You have a proposal in front of you, or a sales call on the calendar, and a promise somewhere in it that sounds a little too good. Maybe you have heard about owners who were guaranteed page one and got a report full of charts, or who found out too late that the agency held the keys to their accounts. The questions to ask when hiring an SEO company are not complicated, but they work best when you have the answers you want to hear written down before the call starts. Google publishes its own guidance on what to ask an SEO, and it makes a good spine for the conversation. This post puts those questions in the order a call runs, shows what a good answer sounds like and which answers should end the conversation, and gives you a ten-minute check you can finish before you sign anything. It also covers when you may not need to hire anyone at all.
Key Takeaways
Google's own page for owners suggests asking for examples of previous work, whether they follow Google Search Essentials, what results to expect and in what timeframe, and how success is measured.
You should hold verified ownership of Search Console and admin-level access in Analytics, and the SEO should work through access you grant and can remove.
Google says there are no secrets that automatically rank a site first, and its spam policies list bulk, automated and paid links as link spam.
Term, renewal, cancellation and what you keep afterward decide how hard it is to leave if the work disappoints.
What should you ask an SEO company before you sign?
Start with the questions Google itself suggests in its Do you need an SEO? page for site owners. Google lists these as questions to ask a prospective SEO: "Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?"; "Do you follow the Google Search Essentials?"; "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe?"; and "How do you measure your success?" The same page points to questions about the SEO's industry experience, geography and international experience.
Those are the opening questions. The rest of the call should move from what they will do, to what you will own, to how you will know it worked, to how you can leave. Each group below has the answer worth hearing and the answer to refuse.
Which questions show whether they have done this work before?
Ask for examples of previous work for a business like yours, and ask what changed after it. A good answer names the work that was done, such as fixing how pages were crawled, rewriting service pages or building a content plan, and connects it to impressions, clicks or inquiries. An answer that only repeats "we got them to page one" tells you nothing about what was done or whether it mattered to the business.
Ask the next question just as plainly: "Do you follow Google Search Essentials?" Google's spam policies describe practices that can get a site demoted or removed from results. A confident SEO answers in a sentence and can explain how. If the answer is that the method is proprietary, or if they will not describe the work at all, treat that as the red flag it is. Google's guidance on evaluating third-party SEO advice says good advice either explains that a claim is opinion based on data or experience, or points to official Search guidance.
How should they answer the results and timing question?
The answer to "What results do you expect, and when?" should be a range tied to the work, not a number tied to a date. Google's SEO Starter Guide says some changes take hours and others several months. It also says there are "no secrets here that'll automatically rank your site first in Google." So, a promise of a specific position, a specific traffic figure or a specific lead count by a specific month is a promise nobody can keep.
The Federal Trade Commission's advertising guide for small businesses and its substantiation policy both say objective claims need a reasonable basis before they are made. If a proposal contains a guarantee, ask for the basis in writing. A vendor who has one will send it. A vendor who does not will change the subject.
How do you keep control of your website and accounts?
This is the part of the call where the stories about lost accounts come from, and it is also the part you can check yourself. Ask who owns each of these: your website, your domain and hosting, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, your business listings and any SEO tools whose data you will want to keep. The answer you want is "you do, and we work through access you grant."
Google says Search Console owners have full control and can add or remove users, as its Search Console permissions help page explains. Google Analytics lets you set permissions at the account or property level, as the Analytics access help page describes. An agency can do its job with delegated access. It does not need to be the owner of anything your business relies on.
What can you check in ten minutes?
Do this before the call, or while you wait for the proposal to arrive.
- Open Search Console, then Settings, then Users and permissions. Confirm that you, or a person you trust at your business, appear as a verified owner.
- Open Analytics, then Admin, then Access management. Confirm who has access and at what level.
- Write down who registered your domain and who hosts the site. If you do not know, ask whoever built the site.
- Save a copy of the proposal and mark every promise about rankings, traffic, leads, links or timing.
If you find that an old vendor, a former employee or a web designer is the only owner, fix that first. Adding yourself as an owner is usually a small job, though how long it takes depends on verification and on who can approve it. A new SEO's work will be easier to judge once the data belongs to you.
How can you tell real SEO work from filler?
Ask what they will do in the first month, and what the monthly report will contain. A defensible first month sets a baseline, confirms access, identifies your business goals and priority services, checks how the site is crawled and indexed, reviews technical risks, looks at Search Console queries and pages, reviews Analytics conversions, and ends with a prioritized action plan. None of that promises a ranking, and it should not.
Google's Search Console and Analytics guidance separates the two tools by what they answer: Search Console reports how your site performs in Google Search, and Analytics reports what visitors do on your site. A useful monthly report uses both. It lists work completed, findings, next steps and who owns each one, along with impressions, clicks, queries, landing pages and, where tracking supports it, form submissions, calls or sales.
What does a good answer sound like for each question?
