8 Questions to Ask Before You Hire an SEO Company

Hiring someone to improve your search visibility is a real investment, and the industry has its share of people who promise a lot and deliver little. Google publishes its own advice for business owners choosing an SEO provider. These questions build on it.

The questions

• Can you show me examples of your work, and the results? Ask for real businesses you can look up, not screenshots.
• Do you follow Google's Search Essentials? The answer should be an immediate yes, and they should be able to say what it means.
• What results should I expect, and when? Honest answers come in months, not days, and are stated as goals, not promises.
• What experience do you have in my industry and my area? A local business needs local search experience.
• How long have you been in business?
• Will you tell me about every change you make to my site? You should never be surprised by what was done in your name.
• Who owns the accounts? Your Business Profile, Search Console, analytics and domain should be in your name, with the provider given access.
• How do you measure success? Look for calls, leads and sales. Rankings and traffic matter only when they lead to those.

Red flags

Google names several warning signs, and they are worth taking seriously.

• A guaranteed number one ranking. Google states plainly that no one can guarantee a top ranking.
• Unsolicited emails promising to fix your SEO.
• Secrecy about what they will do or have done.
• Claims of a special relationship with Google.
• Link schemes, such as buying links or placing your link on networks of sites. These can get a site penalized.

76 Design Solutions is a local agency in Homosassa Springs. We do not guarantee rankings, and we will tell you if SEO is not the right spend for your business.