Hiring an SEO company is like hiring any specialist: credentials matter less than the right fit. You need someone who understands your business model, speaks your language, and has a track record with companies at your scale.
The SEO industry has a reputation problem — agencies and freelancers in this space tend to overpromise, underdeliver, and disappear after six months of mediocre results.
Finding an SEO company you can trust can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s what to look for in an SEO company to make sure they have the expertise, process, and strategic thinking to move the needle for your business.
Make Sure SEO Is the Right Fit
The first question you should ask an SEO agency is whether SEO is even the service you need. Even the best SEO company out there might not be the answer if SEO isn’t what you should be looking for. This is a great place to start before getting into the nitty gritty of an SEO service.
Why do you think SEO is the right channel for my business right now?
Even if you came to them looking for SEO, a good (and honest) agency will discuss why SEO does or doesn’t make sense for you right now.
Sometimes the honest answer is that something else will fit your needs better. If you need leads now to get your business off the ground, a paid ads service might be a better option. Similarly, if your website is out of date or barely functioning, a new website might be a higher priority.
What to watch for: Someone who says SEO will solve all your problems without knowing more than surface level information about your business.
What you want: Strategic, thoughtful discussion of your business and what the best path forward is, whether it includes SEO or not. The best agencies will ask about your timeline, budget, competitive landscape, and goals before recommending anything.
Tip: At HustleFish, we offer digital marketing services, but we’re unique in that we also do web design and development in-house. We can walk you through every aspect of your online presence and discuss what we think will work best for you — even if it isn’t SEO.
How do you stay current with SEO changes?
SEO changes constantly. Google rolls out algorithm updates, search features evolve, and best practices shift.
Good answers include following industry publications like Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal, attending conferences, testing on client sites, and participating in professional communities.
What you want: Evidence of an active learning culture. Bonus points if they can talk about recent algorithm changes and what it’s meant for their current clients’ strategies.
Talk About Their Client Base and Experience
Knowing what industries an SEO company has worked with in the past, as well as annual revenue they’re used to supporting, can help you narrow down your options. Ask questions like:
What’s the typical revenue range of your clients?
An agency specializing in $500k businesses might not serve $5M companies well — and vice versa. The strategies, timelines, and budget expectations are completely different. You need someone who works with businesses at your stage, not someone learning on your dime.
What to watch for: If they work with “everyone” from startups to Fortune 500s, that’s a sign they don’t have a niche. If you’re doing $2M-$5M in annual revenue, you want to hear they work primarily with businesses in that band.
Can you share examples of clients you’ve worked with for 12 months or more?
SEO is a long-term game; most businesses starting SEO from scratch won’t see appreciable results for 6 months or more. If an agency can’t point to clients they’ve had at least that long, if not longer, it usually means one of two things:
- They’re not delivering results
- They’re overpromising and underdelivering
Either one is a recipe for clients to discontinue working with someone (and we wouldn’t blame them).
We have clients who have been with us for over two years — even when it took six months to get traction on their site. The key is we’re able to guide them through early expectations and point out leading indicators of success, so they know we aren’t taking their money and doing nothing in return.
Do you have experience in my industry?
Industry-specific experience is not always required, but it can accelerate your results. An agency that’s worked with legal firms understands how to approach their specific client base and content, versus an agency that has only worked with ecommerce clients.
If they haven’t worked with your industry before, ask how they get up to speed on a new vertical and whether that affects their usual timeline.
Do you offer Local SEO services, and how does that differ from your general SEO?
Similar to working in your industry, if you want to get ahead in your local search results, working with someone local can often be an advantage.
Local SEO is a specific discipline within SEO — it focuses on helping your business show up when people search for services near them. That means optimizing your Google Business Profile, building local citations, earning reviews, and making sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across the web. It’s different from national or broad SEO, which focuses more on ranking for competitive keywords regardless of location.
Not every SEO agency does local SEO well, and some don’t offer it at all. If your business relies on customers in a specific city or region, this is worth asking about directly.
