SEO Contract

What is an SEO contract?

An SEO contract is a legal agreement between a service provider and a client that defines the scope, terms, and responsibilities related to search engine optimization for a client’s website. It helps both parties manage expectations, set measurable goals, and reduce misunderstandings. An SEO contract template helps to define clear terms and conditions for cooperation.

A good example of an SEO contract usually includes the following elements:

• information about the parties;
• scope of services provided;
• detailed parameters of a website;
• payment terms;
• duration of services;
• termination clause;
• confidentiality clause.

An SEO contract is a special type of services agreement that deals with the provision of professional SEO services for website optimization in Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines. The present SEO contract template can be used for various types of SEO services like off-site and on-site SEO, keyword search, and more.

An SEO services contract could be helpful in various situations, for example:

• A freelance SEO consultant needs to enter an agreement with the new client;
• A digital marketing agency is being hired by a medium-sized company to grow their traffic.
• A start-up needs an SEO expert to improve their monthly traffic.

The main parties to an SEO contract are the client and the SEO consultant. A client could be a self-employed person, a start-up, a business, or any other organization that runs their business fully or partially online. An SEO consultant could be a freelancer, an independent SEO specialist, or a professional SEO agency.

What Are the Terms and Conditions of an SEO Contract?

An effective SEO contract outlines several critical elements without which a contract cannot become a legally binding document. Those elements are the following:

Information about the parties

Every contract should provide detailed information about the parties, including their names, addresses, and contact information.

Both parties that are listed in the preamble of a contract should sign it. Without either party’s signature, a document is not valid. Along with a party’s signature, a date of signing the document should also be included.

Website details

An SEO contract template identifies the client’s website for which SEO services should be rendered. The following information should be listed:

• website’s address (domain name or URL);
• average monthly traffic;
• average domain’s authority;
• any manual actions detected by search engines (if applicable);
• any security issues detected by search engines (if applicable).

Scope of Services

This is one of the most important clauses of any SEO contract. This clause defines the exact scope of SEO services that should be rendered to the client.

A typical contract for the provision of SEO services also includes regular reporting by the SEO consultant. The parties may choose to deliver daily, weekly, or monthly reporting.

It is also advisable to include certain goals or KYE for an SEO consultant into the text of a contract.

Payment Terms

The contract must define how the SEO consultant will be compensated for rendered services. Payment terms include the following elements:

• fee structure (e.g., project fee, monthly rate, hourly rate, weekly rate);
• payment method (e.g., cash, bank transfer, PayPal);
• frequency of invoicing;
• late fees (if any).

Duration

The duration clause outlines how long the SEO services should be provided to the client. As a rule of thumb, the SEO consultant shall start provision of services on the date of signing the contract, unless another date is being agreed upon by the parties.

The services hereunder could be provided for:

• an indefinite period of time (until terminated by either party);
• until a specific date (should be defined separately in the contract); or
• until hitting certain milestones (e.g., 2000 clicks per month).

How to customize the contract at FasterDraft?

In order to customize your SEO contract template, follow a few easy steps below:

1. Click the button “Create Document.”
2. Answer questions in the questionnaire.
3. Select a document’s format: SEO contract template Word or SEO contract template PDF.
4. Make a payment.
5. Download a customized document.