Spending a huge chunk of your marketing budget on SEO makes sense. When millions of people are shopping online, looking for your services on Google, and asking Google tons of questions, the one with greater visibility gets more business.
And as it goes without saying, the greater the demand is the more the service providers are. You can’t tell how many SEO agencies, Facebook marketing agencies, and complete digital marketing agencies are providing services in your city.
And if you have an SEO agency, or a digital marketing agency, getting new clients isn’t easy. You have to stand out among thousands of local and international agencies. One way to do that is by writing an irresistible SEO proposal.
Even if you don’t have a rich portfolio, a big team, and decades of experience, a professional proposal can turn the tables for you.
I’m sure you are itching to learn more about writing a winning SEO proposal. So without wasting your time, let’s get down to business!
7 Tips for Writing a Winning SEO Proposal–
1. Do Some Research & Write a Personalized Portfolio
Some SEO agencies fail to catch big fish because they use general proposals. The same proposal is sent to hundreds of prospects. Without getting personal, letting your client know that you have done some research about their business, you can’t convince them to work with you.
LinkedIn, Facebook, business websites, and Instagram are the best channels to know more about your client. A little background about their business or their recent achievements in your proposal would surely make them feel special.
2. Be Clear About What You’re Offering
Another problem with general SEO proposals, aka one for all, is they don’t address the problems of your clients. And they lack clarity about what you are offering. SEO is an ocean, and there are various ranking strategies. You have to let your client know what strategies you will implement. And why?
It’s better to conduct a detailed website audit before preparing a proposal. By analyzing the website of your prospect, you will learn about the technical issues in it, their current traffic, and how their business is performing currently.
After reading your proposal, the client should be clear about the offer. Don’t stuff it with SEO jargon because your client might not have any technical knowledge of SEO. Talk in numbers and discuss results in terms of traffic, leads, conversions, and ROI.
3. Present Your Solution in Simple Words
It’s natural for humans to expect great ROI with minimum investment. Most likely your client will be interested in the results and solutions rather than reading your persuasive pitch.
Don’t go fancy with your word choice and avoid jargon. Tell them why you think back-linking and on-site content revamp is the best strategy for their website. Don’t hesitate to mention their competitors and what they are doing right.
4. Back Your Claims
Enough talking, your prospect wants to know why they should trust you. How many websites have you ranked before? Have you worked with a similar business? If they have a restaurant, they would like to know if you have worked on a restaurant’s website before?
You need a strong portfolio to convince them that you can bring the results they dream of. You can talk a bit about your accomplishments and happy clients — especially if they are a famous brand.
5. Promise Realistic Results
And here comes the most courageous part, what results can you promise? Remember, all your prospect cares about his benefit. Therefore, you must talk in numbers.
How much traffic would you be able to generate after 1-2 months? How long will it take for the website’s ranking to improve? If it’s an e-commerce store, you must give a rough estimate regarding conversions.
And amid all the promises, tell them you need their constant support. If there’s anything to be done by their development team, it must be completed as soon as the issue is highlighted.
Tell them it’s impossible to rank a site with speed problems, page issues, and several other on-site issues that can only be solved by the developer’s end.
6. Be Transparent
Companies and freelancers who lie to clients don’t survive for long. Sooner or later they find themselves out of new projects because of a lack of referrals. And old clients leave them upon learning about their dishonesty.
Be transparent about your services and don’t over-commit. Also, don’t overstretch your accomplishments. Clients today are intelligent enough to reach out to other businesses associated with you and get an honest review.
7. Highlight the ROI while Quoting Price
Closing remains the most crucial part of your SEO proposal. But don’t try to sell while closing, instead your closing should highlight the value you are providing. Make sure the price you are quoting sounds reasonable in exchange for the value you are providing.
It should feel like a friendship hand rather than a sales pitch. Word selection matters a lot, stick to simple and positive words.
Summary
If you want to grow your business as an SEO agency, you must know how to write a winning proposal. After all, it all starts from a proposal and later stretches to several years of partnerships. Be transparent with clients, give them realistic goals and expectations, and sell value not services. Good luck!
