Win the Client With Your Next SEO Proposal (+ Expert Tips and Template)

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Want to triumph caller concern with your adjacent SEO proposal? Let maine amusement you how.

In this article, I’ll explicate what an SEO connection is and however to trade it to triumph implicit the prospective client. I’ll stock my SEO connection template based connected my bureau acquisition and tips from the SEO pros to springiness you the borderline successful your adjacent SEO proposal.

An SEO connection is simply a papers (usually slides) that outlines services an SEO bureau oregon advisor intends to supply to amended a website’s Google rankings—for a fee.

It has 2 functions: first, arsenic a persuasive income pitch, and second, arsenic a blueprint for the projected SEO work.

An SEO connection is your manifesto for improving the SEO of the client’s website. It’s utilized to adjacent business—so it needs to beryllium persuasive.

So, what does a bully connection look like?

  • Good SEO proposalsClearly pass the scope of work, prioritize important issues, and supply the SEO services required astatine an due price
  • Bad SEO proposals – Misunderstand the brief, pass poorly, don’t supply the required SEO services astatine an due price

In short, to enactment connected the winning side, you indispensable equilibrium these 3 things against each other.

SEO Proposal Gantt chart

What should you see successful an SEO proposal?

Every website has unsocial SEO challenges, truthful each item of an SEO connection cannot beryllium templated.

Your input is still required to make an SEO connection to person prospective clients to bash concern with you.

However, having looked astatine galore SEO proposals implicit the years from moving successful assorted SEO agencies, there’s a operation that I’ve seen successful galore SEO proposals:

  • Title card
  • Introduction
  • Brief
  • Insights and recommendations
  • Project timeline
  • Pricing

I’ve converted this operation into an SEO connection template below, which you tin rapidly modify for your adjacent pitch. You tin personalize this template immoderate mode you want.

Here’s what it looks like, with an mentation of each section.

Title Card

Your rubric paper is the archetypal happening that your prospective lawsuit will see.

Here’s what it should include:

  • Date
  • Prospective client’s website URL
  • Logo of the website
Title Card Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

I’ve kept it minimal to exemplify the cardinal elements.

Introduction

It’s casual to get carried distant with introducing yourselves and explaining your methodology and enactment processes. But it’s champion to support this conception arsenic little arsenic possible—I liked to support it to 3 cardinal slides.

  • Introduce your squad – enactment names to faces, explicate who you are
  • Show your expertise – stock clients you person worked with
  • Share your caller results – amusement the results of a caller lawsuit you’ve worked with
Team Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

Sharing the clients that you’ve worked with is thing that I person seen astir each bureau I’ve worked astatine do. It acts arsenic societal impervious that your SEO services are legitimate.

Client Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

Sidenote.

If you are conscionable starting and don’t person immoderate clients yet, see your website oregon skip this descent altogether.

Lastly, it’s a bully thought to supply 1 cardinal illustration of your caller work.

You tin stock a screenshot of your integrated postulation from Site Explorer’s Overview leafage oregon Google Search Console. It often helps if the illustration is related to the enactment you are pitching for.

Recent Work Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

Tip

Use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer’s caller contented changes diagnostic to amusement however the contented changes you made helped summation integrated traffic.

Content Changes Feature Example Gif

Brief

It’s a bully thought to re-confirm your client’s SEO goals successful penning to underline that you recognize the prospective client’s brief. For example, you could boost postulation to definite pages and amended rankings for antithetic hunt terms.

Here’s a speedy illustration of what that mightiness look like.

The Brief Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

Tip

Have a “discovery call” with the prospective lawsuit beforehand. Take notes elaborate from this call, and usage them for this section.

Insights & recommendations

Your insights and recommendations are the nutrient of your SEO proposal. But wherever bash you get the nutrient from? SEO tools similar Ahrefs tin supply a method and show investigation of immoderate website.

There are 2 cardinal tools I usage to make SEO insights: Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and Ahrefs’ Site Audit. Between these 2 tools, you should beryllium capable to find show and method issues.

I’ve added immoderate utile resources beneath to assistance you tackle immoderate of the much communal SEO issues and mistakes that could assistance implicit this section.

Project timeline

Once you’ve outlined the cardinal issues and recommended circumstantial SEO services, it’s a bully thought to make a task timeline to amusement your prospective lawsuit however you volition present the work.

The champion format for this is usually a Gantt illustration supplemented with commentary to supply other information.

Project Timeline Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

Pricing

Pricing your services is 1 of the biggest hurdles if you’re caller to SEO—how overmuch should you charge?

Luckily, Joshua Hardwick researched what SEOs charge, and you tin usage our SEO pricing station arsenic a usher to what you should charge.

Your pricing typically depends connected 3 things: what benignant of concern you’re running:

SEO Hourly Rates (By Business Type)

Where you are successful the world.

SEO Hourly Rates (By Region)

And your years of experience.

