SEO & Local Ranking Retainer Proposal — $3k/mo

Overview

Proposal to convert Avant Gardening from a project-based engagement to a $3,000/month retainer focused on SEO, local ranking, website conversion, and call tracking. Discussed during the ^[1] between Mark and Karly. Karly is presenting to the client on the Monday two weeks out from that call.

Avant Gardening is a Madison-area landscaping company (hardscaping, landscaping, snow removal) with ~80% recurring revenue. Their biggest revenue opportunity is commercial hardscaping, but residential maintenance provides the ongoing base.

Current State Assessment

SEO & Organic

Keyword positions of note:
- "Landscaping Madison" — #3 (volume: 150, KD: 40)
- "Landscaping Madison Wisconsin" — #8
- "Landscaping companies Madison" — #8
- "Organic lawn care Madison" — unranked (KD: 0 — easy win)
- Brand keyword "Avant" — #10 (brand traffic is too low; target ~30% of total traffic)
- Negative: ranking for "Avant Lighting" — should be added as a negative keyword

Traffic has been roughly flat to slightly declining over the past two years.

Local SEO (Google Business Profile)

• Critical issue: Physical address is in McFarland, not Madison. Google surfaces them under McFarland searches, not Madison searches.
• When searching "landscaping Madison," Avant Gardening does not appear in the local map pack.
• When searching "landscaping McFarland," they do appear — confirming the address is the root cause.
• Google My Business: 20 reviews, 4.7 stars — review count is low for the category.

Website

• Platform: WordPress (managed by a graphic design firm)
• Design issues: too much text, very few CTAs, no conversion-focused landing pages
• Currently sending paid ad traffic directly to site pages — no dedicated landing pages
• No call tracking in place
• Security headers: grade B (not alarming, but improvable)
• Site speed: acceptable

Current Engagement

Avant Gardening was originally a project client: Google Ads, Meta Ads, and email strategy (content drafted, pending client review, to be deployed via ^[2]). No SEO or website work was in scope.

Proposed Retainer Scope — $3,000/mo

1. SEO — High-Impact Wins First

• Push existing #3 rankings to #1 for "landscaping Madison" and related terms (KD: 40 — achievable from current position)
• Own zero-difficulty keywords — e.g., "organic lawn care Madison" (KD: 0) — fast wins that build authority
• Domain rating boost — link-building campaign (similar to what was done for Old World)
• Blog activation — consistent content to grow organic keyword footprint beyond current 31 keywords
• Negative keyword cleanup — remove irrelevant brand associations (e.g., "Avant Lighting")
• Brand keyword growth — target brand terms representing ~30% of total traffic

2. Local SEO — Address the McFarland Problem

The McFarland address is actively suppressing Madison local rankings. Options to address:

• Option A: Change the listed city to "Madison" in Google Business Profile — the post office routes on zip code, not city name, so mail delivery is unaffected
• Option B: Obtain a Madison address (e.g., UPS Store mailbox, ~$100/mo) to establish a legitimate Madison presence

Additional local actions:
- Increase Google review volume (20 is low for a landscaping company competing in Madison)
- Optimize Google Business Profile content and categories

3. Website — Take Control, Drive Conversions

• Propose taking over the WordPress site from the current graphic design firm
• Build conversion-focused landing pages for each service line (hardscaping, landscaping, residential maintenance)
• Reduce text density; add prominent CTAs above the fold
• Align landing pages with paid ad campaigns (currently ads send to generic site pages)

4. CallRail Integration

• Install CallRail on the website to track inbound calls by source
• Enables attribution of calls to specific campaigns (Google Ads, Meta Ads, organic, direct)
• Even if the agency absorbs the cost, it's worth it for visibility
• Feeds data into the ^[3] when connected

5. Email Marketing (Continuation)

• Deploy drafted email sequences via GoHighLevel (pending client content approval)
• Avant Gardening has no active CRM; GHL serves as their marketing automation platform

Pricing Strategy & Sales Approach

Framing the $3,000/mo Fee

The client will likely push back on price. Recommended responses:

1. One-job math: "How much is one hardscaping job worth? $6,000–$10,000. All I have to do is get you one job a month and this pays for itself — and I'm going to get you more than one."

2. Social proof: "Crazy Lenny's pays us $5,000/month. We're getting them a lot of leads and sales. We'll do the same for you." (Crazy Lenny's is a well-known local brand the client will recognize.)

3. Team vs. hire: "For $3,000 you get a full team of specialists. One marketing hire alone would cost you more."

4. Anchor high: "When I brought this to our team, they said $4,500 minimum. I pushed to get it down for you because I think you've got something to work with here."

5. Scarcity/exclusivity: "We're signing clients at $8,000–$9,000 right now. We're doing this for you because you're already in the top 10 for some good keywords and you're the first landscaping company we've talked to. If it's not you, we'll find someone else."

Zero-Sum Framing

Use the market-share analogy to create urgency:
- The demand for landscaping in Madison is fixed. Market share is a zero-sum game.
- Every customer who hires a competitor doesn't hire Avant Gardening.
- If a competitor invests in SEO and wins position #1, Avant Gardening's slice shrinks.
- The goal is to grow their slice — which necessarily shrinks competitors'.

Performance Fallback

If the client won't accept $3,000 flat, offer a performance hybrid (similar to the ^[4] model): lower retainer + percentage of closed deals. Caution: this requires clear attribution tracking and is harder to manage.

Proposal Structure Guidance

Karly's draft proposal was reviewed. Key structural notes from Mark:

• Lead with strategy (the "what"), not tactics (the "how") — the opening should be: "We're going to get you more leads." Then explain how.
• Add a slide showing the gap between current state (position #3, no local pack presence, low-converting site) and the opportunity.
• Emphasize the exponential value of moving from #3 to #1 — position #1 captures ~70–80% of clicks; position #3 captures a fraction.
• Show the local map pack gap explicitly — being #4 organic means nothing if users never scroll past ads + local pack + "People Also Ask."
• Deliver the price confidently — any hesitation signals doubt. Act like $3,000 is a deal.

Action Items

• [ ] Karly: Revise proposal — strategy-first structure, local SEO section (McFarland/Madison address issue), website control ask, CallRail inclusion, pricing framing per above (@Karly Oykhman)
• [ ] Karly: Present revised proposal to Avant Gardening client (next call: Monday in ~2 weeks)

Related

• ^[5]
• ^[6] — referenced as social proof ($5k/mo client)
• ^[4] — performance fee model reference
• ^[7]
• ^[8]
• ^[2]
• ^[9]