SEO Retainer Proposal Template
In SendScope under Marketing, as Monthly SEO Management
An SEO retainer gets cancelled for one of two reasons: nothing happened, or the client could not tell whether anything happened. Both are scope problems rather than performance problems, and both are fixed by counting the work.
Each tier here counts what arrives every month: the posts, the links, the technical pass and how often a report lands. A client reading it can see the difference between the tiers without having to understand any of the underlying work, which is the only honest way to sell a service whose results nobody can promise.
The packages are priced per month, and you decide how they bill: once, or as a retainer that charges every period until it is cancelled, which you set on the package itself when you build the deal. The starting terms say that either side can end ongoing work at the end of a period, and that no ranking or lead volume is promised. That second sentence is worth having a client accept in writing rather than explaining in month four.
The whole thing, live
The page your client opens
Not a screenshot. This is the real client page running on an invented deal, with this template's scope, packages and terms. Pick a package and press approve to see what your client would see.
Preview. This is how your client sees it. Nothing here is real and nothing you press is sent or charged.
Sample Studio
Monthly SEO Management for Example Pty Ltd
Scope of Work
Terms
These terms cover the work you approve on this page.
- Scope. The deliverables, the channels and the reporting are those described above. Extra work and rush requests are quoted before they start.
- Payment. The deposit shown on this page is paid on approval. Ongoing work is billed each period in advance as set out above.
- Advertising spend. Ad spend is paid by you, directly to the platform, on your own account. It is not part of this price and is not handled on your behalf unless the package above says so.
- Approvals. Content is sent to you for approval. Where approval does not arrive in time, the schedule moves and the fee for the period still applies.
- What is promised. The work is the programme described above. No particular reach, ranking, lead volume or return is promised, and platform rules and algorithms are outside anyone's control.
- Ending it. Either of us may end ongoing work in writing, effective at the end of the current period. Nothing rolls over automatically beyond that.
- Access and ownership. Accounts, pages and ad accounts stay in your name. Work produced for you is yours once the period it belongs to is paid.
Approving this page records that you accepted this scope, this price and these terms.
Essentials
Foundation SEO
A$1,000AUD
delivered in Monthly
What's included
- Monthly technical check
- 2 blog posts optimized
- On-page improvements
- Rank tracking
- Monthly report
Most popular
Growth
Active SEO growth
A$2,500AUD
delivered in Monthly
What's included
- Technical optimization
- 4 blog posts
- Link building (5/mo)
- Content updates
- Rank tracking
- Bi-weekly report
- Strategy call
Aggressive
Maximum visibility
A$5,000AUD
delivered in Monthly
What's included
- Full technical SEO
- 8 blog posts
- Link building (15/mo)
- Content strategy
- Local SEO
- Weekly reporting
- Dedicated strategist
Approve a package above to enable payment
What happens next
- You approve this proposalYour name, email and the date are recorded against it.
- You pay the deposit by cardOn this page. An invoice is issued straight after.
- Work startsThe balance is invoiced at handover.
Payment Terms
Deposit
100% on approval
Balance
0% on completion
SendScope records this approval. It is not a party to your agreement and does not verify identity, authority or enforceability.
How it gets paid
Paid in full on approval
This template asks for the whole amount when the client approves, which is how advisory and ongoing work is usually sold. The payment happens on the same link the proposal is on.
Card or bank transfer, and you choose which per deal. If you want a package to bill every month instead of once, you set that on the package itself when you build the deal, and the client can cancel it from their own link.
Prices in the preview are a starting point in Australian dollars. Change the figures, the inclusions and the number of packages to suit what you sell.
The starting terms in the preview are a starting point, not legal advice. Read them, change what does not match how you work, and have a lawyer look at them if the work is large enough to warrant it. Your own default terms in Settings replace these automatically.
Before you send it
What to change first
The parts of this template most likely to be wrong for you.
- The post and link counts, which are the whole basis of the pricing
- Whether content is written by you or by the client's writer
- The reporting rhythm, which costs more time than people expect
- Any minimum term, which this template deliberately does not impose
Related
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