Choose an SEO company that tells you plainly what it’ll do each month. Your website, domain and Google accounts should be set up in your name. The report should show the calls and enquiries that came in. Walk away from anyone who guarantees you first place on Google. Google’s own advice says no one can.
Below are the questions to ask, what to check in the contract, who should own what, the warning signs Google lists and what a monthly report should show.
Questions to ask before you sign
Google publishes a list of questions to ask an SEO. These are the ones that matter most for a trade:
- Can you show me examples of your previous work?
- What results do you expect, and in what timeframe? How do you measure success?
- What’s your experience in my industry?
- What’s your experience in my city?
- Will you share every change you make to my site and explain why?
- How will we keep in touch?
Google also says to check references. Ask past clients if the SEO was useful, easy to work with and got results.
In our view, add three of your own:
- Who will actually do the work? The person who sells it to you may not be the person doing it.
- What will you do each month? You want a list of tasks, not “ongoing optimisation”.
- What happens if I want to leave? The answer tells you a lot.
A good SEO asks you questions too. Google says yours should want to know what makes your business different, who your competitors are and how your customers find you. For a trade that means your best jobs, your towns and who gets the calls you’re missing. Google’s advice: “If they’re not interested, find someone who is.”
Contracts and lock-ins
Read the contract before you sign. In our view, these are the points to check:
- Minimum term. How many months are you committed for?
- Notice period. How much notice do you have to give, and in what form?
- Set-up fees. Is there a one-off charge on top of the monthly fee?
- What’s included. Is the monthly work written down?
- Price changes. Can the fee go up during the term?
- What you keep. Do the pages, photos and listings stay with you if you leave?
A longer minimum term isn’t always a bad sign. SEO builds over time, so some firms want a few months to show progress. The risk is being tied in while nothing is coming in, with your accounts in someone else’s name.
Who should own your accounts
You should. In our view, everything below should be in your business’s name, with the SEO company given access rather than ownership.
| Account | What to check | What the official guidance says |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | Your business is the registrant | For a .uk domain, Nominet’s contract is with the person the domain is registered for. An agent can act for you, but the contract is with whoever is named. |
| Google Business Profile | You’re the primary owner. The SEO company is a manager | Google says owners have full control and can add or remove users. Managers can do almost everything else but can’t add or remove users or remove the profile. A profile has one primary owner. |
| Google Search Console | You’re a verified owner | Google says owners have full control and can add or remove users. If the only verified owner leaves, Google says you should verify ownership to keep or regain access. |
| Google Ads | The account is in your name and you have admin access | Google lets you share access to an Ads account and change or remove anyone’s access later. It warns that an account with only one admin can lose access to its tags if that person becomes unavailable. |
| Website and hosting | The hosting account and logins are in your name | In our view, you should be able to log in to your own site without asking anyone. |
Google adds one more point for the early stages. If an SEO offers to audit your site, give them read-only access to Search Console. Don’t give them full access at that stage.
Red flags, from Google’s own advice
Google’s page on hiring an SEO lists the warning signs. The ones trades see most:
| Red flag | What Google says |
|---|---|
| A guaranteed number one spot | “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” If they guarantee first place, find someone else. |
| A “special relationship” with Google, or “priority submit” | Google lists both as things to beware of. Google never accepts money to include or rank sites in its free results. |
| Secrecy | Be careful if a company won’t clearly explain what it intends to do. Ask for explanations. |
| Cold emails | Be wary of SEO firms that email you out of the blue. Google says it gets these emails too. |
| They want a link to their site | “You should never have to link to an SEO.” |
| Link popularity schemes or “submitting to thousands of search engines” | Google calls these typically useless. |
| Tools “approved by Google” | Google doesn’t evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and those tools can’t see Google’s ranking data. |
| AI search promises | If they sell optimisation for AI answers, ask whether it follows Google’s own guidance on its AI features. |
One line on that page is worth reading twice. Google says you’re responsible for the actions of any company you hire. If an SEO breaks Google’s rules on your site, it’s your site that suffers. It could even be removed from Google’s results.
From our side, add two more. Your accounts aren’t in your name. And the monthly report only shows rankings.
What a monthly report should show
In our view, a useful report answers four questions. What came in. Where it came from. What was done. What’s next.
