Choose an SEO partner who explains the work, its evidence, its limits, and who owns the assets. Specific answers are more useful than guaranteed rankings or impressive-looking reports.
Ask how priorities will be chosen.
A credible proposal connects work to the business’s actual constraints. Ask which services and audiences matter most, what the initial review includes, and how the team decides between technical fixes, content, and local presence. The answer should be understandable without a list of unexplained acronyms.
Review the deliverables.
- What pages, fixes, research, or reporting are included?
- Who writes, reviews, approves, and publishes content?
- Are implementation and development included or quoted separately?
- How are changes documented and verified?
- What happens if access or expert input is unavailable?
Keep ownership clear.
Your business should understand who controls the domain, hosting, website source, business profile, analytics, and search accounts. Access should use each platform’s normal sharing tools rather than exchanging passwords. Ask how a future transition would work before signing an engagement.
Evaluate claims carefully.
No provider controls search-engine ranking or whether an AI system cites a website. Be cautious about promises tied to an exact position or an unusually short timeline. Ask for context around examples: the starting point, scope, period, and evidence matter.
Read the commercial terms.
Clarify fees, external costs, approval responsibilities, renewal, and cancellation. Compare proposals on the work and support they provide instead of a page count alone. A smaller plan with original expertise and implementation can be more useful than a large volume of generic content.
For the questions we start with, see our approach. For independent guidance, review Google’s advice on hiring an SEO.