Website Hosting, Maintenance, and SEO Services

The Gulf Coast Protection District (GCPD) is soliciting competitive bids for comprehensive website hosting, maintenance, and search engine optimization (SEO) services to support its public-facing website, gcpdtexas.com, which serves as a critical platform for transparency and public engagement on major coastal storm risk management initiatives across five Texas counties. The contract, identified as GCPD-2026-Web.SEO-01, requires a vendor to provide secure, high-performance hosting on U.S.-based servers, ongoing technical maintenance including minor enhancements and bug fixes, and full-spectrum SEO services that comply with WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards and public-sector best practices. The scope includes a baseline technical, on-page, content, and competitive SEO audit of the current site, optimization of HTML and XML sitemaps, Google My Business profile management, local citation building, geotargeting, content strategy development, monthly performance reporting, quarterly strategy reviews, and training for District staff on SEO and content optimization. All services must be delivered under a detailed Service Level Agreement (SLA) with penalties for uptime and response time failures, and the vendor must ensure full compliance with the Texas Public Information Act and security protocols including regular vulnerability scans. The contract has an initial term of one year, with options for up to four additional one-year renewals and a potential one-year extension for transition purposes, all contingent upon appropriation of funds and satisfactory performance. Proposals must be submitted electronically by June 25, 2026, in a single searchable PDF format with required sections including an executive summary, qualifications, proposed personnel, work plan, and pricing sheet. Pricing must be fixed and all-inclusive, covering labor, equipment, and all related expenses without reimbursement for incidental costs such as travel, per diem, or office space. The award will be made on a best value basis, with evaluation weighted 40% to proposal methodology, 30% to qualification and experience, and 30% to price, subject to mandatory pass/fail gates requiring no history of unsatisfactory performance on the CPA Vendor Performance Tracking System and no negative references. Vendors must be registered with SAM.gov, provide a Texas Identification Number, FEIN, and other state certifications, and be free from suspension or debarment. Contractors must maintain $1 million commercial general liability, $1 million professional/errors & omissions, and $1 million cyber liability coverage issued by Texas-licensed carriers with an A.M. Best rating of A