SEO Retainer Proposal for FormTech Solutions

FormTech Solutions isn't asking for more organic traffic in the abstract — you're asking to stop losing pipeline to Zapier and Make. Your sales team is already feeling it. Deals that should close are going to competitors who own the top positions for the exact terms your buyers search when they're ready to act. That's a revenue problem, not a vanity metrics problem, and it's the right frame for this engagement.

The commercial goal is clear: get FormTech's core product pages ranking on page 1 for high-intent terms like "workflow automation platform" and "form builder for enterprises" — the queries that indicate purchase intent, not curiosity. The benchmark your team has set is page-1 rankings for at least 15 target keywords by March 2027, and that is the number we will report against every month.

The priority here is qualified organic visibility, not raw traffic volume. An extra 20,000 monthly visitors who are not enterprise buyers does not move your sales pipeline. We will orient the entire keyword strategy around terms that your sales team would recognize as a warm lead.

Your current position — approximately 8,000 monthly visitors and page 2–3 rankings for core keywords — tells us the site has authority, but it's being squandered. The gap between page 2 and page 1 is rarely a content gap alone. In most cases like yours, it's a combination of unresolved technical debt, thin on-page relevance signals, and a link profile that hasn't kept pace with competitors who have been building aggressively.

One real constraint shapes everything: your developer is available for no more than 2–3 hours per week. We've built this engagement specifically to work within that limit — more on that in the sections that follow.

There is no point building content or pursuing backlinks against keywords FormTech cannot yet rank for. That is the core logic behind how we sequence this engagement — and it is the most important strategic decision we make together.

The first four weeks exist for one reason: to understand exactly why your core product pages are sitting on page 2–3 before we touch anything else. Our team will conduct a full Technical SEO Audit of the FormTech Solutions site, mapping crawl issues, indexation gaps, internal linking structure, and page-level authority signals. Until that work is complete, we do not know whether "workflow automation platform" is underperforming because of a content gap, a technical barrier, or a backlink deficit — and the answer changes everything about what comes next.

We recommend treating the Foundation & Audit phase as non-negotiable. Agencies that skip straight to content and link building are, in effect, pouring resource into a leaky funnel. We will not do that here.

At the end of Weeks 1–4, you will have a clear, prioritized picture of what is holding back your organic visibility — with every technical fix written into briefs your in-house developer can action within their 2–3 hours per week. We size the implementation tasks deliberately to fit that constraint, so nothing sits waiting.

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From Week 5 onward, the work shifts to active execution. Content production targets the high-intent queries your sales team is losing — terms like "form builder for enterprises" — with articles built around a confirmed Target Keyword Master List. Link building runs in parallel, focused on acquiring signals that move pages from position 11–20 into the top 10. Both tracks are informed by what the audit found, which is precisely why they start in Week 5 and not Week 1.

What is deliberately not happening in the first four weeks: no content is published, no outreach is sent. That is intentional. Rushing either activity before the technical foundation is solid creates noise in the data and makes it harder to attribute what is actually moving rankings.

The final phase — Weeks 21–26 — shifts emphasis to consolidation: reinforcing gains on the keywords closest to page 1, and producing the reporting that demonstrates progress against your March 2027 goal of 15 target keywords ranking on page 1.

The engagement covers four defined workstreams across FormTech Solutions' organic search presence. Everything below is in scope. Everything not listed is not.

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What We're Working On

Organic search on FormTech Solutions' primary domain. That's the one property, the one channel. We're not touching paid search, social, or any secondary domain. All work — audit findings, keyword tracking, content production, link placement — maps directly to improving organic visibility for that single domain through the engagement term.

The four in-scope workstreams are:

1. Technical SEO — Continuous identification and remediation of crawl, indexation, Core Web Vitals, and structured-data issues. We lead all diagnosis and translate findings into implementation-ready specifications for your developer, scoped to no more than 2–3 hours of their time per month. The spec goes to them; the execution comes back checked by us.

2. Keyword Strategy & Tracking — A prioritised master list of high-intent B2B SaaS terms, anchored to targets like workflow automation platform and form builder for enterprises. We maintain rank tracking, map search intent to content assets, and report on movement toward the 15-keyword page-1 goal each month.

3. Content Strategy & Production — One content brief and one fully written, SEO-optimised long-form article per month, each targeting a keyword drawn from the master list. Before any article is published, a named approver on your side signs off. We coordinate subject-matter-expert input from your team — either written answers to a prepared brief or a 30-minute recorded interview — so the final piece reflects FormTech's actual product knowledge, not generic copy.

4. Link Building — Prospecting, outreach, and editorial placement in SaaS, workflow automation, and business-productivity publications. We run the full process. You review the monthly Link Building Report; you don't manage the outreach.

