Is It Out of Scope? — SEO & marketing
Is adding a booking or scheduling system out of scope for an SEO retainer?
Yes. Building booking functionality is development work with no connection to search strategy.
This surfaces occasionally when an SEO recommendation to reduce friction in converting visitors gets extended by the client into a request to build the booking flow that would reduce it.
Is it out of scope?
Yes. Recommending a booking flow to improve conversion is analysis; actually building the scheduling logic is functional development work outside search strategy.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Exclusions clause→ — Booking-system development is technical implementation work excluded from an SEO retainer.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
We flagged the lack of online booking as a conversion opportunity, but building that system is development work outside this retainer — that'd need a developer to set up.
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow flags booking-system build requests outside_scope on SEO contracts, keeping the distinction between recommending a fix and implementing it.