Article · Proposals
An SEO proposal template for a small business retainer
One page the owner can read in five minutes: their situation in their words, what you do each month, what you do not do, what you need from them, and how you will both judge the work. Copy the template, then check it against the red flags list.
The short answer: a retainer proposal is mostly scope and process. Restate the problem in the client's words, list monthly deliverables you can count, name what is out of scope, and describe timing the way Google does: some changes show up in hours, others take months, and nobody can promise a top ranking. Leave out every claim you could not explain or back up.
Get the raw material on the discovery call
You cannot write part 1 without notes. Google's page on hiring an SEO says the SEO should ask about what sets the business apart, its competitors, how search results can help it, and how customers find it. Use those four as your call agenda, and add three of your own:
- What does a good month look like, in jobs, sales or calls?
- What SEO work was done before, and by whom?
- Who approves changes to the site, and how fast?
Write down the owner's exact phrases. You will quote them back. For a booking page and a 30-minute call agenda, see setting up a discovery call booking page.
If you audit before the proposal, ask for read access only: Google advises owners to grant read access to Search Console at the audit stage, not write access. Of Search Console's user levels, Restricted is the closest fit: it has view rights on most data, while a Full user can also take some actions. Google also says an audit should give realistic estimates of improvement and of the work involved; so should the proposal. For how to package that audit, see what to put in an SEO audit for a client. For selling it at a fixed price, see how to sell a fixed-price SEO audit online.
The template you can copy
Nine parts, each answering one question the owner will ask: did you listen, how will I know it works, what do I get, what costs extra, what must I do, when do I hear from you, when do things happen, what do I pay, and how do I get out. Paste it into a document, replace every bracket, and delete lines that do not apply. If it runs past one page, cut scope detail first, never "Not included" or "Terms".
SEO retainer proposal for [Business name]
1. Your situation
On our call you said: "[the problem in the owner's own words]." Today most new customers reach you through [referrals / Google / ads / walk-ins]. You want more [calls / booked jobs / online orders] for [service or product] in [area served]. Earlier SEO work: [none / what was done, by whom, and when].
2. Goal and how we measure it
Goal: [business outcome, in your words]. In the first two weeks we agree in writing on [two to four] numbers we report every month, such as [KPI 1] and [KPI 2], and on a list of [number] search terms we track for [location] on [mobile / desktop].
3. What we do every month
- Technical check: review Search Console's Page indexing and Manual actions reports and fix, or hand to your developer, what needs action.
- Existing pages: improve [number] pages (titles, copy, internal links), chosen from the agreed plan.
- New content: [number] new pages or articles on topics you approve before we write.
- Local listing: [number] updates to your Google Business Profile. [Delete if not a local business.]
- Change log: every change we make to your site, with the date and the reason, in a shared document.
- Report and call: a written report by [day] of each month and a [length] call to go through it.
How we work: we follow Google Search Essentials. We do not buy links, ask you to link to us, or create pages whose only purpose is to rank.
4. Not included
Paid advertising, website redesign or development beyond [number] hours a month, hosting and email, social media, and [other]. We quote anything outside section 3 in writing before we start.
5. What we need from you
- Access, added to our own accounts: Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, and a user account on your website. You stay the owner of all of them.
- Approvals: a reply on drafts and proposed changes within [number] business days.
- One contact person: [name], plus who decides when they are away.
- Results from your side: a monthly count of [calls / booked jobs / sales] from your own records.
6. Reporting
A monthly report in the same order every time: summary, site health, visibility, search traffic and results, work completed, next month and open requests. Every quarter we review the goals, the reported numbers and the tracked search terms with you.
7. Timeline
[Weeks 1–2]: access, baseline saved, kickoff call, numbers and search terms agreed in writing.
[Month 1]: technical review, fix list, first monthly report.
[Months 2–3]: first page improvements and new content from the agreed plan.
[Each quarter]: review and updated plan.
On results: Google says some changes show up within hours while others take months, and that "no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." We do not guarantee rankings or traffic. We report what changed and why, every month.
8. Price
Monthly retainer: [amount] per month for the work in section 3, invoiced [in advance on the 1st], due within [number] days.
Setup: [one-time amount for onboarding and the first review / none].
Extra work: [hourly rate / fixed project price], quoted and approved in writing first.
Tools: [included / billed at cost / in your own accounts].
Price changes: [number] days' written notice.
