Client Onboarding Checklist
The 60 items you need buttoned down before an SEO, PPC, or GEO engagement begins. Access grants, data room, baselines, governance, kickoff deliverables. Export as CSV or printable PDF for the client.
Agency Intelligence
The first 30 days determine whether the engagement runs cleanly for 12 months or spends year 1 fixing onboarding gaps.
Access requests, baseline data, named contacts, approvals, measurement setup: if any of these are missing at kickoff, the first deliverable slips and the client blames the agency. This checklist is the belt-and-braces version used by senior agency ops leads.
Client details
Onboarding items (click status to cycle: open and in progress and done)
Overall progress
By owner
Export
Frequently asked questions
Why does onboarding matter?
The first 30 days determine whether the engagement runs cleanly for 12 months. Access gaps, named-contact gaps, baseline-data gaps cause downstream delays.
What are the four critical checklist items?
Google Analytics 4 access, Google Search Console access, named day-to-day client contact, and signed SOW on file. Nothing starts without these four.
How long should onboarding take?
Target 7 to 14 days. Over 30 and the client has disengaged. Set an onboarding deadline in the SOW.
What is a kickoff workshop?
A structured 2-hour meeting with client stakeholders (business, marketing, tech) to align goals, confirm scope, surface blockers.
Should the agency manage client access or vice versa?
Client grants access from their accounts. Agency doesn't ask for admin passwords. SSO-based tools are cleanest.
What is a baseline?
The pre-engagement state of key metrics. Essential for measuring the engagement's impact. Capture before any changes.
What should the KPI definition cover?
Metric name, formula, data source, review cadence, target value. Everyone agrees on definitions before work starts.
What is an escalation path?
Documented order of who gets contacted when things go wrong. Client has one, agency has one, both exchanged.
Does the tool export the checklist?
Yes. CSV for tracking in agency PM tools, Markdown for client-facing docs.
Can one person own the onboarding?
Yes. The agency account director typically owns onboarding completion. Items have specific owners (client / agency / joint) in the checklist.
What is a "named contact"?
A single person with named decision-making authority for a specific area (approval, data, dev requests). Prevents messages going to a group inbox.
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