What makes the perfect proposal?

[williamc]

ok, here goes what should be a lively one...

What makes the perfect SEO proposal to prospective clients?

What would yours contain, what data would be shown, what special needs would be covered in it?

Say a system was developed that allowed you to enter a few key pieces of information about a client and their site and it did the rest for you, what abilities would you most like to see in it?

[mjtaylor]

Excellent topic! I don't do proposals - the only time I write something up is the actual agreement that spells out the plan and the terms. But if I did, I think case studies would be a great thing to have for an SEO;s proposal. Especially if you could choose from a database that would show different case studies depending on niche or other relevant parameter.

[hitman786]

This is an expert talk but for the new ones going to apply for first time you should give them a proposal as well and then ask for any addition from experts if needed!

what do you say?

[williamc]

MJ: good idea.

hitman, uhhh, wait, what??

[mjtaylor]

hitman, uhhh, wait, what??

I second that emotion. Hitman, it's not clear what you were saying. Please try again.

[williamc]

MJ, in regards to your post, we often get 'what can be done for my site' emails. In these cases an actual proposal rather than just a contract is often better for us to send out. Our own proposals include statistical data about their site, keywords, trends, etc, as well as what we see as being wrong with the website in terms of it's optimization, both on-page as well as off-page, and gives points on exactly what we will do to improve it.

At the bottom of the proposal would be a contract as well, but the proposal itself is written in a way that newbie webmasters (potential clients) can actually easily see what is wrong, why, and what we will be doing to help them.

This is a before the sale is closed thing. Contracts are for after the sale has been closed. We attach a contract as well, in the hopes that the proposal will close the deal. In some cases a phone call or numerous emails may be required to finish the sale, but our proposals generally do that for us in most cases.

[morestar]

MJ: good idea.

hitman, uhhh, wait, what??

William. hitman is asking you, the Expert in SEO to provide some proposal ideas for new and not so Expert SEOs.

I'm sure hitman's is apologetic for not speaking perfect english but helping him is much more conducive to his future decision to visit this board again.

I apologize for him too. I'll see if he can get his grammar and questions down before he posts.

Thanks for the help.

[morestar]

MJ, in regards to your post, we often get 'what can be done for my site' emails. In these cases an actual proposal rather than just a contract is often better for us to send out. Our own proposals include statistical data about their site, keywords, trends, etc, ...

What do you mean by trends William with respect to their site?

[SteveGerencser]

William, I believe I suggested that you would get exactly this sort of response when asking what people would like to see in a proposal..

For those of you watching from the side lines.. The point of this post was to see what people (SEOs) would like to give their prospective clients in the form of a proposal, or if you are a client, what you would like your SEO to give you..

You see, we have this great tool that makes sending out proposals staggeringly easy to do since the bulk of it was automated.. The intention was to flesh it out with a few more features and then offer it up for free to help out the other SEOs out there just starting out.. I think its a waste of time trying to help 99% of you, William disagreed.. Even though he is the mean one..

[williamc]

Steve: I am getting to that point myself sadly.....

[williamc]

Morestar: I meant that some of us that have the advantage of being a decent programer as well as an SEO and have been here for well over a decade. With regards to me, that means I LOVE my databases, and I love collecting data, and always have. Using my own stuff and other data points such as the majestic db and others, we can often go back as far as 4-5 years in historial link data. And given that we have the advantage of being able to effectively utilize several clouds, we have an unprecedented means of speeding up our collection of needed data. That gives us an advantage many of you do not have.

[Tubby]

The question
"Say a system was developed that allowed you to enter a few key pieces of information about a client and their site and it did the rest for you, what abilities would you most like to see in it?"

I would like it to have the ability to look like the proposal came from myself.

I am Not an SEO - A program that taps me into a system that allows me to sell this service sounds like a good thought. . .

Do I create My new website Now? www.Tubbys-SEO.com

franchise?

[williamc]

I would like it to have the ability to look like the proposal came from myself.


Tubby that is already a part of the system. It uses a plain html base template which is customizable by any user per their wants, needs. The output pdf is then generated from that html template. It can look exactly as you wanted it to look.

[SteveGerencser]

Yes Tubby, create the site, market it, get customers coming, use the soon to be released easy white label proposal tool, then subcontract the actual work to people like, oh I don't know, William and me?? :)

You get to be a big time SEO, travel to the conventions on speaking tours, get all the glory and fame, and we get to just do the work and not deal with actually talking to the clients.. Win / Win!!!!

