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How to choose a marketing or SEO agency, in the order that protects you

You are about to hire a marketing or SEO agency, or you are unhappy with the one you have and want to choose better next time.

By Adnan GourijaHead of Search Marketing at Webtec · Reviewed 2026-10-17

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Decision · 17 min read

The route: 6 moves, in this order

  1. 1Write down your outcome and your constraint before you speak to anyone
  2. 2Verify the claims that can be verified
  3. 3Test for honesty
  4. 4Test the process: what you will see, when, and who answers for it
  5. 5Test fit: size, industry and communication
  6. 6Read the contract for the things that trap you

The short answer

Choose an agency in this order: define your outcome and constraint, verify what can be verified, test for honesty, test the process, test fit, then read the contract. Verifiable facts come before opinions, and the contract comes last because it only matters for agencies that survive the earlier checks. Any ranking guarantee ends the process, because Google says no one can guarantee a number one ranking.[1]

The rule

Verify before you vibe

Check every fact that can be checked before you form an opinion about the people. Confidence on a sales call is free, but an account login, a named person and a sample report are evidence. Spend your trust only after the evidence is in.

The order

6 moves. Do them in this order.

  1. 1

    Move 1 of 6

    Write down your outcome and your constraint before you speak to anyone

    You are here when: You have not yet booked a single call with an agency, or you are about to take a third call and still cannot say what a good result looks like.

    Why now

    Every later check compares an agency against something. Without a written outcome you compare them against whoever spoke last. A stated outcome also protects you from the most common sales move, which is to redefine your problem into the thing the agency sells. Google's own guidance tells you to ask what results to expect and how success is measured, and you cannot judge the answer without a baseline of your own.[1]

    Do this

    • Write one sentence naming the business result you want, in money, leads or booked work, not rankings or traffic.
    • Write your hard constraint: monthly budget ceiling, a launch date, an internal approval limit, or a team you cannot grow.
    • Record where you stand today: current leads per month, the top three sources, and who owns your website, domain and analytics.
    • Decide whether you need an agency, a freelancer or a one-off audit. A small local business can often do much of the work itself.[1]
    Done whenYou can read your outcome and constraint aloud in under 20 seconds, and a colleague could judge any proposal against it.
  2. 2

    Move 2 of 6

    Verify the claims that can be verified

    You are here when: You have two or three candidates and each has told you things about themselves, their team and their clients.

    Why now

    Verification comes before honesty tests and fit because it is cheap, binary and hard to fake. A claim like "we will give you full access to your accounts" either survives a simple question or it does not. If you test fit first, you invest emotionally in an agency whose basic facts fail. Ownership checks also protect you from the costliest exit problem, which is not being able to take your own assets with you.[5][6]

    Do this

    • Ask for the names, roles and locations of the people who will do your work, and look each one up on a professional profile.
    • Ask: "Whose name will the domain, analytics, Search Console and ad accounts be registered under?" The only acceptable answer is yours.
    • Look up your own domain's registration yourself. The registrant is the person or entity that holds the rights to a name, and the registrar's agreement governs transfers and renewals.[5]
    • Ask to see a real reporting sample with client details removed, and ask who can log in to the live reporting dashboard.
    • Contact two past clients you found yourself, not only the ones the agency offers.
    Done whenYou hold written answers on account ownership, named staff and reporting access, and you checked at least one of them independently.
  3. 3

    Move 3 of 6

    Test for honesty

    You are here when: The candidate passed the basic facts and is now describing results, timelines and strategy.

    Why now

    Honesty is the cheapest filter and the most predictive one. An agency that will overstate to win you will overstate in your monthly report. Google states plainly that no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and lists guarantees, claimed special relationships with Google and "priority submit" offers as red flags.[1] The FTC adds that advertisers need a reasonable basis for objective claims before making them, and that applies to what agencies say about results too.[3][4]

    Do this

    • Ask: "What result can you guarantee?" Treat any promise of a ranking, a position or a specific traffic figure as disqualifying.
    • Ask: "What do you not know about our situation yet?" Rate the answer. Good agencies name real unknowns.
    • Ask what evidence supports any number they quote, and who measured it. A quote from a testimonial is not a measurement.[3]
    • Ask what they would tell you not to do, or not to buy, even from them.
    Done whenEvery claim you plan to rely on has a stated source, and none of the candidates has guaranteed a ranking.
  4. 4

    Move 4 of 6

    Test the process: what you will see, when, and who answers for it

    You are here when: The agency has been honest so far and you need to know what happens on day 1, day 30 and day 90.

