Most contractors hiring an SEO company are buying something they cannot evaluate. That is the real problem. You can judge a framer’s work by looking at it. You cannot look at an SEO proposal and tell whether the fee is worth paying.
So judge the things you can assess: how they talk about your market, what they are willing to put in writing, and whether the reporting measures anything that pays you.
The three questions that sort most of it out
1. Will they show you your market before asking for money?
Any competent agency can tell you, in about 15 minutes, who comes up above you for your main service in your town, roughly what homeowners near you are searching for, and whether there is enough of it to be worth going after.
If the first conversation is mostly about their process, their awards and other people’s results, they have not looked at your market yet. That is the tell.
The follow-up matters as much: ask whether they would take the work if the answer came back thin. An agency that has never turned a market down is selling the same package to everyone.
2. Can they explain the work without jargon?
Ask what they would do in month one, specifically.
A good answer sounds like: “Your profile is missing categories and has no recent photos, you have nine reviews against the thirty your competitor has, and you have one page covering six services. We would fix those in that order.”
A poor answer sounds like: “We will optimize your on-page, build citations and execute a link acquisition strategy.” That may describe real work, but if they cannot put it in terms of what it changes for you, you will not be able to tell whether it happened.
3. Do they report on calls, or on rankings?
Rankings are easy to report and easy to flatter. An agency can show you green arrows for phrases nobody types.
The useful report answers: how many people called, where they came from, and what changed this month. Ask to see a sample report from a current client, with the name removed, before you sign anything.
What the pricing actually means
| What you’re paying for | What it usually buys |
|---|---|
| The floor | Automated directory submissions and a report. Little human attention. |
| A small market | One person working on a small market, usually a few services |
| A competitive market | Several services, content being produced, active work each month |
| A large or crowded metro | Multiple locations, or a metro-wide fight |
The range follows your market, not the agency’s quality. A contractor in a town of 20,000 does not need what one competing across a metro needs, and paying metro prices in a small market buys work with nowhere to go.
On website builds: some agencies charge separately, some fold it into a longer commitment. Neither is wrong. What matters is that you know which it is and who owns the result.
Warning signs
- A guaranteed position. Nobody controls Google’s results. The guarantee is usually met by ranking you for a phrase nobody searches.
- No explanation of month one. Vague answer, vague plan.
- Reporting that only shows rankings. Especially for phrases you have never heard anyone use.
- A contract with no exit and no benchmark. Long commitments are fine; long commitments with nothing to measure are not.
- They own your site or your domain. Ask outright, in writing.
- Work for anyone and everyone. A company doing dentists, restaurants and roofers knows your business less well than one that only does trades.
- Pressure on the first call. The work takes months. There is no reason the decision has to take minutes.
Questions worth asking before you sign
- What happens in month one, specifically?
- Who does the work: you, or a subcontractor?
- What do I get if nothing has moved by month four?
- How do you report, and can I see a sample?
- Who owns the website, the content and the domain if I leave?
- How many other contractors do you work with in my area?
That last one matters more than people expect. An agency working for two remodelers in the same town is competing against itself, and one of you is getting the lesser effort.
When not to hire anyone
Some honest cases where the answer is no:
- You need work this month. Nothing in search moves that fast. Call your past customers and consider ads.
- You are already turning work away. Spend the money on capacity instead.
- The budget would come out of something that keeps jobs running. Marketing bought with money you cannot spare creates pressure that makes everything else worse.
- You have not done the free parts yet. If your Google Business Profile is half-finished and you have four reviews, you can gain a lot in a weekend. Our guide to setting up a Business Profile covers it.
A company worth hiring will say some of this to you on the first call. That is most of what you are assessing.
Doing it yourself instead
The highest-value parts are genuinely free: the Business Profile, asking for reviews, adding project photos, answering the questions homeowners ask.
What agencies sell on top of that is consistency and speed. The work is not difficult, but it is relentless, and it competes with running jobs. Most contractors who hire help do it because the work keeps sliding to the bottom of the list, not because it is beyond them.
If you want the full picture of what the work involves before deciding, contractor SEO walks through it. If you would rather weigh it against ads and lead services, where the next job comes from puts them side by side.
Where to go next
If you want a second opinion on your own market before hiring anyone, including us, book a free 15-minute call. We will show you who comes up ahead of you where you work, and tell you honestly whether there is enough there to be worth paying for.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a contractor pay for SEO?
What you pay tracks how competitive your area is, not how good the agency is. At the bottom of the market you are usually buying automated software output and a monthly report, which is not the same as somebody working on your market. The real number depends on your town and how many services you want to compete for, and a good agency gives it to you after they have looked, not before.
How do I know if an SEO company is any good before hiring them?
Ask them to show you your own market on the first call: who appears above you, what homeowners near you search for, and roughly how much of it is winnable. A company that can do this in 15 minutes understands your market. One that leads with their process and case studies instead has not looked at it yet.
Should I sign a 12-month SEO contract?
A longer commitment is reasonable because the work takes months to compound, and it often comes with better pricing or a site build included. What matters is what happens if it is not working. Ask what you can do at month four if nothing has moved. If the honest answer is nothing, that is a reason to negotiate rather than to sign.
Is it a red flag if an SEO company guarantees first place on Google?
Yes. Nobody controls Google's results, and the guarantee is usually met by ranking you for a phrase nobody searches, such as your own business name plus your city. A credible guarantee is about the work delivered or a specific, measurable outcome, not a position.
What questions should I ask an SEO company?
What happens in month one, specifically. Who does the work, you or a subcontractor. What I get if nothing moves by month four. How you report, and whether it shows calls or rankings. Who owns the website and the content if I leave. The answers tell you more than any portfolio.
Do I own my website if the SEO company built it?
Only if your agreement says so, and many do not. Ask directly who owns the domain, the content and the site itself, and what happens to them if you stop working together. Being locked out of your own site is a common and expensive surprise.
Should I hire a local SEO company or a national one?
Where they sit matters far less than whether they understand contracting. The work is about your area, not theirs, and it is done remotely either way. What matters is whether they know what a kitchen job is worth to you and how homeowners choose between three bids.
What is the difference between an SEO company and a lead service?
A lead service sells you a homeowner's contact details, usually at the same time as three or four competitors, and it stops the day you stop paying. SEO work builds visibility you keep, and the calls come to you exclusively. Leads are faster, search compounds.
How long before I should expect results from an SEO company?
Expect profile and review work to show in weeks, website work in 60 to 90 days, and a competitive city to take four to six months. Any agency unwilling to tell you which of those applies to you before you sign has not assessed your market.
When should a contractor not hire an SEO company at all?
When you are already turning work away, when your schedule is full from referrals and you have no plans to grow, or when the budget would mean cutting something that keeps jobs running. It is also wrong to start if you need work this month, because nothing in search moves that fast.