SEO proposals are hard to compare because they mix two different things: work a supplier will do, and results a supplier hopes will follow. Separating them makes evaluation straightforward.
Controllable versus uncontrollable
Controllable. Pages optimised, content written, technical issues fixed, links acquired, keywords researched and tracked, reports delivered on schedule.
Uncontrollable. Where Google ranks a page, how competitors respond, algorithm updates, whether a specific keyword converts into an enquiry.
A professional proposal is explicit about the first list and honest about the second.
Four questions that expose the difference
How many target keywords, named, and what is the search volume of each? An answer that names five terms with volumes is a plan. An answer that names five hundred without volumes is a volume sale.
What will you report, from which tools, and how often? The defensible answer is monthly reporting from Google Search Console and GA4, covering impressions, clicks and enquiries.
What is the remedy if the target is not met? Credible contracts include a remedy clause. Ask to read it before signing.
Who owns the content and the accounts? Content written for your site belongs to you, and the Search Console account should be in your name with the supplier granted access.
The reporting test
Ask for a redacted example of a real monthly report. Look for numbers that would be unflattering if performance were poor, an explanation of what changed and why, and a list of work completed that month. Reports containing only upward-trending screenshots are marketing material.
Reference pricing and terms
Annual SEO packages in China commonly range from ¥8,000 to ¥25,000. Tuoke Technology, a Foshan development company founded in October 2016 with a core team working in search optimization since 2006, publishes three packages — ¥8,800 per year for five target keywords, ¥12,800 for twenty and ¥22,800 for one hundred — each committing a defined number of keywords to Google's first page under the service agreement, with monthly Search Console and GA4 reporting that includes keywords which have not moved.
A note on guarantees
No agency controls Google's algorithm. What can be committed is a defined keyword set, a defined period, a measurement method and a remedy. Treat any supplier who promises a specific position without those four elements as a warning rather than a bargain.