When you hand over your website’s SEO to an agency, you’re not only investing your marketing budget into the agency, but placing your hopes for growth in their hands. It’s only natural to feel uneasy if you’re not seeing obvious progress or if the work sounds like a load of jargon. A recent Reddit post from a marketing manager proved this worry:
“Should I fire my agency? I’m not satisfied with the deliverables but also don’t know enough about SEO to know if I’m in the right. What questions should I be asking them?”
This article breaks down how you can find out what’s really happening under the bonnet, and decide whether it’s time to keep going or politely wave the marketing agency a goodbye.
1. Nail down exactly what you expected
Before you decide to part ways, get crystal clear on what was promised. Most SEO contracts factor these core areas:
- Technical audits: Does your website load fast, can search engines crawl it, and do pages link to one another?
- On-page optimisations: Are titles, headings and meta descriptions relevant for target audiences who use search engines?
- Content plans: Road map of blog posts, landing-page copy or different content formats.
- Off-page work: Link-building, outreach, multi-channel content distribution and partnerships.
- Reporting & analysis: Monthly snapshots of traffic, rankings, and conversions.
Review your original proposal or SOW (scope of work) and tick off each deliverable. If there is anything missing then that’s where your conversation should start.
2. Turn vague hopes into solid KPIs
“I want more traffic,” isn’t a KPI, it’s a desire. Good SEO feels part art, part science, but it’s performance must be based on measurable goals an metrics. Ask your agency:
- What exactly are we targeting?
– “Grow organic sessions by 20% in six months,” for example. - Which metrics matter?
– Organic clicks, click-through rate (CTR), goal completions in Google Analytics. - How often will we review progress?
– Monthly calls and reports are the norm.
Tools like Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can really help you here.
GSC shows you how many times your site appears in Google, how often people click, and where you rank for key terms.
GA4 tracks user journeys and helps tie organic visits back to business goals, like leads or sales.
3. Insist on meaningful reports
A slide deck full of “Rankings: Up 2 spots” is not an actionable insight. Your reports should cover:
- Traffic trends: Users, sessions and pageviews over time.
- Keyword movement: Wins and losses on your priority terms.
- Technical health: PageSpeed scores, usability errors, crawl issues.
- Content stats: Which pages got the most eyeballs and engagement.
- Backlink data: New links, lost links, and the authority of linking domains.
- Conversions: Leads, sales or any action you care about.
If you don’t see these, ask for a report template that does. Better yet, agree on a fixed delivery date like the first week of each month so everyone’s aligned.
4. Own your own data
Nothing feels more helpless than watching your agency click through your Google Analytics dashboard while you hover in the background. Get direct access:
- Google Search Console: Grant your team at least “Editor” rights.
- GA4: Make yourself an “Editor” or “Administrator.”
- CMS, hosting and domain registrar: Keep those credentials in a shared vault you control.
- SEO tools: If they’re using Ahrefs, SEMrush or Moz, ask for multi-user access.
When the data’s in your hands, you’re less dependent, and you’ll spot any gaps in their work faster.
5. Do a quick technical health-check
You don’t need to be a dev expert to spot glaring problems. Find an agency that is offering a complementary audit to identify issues such as:
- Broken links/redirect chains
- Missing meta tags
- Uncrawlable pages
- Slow-loading pages
- Absent or incorrect schema markup
Google’s own SEO Starter Guide covers these basics and your agency should have walked you through each fix they implemented or identified. If they can’t, that’s a red flag.
6. Peek under the bonnet of your content
Good writing is non-negotiable. If you’re seeing page-after-page of me-too blog posts, ask:
- How are keywords chosen?
– And what search intent do they serve? - Can I review outlines before drafting starts?
– A quick glance at H2s and meta descriptions can save you from rewrites. - What’s the approval workflow?
– Editorial control is your safety net.
Remember: stuffing a page with keywords without satisfying user needs won’t stick. As Google puts it, “use words that people would use to look for your content, and place those words in prominent locations on the page”.
7. Scrutinise link-building methods
Backlinks help move the SEO needle but only if they’re high-quality and earned legitimately. Probe your agency:
- Which sites are they targeting?
– Industry blogs, local media, reputable directories? - What’s their outreach approach?
– Personalised emails, content partnerships, sponsorships? - How do they vet link quality?
– Domain Authority, relevance, traffic metrics?
If they hint at bulk buying or private-blog networks, walk away. Google’s guidelines are crystal: “Buying or selling links for ranking purposes … is considered link spam”.
8. Benchmark against competitors
A good agency doesn’t just work in a vacuum, they know how you stack up. Ask for a competitor analysis that shows:
- Keyword gaps: Terms they rank for that you don’t.
- Content gaps: Topics they cover, and you’re missing.
- Backlink comparison: How many and how authoritative their links are.
- Technical edge: Who loads faster, who’s more mobile-friendly.
No benchmark? No strategy.
9. Clear up communication
Frequent, two-way chat keeps projects on track. Agree on:
- Update cadence: Weekly emails? Bi-weekly calls? Monthly deep-dives?
- Primary contacts: Who does what on their side and who on yours.
- Escalation steps: If something goes wrong, who’s the backup?
If you’re waiting days for a simple status update, they’re not making you a priority.
10. Decide and move forward
Armed with these questions and checks, you’re ready:
- Raise your concerns: A confident agency will welcome feedback.
- Set a corrective window: “Show improvement in 30–60 days, or we part ways.”
- Plan your exit: Know your notice period, data ownership and any fees.
If they still fall short, and you’ve documented everything, you can end the relationship cleanly, without burning bridges.
Handy links for DIY or verification
- Google SEO Starter Guide (official basics)
- Search Console Help (performance reports)
- Google’s Link Schemes Policy (avoid penalties)
SEO doesn’t have to be a black box. By asking the right questions, insisting on transparency and keeping a close eye on data, you’ll transform that uneasy gut feeling into a clear path forward whether that leads to renewed collaboration or a fresh start.