[Tubby]

People have always preferred buying from people they know.

I cannot do talks at conventions any more - My teeth and hair fell out - I need some refurbishment before I am presentable to the public.

That sounds Good. Now I have a better Idea of the concept.

A salesman would possible want a different set of answers than an SEO. A salesman does not like to ring your doorbell if you live in a tin shed and ride a push bike. Salesmen like clients that drive New Mercedes - or at least have that sort of potential. I would like to see a 'site potential Guage '

Type in A url - the program does its work - and turns out a 'Is your site worth the effort report"

Presuming you have an expanding data base - A program could probably estimate what sort of results could be created for a site selling " Ceramic High heel shoes " Take a look at what has been done, the results so far - Then Simply create a report saying -

Site potential: "A snowflakes chance in a Bush fire"

Or
Site potential: Good news

[mjtaylor]

So, you got at least one good idea about case histories, and a few more of us know you have this cool and groovy tool now. I think it sounds like a successful start to the thread.

The thread was started over the weekend; I've watched my threads languish when I put them up at the end of the week ... I think you might find a little more interest in the next couple of days.

[williamc]

Presuming you have an expanding data base - A program could probably estimate what sort of results could be created for a site selling " Ceramic High heel shoes " Take a look at what has been done, the results so far

The one I built for our own use a few years ago actually does this, sorta, but not on the scale you are suggesting. It basically spits out tables with all relevant data which we use to determine what you are suggesting as well as proper pricing for the campaign. I like the idea of simplicity, and may try to work that into the system, and have it so that it has a 'dual purpose' mode, one setting for newbies, and one for people used to analytics.

The only problem I have with the idea at all, is that it very well could enable scammers to screw more people by giving them an easy way to create a true professional proposal that could be used to fool people into thinking they know what they are doing. I am still working that aspect out in my head.

[Tubby]

"The only problem I have with the idea at all, is that it very well could enable scammers to screw more people by giving them an easy way to create a true professional proposal that could be used to fool people into thinking they know what they are doing."

I think this would be my starting point for marketing. Accreditation.

There are plenty of free tools for the SEO handyman. I can not see a good reason why they should not aspire to stepping up to a professional SEO program. If a quality service needs protection to minimise misuse, or requires the attainment of a certain level and diversity of comprehended SEO skills to assure full benefit. Then accreditation seems to fit the bill nicely.

I think A lot of SEO's would kill for some sort of "guaranteed achieved standard" accreditation. Add to this 'access' to a quality program? . . should be easy to sell.

On going upgrades. etc.

[chrisJumbo]

Enter the site URL

Enter your goals: ie more traffic, more sales, better adsense revene...

Here are some related phrases you rank well for:

We believe we can do the following to help you rank better:

For instance, your nearest competitor has 1000 links with an average PR of 2 for the given phrase. You will need at least that many to move up in rankings.

Here are some related phrases you aren't ranking for, but maybe able to:

We believe we can do the following to help you:


For the person seeking services, they know that is needed and what it will cost them.

For the DIY type, they know what kind of sweat equity they need to invest.

Is that the road you are heading down?

cd :O)

[adtastichosting]

The question
"Say a system was developed that allowed you to enter a few key pieces of information about a client and their site and it did the rest for you, what abilities would you most like to see in it?"

I would like it to have the ability to look like the proposal came from myself.

I am Not an SEO - A program that taps me into a system that allows me to sell this service sounds like a good thought. . .

franchise?

Here's what I don't like about this idea. As an SEO professional we work very hard for our business. There is already a lot of misinformation in this business and shall we say, unscrupulous operators. The client, more often than not, is very naive and often doesn't know the difference between "good" seo and "bad" seo, until they find out the hard way. So, they rely upon us to provide the difference, you might say.

