Specific client requests we're asked about often \u2014 whether each is out of scope, the clause usually involved, and wording you can adapt.
Yes, beyond the agreed quota. Writing and publishing a set number of posts per month is exactly what most content retainers cover — additional posts past that number are a volume increase, not part of the same deliverable.
Yes, as implementation work. Adjusting tracking to respect consent is a technical build, distinct from advising on how consent mode affects reporting.
Yes. Authentication infrastructure has no organic search component and isn't covered by an SEO retainer under any framing, security-sensitive or otherwise.
Usually yes for the build itself, though it overlaps with content strategy the retainer may already cover — the build (template, page) is the out-of-scope part; the ongoing content plan may or may not be.
Yes. Building booking functionality is development work with no connection to search strategy.
Yes — implementation is development/tooling work outside an SEO retainer, though advising on whether a chatbot helps or hurts conversion/SEO metrics is reasonable retainer-adjacent input.
Yes, clearly — this is application development, and it introduces SEO complications (gated content is unindexable by default) that are worth flagging as advisory input rather than the actual ask.
Yes. Payment processing implementation has no overlap with organic search work.
Yes. Environment provisioning is infrastructure work with no connection to search strategy.
Yes, as implementation work — though accessibility and technical SEO overlap enough that flagging accessibility issues an SEO audit happens to surface is reasonable advisory input, distinct from actually remediating them.
Depends on what's being asked. Advising on referral/affiliate marketing as a growth channel can fit a marketing retainer; building and running the program is beyond it.
Yes for building it — though optimizing an already-built landing page for a target keyword is exactly the kind of task most SEO retainers do include, so the two get conflated often.
Building the variant is outside an SEO retainer, but the retainer should absolutely weigh in beforehand on how to run the test without hurting rankings — duplicate content and indexing pitfalls are real risks an SEO team is well placed to flag.
Yes. Site animation has no connection to search strategy, and can work against it if implemented poorly.
Yes. Theme design and implementation has no connection to search strategy.
Yes for building the store — though it creates real, legitimately-billable follow-on SEO work (product page optimization, category structure) once the store exists, worth flagging as an opportunity rather than just declining.
Usually yes. A new location means a new Google Business Profile, new local listings, and often a new location page to optimize — a parallel setup effort beyond the retainer's original scope.
Yes, as production — though the SEO team can reasonably advise on whether adding motion elements is likely to improve watch time or engagement, which are ranking-adjacent signals.
Yes. Application-level access control has no organic search component and isn't covered by an SEO retainer.
Usually yes. Paid search is a distinct discipline from organic SEO — different platforms, different skill set, different pricing model — even though both sit under "search."
Yes. Push notifications are a distinct marketing/engagement channel and a development build, neither of which an organic-search-focused SEO retainer covers, even when the client is thinking of it as part of the same broader marketing effort.
Yes. Chat platform integration has no overlap with search strategy work.
Usually yes. It's core technical-SEO work, but the retainer's schema coverage was quoted around specific page types or schema types — more of either is additional volume.
Yes, as asset creation — though guidance on what content or messaging performs well (informed by SEO/content research) is a reasonable adjacent input, distinct from designing the templates themselves.
Producing the translation is outside the retainer, but noting that captions can genuinely help with accessibility and video indexing is a reasonable piece of SEO advice worth giving alongside the decline.
Usually yes past the agreed volume. Retainers typically define a target number of links or hours of outreach per month — a request for meaningfully more is an out-of-scope volume increase, not the same deliverable.
Yes. App store optimization (ASO) is a related but distinct discipline from web SEO, with its own ranking factors and platforms.
Usually yes. Auditing a different domain — its backlink profile, content, and technical SEO — is a distinct research deliverable beyond the retainer's original site scope, even for the same agency.
Yes. Design system work has no connection to search strategy.
Yes. CRM integration is backend engineering work with no organic search component, outside an SEO retainer regardless of how the lead data might eventually be used for SEO reporting.
Yes, unambiguously — this is development work with no natural connection to an SEO retainer's deliverables at all, distinct from the more common analytics/reporting-dashboard requests SEO clients also make.
Yes, as a build. Reporting and interpreting data is standard retainer work; building custom dashboard software isn't.
Yes. Form design and build work has no overlap with search strategy or optimization.
Yes. Writing and shipping code is engineering work, not part of an SEO retainer even when the plugin's purpose is SEO-related.
It depends what's actually being asked for. Delivering the metrics and analysis themselves is core SEO reporting work, often already in scope — building a live, interactive dashboard tool is a separate application build outside the retainer.
