SEO Retainer: What to Expect and What to Ask For

SEO retainers vary wildly. Here’s what a transparent agency does — and what you should ask for.

Month 1: Audit and Foundation

• Technical audit — Crawl, speed, structure. Prioritized fix list.
• Keyword research — What to target. Commercial and informational.
• Content gap — What’s missing? What to create first?
• 90-day plan — Week-by-week. What gets done, when.

Ongoing: Execution

• Technical fixes — Implemented. Not just recommendations.
• Content — 2–4 pieces per month. Briefs, writing, or both.
• Optimization — On-page, internal linking. Ongoing improvement.
• Reporting — Traffic, rankings, leads. Monthly. Tied to your goals.

What to Ask

• What’s included? — Hours? Deliverables? Content? Be specific.
• Who works on it? — Dedicated or shared? Senior or junior?
• How do you measure? — Vanity metrics or pipeline? Tie to revenue.

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We run retainers with clear deliverables. Start a search audit.