Compare orthopedic marketing proposals against the same practice brief. A lower fee may exclude the work you need, while a longer activity list may leave ownership and acceptance unclear. This worksheet helps practice owners record what each written proposal actually commits to before choosing an agency.
If you have not requested proposals yet, start with the orthopedic marketing RFP template. If you are still deciding between hiring and outsourcing, use the in-house versus agency responsibility worksheet.
Normalize the scope first
Write one line describing the locations, surgeons, priority services and work period being compared. Then mark any proposal that uses a different assumption. Ask for clarification before treating the fees as comparable. Keep media, software, development and optional work separate from the agency fee.
For example, one proposal may include two location pages while another includes a website review with recommendations only. Neither is automatically better. The difference is whether the promised output matches the problem and your team’s implementation capacity.
Copy this comparison worksheet
| Decision item | Agency A | Agency B | Open question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice priority and starting work | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
| Named deliverables and exclusions | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
| Delivery owner and practice inputs | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
| Fees and separate spending | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
| Relevant work evidence | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
| Reporting and acceptance checks | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
| Account control and handover | [response] | [response] | [clarify] |
Use “not stated” when the proposal does not answer an item. Do not fill gaps with assumptions from a sales conversation. Ask the supplier to confirm material answers in the written scope.
Ask what the evidence proves
Request work examples relevant to the proposed task. Ask what the supplier produced, which responsibilities belonged to the client and what the example can substantiate. A well-presented website is evidence of a design output; it is not by itself proof of patient acquisition or the supplier’s role in every part of the project.
Where results are discussed, ask for the period, baseline, measurement definition and limits of attribution. Do not treat traffic, form attempts and attended appointments as interchangeable. Our orthopedic measurement guide explains the definitions to agree with your team.
⚡ 2-minute scorecard · instant result
Is your orthopedic practice website turning searches into booked consults?
Answer 5 quick questions. Get your score + the top fixes, free.
1. Can a new patient request an appointment from a phone in under a minute?
2. Is every phone number on your site a tap-to-call link?
3. Do your procedure pages name the surgeons who perform them and show patient reviews?
4. Does each office have its own page with hours, phone and the surgeons who work there?
5. Do you track new-patient requests from the first click to a kept consult?
Make responsibilities and correction clear
Confirm who supplies facts, who approves clinical statements, who publishes and who checks the release. Ask how an error is corrected and which changes require practice approval. When replacing a supplier, use the orthopedic agency handover checklist to review continuity before work moves.
Set your own priorities instead of applying a universal score. A group opening an office may value location coordination differently from a practice improving one service line. Record why the chosen scope fits those priorities and what remains unresolved.
Turn broad agency promises into work you can inspect
Two proposals can both say “orthopedic SEO” and commit to different work. Before comparing the fee, ask each supplier to describe the first deliverable for the same practice problem. The examples below are questions for your written scope, not a promised package or a forecast of patient demand.
“We will improve your surgeon and service pages”
Ask for: the existing pages to update, the purpose of each page and the services and offices it should connect to. If a surgeon works at two locations, ask how the profile will show where they see patients without suggesting that every service is available at both offices.
Acceptance evidence: approved clinician and location details, a page list showing which URL serves which purpose, and working links between the relevant surgeon, service and office pages. Your practice approves clinical information; a supplier’s page count does not establish clinical accuracy.
“Local SEO is included for every office”
Ask for: the actual offices in scope, the profile tasks for each office, who holds the account roles and who supplies changes to hours or services. Separate an existing-location correction from the launch of another office.
Acceptance evidence: a dated change record and agreement between the approved public office details, its website page and the relevant profile. A group-level report should identify which offices received work and which did not.
“We will track your leads”
Ask for: the enquiry routes being measured, the destination and follow-up owner for each route, and the distinction between a button click, a saved request and a received notification. Agree how duplicates, spam, staff activity and labelled tests are handled.
Acceptance evidence: an agreed, labelled test reaches the intended staff owner and appears at the correct reporting stage. Arrange tests with your team; do not submit patient information as test data. Bookings and attendance need their own operational evidence. The orthopedic intake worksheet helps document that handoff.
“The redesign includes SEO”
Ask for: the pages being retained, changed or removed; any URL mapping; the review and launch owners; and the affected-content backup and recovery plan. State whether forms, booking links, analytics and existing suppliers are part of the project.
Acceptance evidence: agreed destination pages load, important old links reach the intended content, and the contact routes work on a phone and desktop. Use the orthopedic website migration checklist for that separate project. A new design alone does not establish preserved search visibility.
“You own everything and can leave anytime”
Ask for: the account and asset register, who controls the domain and hosting, which software or licenses are portable, and what export or handover is included. Put renewal, notice and outstanding work in writing.
Acceptance evidence: the practice’s authorized owners can access the agreed assets and locate the handover instructions. A month-to-month billing label does not answer every ownership question. The agency handover checklist covers continuity when replacing a supplier.
What to resolve before choosing the supplier
Record the first agreed deliverable, the evidence that will show it is complete, the practice input it depends on and any separate charge. Ask what happens if that input is delayed or the initial diagnosis changes. Keep unresolved items visible rather than filling them with assumptions.
If you need a public-page starting point, request my free orthopedic website review. Share your practice URL and a priority service or location. You will receive three prioritized observations, affected page links and practical next checks. A call is optional. The review does not include private account checks, supplier-proposal approval or implementation.
Before approving the engagement
Resolve missing answers, confirm total commitments and agree the first review checkpoint. Keep deliverables and fees in the written agreement. Use the orthopedic agency shortlist guide for broader provider research and the budget guide for cost categories.
Sprout Sage Solutions provides orthopedic marketing services. Request a consultation about your practice’s scope. Share your website, role and priority rather than uploading confidential competitor proposals or patient information to the public form.
If the next step is correcting named surgeon, service or office pages, request a scope for orthopedic surgeon and location page repair. This is a defined implementation project, separate from comparing proposals or commissioning a full rebuild.
