Got SEO pitches from an agency, a freelancer and a software company? Each one promises more traffic, and few say who will actually change your pages. Trojan Digital Marketing sells SEO services from Indianapolis too, so below are the questions we'd want any buyer to ask us. To get a second opinion on the proposals you have, the first strategy call is free, and during business hours we aim to reply within five minutes.
Start with one concrete problem. On a new site, we'd first check Google Search Console to see whether the pages meant to bring calls are indexed. A page Google hasn't indexed can't show up in results. Then we'd read those service pages the way a customer would. “Our repair page isn't in Google” gets a sharper proposal than “rank us higher for everything.”
Write a short brief before comparing providers
- A: current page
- Observe the starting version.
- B: one change
- Compare with the same measurement.
Describe the business's supported services, real markets, priority audiences, current website, and the outcome you want to improve. Include the people available to supply facts, approve content, and implement changes. An SEO recommendation is difficult to act on when nobody has responsibility for the website work.
State what is known and unknown. You may have search performance records but limited inquiry tracking, or strong sales knowledge but little technical documentation. A useful provider should explain how those gaps affect the first phase rather than fill them with confident assumptions.
Choose a delivery model that matches implementation needs
An agency may coordinate strategy, content, design, development, and reporting, depending on the agreement. A consultant may provide diagnosis and direction while your team implements. A specialist may address a defined technical or content problem. Software can support research and monitoring but still requires someone to interpret and act on the output.
Do not assume freelancers are always cheaper, agencies always include implementation, or a larger software suite replaces a service team. Compare actual scope, effort, access, and responsibility. A narrow engagement with clear deliverables can be a better fit than a broad package whose work is difficult to identify.
| Option | Useful fit question |
|---|---|
| Agency | Which disciplines and implementation tasks are actually included? |
| Independent consultant | Who will implement the recommendations and maintain the work? |
| Specialist | Is the problem sufficiently defined for a focused scope? |
| Software | Who will interpret findings, prioritize changes, and verify results? |
Ask for a reviewable first phase
A proposal should identify what the provider will inspect, what it will produce, and what the business needs to supply. Useful deliverables might include a prioritized technical review, a service page map, a set of revised pages, or a measurement glossary tied to inquiries.
Ask what makes each recommendation important. The explanation should connect the issue to a customer or search problem and describe the expected type of improvement. We'd push back on any proposal that pastes a tool's warning list and calls it a plan. Ask which warnings stand between a customer and a call, and which one gets fixed first.
Google's hiring guidance recommends evaluating explanations and official evidence, and rejects guaranteed first place ranking claims. Use that standard when reviewing a proposal. A provider should be able to explain the work without suggesting a special relationship that overrides normal search systems.
Separate technical, content, and conversion work
- Home → service
- Link the service to project proof.
- Home → guide
- Link the guide to the next useful question.
Technical fixes decide whether Google can reach and load a page, and content decides what that page tells a reader. Conversion work covers the step after reading, like the call button, the form and the reply. Ask which of these your fee pays for, since a line item called SEO can mean any one of them.
For example, a page may be accessible while failing to explain the service. Another may explain the offer well but have a broken inquiry form. A proposal that identifies the actual constraint can direct effort more usefully than one that applies the same checklist to every business.
Evaluate AI search services through concrete tasks
Ask whether “AI SEO” refers to using AI during production, improving information for AI search experiences, or building business automation. Those are different services. AEO and GEO work should identify the buyer questions, business facts, evidence, and reporting it addresses.
Google retains SEO foundations for generative search. A proposal should explain practical changes rather than promise AI Overviews placement from a proprietary formula. Content review and factual responsibility remain necessary when AI tools assist production.
Review evidence at the right level
Case studies help when they explain the client's problem, the work, the timeframe and where the numbers came from. We hold our own proof to that: for a local Indianapolis-area business, Google Business Profile views reached 7,860 in August 2026, up 92.3% on August 2025. Ask any provider for a source, a month and a comparison period. Ask which part of the work is relevant to your situation.
Don't ask a provider to promise you the same result, and be wary of one who offers to. Ask instead what they'd check first on your site and what they'd leave alone. Testimonials and credentials should be genuine and appropriately attributed, while confidential customer information should remain protected.
Clarify ownership, access, and the handoff
- Website
- Receive the inquiry.
- Your team
- Review it and record the outcome.
Identify who controls domains, website administration, search accounts, analytics, and the files or content being produced. The agreement should state what the business retains and how work is handed over if the relationship ends. A single website can be client owned; ownership is not unique to one agency model.
Discuss ongoing costs such as hosting, renewals, software, maintenance, and future content updates. Asset control does not mean the system operates indefinitely without work. For an initial diagnostic review, provide only the access needed for that task and expand it through the actual implementation process.
Agree on reporting before choosing a package
Search visibility, website visits, inquiries, qualified requests, and accepted work are different outcomes. Define which the provider can measure and how your team contributes business stage information. A report should not call every click a customer or every submitted form a qualified opportunity.
Search Console provides query and page performance evidence. Combine relevant observations with your own inquiry records while stating the attribution method and data gaps. Search metrics can guide decisions without proving the complete cause of every sale.
Compare proposals on a common decision sheet
For each proposal, record the problem addressed, deliverables, implementation owner, required business inputs, cost scope, reporting, and exit arrangements. Mark unclear items for discussion. Comparing those fields is more useful than ranking proposals by the number of promised keywords or pages.
Ask each provider to walk through one likely improvement for your business. The answer should show how it moves from evidence to a proposed change and verification. That conversation can reveal whether the provider understands your offer and how the work will become concrete.
Start with a scope the business can support
A hypothetical first phase might improve one important service route, correct a defined technical issue, and establish inquiry reporting. This is a planning example, not a forecast. The best first phase is the one that resolves a real constraint and produces evidence for the next decision.
Review progress against the agreed work and outcomes. If the evidence changes the priorities, document why. A useful SEO relationship should make the business's decisions clearer over time, including when to expand content, improve the handoff, or pause a low value activity.
Explore Trojan's SEO and AI search services and website design. For the measurement side, read how to define a qualified lead, then request a free audit to discuss a concrete first scope.