What to watch for: An agency that treats local SEO as an afterthought or bundles it into their general retainer without explaining what local-specific work actually looks like.
What you want: A clear explanation of what local SEO includes, how it fits into their overall strategy for your site, and ideally some experience with businesses in markets like yours.
We work with a lot of local and regional businesses across Indiana, and local SEO is a core part of what we do — not a checkbox item. If local visibility matters to your business, we’d love to talk about what that looks like for you.
Dig In With Questions About Their SEO Approach
This area intimidates people the most when hiring an SEO company — asking the more technical and process-related questions. These are questions you can ask to make sure your potential agency knows their stuff (and you don’t need to be an SEO pro yourself to understand them).
How do you balance technical SEO, on-page optimization, and off-page work?
SEO isn’t just one thing, it’s three pillars that work together. Here’s a quick rundown of each:
- Technical SEO: everything that happens on the back side of your website that can affect your rankings. This includes site speed, crawlability, indexing, schema, and managing things like redirects and broken links or 404s.
- On page optimization: everything that’s visual to users (and search engines) on your actual web pages. Usually includes keyword research and targeting, content quality, internal linking, meta tags, and overall user experience.
- Off page work: anything that happens off your site (like social media or business listings) that signals to Google that your business is legitimate. Often covers things like brand mentions, local citations, digital PR, and reputation management.
What to watch for: Over-focus on just one area. Some agencies only do content and ignore technical problems, while others obsess over technical minutiae while your content strategy stagnates.
What you want: A clear explanation of how all three work together and why each matters for your specific situation. A good consultant can articulate when to prioritize technical fixes versus when content creation is the bottleneck.
Walk me through your first 90 days with a new client.
This question reveals whether they have a systematic approach or just wing it month to month.
What to watch for: Vague answers like “we’ll see what you need” or “every client is different.” Every client is different, but a professional agency has a framework they adapt — not a blank slate every time.
What you want: A detailed breakdown of deliverables and timing. You should know exactly what to expect and when.
Here’s what our first 90 days looks like:
- Before even closing a deal with us, we will do an audit of your website and discuss how we think SEO can help. If we don’t think SEO is the right fit for you, we’ll tell you. Our goal is always to help you achieve your goals, not just to sell you a service.
- If we determine SEO is a good fit for your business, we’ll discuss what type of SEO you should focus on (such as national vs local SEO or AEO vs SEO) and what your monthly commitment will be.
- Once you’ve signed on, we’ll do a deeper technical audit as well as competitor and keyword research, and come up with a list of priorities for your site. What we recommend depends on the shape your site is in, as well as what you hope to achieve through SEO.
- From there, we have monthly check-ins on your progress, including what work we’ve completed, what results we’re seeing, and what’s coming next. We answer all your questions and give you a chance to give us input on the next month’s tasks.
Depending on the priorities for your website, deliverables could include things like:
- Blog posts or other content updates
- Google Business Profile optimization and posting
- Schema updates or additions
- Updating broken links, internal linking, and site structure
- Ongoing competitive analysis and keyword research
- Technical audit fixes like crawl errors, redirect chains, and Core Web Vitals
- Meta title and description optimization
It all depends on your specific needs, but we’ll make sure you’re in the loop from day one.
What SEO tools do you use, and why?
Serious agencies invest in professional tools. The tool stack an agency uses reveals sophistication and commitment to data-driven decisions — or not.
We use SEMrush for competitive analysis and keyword tracking, Screaming Frog for technical audits, Google Analytics 4 and Search Console for performance data, and Data Studio for client reporting dashboards.
What to watch for: Agencies only using free tools or relying on “proprietary software” built in-house. Free tools are fine for basic work, but if they’re not investing in Ahrefs, SEMrush, or equivalent platforms, they’re not serious about competitive intelligence.
If they do mention proprietary software, ask what data their software uses. In the age of AI and vibe coding, many agencies are creating viable tools, but the data they’re putting into them is important. Reputable sources include Google Search Console and Analytics, as well as platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs (or similar).
