Write down the business outcome first
Describe the services or products you want to grow, the customers you want and the locations you can serve. Be specific about what makes an inquiry valuable. A construction business may want fewer unsuitable estimates; a furniture retailer may want more qualified showroom appointments or online purchases.
That brief gives providers something concrete to respond to. It also helps you avoid comparing proposals that quietly assume different goals. A traffic-growth proposal and a qualified-inquiry proposal are not necessarily the same engagement.
Ask for a diagnosis, not a package label
A provider should be able to explain the first questions they would investigate. These might involve technical access to important pages, weak service information, search intent, local business information or a broken conversion path.
An initial conversation will not replace a full audit, but it can reveal whether the provider understands the business. Ask why a task matters, what evidence supports the priority and what would change the recommendation.
Examine a case study as evidence
Look for the client, market, reporting dates, metric definition and original evidence. Check whether an impressive number refers to rankings, organic sessions, advertising inquiries or revenue. Those measurements have different meanings.
Ask what work was done and what remains uncertain. A historical screenshot may demonstrate a ranking for one search session, but it cannot guarantee a current position or predict your sales. Relevant industry experience is useful without requiring the old result to become a forecast.
- Who was the client and which market was measured?
- What dates and comparison periods are used?
- Is the metric observed, estimated or reported by the client?
- Are SEO and advertising results separated?
- Can you inspect the source or ask a specific question about it?
Identify who implements the recommendations
A report can be valuable, but only if you understand what happens after it arrives. Ask whether the fee includes writing, development, page publishing, analytics setup and validation, or whether those tasks remain with your team.
Discuss the website platform and approval process. A technically sound recommendation may still require a developer, product information, a legal review or a new set of photographs. Those dependencies belong in the scope.
Define reporting and account ownership
Your business should understand which accounts it owns, how access is granted and what data will be available if the engagement ends. Use account invitations and appropriate permissions instead of passing passwords through a form.
Agree how updates will distinguish completed work from performance observations. A report should identify the measurement window, known limitations and next priorities. Ask how your feedback about inquiry quality will be incorporated.
Read the commercial terms
Compare scope, fees, notice requirements, exclusions and handover expectations. An affordable proposal may be a good fit because it is focused; it may be a poor fit if the important implementation work is excluded.
Be cautious about guaranteed rankings or claims of a special relationship that controls organic results. Google’s own hiring guidance warns against guaranteed number-one rankings. A useful commitment is to defined work, responsible implementation and clear reporting.