A good SEO consultant can tell you what needs to change, why it matters and how you will check the work. A proposal that only promises rankings leaves too much out. It should also name the pages, who builds the changes, the kind of traffic you want and what that traffic is worth to you.
Discuss your projectSee selected work
Start by saying what you want search to bring in. That might be product sales, good enquiries or demand for a specialist service. Every recommendation should link back to that goal, not to a generic score.
Five questions worth asking
| Question | A useful answer includes |
|---|---|
| What evidence will you review? | The live site, Search Console, analytics definitions, competitors and existing page ownership |
| Who implements recommendations? | Named responsibilities for code, content, catalogue and approvals |
| How will you prioritise? | Business relevance, observed opportunity, effort, dependencies and confidence |
| What will the report distinguish? | Work shipped, search visibility, visits and qualified outcomes |
| What remains uncertain? | Indexing, competition, attribution, timing and limitations in the available data |
Ask what the case study proves
A useful case study shows where the site started, what work was done, over what period and what changed. It should separate the consultant’s work from other things that happened at the same time, such as a product launch, a sale or an ad campaign. Screenshots need enough context to make sense.
A forecast helps you plan when you can see its assumptions. But it is not a result. In the same way, a high Lighthouse score shows one test result. On its own, it does not prove more revenue or better rankings.
Check who will make the changes
Many recommendations need a developer or someone in your business to act on them. Ask whether the consultant will make the changes, write tasks your team can review, or only hand over an audit. Any of these can work. The point is that the proposal fits what your team can actually do.
For technical work, ask for examples of how each task will be checked. For example: a canonical points to the right URL, a redirect lands on the right page, or a smaller image still looks sharp. A task called “optimise the website” is too vague to check.
Expect clear, consistent reports
Each report should name the site, the date range, the market and the measure. Impressions, clicks, users and page views answer different questions. Search Console’s average position is an average of what it saw. It is not a fixed place that every searcher sees.
On a small site, look at trends over a sensible period, and look at the real queries and pages. Small numbers can jump by large percentages. A big percentage rise from a tiny start should not hide how small the real numbers are.
Agree the scope before any retainer
Write down the first audit, how much building is included, who writes content, how access works and how often you review progress. Agree what counts as a new project. Make sure you keep ownership of your domain, your accounts and your data.
Warning signs in a proposal
- A promise of first place, or a fixed number of rankings by a date.
- A monthly fee with no list of what will be done.
- Reports that only show the measures that went up.
- No plan for who will build the technical changes.
- Links bought from other sites, or content written only for search engines.
What a good first month looks like
Once you have chosen someone, the first few weeks tell you a lot. A good start usually has these parts.
- Access and a baseline. They ask for Search Console and analytics access, then note where things stand today. Without a baseline, nobody can show what changed.
- A short list, not a long one. You get a few clear priorities, each with a reason and a rough size of effort.
- Something shipped. At least one fix goes live early, so you can see how changes are made and checked.
- A plain update. You get a short note on what was done, what is next and what they need from you.
If the first month is mostly meetings and a large report, ask when the first change will go live.
None of these proves a supplier is bad. But each one is worth a direct question before you sign.
I offer SEO consulting with technical implementation, including ecommerce SEO and website performance. My audit approach turns findings into changes that can be tested.
Discuss the search problem you need to solve. A useful first conversation starts with your site and your goals, not a promise of first place.
For Shopify stores, see what my Shopify SEO services include and how an audit becomes fixes that go live.