A large portion of my business is by referral. Why do I get these referrals? Because a client, let us call them "A" is in a conversation with someone, let us call them "B" about marketing a website. B is complaining about how they've been paying XYZ company some ungodly amount of money for SEO on the site and now after 2 years they aren't really even sure what the company is doing or has done. A says, "Hey, my SEO company is great, they give me very detailed reports, show me specific results and the bottom line is very clear in my bottom line." So B gives us a call and the rest is history you might say. Well, it might go something like that anyways. Point being, we get so many customers referred to us by our customers who were paying someone else for seo and that after we do an audit of their site we cannot clearly see any decent SEO having occurred at all, meanwhile the customer has wasted alot of money they could have given us. :)

My point of this is that, we see alot of people in this business already that haven't paid their dues, haven't earned the right to really call themselves an SEO professional, do very poor seo (give us a bad name so to speak) and are simply in it "for the money" and preying on the naive you might say, and competitively speaking we have to work harder to educate the client and fight for our turf so to speak.

And now, we want to make available a point and click interface that will write an seo proposal and make you look like a million bucks, make you look like you really know your stuff and are the best of the best when you don't know squat about true seo?

Certainly, having something like that might make my own business a little easier and would be really nice to have but by the same token it being available to anyone and everyone out there to fake that they are a professional high gloss seo practitioner, well, not sure I like that idea. Except that, it might bring me more referral business of anyone still having any money left over after they hire that fake practitioner with the really shiny original proposal. :)

But that said, we don't do proposals here in our estimation they are a waste of time and energy. We simply cut to the chase and write up a contract of what needs to be done, what we will do, how long it will take, what to expect from us, our warranty of service, what the end result will be, and how much it will cost.

[simonm]

I was just about to write the above post but adtastic got there first.

All my customers are referred by existing customers, even then there is churn as companies change, marketing manager brings his friends in (sad watching well tuned and positioned websites plummet).

[adtastichosting]

I was just about to write the above post but adtastic got there first.


Yeah, actually Tubby kind of beat me too it with a short and sweet version but apparently his went up as I was finishing writing mine. :o

[williamc]

Adtastic: That is precisely why I said above:


The only problem I have with the idea at all, is that it very well could enable scammers to screw more people by giving them an easy way to create a true professional proposal that could be used to fool people into thinking they know what they are doing. I am still working that aspect out in my head.

[adtastichosting]

Adtastic: That is precisely why I said above:

Yeah, I saw that post but it wasn't there when I started my post so I think you and Tubby got in as I was writing mine or I probably would have referred to them both in agreement. What's weird about it is they both say they were written yesterday but they weren't there when I began my post because I had read the thread all the way to the bottom or so it seemed, so go figure.

[williamc]

You might have had the page cached or something. I wrote that late last night. Tubby replied shortly after.

[LD]

I have taken the time to complete detailed proposals but they can take a lot of time to get the right language, content, requirements covered etc. However, these days I've begun to compress the info I send out to save some time so I can keep developing and keep the earnings clock going. I, for one, would really appreciate being able to use RAD tool to help minimize the time putting the darn things together and maximize the quality of the output delivered to a prospect or client.

[edhan]

At the bottom of the proposal would be a contract as well, but the proposal itself is written in a way that newbie webmasters (potential clients) can actually easily see what is wrong, why, and what we will be doing to help them.


For me, I always give a contract to my clients that is considered as a proposal as it is written in such a manner that clearly stated what and how it will be carried out in terms of setup, configure and implementation of the job. What I am referring to is for website, service, maintenance, networking, etc contracts for clients. It is a sort of all-in-one proposal cum contract.

[Tubby]

adtastichosting wrote
"There is already a lot of misinformation in this business and shall we say, unscrupulous operators."

This unfortunately is a well earned perception.
Tiger woods - when he added his name to a product, instantly dispelled consumer doubts. If tiger uses a certain golf ball, An - "it is certainly a good enough ball for me" thought follows.

There is room for an under the horizon franchise system that can tap into a few hundred trusted personalities. Maybe not of the Tiger woods calibre. But creating trust is a hugely untapped marketing tool for SEO. As it stands. "Will I get ripped off" is basically a fairly uppermost thought in consumers minds. . . . WORSE! The SEO profession is forefront in promoting this negative thought.

This is what SEO needs. It needs authority figures (small and large) That can stand visibly behind an SEO product. . . SEO as a trade or profession could prosper if consumer concerns are dispelled.

I ask myself. Where does the trust factor come from. Why can't "TRUST" be built into an SEO product. . or shall we leave it to google to create little programs telling us what it reads when it views our web pages - then directs us to its own webmaster tools.

Seeking the Questions that webmaster need to have answered is a good direction. .