What you want: Recognizable industry-standard tools plus a rationale for why they use each one. Bonus points if they explain how different tools solve different problems.
How do you approach keyword research for a business like mine?
This tests whether they understand strategy versus just chasing high-volume keywords.
Good keyword research isn’t just about finding the biggest numbers. It’s about understanding search intent, your sales process, and which keywords will drive qualified leads. Traditional keyword tools show you volume and difficulty — but they don’t capture the full picture of how people actually search.
In the age of AI-powered search, one well-optimized piece of content can rank for hundreds of related query variations. A business owner might search “how much does SEO cost,” while someone else asks “what’s a fair monthly retainer for SEO services” and another types “is $500/month enough for SEO?”
Different phrasing, same underlying question. That spread is called query fan-out, and an agency only tracking the head keyword is missing most of the actual traffic picture.
Forward-thinking agencies use query fan-out research tools alongside traditional keyword tools to understand how queries spread and how people phrase questions in AI search. That research shapes not just which keywords to target, but how to structure content so it captures the full range of related searches — and earns citations in AI-generated answers.
What to watch for: “We’ll target high-volume keywords” without follow-up questions about your business model or customer profile. If you ask them what a query fan-out is and you get a blank stare, that’s not good.
What you want: They should ask questions about your sales process, customer journey, and business goals before they answer. This is evidence they’re thinking about query intent and topic clusters, not just individual keywords.
How are you thinking about AI search and AI Overviews?
AI has been the hot topic the last couple years, and it’s only growing.
At one point, Google’s AI Overviews appeared in around 21% of searches. That number continues to fluctuate, and affects both the type of search and the industry it’s related to differently.
As things change, your SEO agency should be doing two things:
- Staying current with the latest changes and updating your strategy if it makes sense
- Not chasing trends to the detriment of your website’s overall health
And most importantly, they should be able to explain when they’re doing each and why.
What you want: An agency that can tell you, in plain English, how AI search is affecting your website, and whether it warrants a change in strategy. The right answer isn’t “we’re doing AEO now,” the right answer should be nuanced, like “your key content isn’t showing up in AI overviews and your competitors are, so we’re adjusting those pages to improve your AI SEO.”
Get Clear On Reporting and Results
It’s easy to get sold on an SEO company’s pitch — the hard part is knowing whether they’ll actually deliver what they say they will. These questions will help you set expectations up front and give you something concrete to hold them to.
What metrics do you report on?
Keyword rankings matter, but at the end of the day, they aren’t what makes the phone ring. What matters more is that you’re getting qualified traffic to your site and generating leads for your business.
What to watch for: Reporting only on keyword rankings or impressions. Both are important, but neither is the most important.
What you want: A monthly report or call discussing your results and a conversation about how it aligns with your business goals.
What does success look like?
This question forces them to be specific about their capabilities and past success. While every client is different and will see results differently, they should have a general understanding of when things should happen — and what to do if they don’t.
Here’s a very general idea of when you should start seeing movement:
- In the first month or two, your impressions for targeted keywords and queries should be increasing. Impressions are not a metric, but they are a leading indicator that your strategy is working.
- In six months, you should start getting traffic to your website from search engines, and leads should start coming in.
- In a year, traffic to your website should be getting consistent traffic and leads to your website.
Established sites will likely take less time, especially if you’ve done SEO in the past or already have decent organic traffic.
What you want: Depending where you’re at in the sales process, you might hear a couple things. If it’s your first conversation, you’ll want to hear something similar to the timeline above. If they’ve had time to do an audit or research your website, you should have a more specific timeline.
What happens if I don’t see results in six months?
An honest agency will acknowledge SEO takes time. But they should also have a plan for your site if you’re not seeing results in an expected time frame.
If we’re not hitting the milestones we expect, we adjust our strategy. That might look like adjusting your keyword focus, spending less time on content and more on technical fixes, or working on issues that didn’t surface in our initial audit that need to be addressed.
