SEO quotation clients can measure

What to include in an SEO quote template

An SEO quotation needs to show the client what work happens and when, because rankings move slowly and nobody can promise them. This template prices a fixed setup stage, then countable monthly work such as optimized pages and reports, with link outreach left as an optional extra. Open the sample program in the quote maker, or download the Word, Excel or PDF version.

A good SEO quote template turns an invisible service into a list of countable tasks. Price the one off setup separately from the monthly program, give every deliverable a number, and say plainly which parts depend on the client’s developer or on content they write themselves.

1. Technical auditCrawl errors, page speed, indexing, redirects and structured data, delivered as a prioritized fix list. Say whether you make the fixes yourself or only report them.
2. Keyword researchThe topics and search terms you will target, each mapped to an existing page or a new one.
3. On-page work by page countThe number of pages you will rework, such as ten, and what each gets: title, description, headings, internal links and copy edits.
4. Local listingsGoogle Business Profile and the main directories, with name, address and phone made consistent. Quote the number of listings.
5. ContentNew pages or articles with word counts, or a note that writing is quoted separately, for example through a copywriting quote.
6. Link outreachContacting relevant sites for links, priced monthly as an option and described by activity rather than a guaranteed number of links.
7. ReportingWhat each monthly report shows: positions for agreed terms, organic traffic, leads from search and the work completed that month.
8. Access and developer timeLogins for the CMS, analytics and Search Console, and who pays for developer hours if fixes need code. When the site needs rebuilding rather than tuning, a website design quote is the better starting point.

Sample SEO quotation with example prices

Rankright SEO is quoting Sakina Home Care for a six month program. The Setup group holds the $900 technical audit and $350 for local listings. The Monthly group covers ten optimized pages at $120 each and six monthly reports at $150, for a $3,350 subtotal. Link outreach at $400 a month is optional and left out of the total. The deposit is 40%, and every rate is an example.

Edit the Rankright SEO quote

5 lines are filled in, from technical audit to link outreach. Put in your own SEO rates, then download the PDF.

Open the SEO sample

How to price SEO services

SEO is usually priced as a setup fee plus a monthly program, or as a one off project such as an audit or a site migration plan. Either way, base the price on the tasks you will actually perform and the hours they take, never on a promised position.

1. Setup plus monthly programA fixed price for the audit and listings, then a monthly fee for a set list of tasks. The sample is built this way, and it suits most local businesses.
2. Per page or per taskA price for each page optimized, location page written or listing claimed. Clients see output for their money, and extra work drops in as optional lines.
3. One off projectA fixed price for an audit, a migration plan or a content gap review, with no ongoing commitment after delivery.
4. Hourly consultingA rate for advice, training an in-house team or checking a developer’s work, where the deliverable is your time rather than pages.

Six month programs are often billed monthly after the deposit; the quote to invoice page shows how an accepted quote becomes the first invoice. Keep a list of per task prices on a rate card for add-ons.

Worked example: pricing the work an audit uncovers

After a crawl, a 40 page home care site needs priority fixes, two new location pages and a listings cleanup over six months. The rates are examples.

1. Priority pages12 pages to optimize at $120 each: 12 × $120 = $1,440.
2. New location pagesTwo pages for nearby towns at $350 each: $700.
3. Listings cleanup25 directory listings corrected at $12 each: 25 × $12 = $300.
4. ReportingSix monthly reports at $150: $900. Total: $1,440 + $700 + $300 + $900 = $3,340 before tax.
5. Payment planA 40% deposit is $1,336. The remaining $2,004 spread over six months is $334 a month.

The size of the site, the developer time fixes need and whether the client writes their own content change the scope far more than the number of keywords.

Inclusions and exclusions on SEO work

SEO quoting mistakes

SEO clients cannot see most of the work, so a vague quote leaves them guessing what they paid for. These are the slips that make a client question the invoice by month three.

• Promising first page positions, which no one controls and which turns every report into a dispute.
• Quoting a monthly fee with no task list, so the client cannot tell what happened for their money.
• Finding in the audit that the fixes need a developer, with no line or exclusion covering that time.
• Writing new pages inside the fee without a word count, then producing twice what was priced.
• Not asking for Search Console and analytics access before the start date.
• Pricing a one month job when changes take a season to show, so the client leaves before anything moves.