Questions to ask an SEO company before you sign

About the people

1. Who will work on my account, and were they on this call? A good answer names a person and, if that person is not on the call, offers to put them on the next one. A poor answer is “our team”.

2. How many accounts does that person manage? A good answer is a number. There is no right number, but a person running forty accounts cannot give any of them the attention a small business is paying for. A poor answer avoids the question.

About the method

3. What happens in the first ninety days? A good answer describes an audit, a strategy document and the first implementation work, roughly in the shape of how an engagement works, and says what you will receive at each point. A poor answer starts with content or links before any audit.

4. Can I see a recent audit and a sample monthly report, anonymised? A good answer is yes, and the documents arrive. The report should have a business-outcome line, as what an SEO report should show describes. A poor answer is that reports are bespoke and cannot be shown.

About price and terms

5. How do you price, and what is included each month? A good answer names the model, retainer, project or hourly, and lists what a month contains. What SEO costs in Dublin explains the models. A poor answer is a figure with “ongoing optimisation” as the scope.

6. What is the minimum term, the notice period, and does the contract renew automatically? A good answer gives all three in plain numbers. SEO contracts and terms says what reasonable ones look like. A poor answer is “we'll send the contract over”.

About results

7. Can you show me a dated result for a business like mine? A good answer is a case study with a business type, a timeframe and a measurable change, and ideally a client you can call. A poor answer is a testimonial with a first name, or a result for a business nothing like yours.

8. What do you expect to happen, and by when, for my business? A good answer is a range in months with the reasoning behind it and a clear statement that it is an expectation, not a promise. A poor answer is a guarantee, which is the first entry on the red flags page.

About local presence

9. Where are you based, and can I visit? A good answer is an Irish address and yes. A poor answer is a serviced-office address that turns out to be a mail drop, or an evasive one.

10. Where can I read your reviews? A good answer is a link to a Google Business Profile with reviews you can read at source, and possibly a third-party review site. A poor answer is reviews quoted on the company's own site only.

About the work itself

11. Where will my backlinks come from, and why would those sites link to me? A good answer describes earning links from relevant sites and asking sites that already mention the business. A poor answer is a number of links per month at a fixed price. Red flags explains why.

12. Who owns the content and the accounts you create? A good answer is that everything is created under the client's own accounts and belongs to the client. A poor answer is that the company retains the accounts, or that the point has not come up before.

What a good answer sounds like, overall

A company that answers all twelve without discomfort has passed most of the six criteria on the criteria page in a single call, and the checklist on the selection guide can be ticked from its answers. A company that stumbles on two or three may still be a good choice, if it fixes the gaps in writing. A company that resists the questions as a category, on the grounds that clients do not usually ask, has told you what you needed to know. Record the answers in the table on Dublin SEO companies compared and compare them side by side.

SEO Agency Dublin, this reference's publisher, should be asked the same twelve. Its published answers to some of them are on the agency page; the rest, including minimum term and notice period, are not yet published and should be asked for directly.