[murphypj]

William,

As a WPW groupie who has gained almost 17 million visitors on what started out as a hobby site, largely using information gleaned here, and also someone who has taken early retirement to embark on SEO projects, this thread is an exciting one for me.

Early days, but my approach has been to meet the client, establish that the site is underperforming, and undertake a review, followed by a proposal document along the same lines you suggest.

In the few projects I've undertaken, I've produced a comprehensive review document, with realistic proposals for improving the critical areas - increase visitor numbers, increase brand awareness, and increase conversion rates.

Not quite sure on levels of charging just yet, would appreciate feedback on that - particularly after my first experience, where I produced a comprehensive set of proposals which enthused the owner, but p*ssed off the web designer ( a relative ), which led to a brick wall and no payment.

Since then, when meeting clients, I have quoted my price for the SEO project, with a fixed price on the production and sign-off on a review and reccomendations document, with staggered payments based on agreed success factors on the implementation side.

This means that I at least get paid for my research and "expert" recommendations, but give the client the comfort of knowing that their costs will be mainly results-based. Again, I'd appreciate feedback from long-serving SEOs as to whether this is a good model.

Whether you're an individual dealing with a small local business, or an SEO company dealing with a large corporate, I would expect that there should be a project progress and a charging model which would fit all situations.


MJ, in regards to your post, we often get 'what can be done for my site' emails. In these cases an actual proposal rather than just a contract is often better for us to send out. Our own proposals include statistical data about their site, keywords, trends, etc, as well as what we see as being wrong with the website in terms of it's optimization, both on-page as well as off-page, and gives points on exactly what we will do to improve it.

At the bottom of the proposal would be a contract as well, but the proposal itself is written in a way that newbie webmasters (potential clients) can actually easily see what is wrong, why, and what we will be doing to help them.

This is a before the sale is closed thing. Contracts are for after the sale has been closed. We attach a contract as well, in the hopes that the proposal will close the deal. In some cases a phone call or numerous emails may be required to finish the sale, but our proposals generally do that for us in most cases.

[williamc]

MurphyPJ, thanks for the detailed post. The takeaway for me was the fact that the tool would need to be flexible enough to cover different pricing structures. The original that I built for us was for only once-off or monthly fees as that is how 99% of our contracts go.

LD: I agree, it is time consuming, which is why we built the original for ourselves. That takes us about 4-5 minutes total to do up a full proposal.

[full house]

I think to make it good...just go straight to the point and tell good things, don't promise unbelievable things...lol
Make it complete and precise.

[williamc]

I think to make it good...just go straight to the point and tell good things, don't promise unbelievable things...lol
Make it complete and precise.

Right. Well the drawback is that while the system will have standard templates that users can pick and choose from for verbiage, most seo companies will create their own or update the default ones to reflect how they like doing things. So we would see some of the unbelieveable things come out of it anyways. No way around that really, as it has to be customizable to each shop.

[Janna122003]

In addition proposal must be convincing and gives all the positive outcome of your proposal.

[LD]

LD: I agree, it is time consuming, which is why we built the original for ourselves. That takes us about 4-5 minutes total to do up a full proposal.

Amazing time-saver. I'm looking forward to updates on this topic William.

[BoothWizard]

Hi William,

If you will allow a less-than-serious comment...

The perfect proposal would include a guarantee of a #1 ranking for ANY keywords I choose within the time frame I specify (and for the site I specify, of course). But since this is impossible to guarantee (at least as far as I know), I would have to say the perfect proposal does not exist. :)

Now back to semi-seriousness... I think a proposal should include a stipulation of "pay for results" (and not paying for a lack of results) which would of course add a serious element of risk to the financial return of said proposal for said proposer. :D

[williamc]

Now back to semi-seriousness... I think a proposal should include a stipulation of "pay for results" (and not paying for a lack of results) which would of course add a serious element of risk to the financial return of said proposal for said proposer. :D

Only if they can't pull rank, in which case, they prolly shouldn't be seo's in the first place.

[SteveGerencser]

The trick is agreeing what the "results" will be measured in.. Visits, Sales, Profit??

[williamc]

That is indeed the 'trick'. We all should know by now oftentimes, clients wish to rank for 'their' chosen keywords. Many clients I have refused to work with have chosen worthless keywords and once I got them ranked would be screaming that they did not get any traffic or sales. Been there, done that, don't want to re-live it.