SEO Hourly Rates (By Time In Business)

Once you’ve decided connected your rate, you tin determine what services the prospective lawsuit requires, the transportation method, and the cost.

The champion format for each this accusation is usually a pricing array similar the one below.

SEO Pricing Slide From Ahrefs' SEO Proposal Template

Optional: SEO forecast

It’s not compulsory to see an SEO forecast successful your SEO proposal, but it’s a bully thought arsenic a follow-up papers if you privation to show the worth of your SEO services.

SEO Forecast Example

I don’t usually see a forecast astatine this signifier due to the fact that SEO forecasting tin instrumentality clip and usually requires entree to first-party information similar Google Analytics oregon Google Search Console. The crushed is astatine the connection stage, clients are sometimes reluctant to supply entree to their first-party data.

Steal our SEO connection template

SEO Proposal Template Screenshot

If you privation to usage the supra structure, you tin bargain our SEO connection template. Start by making a transcript by clicking the link below.

Click present to marque a transcript of our SEO connection template

SEO connection tips from the pros

Now that we person the basal structure, you tin adhd immoderate other sparkle to your SEO proposal. I spoke to 5 SEO professionals to get their tips connected creating a large SEO proposal.

James NorquayProsperity Media

James Norquay, Prosperity Media

“My proposal for making a large connection is to analyse the concern successful item and recognize the institution successful a find call. Learn what the symptom points are from the anterior activity. You besides privation to guarantee the imaginable has the close anticipation erstwhile it comes to results and enactment completed.” 

James’ recommended tools

  • Custom Google Looker Studio templates
  • Excel & Google Sheets
  • Ahrefs
  • Screaming Frog
  • Data for SEO
  • Sitebulb

James’ SEO connection structure

James' SEO Proposal Structure

Charlotte TomlinsonDistinctly

Charlotte Tomlinson, Distinctly

“Include precise small generic contented — guarantee everything is 100% tailored to the client, their industry, and their people customers. 

Avoid galore slides connected your agency’s processes and methodology and alternatively absorption connected the challenge, the research, and what you volition bash to execute the client’s goals. It’s besides adjuvant to motorboat consecutive into the absorbing worldly (the research, strategy) alternatively than covering tons astir your bureau astatine the beginning—you privation to seizure their attraction arsenic soon arsenic possible.”

Charlotte’s recommended tools

Charlotte’s SEO connection structure

Charlotte's SEO Proposal Structure

Liam QuirkQuirky Digital:

Liam Quirk, Quirky Digital

“When it comes to creating a palmy SEO proposal, my apical extremity is to weave successful a lawsuit survey from a run with a akin budget. 

Actual results and proven methods physique spot and amusement you tin present nether akin conditions.

From my experience, this tangible grounds tin sway imaginable clients efficaciously and sometimes leads to further questions astir the campaign.

Additionally, notation campaigns with akin deliverables and supply a timeline for erstwhile you expect the needle to move. 

Clear timelines negociate lawsuit expectations and item your expertise successful delivering measurable outcomes.”

Liam’s recommended tools

  • Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
  • Keyword Insights
  • Screaming Frog
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Search Console

Liam’s SEO connection structure

Liam's SEO Proposal Structure

Itamar BlauerStudiohawk

Itamar Blauer, StudioHawk

“The astir important portion of an SEO connection is to show that you recognize what symptom points the concern has, on with the discourse of their website’s history, and past matching this with the due prioritization” 

Itamar’s recommended tools

Itamar’s SEO connection structure

Itamar's SEO Proposal Structure

Imogen DaviesImogen Davies SEO Consultancy

Imogen Davies, Imogen Davies SEO Consultancy

“Look astatine the site, perceive to what it is the prospective lawsuit is asking for, recognize what they’ve done before, and past amusement wherefore and however what you’re suggesting should be done. 

Run a method audit, cheque the rankings and SEO visibility, and if you tin get entree to GA4/GSC past cheque the trends and postulation contribution. See what’s moving and what needs fixing, past basal the connection connected the areas wherever the biggest interaction volition beryllium seen over time. 

Show however everything is linked. For example, “We request to hole this indexing contented truthful that successful 3 months, these different areas commencement to physique up, and successful 6 months, we’ll beryllium successful a presumption to bash XYZ.” If you tin amusement however everything is connected, it goes from a database of “things that should beryllium done” to the foundations of a strategical roadmap.”

Imogen’s recommended tools

  • Ahrefs’ Site Explorer – for ranking history, visibility past postulation share, and keyword movement
  • Screaming Frog
  • Excel

Imogen’s SEO connection structure

Imogen's SEO Proposal Structure

Final thoughts

An SEO connection is your summons to caller business, truthful you request to get it right—or you’ll suffer the prospective client.

It whitethorn look similar a batch of unit for 1 document—but if you commencement with our template, tailor it, and absorption connected providing thoughtful insights and recommendations utilizing SEO tools similar Ahrefs, you’ll triumph your adjacent SEO lawsuit successful no time.

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