    Why now

    A process is the thing you are actually buying. Outcomes depend on forces neither of you controls, but process is observable. Google advises asking how the SEO will communicate and whether they will document every change and its reasoning, and it flags secrecy and vague explanations as a warning sign.[1] Testing process before fit keeps you from choosing a pleasant team that cannot show their work.

    Do this

    • Ask for the first 90 days as a dated list: what is delivered, by whom, and what you must provide.
    • Ask how every change to your site will be logged and explained, and request a sample change log.
    • Ask who is accountable when a deliverable is late or a metric drops, by name, not by department.
    • Ask what happens in the first meeting after a bad month. Listen for a plan, not an excuse.
    • Ask what access they need. Restricted access in Search Console is often enough to start an audit.[1][7]
    Done whenYou have a dated 90-day plan, a named accountable person, and a sample of the reporting you will receive.
  5. 5

    Move 5 of 6

    Test fit: size, industry and communication

    You are here when: Two candidates remain and both pass honesty and process.

    Why now

    Fit decides between good agencies, which is why it comes fifth. Run before the earlier checks, fit tests reward charm. Run after them, fit separates two honest teams by what matters for your day-to-day work. Google suggests asking about experience in your industry, location and markets, and about how the team will work with you.[1]

    Do this

    • Compare their typical client size to yours. Being the smallest client, or the largest, changes how much attention you get.
    • Ask for evidence of work in your industry that includes the problem, the action and the measured result.
    • Run a 30-minute working session on a real problem of yours, and watch how they ask questions.
    • Agree the communication rhythm in writing: channel, response time, meeting cadence.
    Done whenYou can state, in one sentence each, why the finalist fits and what its biggest fit risk is.
  6. 6

    Move 6 of 6

    Read the contract for the things that trap you

    You are here when: You have a preferred agency and a draft agreement in your inbox.

    Why now

    The contract comes last because it is only worth your legal time once the agency has earned it. It is also where the traps live. Ownership clauses, minimum terms and data rules decide whether a bad year costs you a year or a decade. The ICANN rules reinforce the principle: your registration is governed by your agreement with the registrar, so you should be the named party on every critical account.[5][6]

    Do this

    • Confirm that your business owns all accounts, content, creative and data produced for you, and that the agency is added as a user.
    • Check the minimum term, the notice period and the cost of leaving early. Prefer a short initial term with a clear exit.
    • Check what happens at exit: handover of logins, files, reports and raw data within a named number of days.
    • Check for clauses that bind you to a specific tool, a revenue share, or fees that rise automatically.
    • Have a lawyer read it if the term exceeds six months. This is judgment, not legal advice.
    Done whenYou can explain, in plain words, how you would leave this agency, what you would take with you, and what it would cost.

Decision finder

What you see, what it means, what to do

Situation

Cold email offers a "free SEO audit"

What you see

Generic findings, urgency, no named person

First move

Treat it like a scam until proven otherwise; ask for a named contact

Skip for now

Replying with site access

Evidence

Why this order and not another

The six checks run from cheapest and most objective to costliest and most subjective. Your own outcome costs nothing to write. Verifiable facts cost a few emails. Honesty tests cost a few questions. Process costs a call or two. Fit costs a working session. A contract costs legal time. Running them in this order means you spend the least on the candidates you will drop, and you reach the expensive checks with only the survivors.

The order also puts evidence ahead of impression. People hire on chemistry, and agencies know it. Chemistry is a legitimate input, but it is a poor first filter because it rewards the loudest salesperson. By the time you get to fit, you have filtered out the claims that do not hold up. Chemistry then decides between honest options instead of excusing weak ones.

Our rule: do not let a later check rescue a failure from an earlier one. A lovely team does not offset a refusal to give you account ownership. A clean contract does not offset a ranking guarantee. Each check is a gate, not a points total. That is why the companion agency fit check lists two answers that override the total.

