 months for sharing new content, helping the IT team to fix Technical problems, and optimising old content. This way the client starts to build a roadmap in their head. Make your pricing clear, again. You really don't want a client to question your pricing once the contract is signed. And try to send the proposal within 2 working days. Competition is fierce these days and people need quality + speed.
Every SEO proposal should have a section about who will actually be doing the work. I find it best to include this per line item as many customers find it helpful to see how you as an agency distribute each task. While adding the persons name is a great way to make your proposal personal, even just adding their title such as "Junior Copywriter" will help them feel like they better understand the process. Seeing where your team executing the work is located can also help close the deal as it shows you're being transparent.
When we put together an SEO proposal, we like to go the extra mile and add a simplified SEO Audit and current SEO performance. We also provide key metrics, such as traffic, rankings, backlink profile, and on-page optimization. In addition to this, we also outline a detailed and customized SEO strategy tailored to the client's specific needs and goals. After we started adding more to our proposals we saw an increase in signup rate.
Besides the obvious things like techical SEO plan, content strategy, link building strategy, etc., I have always focused on creating proposals with clear breakdown of tasks and responsibilities amongst the client and myself. This has always helped me in avoiding any confusion while working with the client on the project. In addition, it ensures that both remain on the same page. Another important thing that I have started doing is presenting the proposal in a way that is easy to understand for a non-technical, non-SEO person. It is important to present the information in a way that the client can easily grasp and visualize the benefits of the proposed SEO strategies. Therefore, I focus on incorporating more visuals into it. This particular strategy has helped me in convincing the prospects and converting them into clients. One more aspect of the proposal is the deliverables and their timelines. I ensure that I provide clarity on deliverables and their associated timeline. This helps in making client gain more confidence in me as the client knows beforehand what he should expect from me and when.
"Don't just tell them, show them" To build trust and credibility in your SEO proposal, I always recommend including a 'relevant' case study showcasing your past success. Choose an example that is closely relevant to the client's project and demonstrate how your SEO strategies have delivered tangible results for another client. Highlight the specific challenges they were facing, the actions you took, and the measurable outcomes achieved. This real-world evidence of your expertise can be a powerful persuasive tool. I have experimented this a lot and I close the deals 8/10 times when I add a relevant case study in the proposal.
An SEO proposal is incomplete without discussing and auditing a website's Conversion Rate Optimization and User Experience. An SEO campaign aims to drive relevant traffic to a website. But if that website has a poor user experience and is not optimized for conversions then all that effort is wasted and a lot of revenue is left on the table. I like to begin with a CRO and UX audit to ensure that the traffic the SEO campaigns generate is converted at the highest level possible. This ensures the best results for the clients.
Your differentiation. The proposal should clearly show how your service differs from others, especially if you think the potential client is talking with several SEO providers. I see the proposal as a CV. It needs to stand out from the rest somehow. Highlighting your unique processes or explaining how you track different KPIs will help the client decide whether you’d be the right fit. If you are, it would be a win-win cooperation.
Every SEO proposal should actually include a strategy or roadmap of what you're planning to do for the client and lay out how long it will take. Additionally, the proposal, it should clearly lay out the KPIs that will be used to measure success and how that will be communicated to the client. While more traffic and rankings is always good, it should always be tied back to how it will make the client more money. Otherwise, they may not see the value in SEO.
To truly stand out, your proposal should show deep understanding of the client's needs and core metrics. What do they care about? Show them that you get it. Make sure you gather the metrics and goals mentioned by the client throughout your conversations and incorporate them at the beginning. This will convey to your potential client that you get their business needs and won't be focusing on anything that won't move the needle. Remember that you're selling to a person or group of people, not to the company. Consider what their motivations are to hire external SEO and use them to reassure them that you will be a valuable partner, not just a vendor.
- Start with a summary of the current SEO situation and crystal-clear goals, including what the client wants to achieve and by when. - Lay out an action plan with measurable REVENUE goals—ditch the vanity metrics like traffic. - Include a timeline with milestones, and don't forget a recovery plan for unexpected algorithm changes. - Always cover content, on-page optimization, and backlinks; neglect any of these, and progress is a pipe dream. - Emphasize that SEO isn't a one-off gig; it's an evolving journey. - Finally, no retainers—your results should be the reason they stick with you, not a contract!
A successful SEO proposal should begin with a brief introduction to the agency or freelancer and a summary of the client's goals, demonstrating your understanding of their needs. A detailed SEO audit should be included to highlight improvement areas, covering the client's current website performance and competitive landscape. This should be followed by a proposed SEO strategy, encompassing on-page, technical, and off-page SEO recommendations, as well as a content strategy aligned with the client's objectives. The proposal should also provide a clear timeline with milestones, key performance indicators, and a reporting schedule. A tip to build credibility is to include case studies and testimonials from past successes. It’s also key, to provide transparent pricing and detailed service packages, along with terms and conditions. Finally, the proposal should conclude with a compelling call to action and ensure contact information is readily available for any follow-up questions.
A successful SEO proposal always begins with a comprehensive website audit. This audit identifies technical issues like page load speed, mobile usability, and broken links, which can significantly impact search rankings. For example, in optimizing a healthcare client's site to reduce page load times by 40%, we saw a 25% increase in organic traffic within three months. Competitive analysis is equally crucial. By examining competitors' backlink profiles and keyword strategies, we can uncover opportunities to outperform them. For instance, during a campaign for a local business in Lexington, we found gaps in our competitor's backlinks and developed a targeted link-building plan that increased our client's domain authority by 30% in four months, resulting in higher local search rankings. Lastly, the proposal must include a clear content strategy that aligns with user search intent. Incorporating long-tail keywords and local phrases into the content for an e-commerce client led to a 45% boost in organic search traffic in three months. Measurable KPIs, such as a 20% increase in organic traffic within six months, should also be defined to track success and demonstrate value to the client.