Yes I do in fact cave easily
I know I said in my previous blog about Development Requests For Proposals that doing an SEO RFP was something to be avoided at all costs (to the point that ramming a pen directly into your kneecap to get out of it would be a viable option), but of course this just guarantees that at some point your job is going to require you to do it. In order to spare you any unnecessary Bic-related patella injuries, we have gone ahead and put together a sample SEO RFP that is available for download at our site.
Please note that this Search Engine Optimization request for proposal is even more dependant on you, the client, providing information than its Web development counterpart. SEO strategies and Internet marketing campaigns are tailored specifically to your market, your target site users and what kind of communication medium you use your Web site for. Of course, your competition also needs to be evaluated and considered. So an SEO firm getting a firm enough grip on all of this through an SEO RFP is highly unlikely.
As with the development RFP, just download the SEO RFP template, change the fonts and page background to fit your company’s branding and then start sending out the pain to us, the sad response-preparers. We have also included a TKG-Branded version to give you an idea of how to brand it to your company - which doubles as a not-so-subtle reminder to, of course, remember to hit us with one when it comes time to distribute your finished SEO Request for Proposal!
Our hope is that this will at least get you asking the right questions. Hopefully if you do go through this process, you’ll still take the time to personally interview, and get to know the team you’ll be hiring.
August 25th, 2007 at 10:50 am
As much as I hate RFPs for both web development and search marketing it seems that they’ve become a necessary evil.
I highly recommend that if you go through this process, still take the time to meet the people you’ve submitted it to, preferably before you even read their response. Ask them to show you the results they’ve generated and the strategies they used to get there. Case studies are nice, and all search marketing companies use them, but also ask them to show you the results, while you’re sitting with them. Both in the search engine rankings or PPC campaigns and in the sales/lead gen result (conversions). You need to actually see their work, not prepared marketing materials.
Then, ask them where they would start with your site. Don’t ask them to promise you results or rankings, if they are credible, they will shy away from ranking guarantees. But ask them what strategies they would likely employ. If they’ve spent the time to properly respond to your Search Marketing RFP, they should have at least a basic understanding of your needs.
That personal interaction, and seeing their work, is what will really tell you if they are the right fit for you. No RFP document will do that.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:03 pm
[...] Start by trying to answer the following questions before throwing a random number in a spreadsheet or your “SEO RFP“. [...]