Choosing an SEO agency can feel harder than it should. Every proposal sounds confident. Every agency says it has a proven strategy. Every website talks about rankings, traffic and growth. The problem is working out what you will actually get after you sign. Will the agency implement technical fixes or only send recommendations? Who writes the content?
How are links built? Who owns the work? How are leads tracked? What happens if you want to leave? Those details matter far more than a polished sales call. Google itself recommends interviewing potential SEO providers, checking previous work, asking how success will be measured and making sure the agency clearly explains the changes it plans to make. Google also warns that irresponsible SEO work can damage a website and its reputation.
This SEO agency selection scorecard gives you exactly 30 questions to ask before signing. You can use it with Wixdek, another London SEO agency or any SEO consultant you are considering. The aim is simple. Compare what agencies will actually do, not who gives the best sales pitch.
How to Use This SEO Agency Scorecard
There are 10 areas in the scorecard. Each area contains three questions. For every question, give the agency: 0 points: The answer is unclear, weak or avoided. 1 point: The answer is reasonable but lacks detail or proof. 2 points: The answer is clear, specific and supported by a sensible process or evidence. Each section therefore has a raw score out of 6.
The sections have different weights because some decisions matter more than others.
SEO Agency Scorecard Weighting
| Area | Weight |
| Strategy | 15 |
| Technical implementation | 12 |
| Content | 12 |
| Links | 10 |
| Reporting | 12 |
| Leads and conversions | 12 |
| Ownership | 8 |
| Contracts | 7 |
| Cancellation | 5 |
| Team expertise | 7 |
| Total | 100 |
To calculate a section score, divide the points earned by 6 and apply that section’s weight. You do not need to make the maths complicated. A downloadable version of this scorecard can calculate the final result automatically.
How to Read Your Final Score
| Score | What it suggests |
| 85 to 100 | Strong proposal with good clarity |
| 70 to 84 | Promising, but clarify weaker areas |
| 55 to 69 | Important gaps need answering before signing |
| Below 55 | High level of uncertainty or weak due diligence |
A high score does not cancel out a serious red flag. An agency that scores 90 but guarantees a number-one Google ranking still deserves serious caution. Google clearly states that nobody can guarantee a number-one ranking.
Strategy: 15 Points
Strategy carries the highest weight because everything else depends on it. SEO should start with your business, customers, services and market. An agency should not be able to build your whole strategy before learning what actually makes your business money.
1. How will you build the SEO strategy around our business goals?
Listen for an answer that goes beyond rankings. The agency should want to understand your services, customers, locations, competitors and the outcomes that matter. For a London solicitor, that may mean qualified enquiries for selected legal services. For a plumber, calls for high-value jobs may matter more. For an ecommerce company, revenue and product sales may be more important.
Google recommends looking for an SEO provider that takes an interest in the business, including what makes it different, its competitors and how customers currently find it.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
2. Which searches will you prioritise, and why?
A good SEO strategy should separate useful search demand from empty traffic. The agency should be able to explain why certain service, product, informational or local searches deserve priority. Be careful if the whole strategy is based on the highest search-volume keywords. A keyword can attract lots of visits and still bring very little business value.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
3. What will you focus on during the first 90 days?
You are looking for priorities, not guaranteed outcomes. The agency may need to review technical problems, tracking, commercial pages, local visibility, content or other areas depending on the website. A sensible answer should be based on what is actually wrong. Be cautious if every client receives the same first-three-month plan before the agency has properly reviewed the site.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Technical Implementation: 12 Points
An audit is useful. An audit that nobody implements can become an expensive spreadsheet. You need to know whether technical SEO work stops at recommendations or continues through implementation and testing.
4. Who will implement the technical SEO fixes you recommend?
Ask whether implementation is included. If the agency identifies broken redirects, indexing problems, poor internal structure or canonical issues, find out who actually fixes them. It may be the agency, your developer or both. There is no single correct setup. The important part is knowing who owns the task.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
5. How do you decide which technical issues need fixing first?
A crawler may find hundreds of warnings. They are not all equally important. A blocked high-value service page matters more than a minor warning on an old blog article. The agency should prioritise technical work by likely impact, affected URLs and business importance rather than blindly following a tool’s severity score. Google also advises businesses to think critically about recommendations from third-party SEO tools because Google does not approve or endorse those tools.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
6. How do you test technical changes after they are implemented?
A task should not be marked complete simply because somebody changed a setting. Ask whether the agency checks the result. Depending on the issue, this may involve another crawl, Search Console, URL Inspection, browser testing or server checks. The exact tool matters less than having a proper verification process.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Content: 12 Points
Content should have a clear reason to exist. You do not want to pay for four blogs a month just because your package promises four blogs a month.
