Key takeaways

• Google's own advice is to ask an SEO for past results, how they measure success and whether they'll share every change they make.
• Any agency that guarantees first-place rankings is one Google tells you to walk away from.
• Good agencies report organic revenue and conversions, not just rankings and traffic.
• You should always own your Google Search Console, analytics and any content the agency writes.
• Buying links for ranking purposes breaks Google's spam policies, and your site carries the risk.
• Ahrefs' pricing survey found SEO retainers average $2,917 per month, with $501 to $1,000 the most common range.
• If an agency can't explain its plan in plain language, that's a reason to keep looking.

Most store owners don't hire a bad SEO agency on purpose. They hire one with a great pitch deck, then spend 12 months reading reports full of green arrows while organic revenue stays flat. Knowing how to choose an SEO agency comes down to asking questions that a polished sales process can't fake its way through.

Below are the nine questions we'd ask if we were on your side of the table. For each one, you'll see what a good answer sounds like and what an expensive-but-empty answer sounds like. After that, there's a checklist of signs your current agency isn't delivering, plus realistic pricing figures from a published survey.

We're an agency too, so take this with that context. If you want to see how we'd answer these, our SEO services page lays out how we work for Shopify brands. Ask us the same nine questions.

9 SEO agency questions to ask before you sign

These SEO agency questions work because they force specifics. A good agency answers with process, data and examples from stores like yours, while a weak one answers with adjectives. Google's own page on whether you need an SEO suggests several of them.

1. Can you show me results from stores like mine?

Ask for case studies from brands with a similar platform, catalog size and price point. Google recommends asking for examples of previous work and success stories for this reason.

Good answer: Named case studies with timeframes and metrics tied to revenue, plus a reference you can actually call.

Expensive-but-empty answer: "We've worked with hundreds of brands" and a logo wall, with no numbers or only traffic numbers.

2. How do you measure success?

The answer tells you what the agency will chase for the next year. If it's rankings alone, you'll get rankings reports.

Good answer: Organic revenue, conversions and rankings for terms that match what you sell, measured against a baseline set in month one.

Expensive-but-empty answer: Domain authority, total keywords ranked and "visibility scores" with no link to sales.

3. What results do you expect, and by when?

Google suggests asking what results to expect and in what timeframe. Honest agencies give ranges and explain what affects them, like site health, competition and how fast fixes get shipped.

Good answer: A month-by-month outline of what gets done and what early signals to watch, with no promises on exact positions. Our realistic SEO timeline shows what that can look like.

Expensive-but-empty answer: "Page one in 30 days, guaranteed." Google's guidance is blunt here: if an SEO guarantees first place in search results, find someone else.

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

This question separates agencies with a method from agencies with a template. You want to hear about audits, priorities and the order of work.

Good answer: A technical and content audit first, then fixes ranked by revenue impact, starting with your top collections and products.

Expensive-but-empty answer: "We'll publish four blog posts a month," before they've looked at your site.

5. Will you share every change you make to my site?

Google suggests asking an SEO to share all the changes they make. A change log protects you if rankings drop and makes it easy to see what you paid for.

Good answer: Yes, in a shared doc or task board, with dates, URLs and the reason for each change.

Expensive-but-empty answer: "Our methods are proprietary." Google also warns to be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what it intends to do.

6. How do you build links?

Links still matter, which is why this is where shortcuts hide. Ask for example placements from the last few months.

Good answer: Digital PR, partnerships and outreach to relevant sites, with any paid placements marked the way Google requires.

Expensive-but-empty answer: "We have a network of high-DR sites." That often means paid links built to manipulate rankings, which Google's spam policies list as link spam.

7. Who will actually work on my account?

The senior strategist on the sales call isn't always the person doing the work. Ask who writes, who handles technical fixes and how often you'll talk to them.

Good answer: Named people with clear roles, a set meeting cadence and a single point of contact.

Expensive-but-empty answer: An account manager who forwards your questions to a team you never meet.

8. What do you need from us, and what access will you ask for?

Good SEO needs input from your side, like product knowledge, dev time and approvals. Google also advises giving only read access to Search Console during an audit.

Good answer: A clear list of what they need, read-only access to start and a plan for getting fixes shipped through your developer or theme.

Expensive-but-empty answer: "Just give us admin access to everything and we'll handle it."

9. What happens to our data and content if we leave?

You're paying for assets, so you should keep them. This includes content, reports, link lists and accounts.

Good answer: You own your Search Console, analytics, content and all reporting, and the contract says so.

Expensive-but-empty answer: Content hosted on their domain, reports locked in their dashboard or accounts set up under their login.

Reviews are part of how to choose an SEO agency too, so read what store owners say about working with us on our client reviews page, then hold us to the same nine questions.

Alt text: Warning signs on an SEO agency monthly report showing rankings but flat revenue, Lantern Sol

Signs your SEO agency isn't working

The clearest signs your SEO agency isn't working show up in your own data: organic revenue stays flat while reports celebrate rankings. Knowing how to choose an SEO agency also means knowing when to replace one, so here are the checks we'd run if you're unsure about your current partner. Most take less than an hour.

• Reports show rankings but never organic revenue. If the monthly report doesn't connect organic traffic to sales, you can't judge the return.
• You don't have Search Console access. Your property should be in your name. If you can't log into GSC yourself, fix that this week.
• There's no change log. Ask for every change made in the last 90 days. If they can't list them, you can't tell what's working.
• Links you can't explain. Check new referring domains in a backlink tool. Irrelevant sites, foreign-language blogs or footer links across hundreds of pages are classic SEO agency red flags.
• The same tasks every month. Four blog posts and a report, no matter what the data says, is a subscription, not a strategy.
• Technical issues sit for months. If GSC's Page indexing report shows the same errors month after month, nobody is fixing them.
• Rankings for terms nobody buys from. Winning informational keywords with no path to your products looks good in a report and does little for revenue.

Not every flat month means a bad agency. Seasonality, a theme change or a Google update can all move numbers, and a good partner will explain which one it was. If you're seeing stalled rankings and aren't sure why, our guide on why your website isn't ranking walks through the usual causes.

What good looks like in practice

A strong engagement usually starts with fixing what's broken before chasing new keywords. With SMRTFT, our program began with technical remediation of indexing problems left by a prior developer. In the first four months, top-10 keyword rankings grew 190% and monthly organic revenue grew 688%, according to the SMRTFT case study.

That's a Lantern Sol client result, not a promise. Results vary by store, competition and how quickly fixes go live. When you're weighing how to choose an SEO agency, look for that order of work: fixes first, then content and links, all measured against revenue.

What SEO agencies charge

SEO retainers vary widely, so a published survey is the most honest benchmark we can give you. In Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO service providers, published in 2023 and updated in 2024, the average monthly retainer was $2,917, and the most common range was $501 to $1,000 per month.

The same survey found agencies averaged $3,209 per month on retainers, compared with $1,348.63 for freelancers. Price alone won't tell you much, though. A cheap retainer that buys spammy links can cost more in cleanup than a pricier one that grows revenue. When choosing an SEO company, compare what each proposal includes against the nine questions above, not just the monthly fee.

Ready to see how your current setup stacks up? Book a call with our SEO team and we'll walk through your Search Console data together.

What to read next:

• How long does SEO take to work? A realistic timeline
• Why is my website not ranking?
• How to rank in AI Overviews

Choosing an SEO agency FAQs

How long should you give an SEO agency before judging results?

Give it at least a few months for early signals, like indexing fixes and movement on target terms, and longer for revenue. If you see no clear plan or change log by month three, that's a problem regardless of rankings.

Is it a red flag if an SEO agency guarantees rankings?

Yes. Google's guidance on hiring an SEO says that if someone guarantees first place in search results, you should find someone else. Nobody controls Google's rankings.

Should an SEO agency get access to my Google Search Console?

Yes, but start with read access. Google advises granting only read access to Search Console during an audit, and you should keep ownership of the property yourself.

Is a local SEO agency better than a national one for ecommerce?

When you're deciding how to choose an SEO agency for an online store, platform and industry experience usually matter more than location. Ask how many stores on your platform they've worked with and for results in your category.

Can paid links get my site penalized?

Paid links meant to pass ranking credit break Google's spam policies on link schemes. Google says paid links are fine when marked with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", so ask how any paid placements are tagged.