SEO can be a full-time job, so it’s very tempting to outsource this activity to an agency. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. However, it can be extremely confusing to know whether or not a particular agency is worth joining with. With that in mind, we’ve put together some questions you should ask the agency before you hire them and the typical answers that we would give.

How will you keep me informed of changes you make to our website?

A good SEO company will send you regular reports. The most common frequency is once per month (typically at the end), but some will send you quick weekly updates as well. You must hire an SEO company that you trust.

Can you share information on some of your past clients and their results?

They should be able to give you an example. In addition, they should be able to easily show their results (ideally over a long-term period). Then, follow up by asking who their longest active client is.

Do you always follow Google’s best practices?

This is crucial. Google applies approximately 500 algorithm updates per year. All of these updates are for one purpose: to provide better results for searchers. Nettl is Google certified.

What types of SEO work will you do?

There should be at least a basic technical SEO audit done once you hire a company. If this isn’t part of their process, they likely are not very good SEOs. You can contact us today to request a free audit of your site!

Can you guarantee that our site will rank #1 for a major search term?

This is a great one as you can NEVER guarantee #1 ranking. Some agencies overseas in India will often push this phrase!

How often will you report on your work, and what will it look like?

We report on any website changes we make, but unlike some of our competitors, we also report on activity.

Why should we hire you over other SEOs?

Red Flag answers include:

We’re cheaper than other options
We can build you more backlinks (instead of better quality)
We don’t know
We can get you faster results