How do I choose an SEO company?

Look for clear monthly deliverables, accounts in your name, honest link building, reports tied to calls or sales, and no ranking guarantees. Ask to see real work and speak to someone who does it.

What is a red flag when hiring an SEO company?

Guaranteed rankings, claims of a special relationship with Google, secret methods, buying links, long lock-in contracts, and accounts held in the company's name instead of yours are the biggest ones.

Should an SEO company guarantee results?

No. Google's results depend on many factors outside anyone's control. A trustworthy company can describe its plan and what it will do, but not promise a position.

How long should I commit to an SEO company?

SEO takes months, so a few months of runway is reasonable, but you should still be able to cancel without large fees. Month-to-month terms are the safest.

Is a cheap SEO company worth it?

Sometimes, if it's a small, focused scope with honest expectations. Very low prices combined with big promises usually mean templated or low-quality work. Judge by what's included, not just the price.

How to Choose an SEO Company: Questions & Red Flags

Short answer

Pick a company that explains its plan in plain language, lets you own every account, and refuses to guarantee a ranking.
Ask to see real work and a sample report, not just a sales deck.
Avoid long lock-in contracts, secret link buying, and anyone who says they have a special relationship with Google.
Before anything else, decide what you want SEO to produce: calls, bookings or sales. Judge the company on that.

Before you start looking

Many bad SEO relationships start with a vague goal. "More traffic" is not a goal. Write down one sentence: "I want more phone calls from people in [area] searching for [service]." Then check two things on your own site:

Can a visitor take the next step easily? If your site has no clear phone number or form, SEO will send people to a dead end.
Do you have a Google Business Profile? For local companies this often matters as much as the website. See my Local SEO for service-area businesses guide.

An honest SEO company will ask about these in the first call. If they don't, that tells you something.

Red flags

Promises

"Guaranteed #1 ranking" or "page one in 30 days". Nobody controls Google's results. Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO warns about this.
A claim of inside access to Google.
Prices that are far below any sensible amount of work.

Secrecy

They won't say what they will actually do each month.
The accounts (Search Console, Analytics, Business Profile, domain) are in their name, not yours.
Reports are only rankings screenshots with no calls or leads.

Shortcuts

Buying links, link networks or "guest posts" on obviously paid sites.
Mass-produced pages with only the city name changed.
Paying for or incentivizing reviews. Google prohibits it.

Pressure

Cold calls claiming your site has "serious errors" you must fix today.
12-month contracts with big cancellation fees.
No reference to your real business in the proposal.

Ten questions to ask

What exactly will you do in months one, two and three?You should get specifics: audits, pages, profile work, fixes, not "optimization".
Who will actually do the work?The person selling isn't always the person working. Ask who writes pages and who you can contact.
Will the accounts be in my name?The answer must be yes. If you leave, everything stays with you.
How do you build links?Good answers mention real local mentions, partners, suppliers, press and useful content. Bad answers are vague or involve buying.
How do you handle content?Who writes it, who checks facts, and is any of it AI-generated at scale without a human review?
What do you report on?Calls, form fills, Search Console visibility and map results matter. Rankings alone are a weak measure.
How long before I should see movement?A fair answer is a range with caveats. See How long SEO takes.
What do you need from me?Photos, reviews, service details, approvals. SEO needs real input from the business.
What won't you do?A trustworthy company has limits: no fake reviews, no spam pages, no guarantees.
Can I speak to a current customer?Or see real examples of their own work. Be wary of case studies with no named business and no verifiable detail.

What a fair contract looks like

Month to month or a short initial term with a clear way out. SEO takes time, but that doesn't justify a lock-in you can't leave.
A written scope listing deliverables, such as number of pages per month, and what's excluded.
Clear ownership of content, accounts and the website.
Transparent pricing with no surprise fees. For typical ranges, see my How much SEO costs guide, and note that ranges from other providers vary widely.

My own SEO services plan works this way: $349 a month, month to month, accounts in your name. I mention it as an example of the standard to ask of anyone, including me.

Wondering about "pay only when you rank" offers? I explain the catches in Pay for performance SEO.

Checking their work

You don't have to understand SEO to check an SEO company.

Search for their own business. A company that sells local SEO should be visible for its own area. It's imperfect evidence, but telling.
Read their website like a customer. Is it clear, specific and honest, or full of buzzwords?
Ask for a sample report and see if it ties to business results.
Look at their reviews on Google, from named people, and read the critical ones.
Once hired, check Search Console yourself. You should see impressions and clicks trend over several months.

Big agency, small agency or freelancer?

None is automatically better. A freelancer or small studio gives you direct access to the person doing the work; a larger agency gives you more specialists and process. The right choice depends on your budget and complexity. My comparison of Agency vs freelancer vs in-house goes through it in detail.

How to choose an SEO company without getting burned