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What Is Explicitly Out of Scope

This is a common source of scope creep, so we're being direct about it:

• Paid search (PPC) — Google Ads or any other paid media is a separate engagement. We will not advise on, manage, or report on ad spend.
• Website development or CMS changes — We produce implementation briefs; your developer builds. Any changes beyond the agreed 2–3 hours per month of developer time fall outside this engagement. If a significant technical overhaul is needed, that's a separate conversation.
• Social media content or management — Content we produce is written for organic search. It is not formatted, scheduled, or distributed for social channels.
• PR outreach unrelated to link acquisition — We build links. Media coverage, brand PR, and press releases that don't serve a direct link-building purpose are out.
• Translation or localization of any content — All content produced under this engagement is in English only.
• Conversion rate optimization (CRO) testing — Landing page testing, A/B experiments, and conversion funnel work are not part of this retainer.

If a request falls into any of the above categories, we'll tell you plainly rather than absorb it into the retainer and deliver less of what you actually hired us for.

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Accounts, Data, and Approvals

Access: Before the engagement begins on September 7, 2026, FormTech Solutions provides admin-level access to Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, and the CMS. Work does not start without it — these are non-negotiable dependencies.

Ownership: You own all accounts and all data throughout the engagement and after it ends. Google Search Console stays under FormTech's verified domain ownership. GA4 stays on your property. Any content we produce and you publish belongs to FormTech.

Approvals cadence: One named approver on FormTech's side holds sign-off authority for content briefs and article drafts. That person reviews each content brief and returns approval or written feedback within 5 business days of delivery. Same turnaround applies to article drafts. Subject-matter-expert input is due within 5 business days of each content brief being delivered. Technical implementation tasks specified in each brief must be completed within 10 business days.

These windows are not generous — they're necessary. If approvals slip, publication schedules slip, and ranking progress follows. We'll flag any delays the moment they occur.

The engagement runs in three distinct phases, each with a clear handoff point so you always know where the work stands and what's coming next.

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Foundation & Audit is the only phase that produces one-off deliverables. Before we touch a single keyword or publish a word of content, we do the diagnostic work — a full crawl-based Technical SEO Audit and a Target Keyword Master List anchored to the high-intent B2B SaaS terms your sales team is losing ground on, including 'workflow automation platform' and 'form builder for enterprises'. These two deliverables are built once and inform everything that follows. Think of them as the blueprint. Every content decision, every technical fix, every link target traces back to what these documents establish.

We recommend treating the audit findings as a triage list, not a wish list. Given that your developer is available for no more than 2–3 hours per week, we will sequence technical fixes by ranking impact — the issues suppressing your page-2 and page-3 keywords come first.

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Once the foundation is in place, the engagement shifts into Active Optimisation & Content — the longest and most intensive phase. This is where the recurring deliverable set kicks in. Every month, you receive a Monthly Rank & Traffic Report showing movement across all tracked keywords and progress toward your 15-keyword page-1 target, a Technical Implementation Brief scoped precisely to your developer's available hours, Content Briefs for the articles in the following month's production queue, finished SEO Content Articles ready for publication, and a Link Building Report covering all outreach activity and placements secured that month.

That cadence holds without interruption. You are not waiting for a project milestone to see output — the reporting, the content, and the link-building documentation arrive every month, on schedule.

One thing to set expectations on clearly: the first reportable ranking movement for FormTech's core product keywords will take time to materialize. Technical fixes need to be crawled and indexed. Content needs to accumulate authority. Links take time to be placed and recognized. You should expect to see early signals — crawl health improvements, new keyword entries, content indexed — well before you see meaningful page-1 movement. The 15-keyword page-1 goal is a March 2027 target, and we have scoped the engagement accordingly.

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Consolidation & Reporting closes the initial term. The recurring deliverable set continues through this phase without interruption. The difference here is focus: we are consolidating gains, reinforcing rankings that have moved onto page 1, and identifying which keyword opportunities should anchor any continuation of the engagement beyond the initial term.

Every deliverable in the recurring set is produced by us. Your team reviews and approves content — the execution is ours.

Phase schedule

Phase	Dates	Duration	Deliverables completed
Foundation & Audit	Sep 7, 2026 – Oct 2, 2026	4 weeks	Technical SEO Audit; Target Keyword Master List
Active Optimisation & Content	Oct 5, 2026 – Jan 22, 2027	16 weeks	Monthly Rank & Traffic Report; Technical Implementation Briefs; SEO Content Articles; Content Briefs; Link Building Report
Consolidation & Reporting	Jan 25, 2027 – Mar 5, 2027	6 weeks	Monthly Rank & Traffic Report; Technical Implementation Briefs; SEO Content Articles; Content Briefs; Link Building Report

Deliverables

#	Deliverable	Description	Target date
1	Technical SEO Audit	A full crawl-based audit covering indexation, site architecture, Core Web Vitals, structured data, and internal linking, delivered at the start of the engagement.	Oct 2, 2026
2	Target Keyword Master List	A ranked list of target keywords with monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, current ranking position, and assigned content owner for each term.	Oct 2, 2026
3	Monthly Rank & Traffic Report	A recurring report delivered each month covering ranking movements for all tracked keywords, organic session trends, and progress toward the 15-keyword page-1 goal.	Mar 5, 2027
4	Technical Implementation Briefs	Recurring monthly specifications given to the client's developer covering all technical fixes identified that month, scoped to no more than 2–3 hours of developer time.	Mar 5, 2027
5	SEO Content Articles	Fully written, SEO-optimised long-form articles published or ready for publication each month, each targeting a mapped keyword from the master list.	Mar 5, 2027
6	Content Briefs	Detailed briefs produced each month for upcoming articles, covering target keyword, search intent, recommended structure, internal link targets, and competitor gap analysis.	Mar 5, 2027
7	Link Building Report	A recurring monthly report listing all link-building outreach activity, placements secured, and domain-authority metrics for each acquired link.	Mar 5, 2027