[williamc]

Ok. We about have the basic backend system fleshed out now, still going over features and several 'user modes' that it will have, IE: novice user, analytics pro, etc.

Still trying to get my head around the issue of enabling scammers, I think tubbys idea of some sort of minimum standard of accreditation has some merit, but still racking brain.

So far the only one besides myself and Feydakin that have seen this is Wige, but that should change in the next few weeks time when we will need a couple beta testers.

What would help at this point are some example proposals and contracts from others, as only including ideas we ourselves use would leave the tool somewhat biased towards our way of doing things. So, how about it folks? You can email ideas to me anytime at proposal@seo-shop.com

[williamc]

Not one person has ideas for examples templates?

[LD]

I am in the process of building a list of OnPage practices from info found by contributors in wp forum to add to what I normally discuss and give to clients during initial meetings. I believe you are looking for samples of specific metrics and results oriented language, correct?

[williamc]

Ok folks, I could use some people to take a sneak peek at what we have thus far and let us know what you think. PM me for details.

Established users only please.

[morestar]

OK so I got to go through PHP Proposal and so far really liked what it had to offer.

In a matter of less than a minute of entering basic campaign data I was able to have generated a really decent proposal combined with current and up-to-date information regarding the client's site standing in the search engines for specific keywords.

I also appreciated the fact that you can choose between organic and PPC campaigns. The end result was a decent proposal that I could surely send to my clients.

Now question: Will we be able to customize the colors of the tables that are generated with their current rankings and so forth? Also for the Add Template section/Template manager, the available tokens will become available after full registration correct?

William when will we be able to register for full access and what will be the cost? I'd like to get started right away.

[williamc]

All the proposals are templates that it is expected you will modify or even create your own. If you go to the template manager, you will see they are easily customized, as well as simple to add new ones in whatever style you are used to. The subtemplates allow for basically any type of pricing structure and campaign type as well. And if you go to modify a template, you ill be able to pull up a list of all (currently) available tokens for use in your templates. The system is pretty damn powerfull and flexible if I say so myself.

It wont be a service. It is an actual system that you would install in your own website backend for your use only. So you can custom tailor all aspects to your own way of doing things.

Also of note, installation of the system takes no more time (1 minute) than a basic install of wordpress.

For output of proposals there are several mechanisms in place including PDF output, HTML putput, and there is even a backend that you can supply potential clients a login/pass to view their proposals online at their leisure. I am considering adding word doc output as well in a future version.

I am still working on it all, as I thought I had a first stable release ready, and of course, I woke up this morning with some other ideas to make it more flexible even. So now I am back under the hood adding more features.

[morestar]

Well William I'm right exited and the moment it's released to the public please let us know and I'll also continue to go through it, feeling it out and if more ideas come to me as well, I'll suggest them to you as well...

Thanks William so much for this...

[kgun]

A good sales man is one who sells refrigerators to the eskimos;)



This is what SEO needs. It needs authority figures (small and large) That can stand visibly behind an SEO product. . . SEO as a trade or profession could prosper if consumer concerns are dispelled.

I ask myself. Where does the trust factor come from. Why can't "TRUST" be built into an SEO product. . or shall we leave it to google to create little programs telling us what it reads when it views our web pages - then directs us to its own webmaster tools.

Seeking the Questions that webmaster need to have answered is a good direction. .
This is important. Look here: CFA Institute Home (http://www.cfainstitute.org/)

Whys isn't there a similar institute for SEO professional? Will there soon be an institute or is the profession to new or to ad hoc? Who has the authority to qualify a SEO professional? Am I an IT professional since I have education on the Dr. Scient level in Numerical Analysis and Mathematical Finance? Am I an expert in statistics since I have education on the master level in Bayesian statistics? I have never called myself an expert and hope I never will. I write for people.

"Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is an international professional designation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_certification) offered by the American CFA Institute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_Institute) (formerly known as AIMR) to financial analysts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_analyst) who complete a series of three examinations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examination). To become a CFA Charterholder candidates must pass each of three six-hour exams, possess a bachelor's degree (or equivalent, as assessed by CFA institute) and [1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Financial_Analyst#cite_note-ReferenceA-0) have 48 months of work experience in an investment decision-making position".
Source: Chartered Financial Analyst - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Financial_Analyst)


Morestar: I meant that some of us that have the advantage of being a decent programer as well as an SEO and have been here for well over a decade. With regards to me, that means I LOVE my databases, and I love collecting data, and always have. Using my own stuff and other data points such as the majestic db and others, we can often go back as far as 4-5 years in historial link data. And given that we have the advantage of being able to effectively utilize several clouds, we have an unprecedented means of speeding up our collection of needed data. That gives us an advantage many of you do not have.
Data collection should be a very important part of a professional SEO tool. A good database should be a necessary, but is not a sufficient condition for a good analysis. Analysing data and using proper statistical methods is another business but should be an extremely important part of a professional SEO tool.

[williamc]

Analysing data and using proper statistical methods is another business.

that, of course, goes without saying, and I presumed it was implied well enough. But without the data to work with, it is a moot issue in the first place.

[Tubby]

Williamc said
" I LOVE my databases, and I love collecting data, and always have."

Love has always gone beyond the call of duty. Love has always been the motivation that inspires the greatest works that man has created, from Architecture to Zoological Gardens. Work inspired by any other means has always arrived in second place.

A data base is in some ways similar to an artists palette, If you have not assembled all the colours the painted picture will never be complete.

I feel the goal here is not to merely create a charcoal outline . . . Data can place all the colours into the hand of the SEO. . Data offers the chance for any SEO to create a better fuller and in depth picture for the client.

Never presume the client does not recognise the love . .

[williamc]

Ok, new features are in. Keri Morgret at WebmasterRadio suggested the ability to do site audits as well, so now you can choose to include 'Issues/Reccomendations' in proposals as well as of now.

The other feature is 'Theming'. You can now create themes (designs) that clients would see in their backend panel. The system comes with one generic theme by default, but creating new ones is extremely simple with the built in templating system.

[morestar]

OK so I just created another proposal, the Tim Hortons campaign and completely love this software but I do have one question.

I know you can edit a proposal once it has been created in the Proposal Manager but will you be adding a button at each stage of the proposal development that will enable us to go back to previous stages?

[williamc]

but will you be adding a button at each stage of the proposal development that will enable us to go back to previous stages?

Not a bad idea for the next release. Version 1.0.4 is packaged and ready, just waiting for website to be done to post.

[morestar]

Awesome. William I'm more than exited about this. I was able to put together a highly comprehensive proposal in just under 5 minutes. This is going to save me and a lot of people a lot of time...

Let us know when everything is ready to rumble...

[williamc]

Yeh, I am a stickler for details, so phpProposal came out rather complete I think.

[williamc]

Anyone else want a sneak peek at this sucker?

[LD]

It wont be a service. It is an actual system that you would install in your own website backend for your use only. So you can custom tailor all aspects to your own way of doing things.

Also of note, installation of the system takes no more time (1 minute) than a basic install of wordpress.

Besides also wanting a peek at the app, at this time, can you offer any specifics in terms of the install components and server requirements so I can investigate compatibility with our hosting environment?

[williamc]

php5+
MySQL
PDFlib must be turned on in php (they can use the free lite version)
cURL must be turned on in php
file_get_contents() must be on in php

Your host should have no problems with any of the above.

[kgun]

Anyone else want a sneak peek at this sucker?
Yes.

php5+
cURL must be turned on in php

Interesting. I am working on that library.

I assume that you use it to parse tags, links and content on the site / page that is saved and analysed in a data base.

[williamc]

Yes.

Interesting. I am working on that library.

I assume that you use it to parse tags, links and content on the site / page that is saved and analysed in a data base.

As well as gathering data from remote sites that is germain to statistical data used to formulate the proposal.

Demo: do you still have private messages turned off? If so drop me an email at info@seo-shop.com and I will reply to that with the info to see the demo.

[kgun]

Isn't PM's turned on now? I think so.

[williamc]

Yep, sent you info.

[williamc]

Thinking more about it, I think the next thing I remake will be our client report generator. Would be a good addition to the proposal generator as a sort of 'suite'.

[kgun]

Have you analysed the semantics of header tags, links etc? DOM manipulation hints.

var headerList = getElementsByTagNames('h1,h2,h3,h4');

var linksInBody = body.getElementsdByTagname('a');

[janeth]

Anyone else want a sneak peek at this sucker?

I'd like to take a look .