What came in. Calls and form enquiries, counted month by month. These are the numbers that pay the bills.
Where it came from. Your Google Business Profile, your website from the normal search results, ads and anywhere else. If enquiries are up, you want to know which part is working.
Your Business Profile Performance report. This is free inside your Google profile. Google says it shows how people found your profile on Search and Maps and what they did next. In plain terms:
- Searches: the words people typed when your profile showed up.
- Views: how many people looked at your profile. Google counts each person once a day.
- Calls: taps on the call button on your profile.
- Website clicks: taps through to your website.
- Directions: people asking for directions to you.
The report includes interactions from Google Ads as well as the free results. You need to be signed in to the account that manages your profile, which is another reason to own it.
Search Console. This is Google’s free report on how your website does in search. In plain terms:
- Clicks: how many times someone clicked through to your site from Google.
- Impressions: how many times your site appeared in the results.
- Average position: roughly where you showed, on average.
- Queries: the searches that showed your site.
Google notes that results change with time, place, device and the person’s own search history. So a screenshot of one search isn’t the whole picture. Our Maps guide explains how to check your Google Maps ranking for yourself.
What was done and what’s next. The tasks done this month in plain English, and the plan for next month.
A table of rankings on its own tells you little. Rankings can move without the phone ringing.
Local or national SEO company
A local agency isn’t the same as local SEO. Local SEO is getting found in the towns you work in. Any agency can do it, wherever it’s based.
Google’s own questions ask about experience in your industry and in your city. In our view, that’s the real test. Has the firm worked with a trade like yours? Does it know your towns and who you’re up against there?
A local firm can meet you face to face and may already know your area. A firm further away may have more experience with your trade. Neither is better by default. Ask both for examples of work for a similar business in a similar market.
What it should cost
Prices vary a lot, so we’ve put the figures in one place. Our guide to how much local SEO costs covers typical UK prices, what drives them and what you should get each month.
In our view, the cheapest quote isn’t the safest. Neither is the dearest. Compare quotes on what gets done each month and what you keep if you leave.
Do you need an SEO company at all?
Not always. Google says that if you run a small local business, you can probably do much of the work yourself. Its advice is to learn the basics first, so you can spot an SEO using methods it doesn’t recommend.
Our local SEO for trades page sets out five checks you can do yourself for free. If you need calls this month rather than in a few months, read SEO vs Google Ads first. Paying for ads may suit you better while SEO builds.
How SearchHawk works
We’re a small agency in Hinckley. We do websites, local SEO and Google Ads for trades across the UK.
- A rolling monthly contract. If we build your site, it starts once the build is done.
- Your website, domain, Google profile and accounts are all in your name.
- One plain report a month and a call to talk it through: what came in and what we’re changing.
If you’d like to see where you stand first, ask for a free forecast. We look at the searches for your work in your towns and who shows up for them now. You get an honest plan you can follow yourself or hand to us.
Questions about choosing an SEO company
Should I sign a 12-month SEO contract?
Only if you’re comfortable with the exit terms. Check the notice period and what you keep if you leave. Make sure your website, domain and Google accounts are in your name first. Some firms offer rolling monthly contracts, so ask.
Who should own my Google Business Profile?
You should, as the primary owner. Your SEO company can be added as a manager. Google lets managers do almost everything except add or remove users or remove the profile.
My old SEO company has my accounts. What do I do?
Ask them in writing to make you the owner of each account. For your Business Profile, ask them to add you as an owner and then make you the primary owner. Only the primary owner can do that. If they won’t, Google has a process to request ownership of a profile someone else controls. For Search Console, you can verify ownership of your own website yourself. Then remove the old owner’s verification tokens so they can’t get back in. For a .uk domain, ask who the domain is registered to.
Can an SEO company guarantee results?
No one can guarantee a number one ranking on Google. Google says so on its own page about hiring an SEO. An honest firm can explain what it’ll do and give you an estimate. It can’t promise a position or a date.
Is a trade specialist better than a general SEO company?
Not by default. What matters is experience with a business like yours in a market like yours. Google suggests asking about both. A specialist may know your customers’ searches better. Ask for examples either way.
How do I find an SEO company with no lock-in contract?
Ask each firm directly what the minimum term and notice period are, and get the answer in writing. Many agencies state their contract terms on their website, so check there first.