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Hiring an SEO agency is harder than hiring a web designer, because you can't see the work in the same way. These twelve questions will help you tell a good agency from a confident salesperson, whoever you speak to in Leicester or further afield. We've included the answers we give, so you have something to compare against.
What will you do in the first 90 days?
A good answer is specific: an audit, fixing technical problems, improving service pages, setting up your Google Business Profile properly and starting a review process. A vague answer about 'building authority' isn't enough.
Ask for the plan in writing. You should be able to look back after three months and tick off what was done.
How will you measure success?
Rankings matter, but enquiries matter more. Ask whether they'll track calls, forms and WhatsApp messages from search, not just positions for keywords. A report full of rankings for phrases nobody searches is a common way of looking busy.
Ask what they'll use. Google Search Console is free and shows which searches you appear for and how often people click. If an agency can't or won't give you access to your own Search Console, that's a warning sign.
Which local businesses have you helped?
Ask for examples you can check. Search for the business yourself and see where they appear. Agencies should be able to show their own visibility too: search for the kind of service they sell in your area and see whether they come up.
Who will actually do the work?
Some agencies sell locally and outsource the work overseas. That isn't always bad, but you should know. Ask to meet the person writing your pages and making changes to your site.
Do you guarantee rankings?
The right answer is no. Google doesn't sell first place and nobody controls it, and Google says as much in its own guidance on hiring an SEO. Guarantees are a warning sign.
How do you build links?
Good agencies earn mentions through local partnerships, press, directories and useful content. Buying links in bulk breaks Google's rules and can get your site penalised. Ask for examples of links they've earned for other clients.
What happens to my Google Business Profile?
For local searches, your profile often matters more than your website. Make sure it stays in your name and that you keep owner access. An agency should be added as a manager, never as the owner.
Will you change my website?
SEO often means editing pages. Ask who makes changes, whether they need access to your website builder and how they'll avoid breaking anything. If your site is slow or hard to edit, a good agency will say so before charging you to work around it.
How do you handle AI search?
More people now ask ChatGPT or see Google's AI Overviews before clicking anything. A modern agency should explain how they make sure AI tools understand and recommend you: clear answers on your pages, consistent business details everywhere, reviews and mentions on sites those tools trust. Our guide to AI search optimisation explains what that involves.
What do you need from me?
Good SEO needs your input: photos, answers to customer questions, review requests. An agency that needs nothing from you is probably doing very little.
What's the contract?
SEO takes a few months to show results, so a minimum term is normal. What matters is that it's short and clear, with a defined monthly scope and a simple way to leave with all your data and accounts. Be wary of 12 or 24 month lock-ins with no list of work.
Ours is a 6-month minimum, then monthly. You keep your website, Google Business Profile and Search Console whatever happens.
What will it cost, and why?
Ask for the price to be linked to specific work. We publish ours: SEO Starter is £250 a month with a blog post written for you each month, SEO Growth is £375 with two posts and AI search work, and SEO Complete is £500 with four posts and link building. Every plan includes hosting and care. Our guide to SEO costs in Leicester shows typical market ranges too, and the price calculator gives an exact monthly figure.
What a good monthly report shows
A monthly report should take you five minutes to read and tell you three things: what was done, what changed and what happens next. Look for enquiries from search (calls, forms and messages), how often you appeared in Google and how many people clicked, and which pages are gaining ground. It should also list the work itself: pages written or improved, reviews requested, profile posts, links earned.
Expect honesty about slow months. Rankings move up and down week to week, and new pages can take a few weeks to settle. A good agency explains a dip and what they're doing about it, rather than hiding it in a chart.
Red flags to walk away from
- Guaranteed first place, or rankings promised by a date.
- A long contract with no written list of monthly work.
- Reports that only show rankings, never enquiries or calls.
- They want to own your Google Business Profile or domain.
- Hundreds of links for a fixed fee.
- They can't explain what they'll do in plain English.
A quick way to compare two agencies
Send both the same short brief: what you do, where you work and the three searches you most want to appear for. Then compare the replies. The better agency usually asks more questions than it answers, points out something specific about your current website, and gives you a plan you could check in three months.
How we work
We're a Leicester agency, the person you speak to does the work, and we report on enquiries in plain English. Read more about our SEO agency service in Leicester, or see how we were recommended by ChatGPT ourselves.
