How to choose an SEO agency, and what sets SEO prices

Questions to ask before buying SEO, promises to walk away from, what drives the price and what the contract should contain.

Buying SEO is harder than commissioning a website. With a site you see what you bought at handover; with SEO you can pay for months without understanding what was done. Some agencies promise "first page in a month", others send monthly reports and ask for patience. This article explains how to tell them apart, what drives the price and what to put in the contract. We sell SEO too, so feel free to ask us the same questions.

Set the expectation first

SEO is the sum of technical, content and authority work that moves your site up for specific searches. It is not advertising; results arrive in months, not weeks, and nobody can guarantee rankings because Google decides them. A business that does not accept this either picks the wrong agency or drops the right one in month three. See how long SEO takes.

Promises to walk away from

• "Guaranteed number one." The only thing that can be guaranteed is the list of work. A ranking guarantee means a keyword nobody searches or methods that will get the site penalised.
• "We have a special deal with Google." No such thing exists.
• "Thousands of backlinks." Bought links look useful briefly and sink the site when Google notices. You carry the risk, not the agency.
• "Just a keyword list, nothing else." An agency that cannot say which pages will be written or which problems fixed does not know what it will do.
• "Reports are confidential." Never pay for work you cannot see.

Ten questions for the agency

1. Have you reviewed my site? Which technical problems exist and what happens in month one?
2. Which searches are we targeting and how did you choose them? Are those really my customers' searches?
3. What is delivered each month: how many pages, articles, fixes?
4. Who writes the content, and how useful is text from someone who does not know my sector?
5. Do you build links, and how? Any buying?
6. Which tools will the reports come from? Will Search Console and Analytics be in my name?
7. Are local SEO and the Google Business Profile included?
8. Contract length and exit terms? Does written content stay with me if I leave?
9. What have you done in a similar sector, and can you show the result in Search Console?
10. If my site is not fit for SEO, will you say so, or start anyway?

The last question matters. Some sites should be rebuilt rather than patched, and an honest agency says so at the first meeting. To check your own site first, see why is my website not showing on Google.

What sets the price of SEO

• Competition: "hairdresser Gaziosmanpaşa" and "cosmetic surgery Istanbul" are not the same effort.
• Scope: one district, all of Istanbul or the whole country? How many service or product groups?
• Current state of the site: a slow, broken, error-ridden site spends its first months on fixes.
• Content volume: how many pages and articles a month, and who writes them. Copywriting is a large share of the cost.
• Site type: an online store with thousands of products is far more work than a ten-page corporate site.
• Local SEO: is Google Business Profile management included?
• Reporting and meeting frequency.

Cheap is not always bad, but "low fixed monthly fee, same package for everyone" usually means template work. Expensive is not always good either; ask what it pays for.

What the contract should contain

• A concrete monthly list of work
• The target searches and their starting positions
• Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile accounts in your name
• Report format and frequency
• Content and fixes stay on the site if you part ways
• Contract length, termination terms and a reasonable trial period
• A clear statement that no ranking is guaranteed; this is the honest agency's signature

Can you do it yourself?

Partly. Filling in the Business Profile, splitting your service pages and writing answers to customer questions are within reach. Technical fixes, structured data, speed and thorough keyword research usually need outside help. A sensible route: set up the foundation with an agency, then take some content production in-house. You will find examples on our blog.

If you ask us for a quote

We review the site first, then quote. The quote lists target searches, a three-month work plan and monthly deliverables. Accounts are opened in your name, reports come from Search Console data and we do not guarantee rankings. For local businesses in Gaziosmanpaşa and nearby districts we also run smaller engagements focused on map and district searches. See the SEO service page or call +90 534 974 66 80.