How to write seo proposal [Updating]

If you provide SEO services as a freelancer, consultant, or agency, you've probably noticed that convincing people to do business with you isn't always easy.

So how can you create such a compelling SEO proposal that your potential clients will buy from you?

All I can say is keep your hats on, because you'll soon find out. ?

1. Step 1: Ask your prospect a few questions

Interestingly, the first step in the application process has nothing to do with writing. Instead, you should ask your prospect a few questions.

The goal of this step is to find out what your prospect really needs help with.

1.1. What are your expectations for SEO?

You may hear something like:

More clues
More sales
Bring more quality traffic to your website
Further inquiries via email/phone
Higher return on investment

Note that before signing the dotted line, if a prospect lists a bunch of vanity metrics, such as SERP position for certain keywords or increasing organic traffic with no associated business objective (aka leads, other conversions, or sales), Potential customers may need some clarifying lines.

1.2. Who is your ideal customer? What are their biggest pain points related to your product/service?

You will get:

Key demographic, psychographic and/or company characteristics of your ideal customer
Your challenges and/or pain points.

1.3. Who are your top 3 competitors?

What you'll get: A list of sites that you think have the most competition.

Three is a good number, but if they browse more sites than their closest competitor, ask them to include other sites as well.

1.4. What keywords should your potential customers type into a search engine when searching for your business?

What you get: Your popular keywords.

1.5. Have you ever done SEO on your website, or is this your first time doing it?

You may hear something like:

"Yes, I am a professional in procuring SEO services."
"No, it's my first time."

The best way to create a successful SEO proposal for your potential clients is to tailor certain parts of the proposal to their needs. Speaking of tailoring...

2. Step 2: Don't reinvent the wheel every time

We all know that writing a great SEO proposal can take hours. If you're still trying to write a unique proposal for each of your prospects from scratch, sorry, man, I'm afraid this won't work. It's not practical to reinvent the wheel every time.

Instead, you should focus on creating an SEO proposal template that you can quickly edit when you're looking to recruit new clients. Templates should contain (at least) the following elements:

3. Step 3: Write a persuasive summary

Now that you understand your prospect and accept the hard truth that not everything in your proposal should be custom, it's time to roll up your sleeves and start writing.

Get ready? This is the most important part of your SEO proposal: the summary.

You know your potential clients are busy. Perhaps the executive who made the final decision didn't have time to read the entire document. So to summarize: it makes sure you give them a concise overview of your proposal.

Copy the following structure to write a meaningful summary:

3.1. The problem/need/goal

You should start your summary by highlighting the prospect's pain points. You should be able to communicate that you understand their business and what they are trying to achieve.

This is a great opportunity to start with a bold headline like "Your Site Deserves Higher Quality Traffic."

3.2. The expected outcome

Here you want to describe what it means to solve the problem you identified in the first part. But remember, this is not the time to discuss too many details.

Instead, you should focus entirely on what they can achieve by integrating your SEO solution into their business. For example: "Once we optimize your website with valuable content and relevant calls to action, you can get about 30% more leads".

3.3. Approach overview

Now is the time to detail your strategy (but keep it short):

If your goal is to increase organic traffic to your online property, define how you plan to achieve that goal.

In just 2-3 lines, you can briefly outline your proposed strategy to potential clients. For example, you can mention content creation, meta tags, backlinks, and more.

3.4. End with a clear call to action

If this was the only page a decision maker reads, the next step in the buying process would already be outlined.

4. Step 4: List Your Achievements

Here's how your SEO services can help a potential client's business. In this section, you show them that you really know how to solve their key pain points.

Outline the specific services included in your quote:

4.1. Preliminary audit

Content review, link review, keyword review, site review, etc.

4.2. Keyword Research

Breaks down the entire keyword research process and the keyword research tools you will use.

4.3. Competitive Analysis

Describe the process you will use to track your client's competitors and their SEO strategies.

4.4. Content Writing

A quick review of your approach to modifying your client's website content to optimize for organic search.

4.5. Link Building

Explain the process you will follow in link building, the tools you will use for backlink analysis, etc.

4.6. SEO Reports

Describe how often your team sends SEO reports and whether they are reviewed together in regular meetings.

5. Step 5: Show them you can get the job done

What's the best way to show clients that you can achieve their business goals by developing and implementing a top-notch SEO strategy?

Just show them some examples of your previous work. That's it for this section.

Here, you can show how your experience meets their needs. This can be in the form of client testimonials or examples of how you have guided clients in the past to increase their sales, leads and organic traffic by X% using your SEO services.

Here's a simple structure to highlight your past work:

Briefly describe who the customer is. (Pro tip: Pick customers in a similar industry, but not direct competitors.)
Briefly describe the client's situation, difficulties and frustrations before starting to work for the client.
An overview of the custom SEO solution you provide to solve the problem.
Description of the end result: before and after.
Client testimonials about how they got more leads, more sales, and/or higher ROI with SEO services.

6. Step 6: Create a Timeline

In this section, you can set expectations for the speed of return of various strategies.

SEO is not a quick fix or a panacea. In fact, it can take months to see real results—even if you're doing everything right.

That's why drawing a realistic timeline can make you stand out from competing proposals.

For example, divide your timeline into one-time activities (such as setting up a Google Search Console account) and recurring activities (such as developing healthy backlinks, writing content, optimizing keywords, etc.).

7. Step 7: Make an offer they can't refuse

This section is sure to get almost as much attention as the abstract.

Instead of calling it "pricing," you can emphasize your value by citing the "cost of participation" or "investment" section.

You may also want to offer several different "packages" to ensure your customers can choose exactly what they need. You can display this information in a table, making it easier for potential customers to compare and weigh different alternatives.

8. Step 8: Don't forget the legal fine print

If you ignore this less-than-appealing part of your SEO proposal, you could be in trouble. Therefore, you need to own your backing by adding a "Terms and Conditions" section to your listing.

That way, your clients have no chance of backing out, and you can rest assured that you're getting paid for your work.

9. Step 9: Don't Make Them Guess What to Do Next

Once a prospect decides to do business with you, communicate clearly what happens next. This can be one of the following forms:

Digitally sign proposals using electronic signatures.
Pay the first half of the bill.
Schedule a call to discuss next steps.

10. Step 10: Submit your awesome proposal?

Wow! Your proposal is finally ready and it's time to send it off. Now that you know what a successful SEO proposal looks like, you can use the customizable SEO proposal templates to create your proposal in minutes.

11. Frequently Asked Questions

11.1. What are the key elements of a successful SEO proposal?

A successful SEO proposal should include a detailed analysis of the client's website and competition, a clear understanding of the client's goals and objectives, and a comprehensive plan for optimizing the website and improving its search engine rankings.

11.2. How should you present the pricing and timeline for an SEO proposal?

It's important to be transparent about pricing and timeline in an SEO proposal. Clearly outline the cost of your services and the expected timeframe for achieving results. You should also include any potential additional costs or factors that could impact the timeline.

11.3. How can you differentiate your SEO proposal from your competitors?

To differentiate your SEO proposal, highlight your unique approach and expertise in the industry. Emphasize your track record of success and provide case studies or testimonials from satisfied clients. You should also include a personalized touch, such as addressing the client's specific pain points and needs in your proposal.