15 Questions You Should Be Asking Your SEO Agency
The trouble with search engine optimisation (SEO) is that the people raving about the benefits of the service are also the people providing it.
This means that it can be confusing for a client to choose a company to supply the work. They may have read about the benefits online but they have probably been reading about them on the blogs of those very suppliers.
CC Image Credit: Flickr
Now, I am aware that I am one of those suppliers and one of those bloggers, but I firmly believe it is important for my clients to understand at least the basics– people should know what they are paying for.
So, here is my list of questions you should ask before agreeing to any contract. Obviously some of these will not make sense without further research, so I strongly urge you to investigate the sector and its possibilities. The more you know the better.
1) What kinds of tactics do you use?
It is important to avoid firms using dubious – or black-hat – techniques. Search engines can actually penalise websites they discovers using ‘unethical’ ways of manipulating their algorithms.
2) Who are your existing clients?
A good, established SEO agency should have existing satisfied customers and be able to show you the results it has generated for them.
3) Can I read some testimonials?
Strong SEO agencies have nothing to hide and will gladly offer you the chance to read testimonials and perhaps even speak to satisfied clients.
4) Will you edit my website’s content?
The answer to this should be yes. A decent SEO firm will work on your copy to ensure it is optimised. Anyone promising dazzling results using paid links is not offering the best service available.
5) Do you work for any of my competitors?
If they are, it does not necessarily mean the SEO agency is unable to work for you. However, you should be aware of any potential conflicts of interest.
6) Do you have long-term strategies for my website?
SEO is no magic button; the real benefits come from sustained work. Any company which claims it can ‘do’ SEO for a one-off fee and effort is almost certainly lying.
7) Can I have your number?
Agencies working within SEO will often be highly web-based and the majority of dealings you have with them may be via email. However, if you have any questions, concerns or just want a natter about the future of your pages, they should provide you with a phone number. It’s good to talk.
8) Will you show me regular reports?
The internet is a brilliantly measurable platform. While any strong SEO campaign will clearly boost your return-on-investment, you should be kept in the loop and shown the information available on traffic and keywords searched as well.
9) If you supply new content to my website, will I own it?
Often, an SEO supplier will provide new copy to your pages in order to boost their popularity and raise your ranking. Check that this content is yours, to reproduce as you choose and retain even if you stop using the supplier’s services.
10) Do you offer guarantees?
SEO companies which guarantee ‘top ten rankings in less than ten days’ are not telling the truth or, at least, not offering a wholesome and long-term optimisation strategy. However, some agencies offer guarantees of work carried out – if yours does then make sure it delivers on these promises.
11) Do you have a special relationship with Google?
If your would-be SEO agency says ‘yes’, it is deceiving you. Google will often seek the help of agencies for testing purposes, but any “special relationships” with optimisation companies would damage the search engine’s results, reputation and returns.
12) When can I expect results?
A good SEO agency will explain the timeframe you are likely to see returns in. Some tactics will take longer than others, for example a well-planned paid ad campaign could see instant benefits, while organic optimisation efforts will take longer. Decent suppliers will not be afraid to explain this and give you some idea of what to expect.
13) Are you active in your industry?
Top SEO providers will stay abreast of the developments within their sector. They will do this by blogging, spending time on forums, researching developments and attending conferences. You may want to think twice about going for some bloke in a shed who knows ‘all there is to know’ about SEO.
14) How much do you cost?
SEO can take time and it can take budget. There will be returns on that expenditure but it is still a big commitment for some companies. You will want to be sure you can afford it – so check prices. Many agencies will offer budget deals or tailor their efforts to fit your budget.
15) How are your results?
When choosing a supplier, check what sort of returns they are seeing. Ask to see some case study figures on improved client rankings/traffic/ROI and the SEO company’s own performance online.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I would probably also ask the SEO company where their website ranks for the keywords ‘seo’, ‘seo services’ or ‘seo company’ :)) But overall you have put together a good list of questions.
