What Questions to Ask a Local SEO Company

Most bad SEO hires happen before any contract is signed. The agency sounds confident. Their pitch deck looks sharp. The questions never got asked. Knowing which questions to ask is how you tell the difference before you are already committed. What bad answers look like matters just as much.

Questions About Local Experience

The most useful opening question is not about tactics. It is about market fit. Has this company done local SEO for businesses in your city? In your industry? A local SEO company that has already ranked businesses in your area knows the regional landscape without being told. Which directories carry weight here. Local citation profiles that actually index for your city. A new-to-market agency figures that out on your dime.

Real examples beat testimonials. Not a polished case study PDF from 2019. Current results from businesses in your city or your industry, ideally from someone with direct experience in your niche. A ranking improvement, a traffic increase, a specific campaign with real numbers. Vague talk about “many satisfied clients” is not evidence of experience. Specific results are.

Also ask who will work your account day to day. The senior strategist pitching you is rarely the person running the campaigns. Find out if a junior or an offshore contractor handles the actual work. That changes the value of what you are buying.

Questions About Strategy

A well-run local SEO campaign covers three areas. Technical health covers site speed and crawlability. On-page content means service pages and blog posts targeting local search intent. Off-page authority earned through citations and relevant backlinks. Worth asking which area they tackle first and why.

How they handle your Google Business Profile matters as much as the website. The map pack gets the click on most local high-intent searches. Any agency that does not lead with GBP optimization is missing the most visible local signal.

Link-building approach deserves its own question. White-hat link building takes longer but holds up. Shady tactics can shift rankings temporarily. Then a penalty hits and undoes months of work. Paid links and spammy directory submissions are what to watch for. Name their off-page approach and see if they can explain it plainly.

Questions About Reporting

Get a sample report before signing. Not a pitch deck. An actual client report. What gets tracked? How does it connect to revenue? Good SEO reporting shows organic traffic trends. Keyword position changes. Google Business Profile interactions and any leads attributed to organic search. Those are the core data points. Rankings in isolation tell you nothing about revenue.

Monthly is the minimum. Find out who actually writes and delivers those reports. Less than monthly is not enough visibility to catch problems early. Also worth confirming whether you get the raw data in Search Console and Analytics. Or only the agency’s summary.

Red Flag Answers That End the Conversation

Guaranteed rankings are the biggest red flag. No SEO company controls Google. Any company promising a specific rank within a specific timeframe is using risky tactics. Or just telling you what you want to hear. Neither is worth hiring.

Vague methodology is the second flag. A credible company explains what they do in plain language. All buzzwords and no mechanics means keep pressing or leave.

Exit terms matter too. What happens to your accounts when the relationship ends? Everything should stay with you. The website. Search Console. The Google Business Profile. Agencies that hold account access as leverage are not worth the risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Know If a Local SEO Company Is Legitimate?

Real case studies from your market or a similar one. A legitimate company points to results without hiding everything behind an NDA. Check their own website’s search visibility first. Ranking well for your own local SEO terms in a competitive market proves something. Third-party reviews on Google carry more weight than any testimonial on their own site.

What Should Local SEO Reporting Show?

Organic traffic trends. Ranking changes for your target terms. Google Business Profile views and interactions. Any conversions or calls attributed to organic search. Also a breakdown of what work was completed that month. Reports that only show a ranking position are missing context. Ask for more. Rankings that do not connect to revenue are vanity.

How Long Before Local SEO Shows Results?

Three to six months before meaningful movement on competitive local terms in most markets. Smaller cities with lower competition move faster. Thirty days is not enough. Anyone promising results by then is wrong. Google does not reward the groundwork until it compounds. Technical fixes first. Then content. Citation authority builds slowest of all.

What Is a Fair Price for Local SEO?

Retainers run $800 to $3,000 per month for most local businesses in Canada. The range reflects scope and market size. One location in a mid-size city costs less than multiple locations trying to rank in a major market. Cheapest is rarely the right call. Keyword research and technical audits alone require real expertise. Discount packages cut corners somewhere. Get specifics on what the price actually includes, not just a general scope statement.