How to Choose an SEO Company: 12 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Hiring an SEO company is hard to judge from the outside. Every provider says they get results, most proposals look alike, and the work itself is invisible until months later. This guide gives you the questions that separate a good provider from an expensive mistake, and what a good answer sounds like.

It's written for small and local businesses: contractors, home services, clinics, shops. If you're comparing providers in the Twin Cities, our ranking of local SEO companies in Minneapolis is a good place to start a shortlist.

Before you talk to anyone

Write down three things first. They make every sales call shorter.

1. The searches you want to show up for, as the phrases customers type, like "furnace repair Eagan" or "family dentist St. Paul."
2. Where your customers come from: a single shop, a service area, or several locations.
3. Your budget, and whether someone on your team will do some of the work.

With those written down, you can tell quickly whether a provider is talking about your business or reading from a script.

12 questions to ask an SEO company

1. Where do we rank today?

A good provider shows you before quoting: which searches you appear for, where you sit in Google Maps across your service area, and who outranks you. If they can't show you a baseline, they can't show you progress later.

2. What will you do in the first 90 days?

Ask for a written list of tasks. For a local business it should name specific work: Google Business Profile fixes, citation cleanup, review requests, location or service pages, technical fixes to the site. A line item like "ongoing optimization" doesn't tell you what will happen.

3. Who does the work?

Many agencies sell the account with a senior strategist and hand the work to someone else, sometimes overseas. That can be fine. You should still know who is touching your website and your profile.

4. Will we own our accounts?

Your Google Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics, and website should be in your name, with the provider added as a user. If a provider wants to own them, leaving becomes painful.

5. How do you report progress?

The report should track the searches you listed at the start, calls and form fills, and the work completed that month. Be wary of reports full of impressions and "visibility scores" with no link to leads.

6. What does success look like at 6 months?

A good answer is specific to your market, like "more calls from the Maps pack in Burnsville and Apple Valley." "Page one for all your keywords" is too vague to measure.

7. Can I talk to a current client?

A provider with happy clients will put you in touch with one. Case studies are useful, but a five-minute call tells you more.

8. How do you build links?

Local links from suppliers, associations, sponsorships, and local press are worth the effort. Bulk link packages and private blog networks can get a site penalized. If the answer is vague, ask what a link from last month looked like.

9. How do you handle reviews?

Asking customers for reviews is fine. Writing reviews, buying them, or offering discounts for them breaks Google's policies and can get a profile suspended.

10. What's in the contract?

Month-to-month or a short initial term is common at good shops. A 12-month lock with no exit clause protects the provider, not you.

11. What do you need from us?

SEO goes faster when you supply photos, answer questions about your services, and ask customers for reviews. If a provider says they need nothing from you, expect generic work.

12. What happens if we cancel?

You should keep your content, your accounts, and the pages built for you. Ask in writing.

Red flags

Walk away if you hear any of these:

• Guaranteed rankings. Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO says to be wary of ranking guarantees.
• Page one in 30 days. Local SEO results take months.
• Secret methods. A provider should be able to explain what they're doing.
• Hundreds of directory submissions. A few dozen accurate, relevant citations do more than hundreds of spam directories.
• A provider who wants to own your profile or domain.

How to compare quotes

Put the quotes side by side and compare what each one does. For each, write down what gets done in the first 90 days, who does it, and how you'll know it's working. A $1,500 retainer that fixes your profile, citations, and service pages can be a better deal than a $700 one that sends a monthly PDF.

Our guide to what local SEO costs in Minneapolis covers the price bands and what each one usually buys.

Is SEO worth it?

For most local service businesses, yes, if two things are true: people search for what you sell, and you can wait a few months for results. Calls from Google Maps and local search keep coming without paying for each click. If you need leads this week, run paid ads while SEO builds.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I choose an SEO company?

Ask to see where you rank today, a written scope for the first 90 days, who does the work, how progress is reported, and what happens if you cancel. Compare providers on the work they will do, not on the size of their reports or their promises.

What are the red flags when hiring an SEO company?

Guaranteed rankings, page one in 30 days, long contracts with no exit, refusing to give you access to your own accounts, secret methods, and bulk link packages. Any one of these is a reason to keep looking.

Is SEO worth it for a small business?

It is worth it when customers search for what you sell and you can wait a few months for results. For a local service business, Google Maps and local search often bring in more calls than any other channel. If you need leads this week, paid ads are faster.

How long does SEO take to work?

Expect measurable movement in Google Maps rankings in 60 to 90 days and meaningful lead flow in 3 to 6 months for a local business. Competitive markets and brand-new websites take longer.

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VeloRank is a Twin Cities SEO company, and we'd answer every question on this list the same way for our own clients. See our Minneapolis local SEO services or ask us for an estimate.