4 Essentials of an SEO Proposal

Considering an SEO proposal?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a necessity for businesses to thrive online. With over 1.8 billion websites in existence, optimizing content is required to ensure you’re found online. Businesses use in-house teams or approach agencies for this service. The first step is to create a proposal. Here’s what to look for when creating or evaluating one...

The Purpose of an SEO Proposal

The proposal needs to detail the plan for creating visibility for a website online. The goal is to improve the ranking on search results pages so that it’s easy to see and find. This can take time to develop and involves various phases, from strategy to budget and execution.

It also helps to keep in mind the needs of the person who is evaluating this proposal. SEO is great in terms of creating visibility, but the ultimate goal, as it always is when it comes to business, is to ultimately increase revenue and market share. It should clearly share their understanding of this and dedication to it.

When presenting a proposal on SEO, there needs to be a clear demonstration of understanding of how optimization works. The bots that crawl the internet look for and decipher data which it then indexes on its servers. This is how they (the search engines) determine what will be presented when someone searches for something on the internet.

The proposal is about how a site will be presented for accurate indexing and optimal search engine result page rankings. Search engine rankings are primarily based on keywords, content, and links.

4 Essentials on an SEO Proposal

1. Professionalism

Implementing SEO and creating a portal need to be taken seriously. You’ll therefore need to set it out accordingly, beginning with a title page and executive summary. This will provide the reader (who is either a client or an exec at the company) with an overview of the presentation. Since this is for the proposal stage, you should expect that it will be compared with others, with the most professional proposal winning the race.

Part of having a professional proposal comes down to the design. Consider the layout and graphics that will be used. The information needs to both inform and entice the reader. When presenting the information, be sure to avoid heavy jargon, as SEO can get complicated and is not understood by every exec. It should therefore be kept simple when explaining thein’s and out’s of the search engine ranking process and algorithm.

2. Accountability

Be sure that the proposal has team members assigned to each of the necessary roles. This will help in creating a sense of accountability and show that the plan is easily actionable. The people responsible for each section should be able to add to the presentation if called to do so. There are likely to be various teams involved, from the person who mans the back-end of the website, to the creators who create the content.

The overall report should be concise, but you’ve got to be able to expand upon the points if need be. You should also aim to leave room for a Q&A session. Dialogue shows that you’re open to discussions and collaborative efforts.

3. Comprehensiveness

The plan of action needs to detail the findings relating to the current SEO, as well as the plans for boosting traffic to the site. Both shortcomings and opportunities need to be identified and theoretically solved.

Auditing: An SEO audit is an in-depth assessment of the current situation - that is, on-page, off-page, and technical SEO. This will show the processes used and the ability to turn analytics into actionable insights. The proposal needs to show you why you’re ranking where you are, and this should be a well-rounded answer that includes everything from loading page time to the use of backlinks.
Knowledge: While knowing SEO is critical, having a deep understanding of the industry is imperative too. The proposal should include competitive analysis, and present the results of how this business lines up in relation to them.
Organic Planning: Be sure to avoid all black hat tricks and tactics to boost traffic to the site. Growth hacks are often short-sighted and can be detrimental to site performance. Instead, look for solutions that include ways to get organic reach and exposure, as this shows a dedication to long-term success for the site.
Keyword Reporting: Keywords are often the first (and sometimes only) thing that comes to mind in relation to optimization. Be sure that the keyword reports cover all of the necessary focal points, with data to back it up. Keyword stuffing is important to avoid, and it is best to use a range of keywords, from macro ideas to niche topics.
Strategy: The strategy that is prosed needs to be foundational based on growing the domain. This includes backlinks, keywords, and technical optimization (like website layout and loading time). It should tackle keywords, links, and content. In fact, the content plan can and should add extra value to the brand by enhancing it with valuable content (think videos and blog articles).
Measurability: There needs to be a plan in place to track the performance of the website on an ongoing basis. This needs to follow the same holistic outlook as the auditing process. Be sure to look for turnaround times on all of the actions so that the rollout (and expected performance) has a timeline to follow.
Cost: The cost breakdown of providing SEO services needs to be broken down. The figures will depend on the course of action taken, as well as the extent of work that is needed. As much as it’s about the numbers, this section should be able to convey the value of the work attached to those numbers. The cost should include the selling point - one that increases ROI.

4. Proof

With case studies and testimonials ready to share, social proof can be established. This can set one agency or marketer apart from the next by demonstrating the power of SEO through previous performances.

Optimize Your Way to Success

An SEO proposal needs to demonstrate the value of SEO. It will include a tailored plan of action of how to increase this value based on its current standing. Optimization is an effort that extends from on-page to off-page and includes the technical aspects as well. Be sure the proposal you’re evaluating meets all of the essential criteria mentioned above to ensure it is thorough.