SEO / AEO and Website Merging Strategy

Proposal presented by: Return On Now

Dear Bill,

Thank you for bringing me in to collaborate on the search marketing strategy for your potential upcoming acquisition.

Based on our prior conversations and the initial domain assessment we completed recently, we should be able to hit the ground running when ready.

Our standard project terms call for a 50% down payment in advance with balance due upon completion, or payment in full up front with a 2% discount off the total amount.

That said, we are willing to split the total amount into monthly installments over a three-month period if that works better for your budget. Please notify me upon acceptance of which option you want to go with for billing and invoicing.

This proposal outlines the specifics around this agreement. Presuming everything lines up as expected, we can start working on the strategy to merge and optimize the client’s existing assortment of websites in September, 2025.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions, clarifications, or concerns. I look forward to hearing back and hopefully collaborating to help overhaul and grow your new venture’s website performance in the latter part of this year.

Best Regards,
Tommy P. Landry, Return On Now
E: tommy@returnonnow.com
P: +1 (512) 348-6669

SEO Strategy for Merged Domains

You have six domains with content on them, plus three others that are either redirecting or legacy websites from before the rebrand. These three domains can be simply redirected and will be included in the redirects phase. The other six domains will need a completely new SEO Strategy for building out a single website to replace them. This is optimal for your moving forward SEO strategy, as you'll have only one website to manage and you will be able to pool existing domain authority scores into one larger number over time. This will also benefit you later if/when you opt for link building efforts to boost rankings and answer engine visibility. SCOPE OF WORK FOR SEO STRATEGY TO MERGE DOMAINS Return On Now provides premium keyword research and website architecture analyses on a project basis. This work is ideal for when you are launching a new website, relaunching an existing website, etc. It is an ideal step to take before even considering how to merge multiple domains into one web property. This work can vary, depending on website size, complexity of your niche, our existing project queue/schedule, and availability of access to key resources such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, list of competitors, and turn time on client feedback. Components of SEO Strategy and Analysis 1. Competitive keyword analysis For each domain included, I will need a list of 3+ competitors to analyze. If you can provide 5-7 in priority order, that is even better. If you do not have any direct competitors to your offering, rest assured that anyone who addresses the same problems as your products OR who ranks for terms that apply to you will be useful in this portion of the analysis. 2. Keyword research Complete deep dive into the keyword options available to help you best position the new website for success in your target market for the products / services you offer. We will base this research on the following input points: a. Keywords uncovered during the competitive analysis b. Content and Keywords already ranking for your own domains c. A “wish list” of target keywords that you think a typical customer would search to find solutions like your own d. Our own strategic analysis and judgment for other areas that come to our attention as we dig into the topics and target keywords you provide All keywords will run through quantitative filters for search volume (30+ monthly searches) and keyword difficulty (<50 on a scale of 100) to stay on the target list for next steps. 3. Buildout of Keyword Lists I will generate three deliverables and typically require a checkpoint to confirm if we are heading in the proper direction, about midway through the SEO strategy effort. This checkpoint is typically 3-6 weeks after the project begins moving forward for a project of this magnitude. Prior to completing these documents, I will also perform a full qualitative review to ensure all terms included are relevant to your offering and priorities, which I address with great precision. This manual review is one of the critical value-adds of the analysis process. Specific deliverables to expect include: 1. Master Keyword List: Target keywords to be used on “evergreen pages” i.e. items that you will publish and leave live on your website without day-to-day updates or editing. These are things like product, services, solutions, and about us pages. 2. Content Marketing Topic List: As we organize the list of target keywords, we will also flag search terms that are more suitable to blog or other content items. These keywords are typically very early funnel, which is effective at attracting new prospective buyers, and can contribute greatly to your domain being indexed on Answer Engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity, among others. Many of these will be question based searches, how to’s, etc. 3. Keyword Hierarchy: Table format summarizing keywords you will need to target for upside in Google’s latest, AI and machine-learning based algorithm. This includes 3 types of keywords that you’ll need to properly optimize your content: a. Target Keywords: Used as primary target for each URL on the website b. Derivative Keywords: Shorter keywords that are “inside” target keywords, which you will automatically target by using the targets. c. Semantic Keywords: Terms that have same / very similar meaning to the targets and derivatives, but that use different verbiage we’ll want to represent on the page. This will help Answer Engines and Google’s AI calculations match you for the maximum volume of monthly searches over time. 4. Website Architecture Deliverable will be a complete website structure recommendation. This will include the full recommended navigation / hierarchy, as well as recommended target keywords, URLs, and page titles for each page included. In this section, I will be omitting detailed pages such as blog posts, press releases, and resource detail pages. These pages will not need to be re-optimized, only migrated, if they exist on the current domains. I will be happy to coach your web copywriter on how to properly deploy all keywords, craft effective Meta Descriptions, and generate good Image Alt-Text Tags, but I am also available for deploying directly as included in the next service item below. 5. Redirects Strategy Since links drive domain authority, which is what Google uses to decide which site to rank ahead of other sites, links are key to your success in the organic rankings. In order to preserve your existing SEO successes and domain authorities, we will need to deploy redirects from old URLs to the new pages. This will preserve the majority of your link equity. Return On Now will build list of recommended redirects from the old pages on each domain to the new central website for you to review and approve. This will include URLs for blog posts, press releases, etc. if requested by the client. Due to the nature of this merge project, you will need to have your developer deploy redirects across the various platforms that currently host your websites. I can assist with any internal redirects once you migrate to WordPress, presuming you install a good redirect plugin in advance (recommendation below in next section).

