Is 15 keywords enough to properly optimize content for an entire domain?

[amit2076]

I have recently moved in charge of a 95 page web portal that has around 8 categories of content.

The SEO agency I am touch with has sent me a proposal that says they will do on-page optimization for this domain for 15 keywords. Should that be enough? What should be my expected outcome?

My promise to the client is that core pages from his website will show up early on the SERPs. If they can do this, I am fine with it.

Do you think I am getting the right deal? Should I be asking for more?

[DougRoberts]

It's not really about he number of keywords your targeting , but making sure you're targeting the right keywords.

You need to consider:

how difficult it will be to rank for you chosen keywords (What cost / time)

The return on investment - how much traffic is optimising for the keyword going to get you (be realistic)

What is the value of the traffic from this keyword to the business. How relevant are the keywords to the business's offering and the searchers needs?

How well does this traffic convert? There's no point ranking highly for terms that just send you badly qualified traffic that is just going to bounce...

Can you identify any "low hanging fruit?" Are there less competitive terms that you can rank for more easily and still earn some traffic?

Even if there is less traffic for a keyword, you can find that a large slice of the traffic is worth more than crumbs for a more competitive term that you'll struggle to rank for.

The next question is whether on-page optimisation is going to be enough...

[amit2076]

This is an excellent response Doug. Its gonna help with the call I have coming up right now with the agency