Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Search Engine Marketing Agency
Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Search Engine Marketing Agency
Choosing the right search engine marketing agency is a critical decision that can significantly influence your brand’s digital visibility, lead generation, and revenue growth. Not all agencies operate the same way—some specialize in specific platforms, while others offer full-service digital marketing. Before signing a contract, it’s essential to ask the right questions to ensure the agency aligns with your business goals, budget, and expectations.
What Experience Do You Have in My Industry?
Understanding whether an agency has worked with businesses similar to yours helps assess if they truly understand your audience, competitors, and market challenges. Industry experience isn’t mandatory, but it does give a leg up in creating tailored strategies.
For example, a local e-commerce brand might benefit more from an agency experienced in local SEO and Google Shopping campaigns than one focused on B2B services. Ask for case studies or examples of campaigns they’ve executed for businesses in your niche. Review the success metrics—such as return on ad spend (ROAS), lead quality, and conversion rates.
How to execute: Request a discovery call and come prepared with questions about your niche. Review their portfolio and don’t hesitate to contact their previous clients for honest feedback.
What Is Your Strategy Development Process?
A reliable SEO agency should follow a clear, structured approach to strategy development. This includes keyword research, competitor analysis, ad copywriting, campaign setup, A/B testing, and optimization.
For instance, if you’re targeting lead generation, their strategy should go beyond impressions and clicks. It should include audience segmentation, landing page optimization, and remarketing tactics. Ask about their process: How do they determine which keywords to target? What tools do they use for competitive research?
How to execute: Request a sample strategy or audit for your website. This helps you understand their thought process and whether they personalize strategies based on your business goals.
How Do You Measure Success?
Success means different things to different businesses. For some, it’s traffic; for others, it’s conversions or revenue. An agency should be transparent about the KPIs they track and how they align with your business objectives.
For example, an online coaching service may value booked calls over website traffic. Ask what tools they use to track KPIs (Google Analytics, GA4, Google Ads Manager, etc.) and how frequently they report on performance. Also, find out whether you’ll receive raw data access or just summaries.
How to execute: Clarify your primary goals during the initial meeting. Then, ask the agency to walk you through a sample performance report to understand how they present insights and make data-driven decisions.
Who Will Manage My Account?
It’s important to know whether you’ll be working with a senior strategist, a team of account managers, or outsourced freelancers. Consistency and communication are key to campaign success.
Suppose you run a fast-paced SaaS product. You’ll likely need a dedicated point of contact who understands your business model and can respond quickly. Ask if you’ll get access to a specific team and whether they provide support during critical campaign phases or emergencies.
How to execute: During the sales process, request an introduction to the team who would handle your account. Ask about their availability, communication process (Slack, email, meetings), and reporting cadence.
How Do You Handle Budget Allocation?
A skilled agency knows how to distribute your budget effectively across platforms like Google Ads, Bing Ads, and YouTube. They’ll also suggest where to reduce waste and increase ROI. Ask if they include budget planning as part of their service and whether they take a percentage of ad spend as their fee.
For example, a small business may want 70% of the budget on Google Search and the rest on remarketing. The agency should explain how they would test and optimize this breakdown over time.
How to execute: Share your advertising budget upfront and ask for a budget breakdown proposal. Look for agencies that justify spend with data-backed rationale and are flexible with reallocating funds based on performance.
What’s Your Approach to A/B Testing and Optimization?
Continuous improvement is essential in search engine marketing. An agency should have a systematic approach to A/B testing different ad creatives, landing pages, CTAs, and bidding strategies.
Say you’re running a lead gen campaign for a real estate agency. A/B testing could involve comparing a lead form landing page against a video walkthrough page. The agency should provide insights on which version performs better and why.
How to execute: Ask for examples of A/B tests they’ve run in the past and how results impacted campaign direction. Request a roadmap of how often optimizations are implemented.
Are You Certified and Up-to-Date with Platform Changes?
Platforms like Google Ads constantly evolve. You want an agency that stays on top of algorithm updates, policy changes, and emerging tools. Certifications such as Google Partner or Microsoft Advertising Partner indicate the agency’s credibility.
For instance, the introduction of Performance Max campaigns or changes in keyword match types can impact your ad effectiveness. An up-to-date agency will proactively suggest changes to maintain performance.
How to execute: Ask for proof of certifications and inquire about ongoing training for their staff. You can also quiz them on recent platform updates to see how current their knowledge is.
What Happens If We Decide to Part Ways?
Knowing the exit process is as important as onboarding. Ask about contract length, termination clauses, and whether you’ll retain access to accounts, creative assets, and campaign data.
Some agencies create campaigns under their own accounts, which means you could lose access to performance data and historical insights. Ensure that everything from ad accounts to analytics dashboards remains in your control.
How to execute: Review the contract carefully and clarify ownership of all digital assets. Choose agencies that prioritize transparency and client independence.
Hiring a SEO services agency is a partnership. By asking the right questions, you not only ensure alignment on goals and expectations but also set the foundation for long-term success. Use these questions as a starting point for due diligence and remember to look for an agency that brings clarity, customization, and measurable results to the table.
