15 Questions to Ask an SEO Agency Before You Sign

The right questions to ask an SEO agency are the ones that show you, before you sign, how the agency works, what it will cost and what you keep if you leave.

A short list of hard questions moves the call to what the agency will actually do, month by month.

Google publishes its own advice on hiring help. Its page "Do you need an SEO?" includes a list of questions to ask a potential SEO and a set of warning signs. We use that page as a source below and link to it wherever we quote it.

Each of the 15 questions below comes with a note on what a good answer sounds like. Where the question is about us, we give Kause's own answer too. We are a Maryland SEO agency in Randallstown, so some answers are written with Maryland businesses in mind, but the questions work anywhere.

1. Can you guarantee rankings?

Google is direct on this point: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." It goes on to say that if an SEO promises first place in search results, "find someone else." An honest agency will tell you what it controls, such as the work it ships each month, and what it does not, such as Google's results.

2. What results do you expect, by when, and how will you measure them?

This is one of Google's own suggested questions to ask an SEO agency. Its list includes "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?" A good answer names the measures: calls and form leads from organic search, clicks and impressions in Search Console, and positions for a set list of terms. A vague answer like "more traffic" is a sign to dig deeper.

3. Can you show me examples of your previous work?

Google suggests asking an SEO to "show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories." Ask for things you can check: a live page they wrote, a sample report with client names removed, or an audit they delivered. Be careful with results that cannot be checked, such as a percentage with no client, date or source.

4. What is your experience in my industry?

Search works differently for a law firm, a dental office and a Shopify store. Lawyers face advertising rules. Health pages face a higher bar for accuracy. Online stores face duplicate product URLs. Ask the agency what is different about SEO for your kind of business, and listen for details rather than general claims.

5. What is your experience in my city or area?

Google lists "What's your experience in my country/city?" among its questions. For a local business, this matters because map results depend on where the searcher is. A Maryland plumber who serves Baltimore County and Howard County needs an agency that knows how service areas, town pages and Google Business Profile work together.

6. How do you get links to my site?

Google's spam policies list "Buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam, and warn that "Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all." Ask the agency how it earns links. Good answers include local partners, real press, useful guides and directory listings that customers actually use. If an SEO firm talks about link packages or thousands of links, walk away.

7. Will you share every change you make to my site?

This is also on Google's list: "Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site" Google adds that an SEO with server access "should be willing to explain all the changes they are making to your site." Ask for a change log: the date, the page, what changed and why. It protects you if something goes wrong.

8. Who owns the accounts and the work?

Your business should own its Google Business Profile, Search Console property, analytics account, domain and content. The agency should be added as a user, not set up as the owner.

Google's own role names make this easy to check. In Business Profile, "Only owners can remove other owners and managers," and managers "can't add or remove users or remove the profile." In Search Console, an owner "Has full control over properties in Search Console." So keep the owner role yourself and give the agency manager or full user access. Then you can remove them on your own if you ever part ways.

9. Who will actually do the work?

Of all the questions to ask an SEO agency, this one is often skipped. Many SEO companies have a sales person on the first call and a different team doing the work. That is fine if you know it. Ask who writes the content, who makes technical changes and who you talk to each month. If work is passed to subcontractors, ask where they are and how their work is checked.

10. How will we communicate, and how often will I get a report?

Google suggests asking "How can I expect to communicate with you?" Agree on a monthly report and a call or written update. A useful report shows what was done, what changed in leads and search data, and what comes next. Google also warns you to "Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do."

11. What does the monthly fee include?

Two agencies can charge the same fee and deliver very different work. Ask for a written scope: how many pages or posts a month, which technical fixes, how much profile work and whether links or reporting are included. Our guide to how much SEO costs in Maryland compares published prices so you can see what a given budget usually buys.

12. How long is the contract, and how do I leave?

SEO takes time to show results, so a minimum term is common. Ask how long it is, what happens after it ends, how much notice you need to give, and what you get back when you leave. The answer to the ownership question above matters most here.

13. How will you handle reviews?

Reviews matter for local search, and they also carry legal risk. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, effective October 21, 2024, bars businesses from "writing, creating, selling, purchasing, or disseminating consumer reviews" that misstate who the reviewer is or what they experienced. It also bans offering incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment. Ask the agency how it helps you get more real reviews. Any offer to supply reviews is a reason to end the call.

14. What will you need from me?

Good SEO needs facts only you have: your services, prices, service area, photos and the questions customers ask. Ask how many hours a month the agency will need from you or your staff, and who signs off on new pages.

15. What would you fix first on my site?

This last of our questions to ask an SEO agency is a quick test. An agency that looked at your site before the call can name two or three real issues, such as missing service pages, slow templates or a profile in the wrong category. If the answer could apply to any business, the agency has not done its homework yet.

The answers matter, but so does how an SEO firm finds you and talks to you. Google's page lists several warning signs:

• Cold outreach. Google says to "Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that email you out of the blue."
• Claims of inside access. Be careful with any firm that claims a "special relationship" with Google.
• "Approved by Google" tools. Google says to "Be wary of tools that claim to be "acceptable" or "approved" by Google Search."
• Links back to the agency. Google notes that "You should never have to link to an SEO."
• Misleading content. Google warns that "If an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, your site could be removed entirely from Google's index."

Hiring an SEO firm is a business decision like any other. Use the same questions to ask an SEO agency with every firm, write down the answers, and compare them before you sign.

Since we wrote the list, here is how Kause Marketing Agency answers the questions to ask an SEO agency where the answer is about us.

• Guarantees. We do not guarantee rankings. No one can.
• Who does the work. The agency is led by founder M. Abubakar Ikram, an ecommerce and Shopify SEO specialist who also writes SEO content. You can ask who handles each task on your account.
• Industry and area. We work with Maryland local service businesses, professional practices and ecommerce and Shopify brands. Our office is at 3917 Sussana Rd, Randallstown, in Baltimore County.
• Price. Monthly SEO plans are Local Starter at $1,500, Growth at $3,000, Scale at $5,500 and Enterprise from $10,000. An AI SEO and GEO add-on starts at $600 a month. Audits are $1,200, $3,500 or from $7,500.
• Contract. A 90-day minimum, then month-to-month.
• What we would fix first. That is what the free audit is for. It is a 30-minute review call plus a short written snapshot of your top issues, usually within 48 hours.

See every plan on our pricing page, read what a paid review covers on our SEO audit page, or see how we approach local SEO in Maryland. Bring this list to the call and ask us anything on it.