An SEO request for proposal should make competing responses comparable. The outline below is an editable procurement method, not a statement of Meridian pricing or contractual terms. Adapt its inputs and acceptance criteria to your organization.
Open with the website, audience, target market and problem the engagement should address. Provide enough context to distinguish an audit, advisory work and implementation. Keep confidential analytics or credentials out of an openly shared brief; describe how approved suppliers can receive appropriate access.
Ask each supplier to explain the proposed workstreams, required inputs, dependencies and assumptions. Invite them to identify what they cannot conclude before access. This is more useful than asking every bidder to promise the same traffic increase before reviewing the site.
For an audit, an example requirement could be a URL-level issue log with evidence, priority, action and acceptance steps. For content, ask for briefs, reviewed copy, sources, metadata and publication responsibilities. Specify useful formats and review boundaries rather than judging proposals only by page or word counts.
Ask bidders to separate included work, exclusions, optional tasks, client effort and pricing assumptions. Do not infer a package’s value from the headline fee alone. Clarify ownership of accounts, content and working files through your normal procurement and legal review.
An illustrative scorecard might compare business fit, proposed method, evidence quality, delivery clarity and collaboration requirements. Choose the criteria and weights before reviewing bids. Ask for permission-backed examples and references rather than treating unsupported logos or projected results as proof.
Before work begins, confirm the agreed scope, named owners, access process, first deliverables and review dates. Establish how recommendations become approved tasks and how completed changes are verified. The RFP becomes useful when its requirements survive into the actual working plan.
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