A strong SEO proposal should include understanding your business goals, conducting a thorough site audit, performing tailored keyword research, developing on-page and off-page strategies, implementing local SEO, creating content marketing plans, providing clear reporting, setting realistic timelines, and offering affordable pricing with measurable ROI.
Today, every business needs to have a strong online footprint. If you run a small business in the US, getting the right SEO expert can help you grow more quickly. It’s not always easy to know who to trust, though, because there are so many options. How can you choose an affordable SEO expert for your needs?
Here are the 10 most important factors to consider in an SEO proposal from the best SEO expert. You’ll know you’re making the right choice when these are included.
1. Clear Understanding of Your Business Goals
Any good SEO proposal should start with your goals. The professional must demonstrate that they understand what’s important to your business. Do you want to get more local customers? Would you like to expand nationwide? Or do you want to build your business online?
A study by Clutch.co found that nearly half of small businesses fail to achieve the desired SEO benefits. Usually, the plan doesn’t match up with what the company really wants to achieve.
As you read a plan, be wary of empty claims like “we’ll get you more traffic.” That doesn’t mean anything by itself. A good proposal should link SEO work to results that matter to you, such as leads, sales, or customer engagement.
Our Tip: Check how your website is doing today. Once your goals are clear, you can move on to the next step.
2. Comprehensive SEO Audit
An SEO strategy that doesn’t include an audit is like putting up a house on sand. A good audit sets the stage. It needs to include:
- Technical issues: Problems with the site’s speed, mobile design, and tracking
- On-site SEO: headers, tags, and organized data
- Review of content: quality, relevancy, and optimization
- Backlink profile: how authoritative you are now, and how you can get more authoritative
According to recent data that 68% of all internet activities start with a search. You can’t make choices if you don’t know where your website is at the moment.
Our Tip: Do a keyword study to find out what people are really looking for after the audit is over.
3. Customized research on keywords
Keywords help people find your business. A good SEO expert won’t target broad keywords that attract random users. Their attention will be on search terms that bring in the right people instead. Usually, what that means:
- Long-tail terms that are relevant to your business
- Searches in your area if you help people in that area
- Keywords that have a good chance of ranking and a high return on investment
It makes a huge difference to target keywords with clear goals in mind. It helps attract people who want to buy or sign up, not just those browsing.
Our Tip: Once you know which keywords to use, ensure that your pages are set up to rank.
4. A plan for on-page optimization
On-page SEO is the process of making small changes to your site so that people and search engines can easily use it. This is what a good plan should have:
- Make sure your meta tags and title tags are clear.
- Using titles (H1, H2) to set the tone
- Putting in internal links that lead people naturally
- Labeling and compressing pictures to make them easier to find and load faster
Structured sites not only rank higher, but they’re also easier to use. Moz says that on-page optimization can improve rankings by up to 50% compared to pages that aren’t organized well.
Our Tip: Once your website is up and running, the next thing you should think about is what happens after your website.
5. Off-Page SEO Strategy
Off-page SEO makes people trust you. It’s the work you do outside of your website to show search engines that people trust and respect your brand. Among these are:
- Getting backlinks from useful, trusted sites
- Staying active on social media to get people to interact
- To reach more people, you can publish guest blogs or work with influencers.
In a plan, you should explain how these steps will enhance your capabilities. There are still numerous strong signs that Google uses to determine how to rank sites, according to Backlinko.
Our Tip: Local businesses should appear where people searching for them are looking.
6. Focus on local SEO
Local SEO is very important if you serve people in your area. These things should be in a strong proposal for an affordable seo consultant:
- Making your Google Business Profile better
- Ensuring that your name, address, and phone number are consistent across all online platforms is crucial.
- How to get and handle customer reviews
- Making material for people in the area
Google found that almost half of all searches are for things that are close to home. If you don’t do local SEO, you’ll miss out on almost half of your possible buyers.
Our Tip: Once local exposure is taken care of, the focus moves to content.