SEO Strategy Deployment

1. Deployment of On-Page Items to Align with SEO Strategy I will be available to deploy the on page before go-live, as follows: 1. Review live or staged website and compare to recommendations 2. Confirm that the keyword mapping has been deployed properly from the highest level 3. Insert the recommended page titles 4. Write custom meta descriptions for all pages to align with keyword targeting, page title, etc. 5. Review body copy, especially the headers (H1, H2, H3, etc.) for use of keyword variations. Make minor edits to verbiage that do not change the intent, but allow for natural usage of different words that will help Google best assign the range of keywords in the individual keyword clusters to each page. 6. Review Image Alt-Texts (when the theme allows for editing) and rewriting or updating the values of those fields. In some CMS’s, we also review image titles and/or captions for any further optimization opportunities. 7. Remove any information from the meta keywords field, which is a spam flag with some search engines. 8. Make any recommendations outside the above if needed to improve SEO coverage when the entire recommended architecture has not been built out. 9. Seed the updated website again for re-indexing by search engines. 2. Post-Launch Final Steps: Indexing via Google Webmaster Tools Once the new website is live and your SEO plugin is functioning, you need to have an XML sitemap available for search engines. a. The XML sitemap tells search engines when changes are made to your website, and causes them to crawl the site to re-index all new or modified content. b. I recommend Yoast SEO Premium, which includes both XML sitemap as well as redirection functionality. c. If you do not have an SEO plugin, we will be happy to help build your XML sitemap under the Strategic SEO hourly rate. d. I will initiate a crawl of the new site by Google and other search engines, and will also submit the new XML sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools to ensure indexing of new content items and changes to the website moving forward. e. I will also ping a variety of other crawler types to provide further exposure for your new content across the internet. Duration for Deployment Services This phase is difficult to estimate, due to the need for your internal team and/or web development partner to execute in tandem with me. Most SEO strategy efforts require a time gap between completion of the strategy and internal or outsourced execution on new content items and pages. If you are able to build out the complete new website on a staging server and hand over to us to dive in, I will commit to completing my deployment tasks in 2-3 weeks. However, any other approach will impact this timeline, perhaps significantly. I will do my best to expedite in any scenario, dependent on any constraints that may enter into the process.

Post-Mortem SEO Audit

Return On Now provides SEO Audit services that can scale up or down in size/scope according to the complexity and size of the client website. I always highly recommend post-mortems for new website launches, redesigns, and most importantly, when major changes to architecture have occurred. This includes website merges as well as expansions. I will perform a full audit to ensure no unexpected problems have arisen during the new website buildout. This includes many on-page and performance related focal areas. Components of this audit include: 1. Meta Review: We analyze whether you have any issues with your page titles and meta descriptions. Specific observations to expect include missing meta elements, duplicates, and fields that have too many or too few characters for Google and other search engines. 2. Content Review: We analyze the content to ensure that you do not have duplicates across the website, and also to ensure each page has sufficient word count to get on Google’s radar for indexing and ranking. 3. Image Audit: We review all images to ensure proper use of Image Alt-Text fields, and also to confirm that there are no broken images on the site, which can hinder progress with SEO. 4. Performance Assessment: We run a Page Speed test to ensure the website meets minimum standards for load time, which is a key factor in Google’s ranking algorithm. We also analyze whether the site is “Mobile Friendly,” which has become one of the most important optimizations for success effective January, 2017. 5. On-Site Link Review: We run a complete crawl of the website to identify any broken links or pages (i.e. 404 errors), which should be addressed immediately to avoid potential negative impact to ranking. 6. Technical SEO Review: We did deeper in technical areas that affect SEO, including items such as your robots.txt tile, XML Sitemap, blocked resources, manual penalty review, HTTPS assessment, and volume of pages indexed. 7. Semantic SEO Recommendations: We review your website to determine if schema.org-compliant markup has been deployed, and whether there are additional markup opportunities available that should be pursued. These components are all part of our Enterprise SEO Audit package, which typically costs $5,000 - $7,500 as a standalone project. Duration for Post-Mortem SEO Audit Services This phase is expected to take 2-3 weeks to complete.

AEO / GEO Overlay

In addition to the traditional SEO services outlined above, we recommend the following services to position the new website properly for visibility on answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude: 1. Page Structural Consulting How you structure content plays heavily into readiness for AI platforms. I will advise you on how to approach standard web pages structurally for inclusion on these newer systems. This will include the following: a) Coaching of your writer (Bill in this case) on how to break down content items into sections, organizations, lists, etc. that translate well to LLMs b) Designation of how to use Semantic Markup in the website to clearly specify entity types c) Tutorial on how to align with a model called N-E-E-A-T-T, which has been shown to establish the proper voice, tone, and overall approach to messaging for both search and AI 2. Content Topic Clustering Strategy For all types of content, including pages, posts, press releases / news items, and more, how you select topics, interlink them, and present them on the website can make or break your level of success with both modern AI-enabled search engine features (e.g. AI Overviews, People Also Ask) and LLMs themselves. I will take the results of the keyword research and recommend the appropriate clusters, how they should be arranged and interlinked, and a strawman publishing schedule you can follow should you opt to spread out publication over time 3. Coaching on How to Build Authority for both SEO and AI over time In addition to ongoing link building, which I already highly recommend post-relaunch, your brand authority, notability, credibility, etc. will weigh heavily in your ability to show up across platforms. I will ensure you are fully aware of how to manage this over time, and we can discuss if any of those strategies are better managed internally, with Return On Now, or vended out to another provider.

Your Investment

Total project costs for each of these rather large service areas are indicated below. SEO Strategy for a single domain starts at $2,000 for very small websites and increases from there. As we are merging 6 websites, this creates a labor intensive multi-pronged analysis

SEO Strategy for Merged Domains

$6500

SEO Strategy Deployment

$2500

Post-Mortem SEO Audit

$3000

AEO / GEO Overlay

$4500

Total: $16500

Approve Proposal

We look forward to working with you and hope you are ready to approve of this proposal. To get started, please scroll to the top and click the "Accept" button on the top right area of this proposal page.

Return On Now is an AI-enhanced digital marketing consultancy with more than 15 years in business driving measurable growth for clients of all sizes. The firm specializes in SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), helping businesses improve visibility across both traditional search engines and emerging AI platforms.

Services include technical audits, content strategy, and performance optimization, all guided by executive-level expertise without the expense of a full-time hire. Return On Now also provides Human + AI process consulting and digital advertising management to extend marketing performance even further.

With this approach, organizations gain smarter search results and lasting business impact.

Terms and Conditions

1. Engagement Scope

All services will be defined in a formal proposal or statement of work (SOW). Any additional work outside the agreed scope may require a new agreement or change order.

2. Fees and Payment

Payment terms will be outlined in the proposal. Unless otherwise agreed:

Project-based work requires a down payment before services will begin. You have the option of paying 50% in advance and the balance upon completion, or the full balance in advance with a 2% discount for up-front payment.
Retainer-based work is due on a monthly basis with net 30 payment terms, as is a'la carte hourly services.
Ongoing campaigns like link-building are billed on the 1st of each month due upon receipt, and must be paid in full before we will begin the process. We will forward an invoice from our accounting package (Wave) and prefer you set it to autopay upon receipt to ensure a timely kickoff of monthly services.

Work may be paused until outstanding balances are paid.

3. Client Responsibilities

Clients agree to provide timely access to necessary platforms, data, and decision-makers to ensure efficient project delivery. Delays caused by lack of access or approvals may affect timelines.

4. Confidentiality

Both parties agree to keep all proprietary and confidential information private and not disclose such information to any third parties without written consent.

5. Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of all content and assets provided. Upon full payment, you also own all deliverables created under this agreement. We reserve the right to showcase non-confidential work for portfolio or promotional use unless otherwise requested and agreed to in advance.

6. Performance Disclaimer

While we apply best practices and data-driven strategy, SEO, AEO, GEO, and marketing, outcomes can vary due to changes in search engine algorithms, competition, and overall search behaviors. We cannot in good faith guarantee specific rankings, traffic levels, or ROI due to the nature of algorithm-based platforms and competition.

7. Termination

Project-based work should be completed as specified and mid-stream cancellations will make the full amount due immediately should the project be abandoned without cause.

For ongoing / retainer work, minimum commitments as specified in this proposal are enforceable unless we reach mutual agreement to terminate early. All other ongoing services move to month-to-month upon completion of minimum commitment, and termination requires a full calendar month of notice (i.e. to cancel on the last day of March, we need notice by the last day of February).

8. Limitation of Liability

Return On Now is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including loss of revenue or data, arising from the services provided. We follow industry and ethical best practices and will never engage in any black hat marketing practices that could put your website and business at risk.