The key here is flexibility and communication. Search has changed faster in the past two years than it did the last two decades, so you want to work with an agency that’s honest enough to say when you need to change directions.
What to watch for: An agency that says “SEO takes a while, just trust us.” SEO does take time, but a good agency will be upfront about what is and isn’t working.
What you want: General milestone expectations with flexibility to adjust as needed if early indicators aren’t trending in the right direction.
Understand Pricing and Contracts Before You Sign
Like any contract, make sure you understand everything before you sign. But before that, here are questions to ask that help you understand what to expect, and what should be a deal breaker.
What does your retainer include?
Get specifics. How many pieces of content should you get per month? How much time spent on technical fixes? And what deliverables will you get for “monthly optimization?”
What to watch for: Vague deliverables like “ongoing optimization” without specifics or hours attached to it.
What you want: A line-item breakdown of deliverables so you know what’s included (and what isn’t).
What’s your contract length and cancellation policy?
Six-month minimums are pretty standard in the SEO industry because SEO genuinely needs time to show results. Agencies can’t invest in your strategy if you bail after two months.
However, that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be an out if you need it. Things happen, business goals shift and budgets adjust. We ask clients to plan for six months before deciding if their SEO is working or not, but you can cancel your service at any time.
What to watch for: Twelve-month contracts with no performance clauses or exit terms. You should have some recourse if things aren’t working.
What you want: A defined initial commitment — six months is fair — with clear exit terms after that period. Month-to-month after the initial term is reasonable, and an honest agency will allow you to cancel if needed.
What’s not included in your pricing?
This question can reveal hidden costs and whether the agency is transparent about their offering.
Some things that aren’t always included:
- Content writing beyond a certain number of words
- Major site redesigns or rebuilds
- Custom developer work for technical fixes
- Citation management services
- Google setup (like analytics, search console, or business profiles)
- Link building or reputation management
If a retainer costs less than $1,000 a month, you should be asking questions. Especially if it includes content creation. Meaningful SEO work requires a decent time commitment, so anything less than $1,000/month should be scrutinized.
The opposite is also true, however. Unless you have a large website with thousands of pages, an SEO retainer that’s more than a couple thousand dollars every month should be broken down far enough that you’re confident you’re getting your money’s worth.
What you want: Complete understanding of your investment and what work is happening every month, including what happens if priorities shift.
Bonus: If you work with an agency that does both SEO and web development, you’re likely to get better technical SEO results. Why? Because the SEO team has direct access to web developers that can assist with some of the trickier elements of a site that impact SEO.
And yes, HustleFish is cool enough to do both SEO and web development.
SEO Questions That Reveal Red Flags
SEO has a reputation for promising the world and not delivering. It’s a problem throughout the industry, and unfortunately most people looking for SEO services don’t always know how to separate the good from the bad. These questions will help you do exactly that.
Do you guarantee rankings or traffic?
The correct answer is no. That may seem counterintuitive, but it’s also why so many people end up with an SEO service that doesn’t work. Anyone who guarantees they’ll get you on page one is likely:
- Overselling you
- Being dishonest about their capabilities
- Using black hat tactics that will eventually get you penalized
Much of SEO is based on best practices and years of experience and testing. But there’s still a lot we don’t really know. Not to mention Google changes its algorithm frequently, and there’s no way of knowing if your competitors are also ramping up their SEO efforts.
The bottom line is, no legitimate SEO can guarantee specific rankings because there are too many variables outside of their control.
What to watch for: Anyone who says things like “we guarantee you’ll be on page one” or “we’ll increase your traffic 10x in the first month.”
What you want: Someone who will tell you no while explaining their process to adapt their strategy if you don’t see results.
Have you ever gotten a client a Google penalty or manual action, and what happened?
This question separates experienced agencies from ones that only know how to work in ideal conditions. Algorithm updates and penalties happen. The question isn’t whether they’ve faced adversity — it’s whether they know how to respond.
What to watch for: A straight answer. If it’s happened, they should be able to walk you through what caused it, how they diagnosed it, and what they did to fix it. If it genuinely hasn’t happened, that’s fine too — but you’ll get a feel for whether they’re being straight with you or telling you what you want to hear.