7. A way to market content
Growth is driven by content. It’s no longer a choice. In your proposal, it should be clear how the information on your site will attract people and retain their interest. Usually, what that means:
- Blog posts that use long-tail keywords
- That people can take are videos, infographics, or other materials
- A set schedule for posting so that information stays the same
Good material gets more than just clicks. It makes people trust you. In fact, a HubSpot study shows that businesses that put blogging first are 13 times more likely to see a return on their marketing.
Our Tip: After making content, you need to keep track of how it’s doing.
8. Reporting and analytics that are clear
If you don’t measure it, you can’t make it better. Ask or check how often you’ll get reports every week, every month, or every three months? Rankings, leads, traffic, and conversions are key measures that matter. So measure that makes your scale.
Innovative ideas or new information will help make changes to the plan, and I always admire them. Reporting makes sure that everything is clear. It shows where things are improving and where changes are needed.
Our Tip: Once you have clear information, you should focus on setting deadlines and goals.
9. Clear Timeline and Milestones
When you set deadlines, you don’t set unrealistic goals for yourself. Look for a plan that says:
- First things to do, like fixing mistakes on the site and finishing audits
- Traffic and ranks are expected to go up in the next few months.
- Long-term goals that keep things moving forward
Milestones help you see how far you’ve come. They also keep you honest about when you should expect results.
Our Tip: Once the plan is clear, the last thing to check is the price.
10. Affordable Pricing with Clear ROI
Value is more important than price. A good plan needs to break down the costs and make a link between each service and ROI. Try to compare what you’re investing in to what you think will happen.
A new study found that small businesses that spend money on SEO see a 400% return in two years. Sagapixel says that the average SEO ROI is 748% and that real estate companies have a ROI of over 1,300%. It will cost you money to hire the right expert or firm, but they will also help your business grow.
Bonus Tip: Choosing the Right Partner
While evaluating proposals, remember that the best SEO specialist or top SEO experts are not necessarily the most expensive. Focus on:
- Proven track record
- Transparent communication
- Customized strategies for your business
Virtual IT, a well-known affordable SEO agency, offers trustworthy and transparent SEO services that fit the budgets of small businesses and any business seeking affordable options. Get Affordable SEO services in the USA today! Free consultation with a guarantee of business growth.
In conclusion
One of the most important things you can do for your online business is to hire the right affordable SEO expert. If they cover all ten things in their proposal, you can be sure that they can help you reach your goals.
Don’t just pick the cheapest thing. The best person for the job is someone who adds real value, has proven knowledge, and makes a plan just for your business. It is easy for your business to grow and do well online if you hire the right professional.
What Are The Risks Of Choosing Cheap SEO Services?
It can be bad to choose the cheapest SEO service. Cheap providers often engage in risky practices, such as overusing keywords on a page or acquiring numerous backlinks from low-quality sites. These shortcuts might help your numbers for a short time, but they can hurt the image of your website. If Google penalizes your site, potential customers may no longer trust it. It generally costs more to fix these problems than to hire a good professional in the first place.
What Good Things Does Local SEO Do For Small Businesses?
Local SEO helps people in your area find your business. People will be able to find you more easily if you optimize your Google Business Profile and local listings. This attracts more visitors, calls, and sales from the surrounding area. Local SEO is a cheap way for small businesses to turn searches into real sales.
How Can Small Businesses Start With SEO On A Budget?
SEO doesn’t need to be expensive. Start by optimizing your website for faster and better performance on mobile devices. Fix any bugs that are making people wait. Then, focus your material on the keywords that people are looking for. A few well-written pages can attract more visitors and potential leads without incurring significant expenses.
What Are The Common Mistakes In SEO?
Many companies fail to optimize their SEO. A lot of people make common mistakes, such as ignoring mobile users, failing to optimize for local search, and leaving outdated information. This can hurt your results and make people less interested in what you have to offer. Fixing them makes your site more visible in search results and attracts people’s interest.
What Should Be Included In An SEO Proposal?
A good SEO plan is thorough and easy to understand. It should list the services offered, when they will be completed, their associated costs, and the expected results. Being open and honest helps people know what to expect. A good proposal explains in detail how the plan will work and outlines the criteria for evaluating its success.