7. How do you decide whether we need new content or should improve existing pages?
A good agency should check what already exists. Sometimes a new page is needed. Sometimes an existing page needs improving. Other times, two overlapping pages may need consolidation. The agency should not assume that publishing more pages is always the answer. Google’s spam policies specifically warn against scaled content created mainly to manipulate search rankings while providing little value to users.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
8. How do you match content with search intent?
The agency should be able to explain why a search needs a service page, blog, pricing guide, comparison, product page or location page. This matters because the wrong page can attract the wrong audience. It can also cause several pages on the same website to compete for the same search need. For a deeper explanation, read our guide on search intent mapping for service businesses.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
9. How will you add real expertise and evidence to our content?
Generic content is easy to create. Useful business-specific content takes more work. Ask how the agency will get information from your team. Will writers use customer questions? Real service information? Subject experts? Case examples? Original screenshots? Verified data? The answer should show how your content will become yours rather than another rewritten version of pages already ranking.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Links: 10 Points
Link building deserves careful questions because bad methods can create unnecessary risk. Google defines link spam as links created primarily to manipulate search rankings. Its examples include buying links for ranking credit, automated link creation, excessive link exchanges and certain low-quality directory links.
10. How do you acquire backlinks?
Ask for a plain-English explanation. You should know whether links come from digital PR, outreach, useful resources, business relationships, directories, contributed content or another method. “Don’t worry, our link team handles everything” is not enough. You are paying for the work, so you should understand the method.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
11. Will you show us which links have been acquired?
Transparency matters. The agency should be able to tell you where meaningful links came from. If paid advertising or sponsorship is involved, those links should be handled in line with Google’s guidance rather than sold to you as secret ranking links. Google allows paid or sponsored links when they are appropriately qualified, but links bought mainly to pass ranking credit can breach its spam policies.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
12. Which link-building methods will you refuse to use?
This question can tell you a lot. A confident agency should be willing to explain its limits. Be cautious if the plan depends on mass link packages, automated link creation or vague “high-DA backlinks” with no explanation of where they come from. Google also tells businesses to avoid SEOs focused on link popularity schemes or submissions to thousands of search engines.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Reporting: 12 Points
A monthly SEO report should help you make decisions. It should not bury you in graphs.
13. Which metrics will appear in our monthly report?
Look for metrics connected to the campaign goal. These may include: qualified organic traffic, important query visibility, commercial landing-page performance, calls, forms, bookings, sales, and conversion rates. Rankings and impressions can still be useful. They just need context.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
14. Can you show us a sample report and explain what happens after the report?
This is one of the best SEO agency questions you can ask. You do not only want to see what gets reported. You want to know what the agency does with the information. A useful report should influence the next month’s work. If a service page gains impressions but not clicks, that deserves investigation. If traffic rises but enquiries do not, that deserves investigation too.
For more detail, read how to read an SEO report without getting distracted by vanity metrics.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
15. Which tracking tools will we have access to?
Clarify access to Search Console, Analytics, call tracking and any other important reporting systems. Your business should not depend entirely on screenshots chosen by the agency. You should be able to see the underlying performance information where appropriate.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Leads and Conversions: 12 Points
SEO can improve visibility without improving the business. That is why lead measurement deserves the same weight as technical SEO and reporting.
16. What will count as a successful SEO conversion for our business?
Make this specific. A call may matter. A completed enquiry form may matter. A booking or ecommerce sale may matter. A newsletter signup may matter far less for a local emergency service. The agency should agree on meaningful conversions before it starts judging performance.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
17. How will you connect SEO activity with calls, forms, bookings or sales?
Ask how organic performance will be tied to real outcomes. This may involve Analytics events, form tracking, call tracking, ecommerce data or your CRM. The exact setup depends on the business. The main thing is knowing whether SEO traffic is becoming something useful.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
18. What happens if organic traffic rises but lead quality stays poor?
A good agency should not celebrate too early. More traffic can still be the wrong traffic. The team may need to review keyword targeting, search intent, landing pages, conversion paths or how leads are measured. You want an agency willing to question its own strategy rather than point at a traffic graph and call the campaign successful.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Ownership: 8 Points
Ownership problems are easy to ignore before signing and painful to discover when the relationship ends. Sort them out early.
