The short answer
Your plan is the set of work your proposal says is included. Anything not listed is out of scope and is requested, quoted and agreed before it starts. Your monthly report shows the work done. Read the scope section line by line, ask your project manager about anything unclear, and request extras in writing first.
What a plan is, in plain words
A plan, in agency terms, is a defined package of work delivered on a regular basis. It has a name, a list of what is included, and a way of being paid for: often a recurring amount, sometimes a one-off amount for a project stage. The list of what is included is called the scope. It is the most important part of the document, and often the shortest.
Webtec offers several kinds of plans, from website updates and support to SEO, AEO (getting named in answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI), redesigns and builds. The exact content of yours is written in your proposal. This page does not describe any plan's contents, because a general description would never match a specific proposal exactly. Look at the pricing page for an overview, and treat your proposal as the authority.
How to read the scope section
Read it slowly, with one question: if I asked for this tomorrow, would it be covered? Go through these in order.
- 1Find the list of deliverables. These are the things you will receive, such as pages, reports or fixes. Underline each one.
- 2Find the activities. These are things done on an ongoing basis, such as monitoring, updates or optimization. Note how often each is described.
- 3Look for numbers. A set number of pages, hours, requests or reports is a boundary. Note it exactly and what unit is used.
- 4Look for exclusions. Many proposals include a short list of things that are not covered. These are the most useful lines to read.
- 5Look for dependencies, meaning what the work needs from you: content, access, approvals, decisions. Delays on your side can move dates.
- 6Look for how changes are handled. This tells you how a request for something new is treated.
If a sentence can be read two ways, write down both readings and ask which one is meant. Do that before the work starts, not after the invoice arrives.
In scope and out of scope: a simple way to think about it
In scope means the proposal lists it. Out of scope means it does not, or it asks for more than the listed amount. There is nothing sinister in out of scope: a proposal cannot list everything a business might ever want, so anything new is simply discussed and agreed first.
| Request | Check | Likely reading |
|---|---|---|
| Fix a typo on an existing page | Is a type of change like this listed as included? | Depends on your proposal wording |
| A brand new section on your site | Is new page work listed, and in what quantity? | Often a scope question to confirm |
| A new service, such as ads on top of SEO | Is it named anywhere in your proposal? | Usually a new quote |
| More of what is already included, beyond a stated number | What does the number say, and what unit? | Check the boundary, then ask |
| Something described vaguely | Does a clause define it? | Ask for a definition in writing |
The third column is a pattern, not a decision. Your proposal's actual wording decides, and your project manager can tell you how a specific request would be handled.
How extra work should be requested and quoted
A healthy process has the same simple order every time. You describe what you want. Someone on our team checks it against your scope and, if it is outside it, tells you so before doing anything. You receive a quote that says what will be delivered. You approve it. Only then does work begin.
If you ever see a charge for extra work that you did not know was being quoted, that is exactly the kind of thing to raise using ask about a charge. The general principle is that nothing should come as a surprise on an invoice that you were not told about first.
Two practical tips. First, put every extra request in writing, even if it started on a call. Second, ask 'is this in my plan?' as the first question, before the request itself. That ordering saves a lot of confusion. For website changes, request a website update shows what a good request looks like.
The monthly report shows the work done
Your monthly report is the other half of understanding your plan. The proposal says what should happen. The report shows what happened. Put them side by side once a month: for each item in the proposal's scope, find where the report describes it. Anything listed in the proposal and missing from the report deserves a question. Anything in the report that is not in the proposal deserves a question as well, because it may be an extra that was agreed, or a wording difference worth clearing up.
The report also does something less obvious: it gives you a shared vocabulary. When you and your project manager talk about 'updates' or 'optimization', you both mean the items in the report. Read your monthly report explains the layout in detail.
A plan-reading checklist
- I have the latest version of the proposal and know where it is saved.
- I can say, in one sentence, what my plan includes.
- I have noted every number in the scope: pages, hours, requests, reports.
- I have read the exclusions, and none of them surprises me.
- I know what the work needs from me and by when.
- I know how a request for something new is handled.
- I know where the changes section of my proposal is, in case my needs shift. See change or pause a plan.
- I compare each monthly report to the scope.
- Anything I could not answer is written down as a question for my project manager.
Example: the 'small change' that was not small
Example: A scope conversation done early
A clinic owner wants to add a pricing section to the homepage and a new treatment page. She reads her proposal first. It mentions 'updates to existing pages' but not 'new pages'. Before asking for anything, she writes: 'Is a new treatment page in my plan, or would it be quoted separately? And does a new homepage section count as an update to an existing page?' The project manager replies that the section is an update, but the new page is a separate piece of work, and sends a written quote with what is delivered. She approves it, sees it on a preview link, and the invoice later matches the quote line for line. The same request without the first question could have produced a surprise, not because anyone acted badly, but because the boundary had never been said out loud.
When to ask us
Ask us when two readings of your scope are possible, before work starts if you can. The best person for scope and timing is your project manager. For questions about how a charge relates to your plan, use the support form, category Billing or plan question. Quote the proposal paragraph, say what you assumed, and say what you saw. A named person on our team will go through the proposal and your invoice history with you.
Never rely on this page for what your plan includes. Your proposal is the document that decides it.