Evidence

What Google and the FTC actually say about hiring and claims

Google's guidance on hiring an SEO is specific, and it is the best neutral baseline you have. It says no one can guarantee a number one ranking on Google, and it lists promised rankings, claimed special relationships with Google and "priority submit" offers among the warning signs.[1] It also flags unsolicited emails offering SEO services, requests to buy links, and secrecy about what will be done to your site.[1]

The same page makes a point that owners often miss: you remain responsible for the companies you hire. Deceptive or manipulative tactics performed on your behalf can damage how your site appears in Google. Google's spam policies state that violating sites may rank lower or not appear at all.[1][2] Those policies describe paid links that pass ranking credit as link spam, with exceptions when the links are marked with a nofollow or sponsored attribute.[2] So "we buy links for you" is not a feature. It is a risk transferred to you.

The FTC adds a second layer. Its policy statement says advertisers and agencies need a reasonable basis for objective claims before they make them. Its small-business guidance says that basis means objective evidence, not testimonials alone.[3][4] That guidance also says agencies can be held liable alongside advertisers for misleading claims.[3] You are not a regulator, but you can borrow the standard. If an agency cannot show what supports a number it quotes, treat the number as marketing.

  • Google lists guaranteed rankings, "special relationships" and "priority submit" offers as red flags.[1]
  • Google lists secrecy and vague explanations of plans as a red flag, and says to ask for every change to be explained.[1]
  • The FTC expects objective evidence for objective claims, and says a money-back guarantee does not replace it.[3]

Evidence

Account ownership is the one check you cannot recover from later

Ownership is the check that matters most if the relationship ends badly. Almost every other problem with an agency can be fixed with a conversation or a replacement. A domain, analytics property or ad account registered in the agency's name can hold your business hostage. We cover the practical steps in our support article on who owns your accounts, which you can complete in an afternoon.

The basics are simple. ICANN describes the registrant as the person or entity that holds the rights to a domain name, and the registrar's agreement with you governs fees, transfers and renewals.[5] ICANN also tells registrants they can review that agreement at any time, and must keep their contact details accurate.[6] Your first task, before any call, is to look up your own domain and see whose name appears. In many cases a former freelancer or a previous agency still holds it.

Search Console shows the same principle in software. It has three permission levels: owner, full user and restricted user.[7] Owners control the property and can add or remove other users. A restricted user can see most reports but cannot use action tools like disavow or sitemap submission.[7] Google's hiring page suggests read-only access during an audit.[1] So the rule is: your business is the owner, the agency gets the lowest level that lets them work, and you can remove them in one click.

Evidence

Hard cases: small budgets, retainers and agencies that are honest but wrong

Small budgets change the question, not the order. If you can spend only a little, the first decision is whether an agency is the right tool at all. Google notes that a small local business can often do much of the work itself.[1] A one-off audit, a freelancer for a defined project, or a few hours of training can beat a retainer. The checks still apply to each of those, with a shorter contract.

Retainers deserve extra care because they reward activity, not outcomes. A fair retainer ties fees to a defined scope, a dated plan and a review point. Ask what you would stop paying for if a month had no new deliverables. Ask how the scope changes when the plan changes. In our experience, which is not a study, the best retainers are boring: fixed scope, visible work, a short notice period.

Some agencies are honest but wrong for you. They pass every check and still lack your industry, your size or your tooling. That is a fit failure, and it is a legitimate reason to say no. It is also why this page does not tell you to choose us. At Webtec we publish how we work, and we invite prospects to compare us against this same list. If another agency fits your outcome, constraint and budget better, hire them.

Scroll through

6 mistakes that cost the most

  • 01

    Choosing on the pitch deck

    A deck shows polish, not process. It costs you a quarter of work done by people you never met. Fix it by asking for the named team, a dated 90-day plan and a sample report before you read a proposal.

  • 02

    Letting the agency register your accounts

    If the domain, analytics or ad account sits under the agency, leaving means rebuilding history or negotiating a handover. Fix it by owning every account and adding the agency as a user with the lowest workable permission.[5][7]

  • 03

    Treating a ranking promise as confidence

    A guaranteed position is a false promise, and Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking.[1] Fix it by ending the process on the first guarantee and noting how the next candidate responds.

  • 04

    Signing a long minimum term before you have seen a month of work

    A 12-month term turns a bad fit into an expensive year. Fix it by asking for a three-month initial term with a 30-day notice period, then renewing on evidence.

  • 05

    Checking only the references you were handed

    Pre-selected references are pre-selected for a reason. Fix it by asking for one client who left, and by finding one past client through your own network.

