A good SEO brief covers six things: goals, audience, competitors, access, budget range and how you'll measure success. Use the template below.
To brief an SEO agency well, give it six things in writing: your business goals, who your buyers are, your main competitors, what access it will have, your budget range and how you’ll measure success. A one page brief built on the SEO brief template below means every agency answers the same question, so you can compare proposals fairly.
Most businesses skip the brief and go straight to sales calls. The result is three proposals that each solve a different problem, priced in different ways, with no easy way to compare them.
A short brief fixes that. It also tells you a lot about each agency: the good ones come back with sharp questions, while the weaker ones send a templated proposal that could be for anyone.
Why a written brief matters
A written brief makes agencies plan around your goals instead of their standard package. It also saves time, because you won’t repeat the same background on every call.
It protects you later too. When the brief says the goal is qualified enquiries, it’s much harder for an agency to report success on rankings for keywords nobody buys from. Our guide to what a good SEO agency report should show you covers what that reporting should look like once the work starts.
What to include in an SEO brief
Each section of the brief should answer one question an agency needs to plan properly.
- Goals. What the business needs, in plain terms. More demo requests, more quote enquiries, a new market. Add numbers if you have them.
- Audience. Who buys from you, what job titles are involved, and what problems lead them to search.
- Competitors. The businesses you lose deals to, plus anyone who outranks you online. They’re often different lists.
- Current position. Rough traffic and enquiry numbers, past SEO work, and any recent site changes or migrations.
- Access. Whether the agency will get Google Search Console, Google Analytics and CMS access, and who signs off changes to the site.
- Budget range and timing. A range rather than a fixed figure, plus any deadlines such as a product launch or new website.
- Success measures. How you’ll judge the work at 3, 6 and 12 months.
If you sell to other businesses, be clear about deal size and sales cycle length. A specialist B2B SEO agency will plan very differently for a six month sales cycle than for an online shop.
SEO brief template
Copy this table into a document, fill in the right hand column, and send the same version to every agency on your shortlist.
| Section | Questions to answer | Your answer |
|---|---|---|
| Company | What do you sell, to whom, and where? | |
| Goals | What should SEO deliver in the next 12 months? | |
| Audience | Who are your buyers and what do they search for? | |
| Competitors | Who do you lose deals to? Who ranks above you? | |
| Current position | Traffic, enquiries, past SEO work, recent site changes | |
| Access | Search Console, Analytics, CMS, developer support | |
| Budget range | Monthly or project range, and any approval steps | |
| Timing | Start date, deadlines, launches | |
| Success measures | What would make this a success at 3, 6 and 12 months? | |
| AI search | Do you want visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews? |
Mistakes to avoid when briefing an agency
The most common mistake is briefing on tactics instead of outcomes. “We need 20 blog posts a month” tells an agency what you think the answer is. “We need more enquiries from finance directors” lets it find the right answer.
Other mistakes worth avoiding:
- Hiding the budget. Agencies then guess, and proposals land far apart.
- Setting deadlines SEO can’t meet. Our guide to how long SEO takes to bring in leads gives realistic timings.
- Leaving out internal resource. Say who will write content, approve pages and make technical changes.
- Forgetting AI search. More buyers now shortlist suppliers through AI answers, so ask how each agency approaches AI SEO.
What a good agency does with your brief
A good agency comes back with questions before it sends a price. Expect it to ask about your best customers, your sales process and your site’s history.
Its proposal should repeat your goals back to you, explain the first 90 days, and say how it will report on leads. If you’re still deciding whether to hire at all, compare the options in our guide to in-house SEO or an agency.
If you’d like a second opinion on your brief, book a free strategy session and we’ll talk it through with you, or see how we approach SEO for growing businesses.
Related reading: our guides to red flags when hiring an SEO agency and choosing a B2B specialist or a generalist.
Common questions
What should an SEO brief include?
Your goals, your audience, your main competitors, your current position, what access the agency will have, a budget range, your timing and how you will measure success.
Should I tell an SEO agency my budget?
Yes. Give a range rather than a fixed figure. Without it, agencies guess and their proposals become hard to compare.
How long should an SEO brief be?
One or two pages is enough. The aim is to give every agency the same facts, not to write a strategy for them.
Is there a free SEO brief template?
Yes. The table in this guide covers company, goals, audience, competitors, current position, access, budget range, timing, success measures and AI search. Copy it into a document and fill in your answers.
