Most business owners who've hired an SEO company have a story. Usually it involves a long contract, a monthly PDF nobody could read, and a phone that rang exactly as often as before.
It doesn't have to go that way. Google publishes its own advice on hiring an SEO, and it's surprisingly blunt. Here it is in plain English, plus what we'd add from the inside.
What is an SEO agency?
An SEO agency is a company you pay to help your business show up in search results. Google's Do you need an SEO? page lists the kinds of services an SEO may offer, including:
- A review of your site's content or structure.
- Technical advice on website development, such as hosting, redirects, error pages and use of JavaScript.
- Content development.
- Keyword research.
- Expertise in specific markets and places.
- Optimising for generative AI.
For a local business, add your Google Business Profile, reviews and local links to that list. If you're not sure what SEO itself involves, start with what is SEO.
Do you need an SEO company at all?
Not always. Google says hiring an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site's visibility and save you time, but that you also risk damage to your site and reputation.
Some of the work you can do yourself: set up your Google Business Profile, keep your details accurate, ask for reviews and reply to them. When the technical work, content and links start eating your evenings, that's usually the point to get help.
If you do hire, Google says a great time is when you're considering a site redesign, or planning to launch a new site. The earlier, the better. Bolting SEO on afterwards still works, it just costs more fixing.
Questions to ask an SEO company
Google's page suggests asking a potential SEO these questions. They're good ones, so we've kept them close to Google's wording:
- Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
- Do you follow the Google Search Essentials? Google notes these were previously known as the Webmaster Guidelines.
- What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?
- What's your experience in my industry?
- What's your experience in my country or city?
- How long have you been in business?
- How can I expect to communicate with you?
- Will you share all the changes you make to my site, and explain your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?
Google also says a good SEO should ask you questions: what makes your business unique, who your competitors are, and how your customers find you. If they're not interested in your business, Google's advice is to find someone who is.
We'd add two of our own: who will actually do the work? And will I own my website, Google Business Profile and analytics?
The answers you want are "a person you can talk to" and "yes". Anything vaguer deserves a follow-up question.
Red flags: when to walk away
Google's page includes a list of warning signs. Here they are, followed by the ones we see most often in Australian quotes.
Google's warning signs
- Guaranteed rankings. Google says
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
- A "special relationship" with Google, or a "priority submit" to Google. Google warns against both.
- Cold emails. Google says to be wary of SEO firms that email you out of the blue.
- Secrecy. Be careful if a company won't clearly explain what they intend to do.
- Making you link to them. Google says you should never have to link to an SEO.
- Link schemes, or submitting your site to thousands of search engines.
- Tools "approved" by Google. Google says to be wary of tools that claim to be acceptable or approved by Google Search.
Google also warns that if an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, your site could be removed from Google's index entirely. So the cost of a bad hire isn't just the fee.
Loud Yak's red flags
- Under $1,500 a month. At that price, something important isn't getting done. Usually it's the content, the links or the reviews, which happen to be the parts that move rankings.
- A long contract before you've seen any results.
- Your accounts in their name, so leaving means starting again.
- Links sold by the thousand. Google's spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam.
- Reports you can't understand, with no mention of calls or enquiries.
What a good SEO agency looks like
Flip the red flags over and you've got most of the green ones. A good SEO company:
- Explains the plan before starting, and lets you approve it.
- Shows the work every month: what was fixed, published and built.
- Reports in plain English, with calls and enquiries at the top, not buried on page eleven.
- Leaves you owning everything: your website, your Google Business Profile and your analytics.
- Talks honestly about time. Google's SEO Starter Guide says some changes might take effect in a few hours and others could take several months. A good agency says so too. More in how long SEO takes.
- Doesn't need to lock you in. If it's working, you'll stay.
Should you hire an SEO agency or a freelancer?
Either can work. What matters more is whether the person doing the work knows your kind of business and will show you what they're doing.
A freelancer can be a good fit if you need one specific job done, like a technical clean-up. The catch is coverage: local SEO touches your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews and links, and one person may not cover all of it.
An agency should cover the whole system. The catch there is the classic agency shuffle: a senior person sells you the deal, then your account is handed to someone you never meet.
So ask who you'll actually be talking to each month. With us, it's the person doing the work.
How to compare SEO quotes
SEO quotes rarely line up. For example, one might say $900 a month and another $2,500 (made-up numbers), and both call it "SEO". Here's how to compare them fairly.
- Compare the work, not the price. Ask each one to list what gets done every month: technical fixes, pages, Google Business Profile, reviews, links and reporting.
- Check the price against the market. Done properly, most local and small businesses pay $1,500 to $3,000 a month. Competitive city markets run $3,000 to $6,000, and enterprise $7,500 and up. The detail is in how much SEO costs in Australia.
- Read the contract. How long are you locked in, and who owns what when you leave?
- Ask what success looks like. If the answer is rankings and traffic but never calls or enquiries, keep asking.
And if you'd like a quote to compare against, ours comes as a written proposal after a call, priced on what your market needs. No bronze, silver and gold packages, and no lock-in. See what's included on our SEO services page.
FAQ
What is an SEO agency?
An SEO agency is a company you pay to help your business show up in search results. Google lists services like site reviews, technical advice, content, keyword research and optimising for generative AI.
How do I choose an SEO agency?
Ask to see their previous work, whether they follow Google's Search Essentials, what results they expect and in what timeframe, and how they measure success. Then rule out anyone showing the red flags.
Can an SEO company guarantee first place on Google?
No. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, and warns against SEOs that claim to.
How much should an SEO company charge?
Most local and small businesses pay $1,500 to $3,000 a month for SEO done properly. Anything under $1,500 a month is a red flag.
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