- Google's own guide says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and warns against SEOs that claim a special relationship with Google.
- Buying or selling links for ranking purposes is link spam under Google's spam policies, so link packages are a red flag.
- Keep ownership of Search Console, analytics, Business Profile and your domain, and add the agency as a user.
- For an audit, Google suggests giving read access to Search Console only, not write access.
- You are responsible for the actions of any SEO company you hire, so insist on knowing every change they make.
How do you choose an SEO agency?
Choose an agency that explains exactly what it will change on your site and why, reports on traffic and leads you can check yourself, works inside accounts you own, and never promises rankings. Walk away from guarantees of first place, claims of a special relationship with Google, or packages of links. Google gives much the same advice in its own guide, and the reason is simple: you are responsible for what any agency does to your site.
We offer SEO services, so we are not neutral. These are still the questions we would want any buyer to ask us.
What does Google say about hiring an SEO?
Google's Search Central guide Do you need an SEO? is short and worth reading in full. Its key points:
- No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
- Be wary of anyone who claims a "special relationship" with Google or advertises a "priority submit" to Google.
- You should never have to link to an SEO.
- If an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, your site could be removed from Google's index.
- You are responsible for the actions of any company you hire.
The guide also suggests asking for examples of previous work, what results they expect and in what timeframe, how they measure success, and whether they will share all the changes they make to your site.
Which questions should you ask before signing?
- What will you do in the first three months? Expect a concrete plan: a technical audit, fixes, content priorities and who does each task.
- Who will do the work? Ask whether the people on the sales call do the work, or whether it is passed to someone else.
- Which changes need our developer? Many SEO fixes touch templates, page speed or redirects. Find out whether the agency makes them or hands you a list.
- How will you earn links? The answer should be about content and outreach that people would value anyway, not paid placements.
- What will you report, and how often? Rankings alone are not enough. You want clicks from Search Console and leads or sales from organic search in your analytics.
- What happens when we leave? You should keep all content, accounts and data.
- Have you worked in our industry and market? Google's guide suggests asking about experience in your industry, in your country or city, and with international sites if you sell abroad.
Listen for specifics. A good answer names pages, problems and next steps on your own site. A weak answer repeats general promises that would fit any business.
What are the red flags?
Bad SEO deals tend to look alike. Watch for:
- Ranking guarantees. Google says no one can guarantee a top ranking. Guarantees often cover obscure phrases that nobody searches for.
- Link packages. Google's spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes, and excessive link exchanges, as link spam.
- Mass-produced pages. The same policies describe scaled content abuse: many pages generated mainly to manipulate search rankings.
- Secret methods. If an agency will not tell you what it changes, you cannot judge the risk.
- Agency-owned accounts. Analytics, Search Console or Business Profile set up under the agency's name, which you lose when you leave.
- Long lock-in contracts with no way out if the agreed work is not delivered.
What access should an agency get?
Keep ownership and share access. Your business should own its Search Console property, analytics account, Google Business Profile and domain, and add the agency as a user. In Search Console, Google's permissions guide describes three levels: owners have full control, full users can view all data and take some actions, and restricted users can view most data. Only owners can add users. For an audit, Google's hiring guide suggests granting read access only, without write access at that stage.
Treat your website the same way. Give the agency its own login rather than your admin password, and remove access the day the contract ends.
How should you judge the results?
SEO takes time, so agree on what progress looks like before you start. A useful monthly report shows:
- clicks and impressions from Search Console for the pages that matter to sales;
- leads or revenue from organic search in your own analytics;
- the work completed that month and what comes next;
- problems found, such as pages dropping out of the index, and how they were fixed.
Ask for numbers you can open in your own accounts. If your site is being rebuilt at the same time, our redesign SEO checklist helps protect what already ranks.
Also ask how the agency approaches AI search, where answers are written from sources across the web. A good agency should explain how it makes your pages clear and easy to cite. Our guide to AI search optimization covers the basics.
How do you compare two SEO proposals?
Proposals are hard to compare because each agency describes its work differently. Put them side by side on the same points:
- Tasks per month: what is actually delivered, such as fixes, pages written or pages improved, not hours or vague "optimisation".
- Who does what: which tasks the agency handles and which land on your team or your developer.
- Measures: the Search Console and analytics figures each agency will report against.
- Risk: how each one builds links and creates content, judged against Google's spam policies.
The cheaper proposal is often the one that leaves more work for your own team.
What should the contract include?
- A monthly scope written as tasks, not just "SEO".
- Who owns the content, reports and accounts (you should).
- A notice period and what is handed over when you leave.
- How extra requests are priced.
- A commitment to follow Google's spam policies.
If content is part of the deal, our content marketing team can show how we plan pages around real buyer questions. Stores and SaaS companies can also compare our guides on Shopify technical SEO and SaaS SEO pages with what an agency proposes.
Frequently asked questions
How long does SEO take to show results?
It depends on your site, your competitors and how much needs fixing. Google's own guide suggests asking an agency what results it expects and in what timeframe, then holding it to that. Technical fixes can show sooner, while content and reputation usually take longer to build.
Is a cheap monthly SEO package worth it?
Judge a package by the tasks it includes, not the price. If the proposal cannot say what will be done each month, who does it and how you will see it, the low price is buying very little. A smaller budget spent on a few clear fixes is often better value.
Should we hire an SEO agency or an in-house SEO?
An agency gives you a team with technical, content and outreach skills without hiring each role. An in-house person knows your business better and can work with your developers every day. Many companies start with an agency and hire in-house once SEO is a steady, large part of their marketing.
Can an agency guarantee traffic instead of rankings?
No one controls Google results, so any guarantee of traffic or leads is a sales promise rather than a plan. A reasonable agency can commit to the work it will deliver and the measures it will report. Results should then be judged against those measures together.
What should we do if a previous agency bought bad links?
First check the Manual actions report in Search Console. Google's guidance is that the disavow tool is for sites with a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links that have caused, or will likely cause, a manual action. Google also says most sites will not need it, as it can usually assess which links to trust.
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