Getting Internal Buy-In for Your SEO Project

There are SEO tasks you can just... do. Write some titles, drop in keywords, fix a few meta tags — no one’s going to stop you. Those are the quick wins. No meetings. No permission.

But the second you want to go bigger — something more strategic, long-term, and, frankly, slower to show results — the conversation changes. You’ll need support. And not just from your manager. From the people who actually unlock resources, budget, or dev hours.

That means writing a proposal. A real one. One that makes your case without putting everyone to sleep.

Why even write a proposal?

Because saying, “Hey, I want to do this thing,” isn’t enough. You’ve got to show what you’re trying to do, what it might unlock for the business, and — this part matters — what it’s going to take to get there.

And no, this isn’t just about making your case. It’s about getting others to realize they’re part of it, too.

That’s where most proposals fall short — they forget to show the asks.

Most people don’t know what goes into SEO

They hear “project” and think it’s just you updating some tags. So when you need input from design or development or someone in sales ops, it catches them off guard.

Here’s a more accurate breakdown:

If your proposal doesn’t include this kind of table, you’re setting yourself up for future “Wait, you need me for this?” moments.

Don’t assume people know what you need

You might just need a weekly CSV export. Or maybe a full-page build and a custom workflow no one’s scoped yet. Either way, say it early. Spell it out. And be very clear: you can’t ship this without them.

Make it easy for others to visualize where they fit. That’s the only way they’ll actually show up.

From idea → validation

SEO moves fast. There's a new update here, a new acronym there. Some of it matters. Some of it’s noise. Your job is figuring out which is which — and making sure your project lands in the “matters” category.

The way I work now isn’t how I worked when I started. I don’t try to tick every box. I try to prove impact. If I can’t, it drops off the list.

Let’s say you’ve got an idea to improve internal linking on a big eComm marketplace. You’ve figured out how to programmatically link categories based on stuff like what’s trending, what’s discounted, and what’s got search volume. Great.

But then you find out that functionality only works on blog pages, not core category pages. At that point, is it really worth the time?

Probably not.

It's the same with fixing 404s. If no one’s hitting them and they don’t have backlinks, spending weeks cleaning them up won’t move the needle. It might feel productive. But you won’t be able to point to a chart six months later and say, “This is what changed.”

What will this actually change?

This is the lens to use before you pitch anything.

Ask:

• What metric am I trying to move?

• Will we still be talking about this project in 6 months?

• Will I be able to show it worked — and explain how?

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

If you can’t tie the work to a clear result, it doesn’t mean it’s useless — but it does mean it’s harder to prioritize. That’s just the truth of working inside a business.

Writing the actual business case

Start with one question: Can this be validated?

If the answer’s no, or you find yourself pitching something vague because someone higher up just “loves the idea,” pause. It’s not that you shouldn’t explore it — just don’t pretend it’s something it’s not.

I don’t write my business cases in slides. I use a doc. Word or Google Docs — it doesn’t matter. I just need space to think it through. The slides will come later if I need to present them.

Once it’s written, I send it out before the meeting. No one’s processing a full strategy deck on the spot. Give people time to digest before they show up to talk about it.

Use This SEO Business Case Template (Minus the Fluff)

You don’t need slides with animations or a deck that reads like it’s pitching investors. Just build a clean, straightforward case that answers the real questions.

Here’s a rough breakdown I’ve used — feel free to steal, adapt, gut it, whatever.

1. Background: What’s the actual problem?

This is where you lay the groundwork. What are we up against? Why now? What happens if we do nothing?

Example:
Hotels are up against OTAs (Booking, TripAdvisor, etc.), especially in big cities. If you’re targeting a broad term like hotels in [city], you’re buried. Google’s giving those spots to the big guys.

So, what’s the workaround?

2. The Opportunity: Where’s the upside?

You need to show potential. What’s the angle? How many pages? What kind of traffic? Any real revenue upside?

Example:
You won’t outrank Booking, but you can show up in the local pack or Google Maps. One way is to target “hotels near [landmark]” pages — and it's even better if you get reviews that mention those attractions.

(Obviously, that’s a theory — not a guarantee. But that’s fine. You’re being real.)

3. Technical Debt: What needs to happen?

Here’s the high-level to-do list. Don’t overwhelm people with 47 bullet points. Just enough to get a sense of who’s doing what.

Example:

• SEO: Keyword research

• Creative: Photos of hotel + nearby spots

• UX: New template

• Dev: Build out the page

• Sales: Offer a package for guests visiting those attractions

• Reception: Ask guests to mention it in their reviews

You’re not handing this to the dev team. You’re giving everyone a view of what’s coming.

4. MVP: What’s the smallest version you can launch?

Start small. Show that something works. Then scale.

Example:

• Pick 5 attractions

• Add 3 photos per page

• Test and measure

This is enough to run an early experiment without asking for the moon.

5. Timeline: Keep it moving

Set some basic check-in points so the project doesn’t go dark.

• Prototype by [date]

• Copy done by [date]

• Go live by [date]

• First review at 30 days

• Full review at 90 days

• If it works → scale to 50 more pages

6. Estimated Impact: What are we actually measuring?

You can use SEO metrics at the start (indexing, rankings), but sooner or later, you need to tie this back to the business.

Examples:

• ↑ Google Business Profile impressions

• ↑ Direct bookings from GBP

• XX bookings from attraction-based packages

• ↑ Rankings for “[hotel] near [landmark]” terms

Just keep it tied to outcomes people care about.

Quick Tip: Docs > Slides

I write these in Google Docs or Word. Long-form. If you need slides later, cool. But don’t skip the thinking part.

And send it ahead of your pitch meeting — don’t make people read and react live.

Pitching It

Know your audience.

Some execs want press hits? Cool — pitch them on digital PR.
Does someone else care about how it’s going to impact dev bandwidth? Great — walk them through the sprint plan.

Start with a small project. Show that tags and links and crawl directives actually drive revenue. Then, ask for more.

Once that lands, go bigger.
CMS changes. Bot directives. Multi-month link-building campaigns. All of that starts to make more sense after you’ve shown one thing that worked.

(If you’re not sure if your next big idea’s ready, go back and run it through your business case again.)

Measuring the Impact

Tracking SEO is a mess. Updates, seasonality, competitors — you name it, it clouds the water.

But it’s still your job to try.

Plan ahead. Set your metrics. Take screenshots. Save your “before” state in a folder before you go live. You’ll thank yourself when someone asks, “What changed?”

Don’t skip this. I've learned the hard way.

Want to get serious? Try SEO A/B testing. Tools like SearchPilot or SplitSignal are great, but you can run simple tests solo, too. Either way, thinking in terms of experiments will make your work way better.

Not every test is a win — and that’s fine. You’re learning what not to waste time on next.

One Last Thing

SEO’s not a one-and-done kind of job.

You’re constantly shipping new tests, iterating on what worked, and scaling it to other pages, other cities, and other countries. The proposals you’re writing today? They’re just setting the stage for everything else you’re going to push next quarter.

Make them clear. Make them easy to follow. And above all, tie it back to the business.

Because when your pitch hits their metrics, you get more of what you need: time, support, and budget.

And that’s the whole point.