1) Understand the store and its categories
Capture the platform (Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce), product catalog size, top-selling categories, current traffic sources, and revenue goals. Ecommerce SEO is fundamentally different from local or lead-gen SEO.
2) Audit technical and on-page foundations
Review site architecture, product page optimization, category depth, indexation health, page speed, structured data (product, review, breadcrumb), and crawl efficiency. These are the gatekeepers to ranking.
3) Scope category + product-level SEO
Define monthly work: category page optimization, product description improvements, content for informational queries, technical fixes, and conversion rate improvements from organic traffic.
4) Price and close on revenue terms
Present retainer pricing tied to organic revenue growth, not just rankings. Ecommerce buyers want to hear about traffic-to-revenue conversion. Close with a timeline and collaboration model.