The problem with big SEOs is that they are busy making money with their own websites once they master the art .. so most people are likely to get their work done from companies who rely heavily on cheap data entry tasks to get you ranked.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I think the three most important ones are who are your other clients, how long have they been clients and what is your phone number. You can check on the clients and see how their web site is doing; it would nice it there were some way to verify that they actually are clients. This is why I put a small text link at bottom of the page. The telephone number is a good double check that they have an office and pay their bills. Of course if the first two check out the third one may not be necessary.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Great post and much needed. Unfortunately some clients want the comfort of guarantees and the benefit of a one off SEO project fee so allowing rogues in to take advantage of the ignorant. It’s up to us as ethical practitioners of SEO to educate our audience, network sphere and potential customers even if it means there is a risk of losing that business for being upfront and transparent about our services.
January 26th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
[...] 15 Questions You Should Be Asking Your SEO Agency, http://www.seoptimise.com [...]
January 27th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
[...] Hola de nuevo, ya hacia tiempo que no publicaba nada, pero ando un poco liadillo con un blog de alquiler de coches, al margen de esto, ayer me he suscrito a Turismo20 y he visto un post que me pareció bastante útil, sobre todo si tienes pensado contratar a una empresa SEO, se trata de las 15 preguntas que le debes de hacer a tu futuro SEO antes de contratarlo, el artículo original fue publicado en SEOptimise. [...]
January 27th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Another good test is to search for “yourcity SEO” and see were they come up. If you don’t find them until page 5, well then….
January 28th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Kevin, this is a nice list. I like the fact that the list of questions are logical.
I personally would not have kept question 11. The reason being – client should not ask this question. They should hear the pitch of SEO Agency.. and if they include statements like special relationships.. then avoid them. No need to ask them this question :)
And for Question 7, I would also ask what is the average response time (for email, Telephone or instant messenger).
Jeet,
Its a myth that all good SEO companies need to rank for the keywords you have given. I know a few people in this industry who do not even have their own “business” website and hardly blog. But they can give any SEO individual/ company a run for their money. I would strictly go with Client References, testimonials or if needed a call to few of the agency’s clients.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Good questions but the 5th one is little hard to explain :)
February 1st, 2009 at 8:52 am
#10 & 12 questions are most compelling.
Often – it is seen that some firms offer guaranteed top 10 results which within a short time-frame and to me it always looks suspicious. While proper white-hat SEO can certainly bring good results, it would need a sustained campaign over a good period of time. So, beware of firms guaranteeing top results within short time. :)
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Another question can be: Will you do structure changes in my site?
It’s very importent for alot of clients…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
How about “am I likely to make a Return On Investment from this SEO campaign”? How many large corporations are making a pure ROI from the search work?
February 9th, 2009 at 7:22 am
[...] 15 Questions You Should Be Asking Your SEO Agency, http://www.seoptimise.com [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Hi Kevin..
The questions which you have mentioned in your article are nice and would be really helpful when hiring an SEO agency,all are logical and good, But i would not agree with the fifth one as no company could be able to explain that.The best way is to go through the agency site and if it is listed in first three pages of the search engine then its of sure that they know their work.
Anyways nice post, thanks for posting could be of real help for many.
John..
September 1st, 2009 at 1:14 am
I will say the most important one is Research your competition.
Then establish a stradegy and work and monitor and see what works best.
Great post I bookmark this.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:58 am
I work as an Internet Marketing and I found these questions very helpful, which may be asked from clients.
January 4th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
This is classical in terms of google. Naught looks to bother on them compared to that.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:09 am
I would also advise that the client should always arrange staged payments, coinciding with the staged results. Also ask for assurance that the seo will not pull the plug after the contract ends.
March 16th, 2010 at 12:59 am
Your blog looks nice, however it would be better if you can use lighter set of colors as well as a professional design. This will ensure that a lot more readers come to check it out.
Informative post by the way!
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Great stuff. All of those are super important questions to be asking. Because if the link building service you are using is also working for your competitor, isn’t that somewhat counter productive?
August 27th, 2010 at 2:14 am
OK furry muff ;)