Ten Tips for Writing Better SEO Proposals

1. Give them what they’ve asked for. It’s amazing how many people put them out of the running by ignoring aspects of an invitation to tender. Either they haven’t read it properly or they haven’t bothered to clarify anything they don’t understand.

2. Make sure you’ve done your homework and can make your response relevant to their situation. You need to know the decision makers and make sure they know you. At best you’ll have met them out of context in the past, and had several meetings with them before this stage. At worst, you’ll have at least spoken to each of them on the phone. So you’ll have a good idea of what matters to them, and of which person will have the final say. If you were in their shoes, what would you be most worried about? Address those concerns all through your text.

3. Decide what you want to say before you write it down. It’s good to develop your ideas and the messages you want to get across into an outline before you add the detail and then polish it into English that’s easy to read.

4. Put the benefits that will grab interest right up front. Don’t write a logical sequence as you might for a report. For example, if your solution will be cost effective, you’d say, “I guarantee to save you $XXX in the first three months…” and then go on to say how, so that you justify your claim.
5. Spell things out clearly. Don’t assume your readers will just extract what you mean. Say what you or your colleagues will do and who will take responsibility for it. Say why and how you will do it, when and where you will do it. Say what reports they will get, how often, who will prepare them, what cooperation they will need. Say whatever is relevant.

6. Write as you would speak to let your own personality shine through. It’s ok to be passionate and to demonstrate your hunger for the business. Try speaking aloud as if to your readers before you write down your words.

7. Use mainly active, not passive, voice. In a passive voice sentence, something is done TO an agent rather than BY the subject of the sentence. Although there are sometimes reasons for writing this way, it is best avoided in proposals as it can be seen as trying to avoid giving clear suggestions or accepting responsibility.

8. KISS. I am sure you’ve met that acronym before. It’s really important here. Keep it as simple as you can. Use short or conversational words and don’t use jargon unless it is definitely shared with your readers.

9. Add variety with sentence and paragraph length. You can sometimes break the rules of grammar to add power to your message. So you can start a sentence with a conjunction, as here. You can occasionally split an infinitive if it helps your case, or you can use elision and end a sentence with a preposition, as in “that is something I won’t put up with”. This can make your text more believable as long as the rule breaking isn’t used too liberally, but adds variety and spice to your text.

10. Get the help you need from colleagues or family and friends. It’s always a good idea to listen to what others have to say about your words and your ideas, so don’t keep it to yourself unless you really must.