OPENSEO SAAS LAUNCH CHECKLIST
Ken Designers · kendesigners.com/articles/openseo-github-seo-saas-business/
Planning aid only. Not legal or financial advice. Check current terms and prices.

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1. POSITION (write this before any code)
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"An SEO tool / service for ______________ (who),
 paid by ______________ (how),
 that does ______________ better than the $10 hosted OpenSEO."

Business model chosen (agency / white-label / vertical / local SaaS /
AI-agent services / managed hosting / training):  ____________
Ten target customers I can contact this month:
 1. ______  2. ______  3. ______  4. ______  5. ______
 6. ______  7. ______  8. ______  9. ______ 10. ______

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2. LICENCE, BRAND AND DATA TERMS
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[ ] MIT LICENSE file and copyright notice kept in my fork
[ ] OpenSEO name, logo and domain replaced with my own brand
[ ] Marketing says "built on the open-source OpenSEO project", no endorsement implied
[ ] DataForSEO asked in writing to confirm my use is covered (date: ______)
[ ] SERP data never used to compete with search engines (DataForSEO ToS 7.1)
[ ] Google API terms reviewed for Search Console / Analytics
[ ] Telemetry decision made (OPENSEO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 or disclosed)

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3. MEASURE REAL DATA COSTS (self-host first, $50 DataForSEO top-up)
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Keyword search:        $ ______ each
Backlink overview:     $ ______ each
Site audit (__ pages): $ ______ each
Rank check:            $ ______ each
AI prompt check:       $ ______ each
Typical customer month: $ ______
Keyword data coverage for Kenyan locations / Swahili checked: [ ]

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4. UNIT ECONOMICS (per customer per month, USD)
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Plan price:                        $ ______
Included usage (at marked-up rate): $ ______
Markup on data (upstream uses 28%): ______ %
Expected data cost:               - $ ______
Payment fee (M-Pesa 1.5% / card): - $ ______
Hosting share:                     - $ ______
AI model spend:                    - $ ______
Support minutes x hourly cost:     - $ ______
LEFT PER CUSTOMER:                   $ ______
Customers needed to cover my costs:  ______

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5. PRODUCT SET-UP (hosted mode)
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[ ] AUTH_MODE=hosted with BETTER_AUTH_SECRET and BETTER_AUTH_URL
[ ] Google sign-in configured
[ ] Transactional email (verify, reset, invitations) working
[ ] Platform DataForSEO account with a DAILY SPENDING LIMIT
[ ] Credit holds kept (no direct DataForSEO calls that bypass billing)
[ ] Free-trial credits capped
[ ] Free public tools protected with bot checks (e.g. Turnstile)
[ ] Plans and top-ups priced in KES (if local)
[ ] M-Pesa / card payments connected and tested end to end
[ ] Staging and production deployments separate
[ ] /api/health and logs monitored

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6. DATA PROTECTION AND TRUST
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[ ] Every query scoped to the customer's organisation
[ ] Google OAuth tokens encrypted (BETTER_AUTH_SECRET)
[ ] Privacy policy and terms of service published
[ ] Checked whether ODPC registration applies to my business
[ ] Terms say: no ranking guarantees; data may be incomplete

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7. GROWTH AND MAINTENANCE
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[ ] Upstream remote added; merge schedule: every ____ weeks
[ ] Release notes read before each merge; tests pass
[ ] First 3 customers onboarded by hand; friction points listed
[ ] Content plan for my niche (guides + one free tool)
[ ] Agency partner offer written

Notes: