During a recent session of Google’s SEO Office Hours Q&A, the Search Relations team discussed a common concern among business owners: how to tell if an SEO agency is actively optimizing your website.
Manager Questions
The discussion began with a question from a business owner:
“If you have an agency that manages your organic SEO every month, how do you know if someone is actively optimizing? Maybe the agency hasn’t done any off-site optimization in years?”
Google’s response
In response, John Mueller, a member of the Search Relations team, shared his experience working with agencies on Google’s Search Central content.
Key points of Mueller’s advice
- Regular meeting: Talk to your SEO agency frequently and review their work.
- progress report: Request a report that details your site’s progress over time.
- Future Plans: Discussing future work will help ensure the agency is responsive to your needs.
- Client Education: To better evaluate an agency’s efforts, clients should have a basic understanding of SEO work.
While acknowledging that increased engagement will require more time from both sides, Mueller believes the effort is worthwhile.
This will help you make sure the SEO agency meets your needs, though he points out that any relationship with an agency requires a certain level of trust.
Resources for SEO Education
To help companies manage their SEO efforts, Mueller pointed out two valuable resources.
- Our guide to hiring an SEO goes into detail about the selection process.
- The SEO Starter Guide provides a foundational understanding of SEO principles.
Mueller’s complete response
“That’s a great question. When we worked with an SEO agency on some of the content for Search Central, we met regularly to discuss the work they’d done, review reports on the site’s progress, and discuss future work. This took some time on both the agency’s part and ours, but was very helpful. Having a brief understanding of the type of work the agency does can help ensure that the work is being done according to expectations. Plus, there’s an element of trust involved. Our page on hiring an SEO provides some insights, and our SEO Starter Guide goes into a bit more detail. Also, people in the SEO industry might be able to comment on how they help their clients understand how they’re spending their time.”
Previous discussions on SEO adoption
Mueller’s advice mirrors a similar discussion he began last year, in which he asked for advice on what businesses should look for when hiring an SEO consultant.
Conversations among industry experts highlighted key factors such as experience, customisation, transparency and adherence to ethical practices.
For more information on how to choose the right SEO expert, check out our previous article on this discussion.
When to seek professional SEO help
For businesses that aren’t sure when to seek professional SEO help, here’s an article outlining the five key situations when you should hire an SEO expert.
This can include if Google isn’t indexing your site, if your site is undergoing a migration or redesign, if your organic traffic has dropped significantly, if you’re undoing manual actions, or if your current SEO strategy isn’t performing as well.
This information complements Mueller’s advice by helping companies recognise when specialist intervention is required.
Featured Image: YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral
