How to Tell If Your SEO Company Is Doing Anything
Seven quick checks to see if your SEO company is doing real work, the warning signs to watch for, and what to do if you are not sure.
Short answer: to tell if your SEO company is doing anything, ask for a list of last month’s work with links, check that your Google Business Profile and website have actually changed, look at Search Console yourself, and compare calls and leads over three to six months. If you cannot see the work or the results, it is time for a direct conversation.
7 checks you can do in 20 minutes
- Ask for last month’s work list. Pages written, posts published, listings fixed, links earned. Each item should have a link.
- Look at your Google Business Profile. Are there new posts and photos? Are reviews getting replies?
- Look at your website. Are there new or updated service and city pages?
- Open Search Console. Are impressions and clicks growing over a few months?
- Check your call and lead numbers from Google, compared with the same period last year.
- Search your main services from a few addresses in your area and note where you show up.
- Check you own your accounts. Your profile, Search Console and domain should be in your name.
Warning signs
- Reports with charts but no list of work
- “We are optimizing in the background” with no details
- No access to your own data
- The same report every month with different dates
- Lots of rankings for keywords that bring no calls
Give it a fair chance
SEO takes time, especially in competitive cities. Read how long local SEO takes. But you should always be able to see the work being done, even before rankings move.
What to do if you are unsure
- Ask for a call to go through the report line by line.
- Ask what will change next month and why.
- Get a second opinion with an independent audit.
Frequently asked questions
How soon should I see results?
Some signs in the first one to three months, clearer results in three to six. The work itself should be visible from month one.
What should a monthly report show?
Calls and leads, the work done, rankings and next steps. See what an SEO report should include.
Can I switch SEO companies without losing rankings?
Usually yes, as long as you keep your website, content and accounts.
Get a second opinion
Ask for a free audit. We will look at what has been done on your profile and site, and tell you plainly what is working.
Written by Qasim Qureshi, founder of Synova Digital, who has six years of hands-on experience in local SEO and Google Business Profiles for service businesses.