Hiring an SEO Agency? Don’t Forget to Ask These 12 Questions

Search engines are always updating their algorithms to improve user experience. This makes search engine optimisation (SEO) an ever-evolving field.

Many companies that once managed SEO in-house now find it harder to achieve real success. Today, building strong backlinks takes more than just time — it requires engaging content, influencer marketing, and even some public relations skills.

Modern keyword strategies also demand more. They involve researching user intent, creating valuable content, and understanding how Google ranks pages. In many cases, a small in-house team may not be enough to manage this effectively. That’s why more businesses are turning to professional SEO agencies.

Not all SEO services deliver the same results. While none are perfect, some stand out for their proven success and ethical practices.

SEO remains one of the most powerful ways to grow your online visibility. Before diving into what questions to ask an agency, let’s look at a few common queries business owners have about working with SEO professionals.

• SEO is a constantly evolving field driven by frequent search engine algorithm updates.
• Hiring the right SEO agency requires careful vetting through targeted questions.
• A comprehensive SEO strategy includes technical SEO, on-page/user experience, and off-page/link-building.
• Successful SEO must be tailored to your business, niche, and goals — there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
• Measuring success should align with your unique objectives, not just rankings or traffic numbers.
• Expect realistic timelines; effective SEO results typically take around six months.
• Mobile optimization is critical due to Google’s mobile-first indexing.
• Modern keyword research focuses on user intent, not just volume or keyword density.
• SEO works best when integrated with broader marketing efforts like PR and social media.
• Quality link-earning and influencer relationships trump mass link-building tactics.
• Transparency about tools, reporting, and ongoing industry learning reflects a trustworthy agency.
• Collaboration between your team and the SEO agency is vital for long-term success.

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Define Your Local SEO Goals Before You Start
3. What is Your SEO Strategy and How Do You Ensure Results?
4. How Will You Tailor the Plan to Our Business?
5. What Metrics Define Success?
6. When Can We Expect to See Results?
7. How Do You Handle Mobile SEO?
8. What Keyword Research Methods Do You Use?
9. How Do You Integrate SEO into Marketing?
10. How Do You Build Links and Use Influencers?
11. What Tools Do You Use and Why?
12. How Do You Provide Progress Updates?
13. How Do You Stay Updated with Industry Changes?
14. What Do You Need From Us to Succeed?
15. How to Choose the Right SEO Agency for Long-Term Success
16. Conclusion: Partnering for Local SEO Success
17. FAQ

It is critical to plan before beginning your search for a local SEO agency.

You need to do the following first:

• Understand the objectives of your organisation.
• Recognise your competitors.
• Before you enter, make sure you have adequate local SEO expertise to be able to assess prospects.
• Recognise your alternatives (for example, individual vs. company).
• Prepare a timeline or an ideal method for tracking progress and collaborate with the organisation that you ultimately choose.

A search engine optimisation plan does not have to be hard when you hire someone to develop and implement it. To hire an expert, you do not need to be an expert yourself; all you need to know is how to ask the right questions and anticipate the appropriate replies. 

There are 3 major parts of search engine optimisation that are worth mentioning and the most effective SEO companies consider all three to be necessary components of a comprehensive search engine optimisation strategy. 

Technical SEO takes into consideration factors such as code, site structure, site performance, and other elements that may have an impact on your search traffic and conversion rates, among other things. A technical SEO examination of your website and its content is required in order for search engines to crawl your website and its content. It must also examine and analyse redirections, too.

The practice of optimising your digital assets’ content for your target audience is known as user experience (UX). During an on-page SEO audit, an SEO expert examines the visible portions of your website, such as the content, navigation and keyword optimisation, and makes suggestions for appropriate changes.

When you use off-page SEO (search engine optimisation), you build links, expand your brand online, and increase the visibility of your website and the material on it. To improve your results, an SEO company will hunt for possibilities to build your domain and page authority by getting inbound links from other high-quality websites.

The Two Common Approaches SEO Agencies Use

1. They charge a flat fee for their services, for example, they will do all of the research and develop all of the strategies, but they will be unable to properly execute any of them.

2. They charge a per-click fee, for example, they will only provide one aspect of search engine optimisation (such as link-building).

Modern SEO needs a comprehensive plan as well as skilled execution. Make certain that the SEO agency you are considering can handle all three aspects of SEO (technical, user experience, and off-page), and that they have a clear plan for balancing them all.

