Questions to ask your SEO agency before signing or renewing

It's easy to sign an SEO contract after a friendly sales call and renew it out of habit. Both moments are the best chances you get to set expectations in writing. The questions below are grouped by what they protect: your money, your accounts, and your ability to judge the work.

Google publishes its own advice on hiring an SEO, including questions to ask and warning signs (Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?). We build on that advice here for local service businesses.

Questions about the work itself

1. "What exactly will you do each month, and how will I see it?"

You want a list of deliverables, not a philosophy: for example, the number of pages improved or written, Business Profile updates, technical fixes, and reporting. Ask to see a real (anonymized) monthly report from another client. Google suggests asking an SEO whether they will share all the changes they make to your site and explain the reasoning behind them.

2. "Which searches are you targeting for us, and why those?"

A good answer names the services and towns that bring you profitable jobs. A weak answer is a long keyword list with no link to your business. Ask how they chose the terms and whether they asked what your best jobs are.

3. "What will you change on my website, and who approves it?"

Changes to titles, pages, redirects and site structure can help or hurt. Agree that significant changes are described in advance and that you or your web person approve them. Google notes that if an SEO has access to your server, they should be willing to explain all the changes they're making.

4. "Do you follow Google Search Essentials? How do you build links?"

Google's spam policies prohibit tactics like link schemes and mass-produced low-value pages, and say that sites using them can rank lower or be removed from results (Google Search spam policies). Ask the agency to describe where links come from. "We have a network" is a warning sign. Google's hiring guide also says you should never have to link to an SEO.

Questions about results and reporting

5. "How will we measure success, and in what timeframe?"

Google lists this as a key question to ask. Push for measures tied to revenue: calls, forms and booked jobs from organic search and the map box, alongside rankings and traffic. Agree on what "good" looks like at 3, 6 and 12 months, and what happens if those targets aren't met.

6. "Can you guarantee rankings?"

The correct answer is no. Google says plainly: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google," and warns against SEOs who claim a special relationship with Google or offer "priority submit." A guarantee can mean vanity terms nobody searches, or tactics that carry risk.

7. "Where does the data in your report come from?"

Rank trackers, Search Console, Google Analytics and call tracking all measure different things. Ask which tool each number comes from, and whether you can see the same data yourself. Third-party tools are fine, but Google notes that they don't have access to Google's internal ranking data. See our guide to red flags in monthly agency reports.

8. "What happened for clients like me?"

Ask for two references in a similar business and market, and call them. Google suggests checking business references and asking past clients whether the service was useful and easy to work with.

Questions about ownership and access

9. "Who will own the Google Business Profile, Analytics, Search Console, Ads and website accounts?"

You should. The agency should be added as a user on accounts you own, not the other way around. Each Google product has its own roles:

• Google Business Profile has owners and managers. Managers can do almost everything except add or remove users and delete the profile (Manage Business Profile owners and managers).
• Google Ads has Admin, Standard, Read-only, Billing and Email-only access levels. Only Admins can give or change access (Google Ads access levels).
• Search Console has owners, full users and restricted users (Search Console permissions).

10. "Who owns the content and pages you create?"

Put it in the contract: articles, page copy, images and landing pages you paid for belong to you and stay on your site when the contract ends.

11. "Is my website on hosting or a domain you control?"

If the agency registered your domain or hosts your site on its account, ask how you'd move it. Your domain should be registered in your business's name, with login details you hold.

Questions about the contract

12. "What's the notice period, and what happens on the way out?"

Ask for a written offboarding promise: access handed back, tracking left in place, a final report, and no removal of work you paid for. Our guide on switching agencies safely explains why this matters.

13. "Are there setup fees, minimum terms or auto-renewals?"

Long minimum terms aren't always bad, since SEO takes time, but you should know the exit cost before you sign.

14. "Who will actually do the work?"

Ask whether it's done in-house or passed to a subcontractor, and who your contact is. Google's hiring guide suggests paying attention to whether the SEO asks about what makes your business unique, who your competitors are and how your customers find you. If they don't, that tells you how much attention you'll get.

Extra questions at renewal time

• "Show me leads from organic search and the map box for the last 12 months, compared with the year before."
• "Which of last year's goals did we hit, and which didn't we hit?"
• "What did you change on my site this year? Please send the list."
• "What would you do differently next year, and why?"
• "If we reduced the budget by a third, what would you cut first?"

Answers that should make you pause

• A guaranteed #1 ranking, or a "special relationship" with Google.
• They want to own your Business Profile or Ads account.
• Reports show rankings and traffic but never calls or forms.
• Link building is a secret, or uses "our network."
• They contacted you out of the blue with an urgent warning. Google says to be wary of SEO firms that email you out of the blue.
• They won't put deliverables or offboarding terms in writing.

A short email you can send

Before we renew, could you send: (1) the list of monthly deliverables for next year, (2) the searches and towns you're targeting, (3) organic and map leads for the last 12 months vs. the prior year, (4) confirmation that we're the owner or admin on our Business Profile, Ads, Analytics and Search Console, and (5) your offboarding terms? Thanks.

A good agency will be glad you asked. A defensive reply tells you something too.