9. Terms
Term: [month to month / an initial [number] months, then month to month]. Either of us can end the retainer with [number] days' written notice. At the end we send a final report and the change log, and you remove our access to your accounts. Content and files you paid for are yours. If access or approvals arrive late, the timeline moves by the same amount. [Confidentiality line.]
Next step
Reply "approved" or sign below. We send the access request the same day.
Client: [name, title, date]
Consultant: [your name, date]
The report order in part 6 is the outline in our guide. Part 5 maps to the onboarding checklist.
Write the situation in the client's words
Part 1 shows you listened. Use the owner's phrases from the call, not a diagnosis in your vocabulary. Diagnosis belongs in the first month's fix list, after you have access.
- Your diagnosis (save it for month 1): "Your site has technical SEO issues and weak on-page optimization."
- The owner's words (use this): "On our call you said: 'Most of our calls are small repairs, and we want more water heater installs.' Today most new customers find you through referrals. You want more installation calls in Springfield and two nearby towns."
Scope: deliverables you can count, and what is out
Each bullet in part 3 should pass one test: at the end of the month, could the client check whether it happened? "Ongoing optimization" fails. "Improve three service pages" passes. For briefing each new post, see the SEO content brief template.
Google's hiring page lists useful services many SEOs provide, among them content and structure reviews, technical advice (hosting, redirects, error pages, JavaScript), content development, keyword research and SEO training. Pick what you will do every month and put a number on it.
On the technical bullet: Google's Page indexing help says not every URL needs to be indexed, so report reasons, not the raw count. A manual action means a Google reviewer found pages that break its spam policies, and parts of the site, or all of it, can drop out of results. Finding one changes the plan.
Put paid ads under "Not included": Google says advertising with it has no effect on a site's presence in its search results. If you also run ads, quote them separately.
Access: name it in the proposal, request it at onboarding
Part 5 only lists the tools. The day the client signs, send the access request email from the onboarding checklist, which names the permission level for each tool. For a version that goes out automatically, see the automated access request.
"You stay the owner" matters: in Search Console only owners can add or remove users. Google's hiring page also tells owners they are responsible for what the companies they hire do, and that an SEO with server access should explain every change. The change log in part 3 covers that.
Reporting cadence
Promise a monthly report on a set day, in a fixed order, plus a quarterly review. Do not promise weekly reports unless you will write them for the whole engagement. Build each report on the report outline and answer the five questions. Send it with the monthly report email template, which also covers mixed and bad months. When a tracked term falls, use how to explain a ranking drop. For the Search Console side, see setting up Search Console for client reporting.
How keywords and KPIs get agreed
Do not put final KPIs or a keyword list in the proposal. You do not have access or a baseline yet. Promise the process instead: agreed in writing within the first two weeks, reviewed every quarter.
- KPIs: two to four numbers that move with the business outcome, chosen with the worksheet in SEO KPIs for clients.
- Tracked search terms: a short list tied to money pages, sized with how many keywords to track per client.
- Changes: only at the quarterly review, so "a few more keywords" becomes a scope conversation.
A timeline that matches what Google says
Google's "Do you need an SEO?" page does not give a duration. It tells site owners to ask an SEO what results to expect and in what timeframe, and to leave anyone who guarantees first place. The timing guidance is on other Google pages:
- The SEO Starter Guide says changes take time to show up on Google's side: hours for some, several months for others. It suggests giving work a few weeks before judging it, and warns that some changes have no visible effect.
- Google's recrawl page says a crawl may happen days or weeks after a request, and that requesting one does not promise the page will appear in results.
So part 7 is a work plan, not a results forecast. Adjust the periods to your scope and the client's approval speed, and never add expected rankings or traffic. For a month-by-month version and a kickoff email, see how long SEO takes.
The price section: structure, not numbers
This article gives no amounts and no market rates on purpose. Set yours from the hours the scope takes and your own costs. What the proposal needs is a structure the client can read without questions:
| Element | Options | Write it so the client knows |
|---|---|---|
| Retainer | Fixed monthly fee for a fixed scope | Which section it pays for |
| Setup | One-time fee, or none | What it covers |
| Extra work | Hourly rate or project price | That nothing starts before a written quote is approved |
| Tools | Included, at cost, or the client's own accounts | Which one, so it is never a surprise line |
| Billing | In advance or after the month | Invoice day and days to pay |
| Price changes | Notice period | How many days' written notice |
If you offer two or three levels, give each level its own deliverables list, not just a bigger number. If you pay for an SEO suite, work out its cost per client before you price; the guide's cost section shows one entry setup.
