How to Find a Good SEO Company
(even if it's not us).
The SEO industry is full of predatory agencies who sell monthly retainers for work that doesn't happen. Here are the twelve questions to ask before you sign anything, and the red flags to run from.
Why this post exists.
We get calls every week from owners who just fired their previous SEO agency. The stories are always the same:
- "They charged $2,500 a month and I got one report in 8 months."
- "They built me a site that isn't mine, I can't leave without losing everything."
- "My rankings actually went down after 6 months."
- "They said they'd do local SEO. They did national SEO. I'm a plumber."
The problem isn't that there aren't good SEO agencies. There are plenty. The problem is that the bad ones are extremely effective at sales and the good ones are extremely uninterested in selling. This post levels the playing field.
The twelve questions.
1. "What does month one look like?"
A real agency will describe a specific sequence of work: audit, on-page fixes, GMB optimization, content strategy. A bad one will say "we'll start ranking you." Vague = bad.
2. "Can I see a current client's work?"
With permission, any confident agency can show you 2 to 3 current clients' rankings, traffic trends, and examples of content they've produced. If they can't, they don't have current clients.
3. "Who specifically will be doing the work?"
Big agencies sell you on senior talent and hand you to a junior. Ask for the name. Ask for their LinkedIn. Ask for their direct email.
4. "Will I own everything you build?"
The website. The content. The Google accounts. The Search Console data. If any of these are held in the agency's name or on the agency's hosting, you're hostage. This must be non-negotiable.
5. "What happens if I leave after 3 months?"
A fair agency: you can leave with 30-60 days notice, you keep everything. A bad one: 12-month minimum, early-termination fee, they keep the website, etc.
6. "How do you report results?"
You want monthly reports in plain English that include: keyword rankings (specific keywords, not "overall ranking score"), organic traffic, conversions / leads, what was done this month. Not "SEO impressions" vanity metrics.
7. "What's your philosophy on backlinks?"
Good answer: "We build local-relevant, earned backlinks via outreach, sponsorships, directories, and PR." Bad answer: "We have a network" (= PBN = Google penalty waiting to happen).
8. "Do you guarantee rankings?"
Nobody can guarantee Google rankings. If they guarantee #1, they're either lying or they'll rank you for a keyword nobody searches.
9. "Are you up to date on Google's recent changes?"
Ask about the most recent Helpful Content update or core algorithm update. A real SEO can talk about it confidently. A pretender will bluff.
10. "Can you tell me about a project that didn't work?"
Good agencies fail sometimes and have learned from it. Agencies that claim 100% success are hiding something.
11. "What's your contract term?"
Fair: 3 to 6 month minimum (SEO takes time). Unfair: 12-month lock-in with early-termination fees.
12. "What's your red-flag list?"
Ask them what kinds of clients don't work out. A thoughtful answer ("we're not great for pre-launch businesses," "we don't work with competitive national markets on $1K/mo budgets") is gold. "We work with everyone" is a red flag.
The red flags.
- Cold-calling / cold-emailing. Good agencies don't need to prospect, they have waitlists from referrals.
- Lifetime contracts or auto-renewal with no notice. Walk away immediately.
- "Secret algorithm" promises. Google is (relatively) transparent. Nobody has secret tricks.
- Asking for logins before signing a contract. Huge red flag. Anyone serious has a proper onboarding process.
- Huge upfront payment with no monthly breakdown. Phased or retainer-based billing aligns incentives.
- Poor communication during sales. If they can't return an email on time during the pitch, they'll ghost you post-contract.
How SEOD stacks up.
Since this post is on our site, it's only fair to answer our own questions.
- Month one = audit + GMB rebuild + on-page fixes + content strategy. Documented.
- Current client work: yes, on request with permission.
- Who's doing the work: Eric. Every time.
- You own everything: yes, in writing, from day one.
- If you ever leave: you keep everything we built, domain, hosting, site, accounts.
- Reporting: plain-English monthly PDF. Sample available.
- Backlinks: local, earned, relationship-based. Never PBN.
- No ranking guarantees. Ever.
- Most recent Google update: happy to talk about it on a call.
- Contract: 6-month minimum (SEO takes that long to work), no early-termination fee beyond the balance.
- Who we're not great for: huge national brands, pre-launch businesses, anyone who wants to fire-and-forget.
If those answers sound right, or if they just sound better than the last agency you fired, call us.
Let's talk about your business.
Ten-minute call. Free. If SEOD isn't the right fit for you, Eric will tell you straight.