What you want: A candid explanation of what happened, how they diagnosed it, and what they did to recover. Recovery experience is a positive signal.
After the Sales Pitch: Your Next Steps to Hiring an SEO
Once you’ve asked questions, here’s where you should go next before signing on with an SEO agency or contractor:
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- Ask for a proposal with specific deliverables. This is where you make sure they’ve actually done their research and have a strategy for YOU specifically. If you get back a vague proposal or just “SEO Services” as a line item, that’s not a good sign.
- Ask for references you can call. Read through case studies on their website, but also ask to talk to current or former clients. A good SEO agency does more than produce numbers, they discuss strategy with their clients.
- If you have multiple proposals, compare them on value, not just price. SEO is definitely a service where you get what you pay for. You want an agency that understands your business and treats you like a partner in your marketing efforts, not just a paycheck.
- Check their website. Do they rank for their own services in their market? Google their business name plus their core service and city — something like “SEO agency Lafayette Indiana” or “[agency name] SEO.” If they don’t show up in the first few results for their own market, that’s worth a conversation.
- Trust your gut. If they can’t explain their process in plain language, dodge your questions, or just don’t feel honest, move on.
The Bottom Line
The right SEO agency should feel like a strategic advisor, not just a vendor you hire. While this is probably true for all marketing services, SEO in particular requires a lot of forethought and analysis to be effective.
Since SEO can take months to see results, it can also take months for changes to take effect. So if you work with someone who is just chasing the latest trends or only doing a surface analysis of your web presence, you’re not likely to get results.
A good agency should be honest about timelines, transparent about their pricing, and willing to explain their process in detail. But most importantly, they should be able to explain why SEO makes sense for you — or when it doesn’t.
At HustleFish, we’ve worked with law firms, insurance agencies, medical suppliers, and other businesses across Greater Lafayette and Indiana.
- We helped a medical supply distributor double their organic traffic in the first year.
- We increased keyword rankings by 248% for an insurance agency by revamping their product pages.
- We drove 25 local pack features for a law firm, increasing their online visibility by 32%.
These results didn’t happen overnight. They happened because we invested in understanding each business, built strategies around their specific goals, and executed consistently over months — not weeks.
If you want to talk about how SEO might fit into your business goals, we’d love to chat.
Frequently Asked Questions
What questions should I ask an SEO company before hiring them?
When hiring an SEO agency, the most revealing questions are about accountability: do they guarantee rankings (they shouldn’t), and what happens if results aren’t showing in six months?
You should also ask about their typical client size, how long clients stay with them, what their first 90 days look like, what metrics they report on, and what’s included in their retainer. But the questions that will truly separate a good agency from a bad one involve strategy, transparency, and accountability.
What are red flags when hiring an SEO company?
Guaranteed rankings or traffic, vague deliverables without specifics, twelve-month contracts with no exit terms, and reporting only on keyword positions without tying to business outcomes. Also watch for agencies selling AI visibility services who can’t explain how they measure results or what a citation in ChatGPT is worth to your business.
How much should I pay for SEO services?
Businesses investing $1,500-$4,000 per month typically see meaningful results. That budget allows for comprehensive technical work, consistent content creation, and ongoing optimization.
Anything significantly below that range usually means cookie-cutter strategies or will have limited impact.
How long does SEO take to work?
This depends on the size of your site and the competitiveness of your industry. But in general, you should see search impressions climbing within one to two months as an early signal. In six months, traffic should be growing and leads should be coming in. At twelve months, you should have steady organic lead flow.
Any agency that says “just trust us for twelve months” without offering to show you earlier signals or explain their process is a red flag.
Should I hire a local SEO company or a national agency?
Both can work, but local agencies tend to understand your market, your competition, and your customer better. They’re also more accountable — it’s harder to disappear on a client when you operate in the same community.
The more important factor is whether they have experience with businesses at your revenue level and in your industry.