19. Who owns the content, website changes and SEO assets we pay for?
Get this in writing. Clarify ownership of content, creative assets, reports, research, landing pages and any other work created during the campaign. Do not assume.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
20. Will our business keep direct access to important accounts?
Ask about Search Console, Analytics, Google Business Profile and other business-owned systems used in the campaign. Where possible, your business should keep appropriate ownership and access. The agency should not need to hold your data hostage to keep the relationship alive.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
21. What happens to our data and campaign assets if we leave?
You should know whether reports, research, content files, account access and agreed assets remain available. A clear agency can explain the handover before you become a client.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Contracts: 7 Points
Do not leave the contract until the end of the conversation. Read it properly. SEO often needs consistent work, but that does not mean contract terms should be vague.
22. What is the exact contract term and renewal process?
Ask whether the agreement is monthly, fixed-term or automatically renewed. Find out when renewal happens. Do not rely only on what was said during the sales call. Check the written agreement.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
23. Which deliverables are included in the agreed fee?
You should be able to see what is included. For example: technical work, content, local SEO, development, link acquisition, reporting, strategy, or conversion support. A vague promise of “full SEO” makes comparison difficult.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
24. Which work could create extra charges?
Ask this before signing. Development may be extra. Large content projects may be extra. Digital PR spend may be extra. A site migration may sit outside the normal campaign. None of those are automatically bad. Unexpected charges are the problem.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Cancellation: 5 Points
A good relationship may last for years. You still need to know how leaving works.
25. What is the cancellation notice period?
The agency should give you a clear answer. Ask exactly how notice must be given and when billing stops. Do not rely on phrases such as “it’s flexible”. Check the actual cancellation clause.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
26. What work is completed during the cancellation period?
Find out what happens to outstanding content, technical work, reporting and scheduled tasks. You are looking for a clean ending rather than confusion over half-finished work.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
27. What handover support will you provide when the agreement ends?
A professional exit may include access confirmation, final reports, account handover or documentation of outstanding work. The exact scope depends on your agreement. The important part is discussing it before there is a disagreement.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Team Expertise: 7 Points
Do not only evaluate the person running the sales call. Find out who will actually work on your website.
28. Who will work on our account, and what does each person do?
Ask who handles strategy, technical SEO, content, links, reporting and implementation. One person may cover several roles. That is fine if they have the right skills. The key is knowing who is responsible.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
29. Can you show relevant experience with businesses like ours?
Relevant does not mean the agency must have worked with your exact company type. But experience with similar markets, sales cycles, local searches or technical challenges can be useful. Google itself suggests asking potential SEO providers about previous work, success stories, industry experience and experience in your country or city. Ask for evidence where possible.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
30. How do you keep recommendations aligned with current Google guidance?
SEO changes. The agency should have a way to check recommendations against reliable sources rather than reacting to every rumour on social media. Google specifically recommends checking significant SEO recommendations against official Search guidance and being cautious when agencies make claims based only on third-party tools. A strong answer should include testing, official documentation, real performance data and professional judgement.
Score: 0, 1 or 2
Your 30-Question SEO Agency Scorecard
Use this table after speaking with each agency.
| Area | Weight | Raw Score | Weighted Score |
| Strategy | 15 | /6 | /15 |
| Technical implementation | 12 | /6 | /12 |
| Content | 12 | /6 | /12 |
| Links | 10 | /6 | /10 |
| Reporting | 12 | /6 | /12 |
| Leads and conversions | 12 | /6 | /12 |
| Ownership | 8 | /6 | /8 |
| Contracts | 7 | /6 | /7 |
| Cancellation | 5 | /6 | /5 |
| Team expertise | 7 | /6 | /7 |
| Total | 100 | /100 |
Use the same scoring method for every agency. That makes the SEO company comparison much fairer than choosing based on who gives the slickest presentation.
Serious SEO Agency Red Flags
Your scorecard gives structure to the decision. Some warning signs deserve separate attention.
