How to choose an SEO company

What do you write down before you choose an SEO company?

Before you compare companies, write the result you want, the pages or locations that must move, and whether the job is a map listing, a national site, or a shop. A company that is strong at one of those jobs is often the wrong hire for the others.

1. Name the pages or locations that must move. A wish to "rank for everything" is not a brief.
2. Say who the customer is, and which city or country they actually search from.
3. Note what you already have: a live site, a Google Business Profile if you need the map, and access to Search Console.
4. Write the monthly amount you can keep paying. A figure you will not renew is not a budget.

You can shortlist when those four lines fit on one note. If you cannot name the pages, do not book a sales call.

What does a good SEO company actually do?

A good SEO company starts with a crawl of your site and a look at Search Console, then names the work. It does not open with a rank it says you will hold next month.

• On-page work — titles, headings, and copy that match the query a person typed.
• Technical work — pages Google can crawl, a usable mobile layout, and speed problems named in the report.
• Content — new or rewritten pages for queries the site does not already answer.
• Links — mentions on relevant sites, each with a URL you can open, not a pack of unknown domains.
• Local work, only if you need the map — the profile, citations, and review replies. You keep the login. Read how a Google Business Profile is edited before you hand it over.
• A monthly note — what changed, tied to queries and clicks in your own account.

The work is real when each line names a URL or a profile field, not a slogan. For a first look, give read-only access to Search Console. Do not hand over the host password until you have accepted the estimate.

Which questions do you ask an SEO company before you hire?

Ask these before you sign. A useful answer names a site, a login, or a task. A speech with no example is not an answer.

• Which client in my line of work can I look up, and what changed in their Search Console?
• Who does the work, and which parts are passed to someone else?
• Which logins do you need, and will Search Console and analytics stay in my Google account?
• What tasks are on the invoice each month?
• How do you earn links, and can I open the URL before it is called live?
• What will you refuse, including a guaranteed position on Google?
• Which number in the report is not a third-party score?

Stop the call when two answers stay vague. You are responsible for what the company changes on the site, so you need the method in plain language.

What belongs on a monthly SEO deliverable list?

The monthly list is the contract you can check. If a line cannot be opened in a browser or in Search Console, it is not a deliverable.

A report that is only a rank chart is incomplete. Ask for the queries, the pages that changed, and the links that went live. You do not need a link on your site that points at the company you hired.

Which red flags mean you should not hire that SEO company?

Any one of these ends the conversation. Do not negotiate them away.

• A guaranteed place on Google — a number-one claim, or a rank by a date. Google's hiring guidance says nobody can guarantee that, and a claimed special relationship with Google is a reason to leave.
• A cheap pack of many links — a fixed list of domains with no page you can open. That is a common path to a penalty you then have to clean up.
• A method they will not explain — ordinary work can be described. A secret technique is not a credential.
• A price before anyone has crawled the site — that quote is a template, not a plan.
• Logins only they hold — analytics, Search Console, the business profile, or the host, with you unable to reset them.
• A ranking promised in the first weeks — on a query your competitors already occupy, that timeline usually means bought links.
• Pressure to sign on the call — or a contract you cannot leave without losing the site.
• A dashboard with no note of what changed — an export is not a month of work.

Should the SEO work be a freelancer, an agency, or in-house?

Pick the model from the work on your note, not from a logo.

The hire is right when one person is accountable for the deliverable list. Two editors on the same pages, with no owner, is how the work stalls.

How long should SEO take, and when is the price quoted?

Do not hire on a week-one ranking. A technical fix can be checked in Search Console before a competitive query moves. Ask for the first checkpoint as finished tasks, not as a position.

The price is quoted before work starts. Compare the tasks on that quote. A low figure with no audit, no pages, and no rule for links is not a bargain. Ask whether the figure is before tax. A package printed for another city is not your price.

This page does not print a market rate. The note on SEO cost in India is not a quote for your site. If you later want a company to do the work, read the scope on SEO services and get the figure before you pay.

How do you hold the SEO company accountable?

You can hold the company to the list you signed. Each month, open Search Console yourself and match three things: the queries and clicks for the pages in scope, the URLs that changed, and the links you can still open.

Access stays in your Google account, with you as the owner. If they will not add you, stop. You should be able to export the work and end the retainer without losing the site, the profile, or the data.

The month is acceptable when the report matches what you can see, and the unfinished tasks are named.