Is It Out of Scope? — Web design
Is adding local SEO for a new business location out of scope for a web design project?
Yes. Local SEO — location pages, listings, map optimization — is an SEO deliverable, though a design agency may legitimately design a new location page's layout if asked to.
A client opening a second location sometimes asks their design agency to "get us showing up for that area," conflating the design of a new location page with the SEO work needed to actually rank for local searches.
Is it out of scope?
The SEO side is out of scope — Google Business Profile setup, local listings, location-based keyword targeting. Designing the new location page itself, if requested as a design deliverable, is a separate, in-scope-able ask worth scoping on its own.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Exclusions clause→ — Local SEO — listings, map optimization, local keyword targeting — is excluded from the design engagement; the location page's design is evaluated separately.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
Getting the new location showing up in local search is an SEO task — listings, Google Business Profile, that kind of thing — outside this design engagement. If you'd like a page designed for the new location, that's something we can scope; just flag if that's a separate ask.
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow flags the local-SEO components of the request (listings, map optimization) outside_scope while treating a page-design request, if separately specified, on its own merits against the deliverables list.