When it comes to SEO, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution and your SEO partner should understand why your agency needs a personalised plan that is specific to your industry, business model, and goal. 

SEO for a small company looking to attract clients from a dozen zip codes demands a different strategy than SEO for a multinational conglomerate, indeed.

While experience in the field is desirable, it is not required. More importantly, the SEO service must be able to communicate how they will tailor the overall strategy to your specialty. Ascertain that the agency can articulate particular instances in which the overall strategy will differ.

This is a trick question. While SEO agencies may arrive at the meeting with some core goals in mind, their success metrics should be decided by what success means to you personally and professionally.

A guarantee of first-page rankings cannot be made by an SEO company and those that make such guarantees are most likely using black-hat SEO techniques. However, although the adoption of these tactics may momentarily improve traffic, they will ultimately result in a penalty, in addition to a significant decrease in traffic and rankings. 

Legitimate search engine optimisation agencies will build methods that are customised to your unique aims and objectives. They may prioritise keyword optimisation or content production if you want to improve traffic.

If you are looking to enhance local traffic, they may recommend that you raise your local business profiles on directory and review sites, among other things. When it comes to measuring an SEO agency’s performance, it should be directly related to your company’s objectives. Look for agencies that ask themselves this question and then seek your response.

Effective search engine optimisation takes time, but it shouldn’t prevent an experienced SEO firm from giving you a time frame in which to anticipate results. 

You should expect to see results from credible SEO strategies within six months of commencing your campaign, according to standard criteria. If your website is in good health, it will have an impact on whether you will enjoy the benefits sooner than you planned in the future or not. 

For example, correcting technical errors and oversights might result in considerable actual SEO benefits in a very short time.

On the other hand, if your site is already well-structured and devoid of technical concerns, you will have to wait a little longer before you see meaningful results.

If your SEO business claims speedy results, find out why they are making such a claim. And, if they bring up technical issues that need to be addressed, it’s a good thing. If they do not, be cautious since they may be using out-of-date, spammy practices that can ultimately result in your site being punished by search engines.

The topic of mobile technology should, in an ideal world, be brought up during discussions on the overall strategy. Because of Google’s announcement last year that they are transitioning to a mobile-first index, mobile optimisation is now more vital than it has ever been before.

Seek SEO agencies that have a process in place for doing a mobile audit of your website and ensure that your SEO agency can convey clearly why mobile is a critical SEO hurdle for your company.

Keyword research used to be simple. You’d type terms into a tool, build a keyword list, and place those words throughout your content.

Today, keyword research is more complex. It’s focused on understanding user intent—what people are really looking for when they search online.

Modern SEO goes beyond volume and density. It looks at why someone searches and what kind of content best matches that intent.

When interviewing SEO companies, ask how they uncover user intent. They should mention tools and explain their approach to determining keyword purpose.

If they focus only on search volume and keyword density, they’re likely using outdated techniques.

The best SEO campaigns don’t operate in isolation. They’re woven into your broader marketing strategy.

Tactics like PR and social media can build links more efficiently than SEO alone. These efforts also amplify your content’s reach.

Make sure your SEO partner is ready to work with other departments—like web development, sales, or your internal marketing team.

They should already have a plan for aligning their work with your ongoing marketing efforts.

A good SEO partner is collaborative. They understand that integration leads to better performance and lasting results.

Although certain SEO businesses may guarantee you thousands of links in a matter of weeks, most of these connections will be of low quality. One high-quality link from a reputable, authoritative site is more potent than hundreds of low-quality purchased or machine-created connections in blog comments.

The effort should be centred on developing high-quality connections rather than a big number of links.

In today’s world, link-building is more correctly characterised as link-earning, rather than link-building. To do this, high-quality material must be created that will organically produce inbound links. 

Additionally, relationships with influencers and editors must be established. While link-building, your SEO agency should characterise its efforts in terms of relationship-building and quality as opposed to quantity and expediency alone.

Knowing exactly what tools an SEO company uses isn’t required for understanding their skills; but, knowing that they can explain why they use those tools is critical for understanding their capabilities. 