Yes, on two counts: it's development work, and it's not really SEO's discipline in the first place — app store visibility works on different mechanics (app store optimization) than the organic search ranking an SEO retainer is scoped around.
Yes. Integrating a signup form with an email marketing platform is a development task with no connection to organic search work.
Yes. Internal software development has no connection to organic search work.
Usually yes, as a distinct effort. Even under an existing link-building retainer, a genuinely new product line needs its own outreach angle and target sites — a parallel campaign, not the existing one stretched further.
Yes. Building a login-gated application has no connection to search visibility work.
Usually yes. A genuinely new channel (a new social platform, a newsletter, a new content format) needs its own strategy and cadence — a parallel planning effort beyond the retainer's original channel scope.
Yes, as design/build work. Advising on 404 handling for crawl health is in scope; designing or building the page isn't.
Yes. Visual brand identity work is a different discipline from organic search strategy, and an SEO retainer doesn't cover it even when the request arrives through the same point of contact managing the client's broader marketing.
Yes, as a deliverable — though if the deck is meant to report on SEO results, providing the underlying performance data and talking points for the SEO sections is a reasonable, narrower ask that's closer to the retainer's actual scope.
Yes, unless email marketing is explicitly part of the retainer — SEO and email marketing are adjacent but distinct disciplines, and most SEO-specific retainers don't include email design/copy.
Yes. Paid social advertising is a different marketing channel and discipline from organic search — an SEO retainer doesn't extend to it even though both fall under a client's broader marketing umbrella.
Yes. Logo and brand identity design is a different discipline from organic search work and isn't covered by an SEO retainer.
Yes. Video editing has no connection to organic search work and isn't covered by an SEO retainer.
Usually yes. A new market means new keyword research, new competitor analysis, and often new-language content — a parallel body of work beyond the retainer's original market scope, even for the same agency and site.
Usually yes past a meaningful threshold. Retainers typically specify a keyword count for tracking and reporting — a modest handful of additions is a reasonable accommodation, but a large expansion is a real increase in reporting and strategy work.
For technical SEO implementations specifically, a genuine defect (a tag implemented incorrectly, a redirect that doesn't work as specified) is typically covered by warranty. A new issue unrelated to what was delivered is a separate, billable request outside the retainer.
Yes, as extra work. Rankings damage from the client's own unreviewed site changes isn't a retainer failure.
Yes, clearly — this is development work, distinct from the reporting-platform connections (analytics, Search Console) that most SEO retainers already assume as part of doing the job.
Yes. Simulating traffic load is a technical exercise with no connection to search strategy.
Usually yes. It's native technical-SEO work, but a redesign-triggered migration is a defined project with its own checklist, not routine retainer maintenance.
The migration itself is development work outside an SEO retainer, but the SEO risk it creates (redirects, crawlability, ranking drops) is exactly the kind of thing an SEO team should be advising on before it happens, not doing.
Yes. Brand guidelines are a design/brand strategy deliverable outside an SEO retainer's scope, even where tone-of-voice guidance overlaps loosely with content strategy work the retainer might otherwise touch.
Yes, as production — though advising on the topic and messaging most likely to perform, based on keyword and content research already underway, is a reasonable adjacent contribution.
Yes. A one-time SEO audit or project doesn't carry an implied ongoing optimization commitment.
Yes. Print collateral design has no connection to organic search work and isn't covered by an SEO retainer under any framing.
The redesign itself is out of scope, but the SEO agency's involvement in reviewing it for ranking impact is a legitimate — and often necessary — related ask, worth distinguishing clearly from doing the redesign.
Usually yes. Reporting is a core part of an SEO retainer, but building out coverage of a platform that wasn't part of the original reporting setup is new integration work.
Yes, as production — though advising on whether the change is likely to affect how the video performs in search or on-page is a reasonable adjacent contribution.
Yes, as a technical build. Recommending what to test is within scope; setting up the testing platform itself isn't.
Yes. Deployment pipeline configuration has no connection to search strategy work.
Yes. Browser/device compatibility is technical implementation work, outside organic search strategy.
Yes, beyond a brief dashboard walkthrough. Structured staff training on reporting tools isn't standard SEO retainer work.
Yes for the translation and international SEO setup itself — international/multilingual SEO (hreflang, locale targeting) is a distinct specialty most single-market retainers don't include.
Yes. A CMS version upgrade is a technical infrastructure change, not part of ongoing SEO work.
Yes. Writing technical handoff documentation has no connection to search strategy work.