How to choose an SEO agency: what to check
How to choose an SEO agency: judge it by what you can check before you sign. Check the price, the terms, reports on your own data, a written plan and who makes the changes. Below are the points to check and the questions to ask on the first call.
The choice to make before you compare agencies
The first choice is whether you need a person inside your team or an outside team. Our guide SEO specialist or agency compares the two routes and when each one fits.
What to check before you sign
Check that the price is published, known before the work starts, and clear about what it includes. Our price is 2,000 GEL a month, the same for every client, and our SEO pricing page lists what it includes.
Check that the terms are written down before you sign. They should state the recommended length, whether you can stop, and what happens to your accounts and data if you do. Our contract terms recommend 3 to 4 months, have no notice period, and keep the accounts in your name.
- Reports you can check
- Check that the monthly report reads your own Search Console data. Then you see the numbers yourself and do not have to take them on trust.
- A written plan
- Ask for a written plan before monthly work starts: what will be done and in which order. Examples are the site structure, a topic map and a page plan.
- Who makes the changes
- Ask who makes the changes on your site: the agency itself, with access, or your own developer. A clear answer before the start means no task waits for an owner.
- Your accounts
- Check that Search Console, Analytics and the site's admin stay in your name, and that the agency gets access to them. Your data then stays with your business.
- Work you can check
- Ask to see the agency's own work, with dates and figures you can verify. Dated figures let you judge on facts.
What to ask on the first call
- What exactly is done in the first month, and what do we receive?
- What does the monthly report show, and whose data does it read?
- Who makes the changes on our site?
- What do you need from usAccess, a developer, our knowledge of the business?
- What does the price include, and what would cost extra?
- Can we stop, and what happens to our accounts and the work if we do?
- How will we know whether it works?
- What of your own work can you show us, with dates?
Who decides positions
Google decides the order of its results. SEO also rarely pays back in the first one or two months.
Ask for the work in writing: what will be done, when it will be done, and how you will see the results.
How we hold ourselves to these checks
Our price is published before the start: 2,000 GEL a month, the same for every client. Every month is written down in a report and discussed on a review call, and the reports read your own Search Console data.
We make the changes on your site ourselves, with access, and your developer can take our tasks instead. The accounts stay yours. We recommend 3 to 4 months, and you can stop any time.
trueSEO is an SEO agency in Tbilisi that works this way for medium and large businesses.
SEO specialist or agency: When an in-house specialist fits, when an agency fits, and how to combine them.
Questions about choosing an SEO agency
How long before I can judge an agency's work?
SEO is judged over months, not weeks. Compare whole months of your own Search Console data with each other. We recommend 3 to 4 months of work before you judge the result.
Should I agree to a long contract?
Check two things first: whether you can stop, and what happens to your accounts if you do. Our terms: no notice period, each month paid in advance at its start, and the accounts stay yours.
Is it worth asking for a free audit first?
Yes. An audit shows what stops the site before you pay anything. Ours is free: send your domain, and within 3 working days we email you what stops Google and AI answers from finding your site.
What should I receive in the first month?
Ask for something written that you can keep: an audit of the site and a plan for the months ahead. With us, month 1 is the audit and plan, with the topical map and the site structure. Every month also brings a report and a review call.
Does the agency need access to my site?
Yes. To start, an agency needs access to Search Console, Analytics and the site's admin. The accounts stay in your name, and the agency works through the access you give it.