Guaranteed Google Rankings
Walk carefully if an agency guarantees a number-one Google position. Google’s current hiring guidance is direct: nobody can guarantee a number-one ranking. It recommends finding another provider if an SEO audit guarantees first place. An agency can set targets. It can forecast. It can explain opportunities. It cannot control Google’s rankings.
Secret SEO Methods
“We can’t tell you how we do it” is not a good answer. An agency does not have to reveal every internal process during the first call. But it should explain what type of work it plans to carry out. Google also warns businesses to be careful with companies that are secretive or refuse to explain what they intend to do.
Remember that your website may carry the risk if the agency uses poor methods.
Link Packages With No Clear Source
Be cautious with offers such as: “100 authority links every month.” The number tells you almost nothing about quality. Ask where links come from, why those sites would link to you and whether payment is involved. Google’s spam policies specifically cover links created mainly to manipulate rankings.
The Agency Does Not Ask About Your Business
SEO should connect to the business. If the sales call never asks about your customers, profitable services, locations, sales process or goals, the strategy may be too generic. Google’s own hiring guidance says an SEO should be interested in the business and ask questions about what makes it unique, its competitors and how customers find it.
Rankings Are the Only Success Metric
Rankings matter. But a London dental clinic cannot pay its staff with keyword positions. A roofing company needs enquiries. An ecommerce brand needs sales. Ask what happens after visibility improves.
No Clear Implementation Responsibility
Some agencies audit. Some advise. Some implement. All three models can work. The red flag is when you do not know which one you are buying. If development work is not included, that should be clear before you sign.
You Cannot See the Data
Reporting should not depend on one PDF arriving every month. Find out which accounts and data you can access yourself. A healthy agency relationship should not depend on keeping the client in the dark.
Contract Terms Change During the Sales Process
The proposal, sales call and written agreement should tell the same story. If the salesperson says “cancel any time” but the agreement says something different, stop and clarify it before signing.
The Agency Calls a Third-Party Tool “Google Approved”
Google states that it does not evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools and those tools do not have access to Google’s internal ranking information. Tools can be very useful. They are not Google.
A Google Ads Badge Is Presented as Proof of Organic Rankings
Google makes clear that advertising with Google does not affect a website’s organic presence in Search. An agency’s advertising qualifications may be relevant to paid media. They should not be presented as a guarantee of organic SEO performance.
Compare the Proposal, Not Just the Agency
A company can have a strong reputation and still send you a weak proposal. Judge the actual offer. Check: what is being done, who is doing it, what is measured, what you own, what you pay, how long the agreement lasts, and how you can leave. This is SEO agency due diligence. It removes a lot of the guesswork from choosing an SEO agency.
For a wider buying guide, read how to choose an SEO agency in London without wasting your budget.
What a Strong SEO Proposal Should Make Clear
By the time you are ready to sign, you should understand the main campaign goal. You should know the broad strategy. The technical responsibilities should be clear. Content responsibilities should be clear. The approach to links should make sense. You should know how leads will be measured. Reporting should have a purpose. Ownership should be clear.
Contract and cancellation terms should be written down. And you should know who is actually working on the account. If you still cannot explain what you are buying after two sales calls and a proposal, that is useful information in itself.
Use the Scorecard With an SEO Audit
An agency proposal becomes easier to judge when you also understand the condition of your website. For example, one agency may propose 12 new articles. Another may say your biggest problem is that important service pages are not indexed properly. Without knowing the website’s condition, both proposals can sound convincing. Our SEO audit checklist for UK service businesses can help you review technical SEO, content, tracking, local visibility and conversions before deciding where budget should go.
Use Reporting Standards Before You Sign
Do not wait three months to discover that the monthly report is only a list of ranking changes. Ask for a sample during the sales process. Look at whether it separates visibility from actual business performance. A useful SEO report should help answer what changed, why it matters and what happens next. Our guide on how to read an SEO report without getting distracted by vanity metrics explains that in more detail.
How Wixdek Fits the Same Scorecard
You should use the same 30 questions when speaking with Wixdek. Do not give Wixdek extra points because this scorecard appears on our website. Our current SEO service page says campaigns can include technical SEO, content optimisation, on-page work, authority building and conversion analysis. It also states that Wixdek uses defined deliverables, reporting and realistic expectations rather than guaranteed rankings.
