When Something’s Broken · 08

You just fired your third agency. The problem might be how agencies get hired.

A six-figure spend across three firms, and the last report celebrated a “Visibility Score: 87%” — a metric they invented, measuring nothing a bank would accept. Before you hire the fourth, change the questions.

Short answer: Agencies fail predictably: invented metrics, guarantee promises, activity dressed as outcomes, and reporting designed to be unfalsifiable. The vetting fix is asking questions with checkable answers — and treating any guarantee of rankings as the interview’s end.

Ten questions that expose everything

1. “Show me a report you sent a real client last month” (redacted is fine). You are looking for real metrics — clicks, conversions, revenue signals — not proprietary scores.
2. “What would make you tell us something isn’t working?” Honest shops have a ready answer because they do it monthly. Evasion here predicts every future report.
3. “Can you guarantee rankings?” A trick question. The correct answer is no. Anyone who says yes has told you who they are.
4. “Who exactly will do the work?” The pitch team and the delivery team are often different continents. Ask to meet the person writing your content.
5. “What happens to accounts and content when we leave?” Everything should be yours: analytics, ad accounts, content, the domain. Hostage-taking clauses are a red flag you can read in the contract.
6. “What did you get wrong for a client, and what did you do?” Any real practice has misses. (We publish ours on a public correction log — ask your candidates what their version is.)
7. “Which link sources do you use?” Vague answers about “our network” often mean PBNs — the thing manual penalties are made of.
8. “How will you learn our business?” The difference between templates-with-your-logo and actual strategy is the discovery process they describe.
9. “What do you need from us to succeed?” Honest answer: quite a lot — approvals, expertise, access. “Nothing, we handle everything” means content written by nobody who knows your field.
10. “Why should we NOT hire you?” The self-aware answer this question demands is the strongest signal on this list.

Contract red flags, quickly: 12-month lock-ins with no performance exit · deliverables counted in “activities” not outcomes · ownership of accounts or content retained by the agency · invented proprietary metrics as success criteria · guarantee language of any kind.

Questions people ask

What questions should I ask before hiring an SEO agency?

Ask for a real (redacted) client report, who does the actual work, what happens to accounts when you leave, which link sources they use, and what they've gotten wrong before. Checkable answers beat polished decks.

Is a ranking guarantee a red flag?

Yes - the biggest one. Rankings are decided by search engines, not agencies. A guarantee signals either inexperience or tactics that eventually earn penalties.

What should an honest SEO report contain?

Real observable metrics - impressions, clicks, conversions, work completed and its intent - plus what didn't work. Beware invented composite scores that can't be verified anywhere outside the agency's own dashboard.

What questions should I ask before hiring an SEO agency?

Is a ranking guarantee a red flag?

Yes - the biggest one. Rankings are decided by search engines, not agencies. A guarantee signals either inexperience or tactics that eventually earn penalties.

What should an honest SEO report contain?

Send us what you’re seeing Run the 60-Second Checkup

Scenarios are composites built from real, common situations — not client stories. We publish no metrics we cannot prove.