1. Do you have expertise in my domain?
2. What SEO strategy will you apply?
3. What will be the key metrics for your services?
4. What tools do you use?
5. What are your chosen case studies?
6. How will I be involved in the process?
7. How do you organize auditing?
8. How long will it take for me to see the results of your work?
9. How do you approach link-building?
10. Will your services help me succeed in the competition against [competitor name]?
11. What happens when the contract is over?
12. What pricing model do you use?

1. Do you have expertise in my domain?

Dealing with experienced SEO experts is a solid contribution to your overall success. But how do you know that these guys are experienced enough for your specific goals? The key factor to consider is their expertise in your specific domain. The critical point is how your SEO company understands your industry context and your specific needs. In other words, don’t expect a company that has been dealing with SEO promotion of construction services to excel in enhancing an IT service website. This doesn’t mean that these guys cannot accept new challenges and handle them in style. However, make sure to specify whether they understand your domain, its trends, and market requirements. If everything’s clear on this, you can proceed with these guys.

2. What SEO strategy will you apply?

It is one of the basic questions to ask SEO agency. Without a specific answer, you may start doubting your SEO partners’ proficiency. The point is that there are many different strategies for your website’s search engine optimization. Some SEO companies prioritize high-difficulty keywords that have great search potential, while others focus on quantity and overload the content with various keywords. 

There are even SEO agencies that set extremely precise demands for your content, strictly defining the amount of text and distributing keywords with mathematical precision. These are just a few examples of SEO approaches, and there are dozens of others. And you should definitely understand which way your SEO specialists will choose because such decisions directly impact your content quality and style. Such knowledge will also help you understand the way SEO will impact your overall online promotion. 

3. What will be the key metrics for your services?

A very common problem in the SEO business is that the results of SEO are hard to measure. Normally, it all boils down to an increase in the website traffic. But is traffic the only thing that matters? Many business owners say that their traffic has increased after hiring SEO agency, but the quality of website visitors has dropped dramatically. So, how can you find the right balance? First of all, define your goals for the SEO strategy and decide on the metrics that really matter to you. Ideally, it goes about the combined metrics that involve the number of website visitors and their conversion metrics. This will help you evaluate the work of the SEO team in the future. And that’s how you will decide whether these guys are useful to you at all. 

4. What tools do you use?

Here’s one more question that will help you understand the proficiency level of your SEO agency. If these guys are real industry experts, they should use appropriate software. Probably, they will mention Ahrefs as one of the industry’s proven leaders. But mind that Ahrefs may be not enough to ensure quality search engine optimization. At least, these guys should use Google Search Console and some professional tools that will help them measure the size of the text and the percentage of the text that keywords should take. Overall, make sure to research the hottest trends in SEO software and clarify whether your SEO agency is ready to follow these trends.   

5. What are your chosen case studies?

One of the best quality proofs for your SEO agency is the portfolio of successfully completed projects. If the company delivers such a portfolio, it definitely has something to be proud of. As for you, it’s a great opportunity to evaluate the actual expertise of your partners. You may check out the level of clients with which these guys have worked and understand the challenges that they can solve. Besides, by researching an SEO agency’s portfolio, you get an excellent opportunity to understand its approach. 

6. How will I be involved in the process?

Before hiring an SEO company, make sure to understand how much you want to be involved in the process. Do you want to control all the basic steps and make key decisions? Or, more probably, you just want all things to be handled by search optimization professionals? In both cases, you should clarify the approach of your SEO company. This will help you understand what to expect from your cooperation. Otherwise, you may face unpleasant surprises. For example, you will need to work with a company that doesn’t offer you much space for involvement even if this involvement is vital for you. Or, as a complete opposite, you may get irritated with your SEO specialists constantly clarifying something when all you need is time and full concentration on your high-level business tasks. 

7. How do you organize auditing? 

You need continuous auditing to keep all things under control. Even if you don’t have enough time for such “control measures,” auditing remains crucial proof of your partners’ quality and responsibility. So, make sure to understand how your SEO agency keeps you updated about everything. Clarify whether you will organize weekly online meetings, interact face-to-face, keep in touch via messengers, or receive detailed reports from time to time. The key point here is to make sure that your SEO agency is good at reporting and is ready to keep you updated on all the questions. 

8. How long does it take for me to see the results of your work? 

All SEO cases and strategies are unique. So, there are no general time frames that will fit all search engine optimization projects. Too much depends on your goals, the product or service you’re promoting, the overall market competition, strategies taken by your main competitors, and so on. However, you still need some time frames, at least very general, to rely on. This will help you advance with planning your long-term business strategy. Besides, such information will help you understand that your SEO agency clearly understands the case, knows what to do, and sees how it may work. If your SEO agency goes with too general statements and cannot come up without any time projections, it may be a bad sign for you. 

9. How do you approach link-building?

This question can be paraphrased to sound like: “Do you prefer quality over quantity?” The point is that a search optimization agency can promise you a remarkable number of links all over the Internet. But what will be their quality? If your goal is not only to increase your website’s visibility but to gain a solid status among your target audience, such an approach won’t fit you. Just mind that one high-quality link from a credible website costs more than hundreds of low-quality links in blog comments or suspicious websites. So, make sure to clarify and define link-earning strategies while hiring SEO company. 

10. Will your services help me succeed in the competition against [competitor name]? 

Most probably, you have specific competitors that you want to surpass. When it comes to hiring an SEO company, a great idea would be to mention your primary competitor. First, this will help your potential customers understand your needs much better. Secondly, you will clarify the way your cooperation with this team may help you. At least, you get great chances to understand how your SEO team works and how they expect to solve your challenges. Will they just follow the strategies of your main competitors? Or, probably, these guys will deliver a unique selling point that will help your search engine optimization strategy stand out from the competition. Anyway, the answer to such a question will help you understand what you can expect from your SEO cooperation. 

11. What happens when the contract is over? 

At some point, your cooperation with a search engine optimization company will be over. What goes next? Will your SEO company provide you with some guarantees for the future? Will there be opportunities to restore cooperation when needed? These and some similar questions can become very relevant in the long run. And all of them can be narrowed down to the simple question of what will happen when your contract is over. So, make sure to ask it while hiring an SEO company because such information can secure you from many unpleasant surprises. 

12. What pricing model do you use?

And, finally, the question of money. It is always important to settle all money-related questions before you start working with a particular company. Don’t be shy to ask your search engine optimization team about the pricing model they use. And don’t forget to compare it to your budget and projected incomes to understand whether such cooperation makes sense at all. 

So, one of the primary questions to ask SEO marketing company is how they charge for their services. Do they go with a fixed fee? Or, perhaps, they accurately measure the outcome of their effort and charge you accordingly? Just remember that it is not the type of question where you can be satisfied with a general response. You should go for an answer that will be as detailed as possible. Even the slightest details on additional taxes and information on how successful metrics convert into fees really matter.