Terms: notice, ending and ownership
- Term and notice: month to month, or an initial term, then month to month. State the notice period in days and that it must be in writing.
- Ending: final report, change log handed over, access removed by the client. The offboarding steps cover the Search Console side.
- Ownership: accounts stay in the client's name; say who owns content and files once paid for.
- Delays: late access or approvals move the timeline by the same amount.
- No guarantee: one plain sentence that you do not guarantee rankings or traffic, in line with Google's warning about ranking guarantees.
This is a structure, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review your terms before you use them with clients.
Answer Google's hiring questions before the client asks
Google's hiring page lists questions owners should ask an SEO. The template already answers each one, paraphrased here:
- Previous work? Show only work you have the client's permission to show. Never invent an example.
- Do you follow Google Search Essentials? The "How we work" line in part 3.
- What results, in what timeframe? How do you measure success? Parts 7 and 2.
- Experience in my industry and city? Years in business? The "About us" line.
- How will we communicate? Will you share every change and why? Parts 5 and 6, and the change log.
Red flags to keep out of a proposal
Each row is tied to Google's guidance for site owners. If a line in your draft looks like one, rewrite it.
| Do not write | What Google says | Write instead |
|---|---|---|
| "Guaranteed #1 ranking" or "page one in 90 days" | "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." Owners are told to beware of ranking guarantees and to find someone else if an SEO guarantees first place. | "We report the agreed numbers monthly and explain what moved them." |
| "Our secret method" | Be wary of a company that is secretive or will not clearly explain its plans. The Starter Guide adds that no secret ranks a site first automatically. | "Every change goes in a shared change log, with the reason." |
| "Special relationship with Google," "priority submission," or "submission to thousands of search engines" | Google warns about all three, and does not take payment to list or rank sites. | Nothing. Leave it out. |
| "Google-approved tools" | Google does not evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and tells owners to be wary of tools that claim Google approval. | "We use [tool] for [task]." |
| "Includes a credit link to our site in your footer" | Owners should never be required to link to the SEO they hire. | No link requirement. Ask separately if you may name them as a client. |
| "[Number] backlinks per month" | The spam policies count buying or selling links for ranking, and excessive link exchanges, as link spam. | "We do not buy links." Describe the content or outreach work itself. |
| "A page for every town within 50 miles" | The spam policies cover doorway abuse (pages built to rank for closely related searches; Google's examples include pages aimed at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page) and scaled content abuse (masses of pages made mostly to manipulate rankings). | Location pages only where the client serves customers and has something specific to say. |
| "Google Ads to boost your rankings" | Buying Google ads does not change how a site shows in organic results. | Ads as a separate line, with separate numbers. |
The stakes are real for both sides. Google says sites that break its spam policies can drop in rankings or disappear from results, and that deceptive content created by an SEO could get a site removed from its index. In the US, Google points owners who feel deceived by an SEO to the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC's advertising guide for small businesses says advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, that advertisers need evidence to back up their claims, and that fine print cannot contradict other statements in an ad. Hold your proposal to the same standard: a small "results not guaranteed" footnote does not cancel a headline that promises page one.
Before you send it
- Part 1 quotes the owner at least once.
- Every bullet in part 3 has a number or a date the client can check.
- No ranking, traffic or revenue figure appears anywhere as a promise.
- The timeline describes work, and cites Google on timing.
- No brackets are left, and you read it once on a phone, as the owner would.
Sources
- No #1 ranking guarantee, questions to ask and be asked, read-only audit access, realistic audit estimates, secrecy, owner responsibility, explaining changes, linking to an SEO, other red flags, third-party tools, index removal, ads and organic results, services SEOs offer, FTC complaints: Do you need an SEO? (Google Search Central, last updated 5 June 2026)
- How long changes take to be reflected, waiting a few weeks to judge, not every change having an effect, and no secrets that rank a site first: SEO Starter Guide (Google Search Central)
- Crawling can take a few days to a few weeks; a crawl request does not guarantee inclusion: Ask Google to recrawl your URLs (Google Search Central)
- Link spam (buying or selling links, excessive link exchanges), doorway abuse and its region or city example, scaled content abuse, and what happens to sites that violate the policies: Spam policies for Google web search (Google Search Central)
- What a manual action is and its effect on a site: Manual Actions report (Search Console Help)
- Not every URL needs to be indexed: Page indexing report (Search Console Help)
- Restricted and Full user rights, and that only owners can add or remove users: Manage owners, users and permissions (Search Console Help)
- Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, claims need evidence, fine print cannot contradict an ad: Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business (FTC)