[janeth]

Here's a thought for you.

Instead of selling SEO to clients why not set up a member’s site and sell SEO tools to SEO’s?

I could get you a list of some really good ideas for some tools.

[LD]

php5+
MySQL
PDFlib must be turned on in php (they can use the free lite version)
cURL must be turned on in php
file_get_contents() must be on in php

Your host should have no problems with any of the above.

A question came back from my contact regarding my inquiry to him on installation of the above: "This app will install in the webspace like a joomla or oscommerce or will it actually require a server side installation?"

William - input on this is appreciated.

[williamc]

A question came back from my contact regarding my inquiry to him on installation of the above: "This app will install in the webspace like a joomla or oscommerce or will it actually require a server side installation?"

William - input on this is appreciated.

upload the files via ftp, then hit it with your web browser, enter your mysql database info, and shes done. same as wordpress, joomla, etc.

[williamc]

janeth you have a PM with info on checking it out

[janeth]

My Two Cents

The proposal should include all services to be performed by the SEO Company and be written in a way that it builds trust.

There is no reason to talk about what happens if I screw your website up at this stage in our relationship.

Kind of like going on a first date and saying if we get a divorce you aren’t getting anything. Heck I don’t even like you and don’t plan on marrying you. Get me to comment to marrying you before we start talking about a divorce.

It should be presented in detail and in plain language so that it is easy to understand exactly what the SEO campaign consists of.

Let’s talk about;

• Evaluating your website
• Keyword research, analysis of the degree of competitiveness
• Site structure analysis, recommendations and adjustments - Fixing the site for users and search engines
• Manual submissions to directories such as the Open Directory
• Paid inclusions to directories and search engines, trusted RSS feeds
• Link building
• Consulting and training
• Providing accurate reports on web site performance

[williamc]

Janeth all of that is do-able in the current system. The proposal templates can be worded any way you like. the templates in the system are basic examples only. The site audit area of the proposal creation process allows you to do an analysis of their site with reccomendations and what you would do. The rest of your points are covered by simply creating your own templates the way YOU want them to come across.

[janeth]

Janeth all of that is do-able in the current system. The proposal templates can be worded any way you like. the templates in the system are basic examples only. The site audit area of the proposal creation process allows you to do an analysis of their site with reccomendations and what you would do. The rest of your points are covered by simply creating your own templates the way YOU want them to come across.

I love the system and the way it's set up I was just giving my two cents on the wording part of it.

[williamc]

Janeth, Yep. I always appreciate feedback. Thanks :)

LD: What did you think of the software from your peek?

We are gettig very very close to a release version, with 1.0.4 showing stable across the board now.

[LD]

LD: What did you think of the software from your peek?

We are gettig very very close to a release version, with 1.0.4 showing stable across the board now.

I've been preparing for a presentation which is taking on a life of its own so I will be taking test drive of the app very soon. I'm also waiting to hear back from my server tech guy.

I dont seem to be getting email notifications on post updates to this thread. Hmmmm.

[morestar]

I'd take a test-drive NOW as it really only takes less than 7 minutes and produces a pretty good piece of SEO proposal art!

Seriously...

[LD]

Kids playoff hockey first!

[LD]

I really appreciate the speed with which the report can be generated. The added information to help educate the prospect is at a level they should understand. I am very interested in trying it out - anything that can help free up time and generate business is always good!!

[williamc]

LD: in reply to your private message: The proposal output is completely controlled by the templates. All verbiage and wording as well as layout can be 100% customized.

[LD]

LD: in reply to your private message: The proposal output is completely controlled by the templates. All verbiage and wording as well as layout can be 100% customized.

Very nice. Please keep me in the loop in terms of release updates or anything related. Thanks!

[williamc]

LD: This will tell you quickly about server requirements:

Documentation - Server Requirements Check Script - phpProposal (http://www.phpproposal.com/docs/index.php?a=cv&c=36&p=)

also the website is now live: phpProposal SEO Software that handles SEO Proposals, PPC Proposals, and SEO Campaigns with SEO Proposal Sample Templates (http://www.phpProposal.com)

[morestar]

Thanks William to you and your team.

[LD]

Coupon Code?

[williamc]

Just an FYI to buyers here, phpProposal has just been upgraded to version 1.0.5.

Several bugfixes, enhanced login functionality.