Hiring the wrong agency is expensive. Not just in money. In time, energy, and missed opportunities. Slick reports and big promises are easy. Real results are harder to judge before you sign. These 12 questions will help you cut through the noise and see who actually knows what they’re doing.
1. “How do you make money for clients, not just rankings?”
Start here. If they jump straight into impressions, clicks, and “visibility”, be careful. You want to hear about leads, sales, booked appointments, revenue. A good agency knows SEO is a channel, not the end goal. If they can’t explain how their work ties back to money in the bank, that’s a red flag. A results-focused partner, like a specialised SEO Company Melbourne, will talk about pipeline and profit, not just position one.
2. “What does your first 90 days actually look like?”
Vague talk is useless. You want a clear plan. Audit. Tracking setup. Quick technical fixes. Priority pages. Content and link strategy. If they can’t outline the first three months in simple language, they probably don’t have a real process. Look for structure with room for customisation. A rigid cookie-cutter approach is just as bad as pure improvisation.
3. “How do you decide which keywords to target?”
If their answer is “we’ll go after the highest volume terms”, that’s dated thinking. Volume without intent is a trap. You want them to talk about search intent, commercial vs informational keywords, long tail phrases, and how people actually search when they’re ready to buy. The best agencies will prioritise a mix of quick wins and long-term strategic terms.
4. “What access will I have to my data and accounts?”
Everything should be in your name. Analytics. Search Console. Ad accounts. Tracking tools. If you lose the relationship, you should not lose your data. Be wary of agencies that insist on owning everything or hiding behind “proprietary dashboards”. Transparency here is non-negotiable. Your data is an asset, not their leverage.
5. “How often will we communicate and what will we talk about?”
Monthly reports are standard. But what happens in between? You want to know how often you’ll have calls, who you’ll speak with, and what those conversations will focus on. Good agencies don’t just send PDFs. They walk you through what happened, why it matters, and what’s next. Clarity beats volume. You should finish each call knowing what they’re working on and what you need to do.
6. “What does your reporting actually include?”
Ask to see a real example. Not a polished template. A real client report with names blurred out. You’re looking for more than screenshots from tools. You want commentary, context, and plain-English explanations. Rankings, traffic, conversions, and key actions taken. If the report is all graphs and no insight, you’ll end up doing all the thinking yourself.
7. “How do you approach content?”
Content is still the engine of SEO. But not all content is equal. You want to hear how they research topics, speak to your ideal customer, and align with your brand voice. Do they write everything themselves? Outsource to random writers? Use AI with light editing? Ask how they handle approvals and revisions. If they’re obsessed with word count instead of usefulness, that’s a worry.
8. “What’s your stance on link building?”
This one matters. Links still move the needle. But the wrong kind can hurt you. If you hear phrases like “guaranteed backlinks”, “private blog networks”, or “we’ll handle links, don’t worry about how”, walk away. Good link building is slow, deliberate, and focused on relevance and quality. Think partnerships, digital PR, high-quality content, and credible sites. Not spammy directories and random blogs.
9. “How do you handle technical SEO?”
You don’t need to understand every detail. But you do need to know they have this covered. Site speed. Mobile experience. Crawlability. Indexation. Structured data. Site structure. Ask what tools they use. Ask how they prioritise technical fixes against other work. An agency that shrugs this off or oversimplifies it probably isn’t doing much under the hood.
10. “What happens if things don’t go to plan?”
No one can guarantee results. Algorithms change. Competitors move. Markets shift. The real test is what they do when things dip. Do they have a process for diagnosing issues? Do they test and adapt? Or do they blame “Google updates” and carry on with the same plan? You want an agency that treats setbacks as data, not excuses.
11. “Who will I actually be working with day to day?”
The person on the sales call may not be the person doing the work. That’s fine, as long as you know who your real point of contact is. Ask about the team. Strategist, account manager, content people, technical support. You want to know their experience and how many accounts they handle. If one person is juggling dozens of clients, your work will not get much love.
12. “Can I speak to a couple of clients like me?”
Testimonials on a website are good. Direct conversations are better. Ask if you can speak to one or two existing clients in a similar size or industry. Listen for how the agency handles communication, expectations, and course corrections. You’re not just buying skills. You’re buying a working relationship.
You don’t need to be an SEO expert to pick a good partner. You just need to ask better questions and pay attention to how they answer. Do they talk in circles or in clear, grounded terms? Do they push you to sign fast or encourage you to think it through? Take your time. The right agency will help you grow for years. The wrong one will leave you with pretty reports, less trust, and a website that “should be doing better” but isn’t.