The table below turns the conversation into something you can carry into the call. The right-hand column is the answer that should end it.
| Question | An answer worth hearing | An answer to refuse |
|---|---|---|
| Can I see work for a business like mine? | Named work, what changed, and the numbers it moved | A list of rankings with no description of the work |
| Do you follow Google Search Essentials? | Yes, with a plain explanation of how | "Our method is proprietary" or no explanation |
| What results and timing should I expect? | A range tied to the work, with Google's own timing range acknowledged | A guaranteed position, traffic figure or date |
| Who owns Search Console and Analytics? | You do, and they work through access you grant | The agency owns them, or will set them up under its own account |
| Which links will you build? | Links earned through content and real relationships, approved by you | Bulk, automated or paid links, or a link count as the main deliverable |
| What will the monthly report show? | Work done, findings, next steps, Search Console and Analytics data | Rankings only, or a dashboard you cannot export |
| How do I cancel, and what do I keep? | Short notice, plain terms, and you keep accounts, content and reports | Long terms, automatic renewal, and no access after you leave |
Two of those rows come straight from Google's published warnings. Its Do you need an SEO? page cautions against link popularity schemes, submitting a site to thousands of search engines, and any SEO that requires you to link to them. Its spam policies list bulk, automated and paid links meant to manipulate rankings, low-quality directories and excessive link exchanges as link spam. Google also warns that irresponsible SEO can damage a site and its reputation, which is why the link question belongs on the call.
How do you protect yourself on contract terms?
Read three clauses before anything else: term and renewal, cancellation, and what happens to your data and work afterward. Ask how long the commitment is, whether it renews on its own, how much notice cancelling takes and whether there is a fee. Ask what you keep if you leave: your accounts, any content written for you, the reports, and the list of links or changes made on your behalf.
Then ask what work needs your approval. Content published under your name, changes to your site and any link-related work should pass by you first. A vendor who works in the open will say yes without a pause. If a clause is vague, ask for the amendment in writing, and have a lawyer read anything that binds you for a long term.
The cost side of the decision has its own post. How Much Does SEO Cost? covers what quotes look like and how to compare two of them, and Questions to Ask a Marketing Agency covers the broader agency conversation beyond SEO.
When can you skip hiring and do the work yourself?
Google says a small local business can often do much of the work itself and points owners to its SEO Starter Guide as the place to begin. Hiring is not required because you own a website. It makes sense when the constraint is time, technical changes you cannot safely make yourself, content you cannot produce, or the work of tying search activity to inquiries and sales.
Before you pay for anyone, a few checks cost nothing. Read the Starter Guide. Open Search Console and look at which queries already bring clicks. Fix tracking so a completed contact form counts as a conversion. If you still want help after that, you will be a much better judge of the proposal, and a good vendor will say plainly when the real problem is the offer, the site's contact path or the budget rather than more SEO.
Can you spot a safe SEO answer?
Pick an answer to begin.
1. An SEO promises you the first position on Google within 90 days. What does Google say about this kind of promise?
2. Who should hold verified ownership of your Search Console property?
3. Which of these is listed in Google's spam policies as link spam?
Frequently Asked Questions About questions to ask when hiring an seo company
What are the key questions to ask an SEO company?
Ask for examples of previous work, whether they follow Google Search Essentials, what results and timeframe to expect, how success is measured, who owns your accounts, which links they will build, and how you can cancel.
Can an SEO company guarantee first-page rankings?
No. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking. If a proposal promises one, ask for the basis of that promise in writing.
Should the SEO company own my Search Console and Analytics accounts?
No. Your business should keep verified ownership and grant the SEO the access it needs. Check Users and permissions in Search Console and Access management in Analytics.
Are thousands of backlinks a good offer?
Not on their own. Google's spam policies list bulk, automated and paid links meant to manipulate rankings as link spam. Ask how each link is earned and whether you approve it.
What should a monthly SEO report include?
Work completed, findings, next steps, Search Console data such as impressions, clicks, queries and landing pages, and Analytics conversions where tracking supports them.
How long does SEO take?
It depends on the change and the site. Google says some changes take hours and others take several months, so judge progress by what has moved rather than by a fixed month count.
Moving Forward
Before you sign with an SEO company, you need five questions and a few facts. Ask what work they will do first, how they measure success, who owns the accounts, which links they will create and how you can cancel. Confirm in Search Console and Analytics that your business holds ownership, and read the term, renewal and cancellation clauses of the quote. Refuse guaranteed rankings, secret methods and bulk links.
If the answers are clear, you have a vendor who can explain the work and who leaves you in control of your own data. If they are not, you have lost nothing but a sales call. Google's own advice is that a small local business can do much of the work itself, so hire when time or technical work is what holds you back, not because a proposal made silence feel risky.
If you want a second opinion on a quote, Web Leveling can read it with you. Our search engine optimization work runs on accounts you own, with reports that show work done alongside Search Console results, and if the better move is to do the first steps yourself, we will say so. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Send us the proposal you are considering and we will go through it question by question.
Terms
SEO hiring words in this post
Tap a term to see what it means.
Search Console. A free Google tool that reports how a site performs in Google Search, including impressions, clicks and queries.
Verified owner. A Search Console user whose control of the site has been confirmed, with the ability to add or remove other users.
Analytics. A tool that reports what visitors do on a site, such as the pages they view and the actions they complete.
Link spam. Links created mainly to manipulate rankings, such as bulk, automated or paid links, as Google's spam policies describe them.
Search Essentials. Google's published requirements and practices for a site to be eligible to appear in Search.
Baseline. The numbers measured before the work starts, used to judge whether the work changed anything.
