Is It Out of Scope? — Web development
Is adding local SEO for a new business location out of scope for a web development project?
Yes for the SEO strategy, though building an actual new location page or updating structured data is legitimate development work if scoped as such.
A client with a new location might ask the dev team to "handle the local SEO," when what they usually need is a mix of real SEO strategy work and some technical implementation (a new location page, updated LocalBusiness structured data) that the dev team can legitimately do.
Is it out of scope?
The strategy piece (keyword targeting, listing management) is out of scope. Building a new location page or adding structured data for it is technical implementation work — in scope once it's clearly specified as its own ask.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Exclusions clause→ — SEO strategy and listing management are excluded from the development engagement; specific technical build requests are evaluated against the deliverables list.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
Local SEO strategy — managing listings, targeting local keywords — is outside development work. Building a page for the new location or adding structured data for it is something we can do; let's define exactly what's needed and I'll quote it.
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow separates the SEO-strategy language in the request (flagged outside_scope) from any specific technical build ask, which it evaluates against the deliverables list like any other change request.