If you run a small business, chances are you’ve seen at least one underwhelming SEO proposal.
It’s usually a polished PDF.
Plenty of graphs.
Screenshots from tools.
A list of tasks with impressive names.
And somewhere near the end, a retainer number that feels more like a guess than an investment.
What’s often missing is the one thing you actually care about: a clear, believable plan for how SEO will bring in the right customers at a cost that makes sense.
This is where most proposals fall down. They talk about rankings, audits and content volume. They don’t talk enough about lead quality, customer acquisition cost, or how SEO fits into the way your business already sells.
This checklist is designed to fix that. By the end, you’ll know what a real SEO proposal should include, what’s optional, and what’s a red flag.
Why most SEO proposals miss the mark
Before we get into the checklist, it’s worth understanding why so many SEO proposals feel the same — and why they often fail to deliver.
A lot of agencies start from a template. They swap in your logo, drop in some keyword screenshots, add a boilerplate audit and call it a day. The structure looks like a plan, but it hasn’t been built for your market, your margins, or your buyers.
There are three common problems behind most weak proposals:
1. They start with tools, not your business
Instead of asking how you win customers, which services are most profitable, or who your ideal clients are, they jump straight into keyword research and site crawls. That leads to plans built around whatever the tools spit out, rather than what your buyers actually search when they’re close to hiring someone like you.
2. They prioritise activity over outcomes
Many proposals try to impress by listing as many tasks as possible: audits, “optimisations”, blog posts, reports. The plan becomes a to-do list. What’s rarely explained is how those tasks link to revenue, pipeline or reduced customer acquisition cost.
3. They focus on traffic, not customers
Traffic is cheap. The internet is full of pages that get read and then forgotten. The real test of an SEO proposal is how clearly it connects its work to better enquiries, stronger leads and more of the clients you actually want.
A good proposal is specific.
A good proposal is honest about trade-offs.
And a good proposal shows it understands your business before it touches your keywords.
What a real SEO proposal must do
Strip away the formatting and a real SEO proposal has one job: to explain how SEO will help you acquire customers profitably.
That means it should:
- show it understands your market and buyer
- diagnose what’s holding your site back today
- outline a strategy for attracting the right visitors (not just more visitors)
- explain how those visitors will be turned into leads and customers
- define how success will be measured — in plain language
- set expectations around timing, risks and limitations
If a proposal doesn’t do these basic things, the rest is decoration.
The core sections every SEO proposal should include
Now let’s get practical. Below is a checklist you can use to review any SEO proposal you receive. You don’t need perfection in every area. You do need enough substance to trust that there’s a real plan.
1. Discovery and business understanding
This section proves they’ve listened.
A serious SEO proposal will summarise, in your own terms:
- what you sell
- who you sell it to
- which services or products are most valuable to you
- how people currently find you
- how your sales process works
You want to see evidence that the agency understands your positioning and your constraints. If this section feels generic — or could describe any business — that’s a warning sign.
2. Technical and analytics baseline
Technical work and analytics setup are the foundations. They don’t win customers on their own, but they can absolutely prevent growth if they’re neglected.
A strong proposal should:
- outline key technical issues (indexing, speed, mobile, broken pages)
- prioritise fixes by impact
- clarify how Analytics and Search Console will be used
- note any tracking gaps
The emphasis should be on making measurement and improvement easier, not on fixing every minor warning a tool has flagged.
3. Keyword and intent strategy
This is where many SEO proposals drift into fluff. You’ll often see exported lists of high-volume keywords with little connection to buying behaviour.
A real strategy should:
- focus on high-intent keywords tied to your core services
- identify bottom-of-funnel searches like seo consultant for small businesses
- include comparison and alternatives keywords
- highlight industry- or use-case-specific searches
The proposal doesn’t need every keyword. It does need to explain why certain keyword groups matter — and how they connect to real buyers.
4. Content plan that reflects the buyer journey
You’re looking for a content plan based on conversion, not content volume.
Service pages for decision-makers.
Comparison pages for buyers choosing between options.
Alternatives pages for switch-ready prospects.
Use-case pages for specific industries or teams.
Case studies with real before-and-after outcomes.
Supporting articles for mid-funnel clarity.
These page types create revenue. Any SEO proposal that avoids them is missing the point.
5. Link-building and authority strategy
Backlinks still influence rankings, but the method matters.
You should see detail on:
- the types of sites they’ll target
- how they earn links (not vague promises)
- whether links will support key service pages
- how they avoid risky tactics
If this section feels hand-wavy, assume the plan is either low-quality or not fully thought out.
6. Measurement, reporting and CAC
A real SEO proposal must show how success is judged.
Useful metrics include:
- organic-qualified leads
- conversion rates of commercial pages
- which keywords and pages drive conversions
- SEO’s estimated effect on customer acquisition cost
- a schedule for reviewing and adjusting the strategy
Rankings and traffic are supporting metrics — not the goal.
How to evaluate pricing and scope
When pricing enters the picture, assess whether the scope and cost match reality.
1. Does the scope match the price?
If the price is low but promises are high, something won’t add up.
2. Is the proposal clear about inclusions and exclusions?
3. Is there a credible path to ROI?
You should understand when leading indicators will appear — and when meaningful results become realistic for your sales cycle.
Red flags to watch for
Be cautious if you see:
Everything centred around traffic.
Traffic is easy; customers are hard.
Fixed blogging packages with no strategy.
“Four blogs a month” is not a plan.
Vague link-building promises.
If they can’t explain how links are earned, assume the worst.
No reference to your existing data.
A real proposal always examines Analytics, Search Console or CRM data.
No explanation of how success is reviewed.
Without a feedback loop, the strategy won’t improve over time.
Final thoughts
A strong SEO proposal doesn’t overwhelm you with jargon. It gives you clarity. It explains how SEO supports your business model. It