Wixdek also currently states that its SEO services do not use long-term contracts. Still, check the proposal you actually receive. Confirm the exact scope. Confirm responsibilities. Confirm the current contract and cancellation wording. The written agreement matters more than a general website statement. That is how the scorecard should be used with every provider.
Download the 30-Question SEO Agency Scorecard
Create a downloadable version with these columns:
| Field | What to record |
| Question number | 1 to 30 |
| Agency answer | Short notes from the call |
| Evidence provided | Proposal, case study, report or explanation |
| Score | 0, 1 or 2 |
| Follow-up needed | Anything still unclear |
| Red flag | Yes or no |
The final sheet should calculate the weighted score out of 100.
- Suggested download title: SEO Agency Selection Scorecard: 30 Questions Before You Sign
- Suggested button text: Download the 30-Question SEO Agency Scorecard
Scorecard Example
Imagine you are comparing three agencies. Agency A scores highly for strategy and content but cannot explain where its backlinks come from. Agency B is strong technically but offers no lead tracking and wants all analytics accounts created under its own ownership. Agency C has a slightly less polished proposal but gives clear deliverables, open account access, sensible link methods and clear cancellation terms.
The cheapest or most confident sales pitch may not be the safest choice. The scorecard makes those trade-offs easier to see.
What Score Should You Accept?
There is no magic pass mark. The score is a comparison tool. An agency scoring 82 may be a better fit than one scoring 90 if it has stronger experience in your market or works better with your internal team. Look at the section scores too. A business with an in-house development team may care less about agency implementation.
A business with no internal marketing team may need much stronger delivery support. Use the weightings as a starting point and adjust your final business decision where there is a genuine reason. But do not ignore serious red flags.
Before You Sign
Take the proposal home. Read the contract. Score the agency. Write down anything unclear. Then ask for answers in writing. You are not being difficult. You are checking what your business is buying. A good SEO relationship can involve access to your website, Search Console, content, analytics and other valuable business assets. That deserves proper due diligence.
Google describes hiring an SEO as a decision that can improve visibility and save time, but it also warns that poor SEO work can damage a website and its reputation. So leave the too-good-to-be-true promises at the door. Look for clear strategy, clear work, clear ownership and clear measurement.
Ask Wixdek to Review an SEO Proposal
If you already have an SEO proposal and you are not sure what is missing, Wixdek can help you review the strategy, technical scope, reporting, implementation and measurement before you make a decision. Our SEO consultant in London service is designed for businesses that need a clear plan, technical review or strategic SEO guidance. Wixdek’s current consultancy page states that its approach includes website review, technical SEO, content planning, competitor and keyword strategy, and ongoing advice where needed.
You can also explore our SEO services in London if you need strategy and implementation together.
Request an SEO Proposal Review
Common Questions About the SEO Agency Scorecard
Is the Highest-Scoring SEO Agency Always the Best Choice?
No. The score helps you compare clarity and risk, but business fit still matters. Use the total score alongside the section scores, relevant experience and the actual people who will handle the work.
Should I Choose an SEO Agency Based on Price?
Price matters, but it should be compared with scope. A lower proposal may exclude content, development or link work that another agency includes. Compare what you receive rather than the monthly number alone.
Should an SEO Agency Guarantee Rankings?
No. Google explicitly warns that nobody can guarantee a number-one Google ranking.
Should an SEO Agency Provide a Contract?
The scope, pricing, responsibilities, contract terms and cancellation process should be clear in writing. Read the agreement itself rather than relying only on the sales conversation.
Should I Ask for SEO Case Studies?
Yes. Google recommends asking potential providers about previous work and success stories. Check whether the case is relevant and whether claims can be supported.
What Should an SEO Report Include?
The right report depends on the campaign, but it should help connect search performance with useful outcomes. Visibility, important pages, calls, forms, bookings or sales may all matter depending on the business.
How Can I Check an SEO Agency’s Link-Building Method?
Ask where links come from, how they are acquired, whether payment is involved and whether the agency will show you the placements. Compare the method with Google’s current spam policies.
Is a Long SEO Contract Always Bad?
No. Contract length alone does not tell you whether an agency is good or bad. What matters is whether the term, scope, renewal, cancellation process and responsibilities are clear before you sign.