The total investment for the 26-week engagement is $24,000, structured as an acceptance deposit followed by five monthly retainer instalments. There is no media spend embedded in this figure — FormTech Solutions carries no ad budget under this engagement, and none is required. This is a pure organic SEO program.

We recommend paying close attention to the deposit structure: the acceptance deposit secures your September 7, 2026 start date and triggers immediate mobilization of our team. Do not treat it as optional — without it, we cannot hold the kickoff slot.

The minimum commitment is six months. After the initial term, the engagement rolls month to month, with either party able to exit on 30 days' written notice. This structure gives FormTech Solutions the flexibility to continue as results compound — which, given that meaningful ranking movement for competitive B2B SaaS keywords typically takes several months to materialize, is the right posture.

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The monthly retainer rate is $4,000. This sits at the upper end of your stated $3,500–$4,500 budget, and the reason is straightforward: the technical execution burden we are absorbing — specifically, limiting your developer to no more than 2–3 hours per week — requires our team to own diagnosis, specification writing, and quality control end to end. That level of agency-side ownership is priced accordingly.

If FormTech Solutions requests an expansion of scope mid-term — for example, adding a new product line to the keyword program or increasing content volume — we will price that as a separate written amendment. The agreed retainer rate does not automatically absorb scope additions. Any change requires written agreement from both parties before work begins.

All amounts are invoiced in USD, with payment due within net 30 days of each invoice date.

Payment schedule

#	Milestone	%	Amount	Trigger
1	Acceptance deposit	25%	$6,000.00	On acceptance of this agreement
2	Monthly retainer instalment (1 of 5)	15%	$3,600.00	On the scheduled date
3	Monthly retainer instalment (2 of 5)	15%	$3,600.00	On the scheduled date
4	Monthly retainer instalment (3 of 5)	15%	$3,600.00	On the scheduled date
5	Monthly retainer instalment (4 of 5)	15%	$3,600.00	On the scheduled date
6	Monthly retainer instalment (5 of 5)	15%	$3,600.00	On the scheduled date: Monthly Rank & Traffic Report; Technical Implementation Briefs; SEO Content Articles; Content Briefs; Link Building Report
	Total	100%	$24,000.00

Commercial summary

Item	Detail
Total investment	$24,000.00
Acceptance deposit	25% ($6,000.00) on signature
Payment terms	Net 30 days
Start	September 2026
Duration	26 weeks
Initial term	6 months
Renewal	Rolls month to month
Notice to end	30 days

B2B SaaS SEO is a specific discipline. The keyword intent is different, the content bar is higher, and the sales cycle means you're optimizing for qualified pipeline — not raw traffic volume. We work in this space deliberately, and we know the difference between a keyword that drives signups and one that drives page views from people who will never buy.

On account ownership: the strategist who scoped this engagement runs it. You will not present your goals in a kickoff call and then spend the next six months chasing a junior coordinator for updates. Our reporting cadence is built around your needs as a Marketing Director — clear monthly rank and traffic data, tied directly to the 15-keyword goal you've set for March 2027.

The 2–3 hours per week your developer can contribute is not a constraint we need you to apologize for. It's a parameter we've designed the entire delivery model around. Technical Implementation Briefs exist precisely so your developer can act quickly and accurately without us needing more of their time than you have to give.

Month four is where most SEO engagements lose their discipline. Rankings improve, the initial excitement fades, and without a clear escalation strategy the work drifts. We plan for that moment from day one. The Consolidation & Reporting phase, running from January 25, 2027 to March 5, 2027, is specifically structured to assess what's ranking, what needs a second push, and where link building should concentrate to protect and extend gains — not to celebrate early wins and coast.

We do not coast.

To move forward, sign and return the proposal along with your 25% acceptance deposit of $6,000. Once both are received, we schedule a kickoff call and the engagement starts September 7, 2026 — no delay, no back-and-forth.

Before kickoff, we need the following from your team:

• Read access to FormTech's Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts
• Access to your CMS (view and edit permissions for on-page work)
• A confirmed point of contact on your side — typically you or whoever manages the developer relationship
• Confirmation of your developer's availability window so we can schedule Technical Implementation Briefs around their 2–3 hours per week

We recommend getting Search Console and Analytics access sorted before the kickoff call. It's the single item that most commonly delays the audit, and we want the Foundation phase running from day one.

We will send a formal access request checklist immediately on signing so nothing slips.

This pricing is held until August 31, 2026. After that date, we cannot guarantee the same rate or the September 7 start.

Reply to this proposal to confirm, and we'll take it from there.