If you're in the process of choosing an SEO agency, the stakes are high. You’re making a long-term investment and need to ensure the agency can deliver—not just traffic, but alignment with your business goals, product strategy, and internal capabilities. Without a clear vetting framework, it’s easy to get sold on dashboards and deliverables that don’t translate to results.
Keep in Mind
Most agency pitches sound the same—audits, backlinks, blog posts. What matters is whether they can tie execution to your business outcomes. To make the right hire, you need internal clarity first: What’s broken? What’s needed? What should success look like? With those answers, you can filter for the agency that fills your specific gaps rather than just selling SEO theater.
How a Good SEO Audit Can Help
Step 1: Reporting — Establish your current state so you can hold future partners accountable to a baseline.
Step 2: Target Keywords & Content — Clarify the opportunity space and content performance, so you know whether an agency’s plan is hitting the right targets.
Step 23: Roadmapping — Understand what your SEO plan should include—so you can judge whether their proposal is robust, strategic, or generic.
Step 25: SEO SOPs and Workflows — Reveal what’s already working (and scalable) internally versus what truly needs external support.
Product Matches
1:1 SEO Help Call ($150) — Get expert guidance on how to vet proposals, structure your RFP, or assess agency performance claims.
3-Month SEO Setup & Roadmap ($6,000) — Run your own audit before hiring so you know what you actually need—and don’t waste budget solving the wrong problem.
SEO Roadmap Template ($50) — Use our framework to compare agency roadmaps against your actual needs and current gaps.
Fractional SEO Director ($2,200/mo) — Act as your in-house advocate or advisor during the agency selection process to evaluate proposals, join pitch calls, or guide interviews.