  • 06

    Comparing price before comparing scope

    Two quotes with different deliverables are not comparable. Fix it by asking each agency to price the same written scope, then compare what each leaves out.

Worked example

The rule applied

Choosing between three agencies for a regional services business

1. The situation

Illustrative: a regional services company wants more qualified enquiries from search within six months and has a hard ceiling on monthly spend. Three agencies pitch. Agency A promises page one in 90 days. Agency B asks for the company's registrar login. Agency C shows a dated plan and a sample report.

2. The decision

The owner applies the checks in order. Agency A fails check 3 on a ranking guarantee, so the process ends there. Agency B fails check 2 unless it agrees to be added as a user under the owner's accounts, which it refuses. Agency C proceeds to fit, where a 30-minute working session on a real page shows how it reasons. The contract gets a three-month initial term and a handover clause.

3. What it shows

The logic is the outcome. The owner eliminated two agencies on facts, not feelings, and compared only one against the outcome and constraint they wrote down at step 1. We have not invented a result, because the point of this example is the decision, not a performance figure.

Questions people ask

  1. 01

    What should I ask an SEO agency before hiring them?

    Ask who will do the work by name, who owns the accounts, what they would not recommend, and what they cannot guarantee. Add: how will changes be documented, what will I see in 90 days, and how do I leave? Google also suggests asking about industry experience, how success is measured, and whether they follow Search Essentials.[1] The answers matter less than how directly they come.

  2. 02

    Is it a red flag if an agency guarantees first-page rankings?

    Yes, and it should end the conversation. Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking and lists guaranteed rankings and claimed special relationships with Google as warning signs.[1] A responsible agency commits to work, timelines and reporting, and describes results as ranges with unknowns. It can promise effort and transparency, not a position that Google alone decides.

  3. 03

    Who should own my domain, analytics and ad accounts?

    Your business should own all three, registered to a company email you control. The agency should be added as a user, not as an owner, so you can always remove them. ICANN describes the registrant as the party holding the rights to a domain, and your registrar's agreement governs transfers.[5] In Search Console, the owner role controls who else gets access.[7] Check your domain's registrant before signing anything.

  4. 04

    How long should a marketing agency contract be?

    Ask for a short initial term, often three months, with a notice period of 30 days and a clean handover clause. There is no universal standard, so treat this as our judgment rather than a rule. Longer terms can be fair when they come with a defined scope and a break clause. What you should avoid is a long minimum with auto-renewal and an exit fee.

  5. 05

    Should I give an agency full access to Search Console?

    Start with the lowest level that lets them work. Google suggests read-only access during an audit rather than write access.[1] Search Console has owner, full and restricted roles, and restricted users can see most reports without using action tools.[7] You can raise access later when trust and scope justify it, and you can remove it quickly if the engagement ends.

  6. 06

    Can an agency be held responsible for misleading claims?

    Sometimes, yes, but the more useful point is that you remain responsible for what is done on your behalf. The FTC says agencies can be liable alongside advertisers for misleading claims.[3] Google says deceptive tactics performed for you can hurt your site, and you stay responsible for the companies you hire.[1] Check how any claim is supported before you rely on it. This is not legal advice.

The evidence behind this page

Sources

Evidence freshness

7 sources, 3 dated in the last 3 years

Each bar counts sources by the date the source itself shows. 3 show no date.

84868890929496980002040608101214161820222426

Cite or share this page

Quote the rule or the order with credit and a link. Suggested citation:

Adnan Gourija (2026). How to choose a marketing or SEO agency, in the order that protects you. The Marketing Field Manual, Webtec. https://www.trywebtec.com/resources/field-manual/choose-a-marketing-agency/

  1. 1Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?Last updated 2026-06-05 UTC
  2. 2Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web searchLast updated 2026-08-28 UTC
  3. 3FTC: Advertising FAQ's, A Guide for Small BusinessApril 2001 (page notes an edit in January 2025)
  4. 4FTC: Policy Statement Regarding Advertising SubstantiationNovember 23, 1984
  5. 5ICANN: The Domain Name Registration ProcessNo date shown
  6. 6ICANN: Registrants' Benefits and ResponsibilitiesNo date shown
  7. 7Google Search Console Help: Add or remove users and permission levelsNo date shown

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