To conduct audits and complete assignments, the legal SEO professional will have a range of tools at their disposal and they will have tested several different tools to establish which are the most successful. Inquire about the following issues:

• What tools do you use to undertake keyword research and why do you choose them?
• To maintain track of your rankings, what tools do you use and why do you utilise them?
• What crawler do you use and why do you use it? What is the purpose of your crawler?
• To keep track of backlinks, knowing what tools they use and why they like their choices are important questions to ask.
• To do a competitive analysis, what instruments do you use and why do you employ them?

When asked why their preferred tools are employed and what influence those tools may have when correctly used, your SEO partner should be able to communicate the reasoning behind their choice of tools, rather than just regurgitate a lengthy list of “excellent tools.”

Ask to see a sample report from another client. This will help you confirm whether the SEO company tracks progress toward specific goals.

Find out how they would tailor the report to match your KPIs and business objectives. If they can’t explain how they measure success, that’s a red flag.

Reporting frequency usually depends on the size of the project. Most businesses can expect monthly updates.

Larger companies or short-term projects might require more frequent reporting. Still, tracking progress week to week can be misleading and often unproductive.

Search results fluctuate for many reasons. These include algorithm tests by Google and changes made by competitors.

Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy. Focusing only on short-term changes may lead to poor decisions and long-term setbacks.

At the very least, a good SEO should follow Google’s Webmaster Central Blog. It’s the main source of updates and guidance directly from Google.

Strong SEO professionals also stay current by reading top industry blogs and joining SEO forums and discussions. This shows they are active in the community and continually learning.

The best experts go beyond that. They run their own tests, monitor client websites for changes, and stay alert to shifts in algorithm behaviour and best practices.

A large list of inquiries and requirements should be provided by legitimate SEO businesses. They will want extensive information about your audience, industry, objectives, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to do their job efficiently. 

They’ll want to know whether you’re utilising any other digital marketing tools that will have an impact on your content, such as marketing automation, and if so, which ones. They will also demand you have a Google Analytics account with them. 

Cooperation between numerous teams and business executives is required for effective SEO. As a result, firms that demand minimal input from you are unlikely to develop an SEO strategy that will assist you in achieving long-term success.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a complex and ever-changing field. Since Google’s machine learning algorithm, RankBrain, was introduced, the search engine has been improving continuously—day and night, all year round.

To remain effective, leading SEO companies stay ahead of updates. They regularly adjust their strategies and methods to match Google’s changes.

It’s also important to understand what search engines aim to do. Their goal is to give users high-quality, relevant results. That means a good SEO provider should focus on user value—not just rankings or link quantity.

Ask the right questions before choosing an agency. The answers will reveal whether their approach is ethical, results-driven, and built for long-term success.

Before you decide to outsource your local SEO, make sure you’re well-informed and careful. The finest and most effective agency partnerships are collaborative and cooperative, and they can be a real partner who can be relied on in any situation.

If you ask these aforementioned questions, however, you should be able to determine whether or not the local SEO agency you are considering is a suitable match for your company.

As tough as it is to search for the most reputable search engine optimisation agency around, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you’re on the right page. TopRankings has built the reputation as Australia’s leading SEO agency and you can simply give us a call to find out why businesses entrust their SEO campaigns to us!

How long does it usually take to see SEO results?

SEO results generally start to show within six months. However, this depends on your website’s current health, competition, and the strategy implemented.

Why is mobile optimization so important for SEO?

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily ranks sites based on their mobile versions. Mobile optimization ensures your site performs well on smartphones and tablets, directly impacting rankings.

What is user intent in keyword research?

User intent refers to understanding the reason behind a search query—whether the user wants to buy, learn, find a local service, or something else. Effective SEO targets this intent rather than just keyword volume.

What makes a quality backlink?

A quality backlink comes from a reputable, authoritative website relevant to your niche. It should be earned through valuable content and genuine relationships, not bought or spammed.

How do SEO agencies report progress?

Reputable agencies provide regular progress reports tailored to your KPIs. Reporting frequency varies but is often monthly. Reports should explain results clearly and tie them to your business goals.

Can SEO guarantee first-page rankings?

No legitimate SEO agency can guarantee first-page rankings. SEO is influenced by many factors, including competition and algorithm changes. Agencies promising guarantees may use risky tactics.

How does SEO fit into my overall marketing?

SEO complements other marketing activities like social media and PR by driving organic traffic and building brand authority. Integration across teams leads to better outcomes.

What should I provide to my SEO agency?

You should share details about your audience, business goals, marketing tools, and access to analytics. Active collaboration and communication are essential for success.