Search engine placement services, judged on evidence

Agencies with a verified published price

How to vet a search engine placement provider

1. Ask Google's own interview questions. Google publishes a list for anyone hiring search help: ask for examples of previous work and success stories, ask whether they follow Google Search Essentials, ask what results they expect and in what timeframe, ask how they measure success, and ask about their experience in your industry and location. Ask all five and write down the answers.
2. Treat any ranking guarantee as disqualifying. Google says plainly that no one can guarantee a number one ranking and warns against firms claiming a special relationship with Google or offering priority submission. A guarantee is either worthless, because it covers a query nobody searches, or it is a sign the provider is willing to say things that are not true.
3. Start with read-only access. Google's guidance suggests granting only read access to Search Console for an initial audit rather than write access. Extend permissions once there is a signed scope and the provider has explained what they intend to change. The same caution applies to the content management system and the ad accounts.
4. Get the deliverables named, not summarised. A monthly fee should map to countable work: pages published, technical fixes shipped, profiles maintained, outreach conducted. Ask for last month's deliverable list from an existing client with the names removed. Providers who cannot produce one are selling a subscription rather than a service.

What the work consists of when it is real

Three streams do most of the work. The first is making the site eligible: crawlable pages, sensible URL structure, content present in the HTML rather than dependent on scripts that may not run, unique and descriptive titles, and pages that load acceptably on a phone. The second is answering real questions: pages built around what buyers actually type rather than around how the company describes itself internally. The third is standing, meaning the mentions, reviews and links that establish the business as a known entity.

Nearly every honest proposal is some mix of those three, and the useful question is which one the provider believes is your binding constraint and what evidence points there. A proposal that leads with a promised number of links is leading with the layer Google polices most closely, and one that leads with a promised ranking is leading with something Google says cannot be promised at all.

How to read a quote without being misled

Compare on scope rather than on price. Ask each candidate to state how many pages they will publish, which technical work is included, whether copywriting is inside the fee, who handles the Google Business Profile if local search matters, and what reporting looks like. Then ask what is explicitly excluded, which is usually the more revealing question. Two quotes that look far apart often converge once the exclusions are on the table.

Ask about the exit as well. Notice periods, who owns the content that was published, and whether analytics and Search Console properties are in your accounts all decide what a bad choice costs. Google's guidance notes that the site owner is ultimately responsible for the actions of any company they hire, which is the argument for keeping control of your own properties and for asking the provider to share every change they make along with the reasoning behind it.

Questions people actually ask

Can anyone guarantee a first-page ranking?

No. Google's guidance on hiring search help states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking and advises being wary of firms that claim to, or that allege a special relationship with Google. Treat a guarantee as a reason to remove a provider from the shortlist.

Is paid advertising the same as placement?

No, and Google states that advertising with Google has no effect on a site's presence in organic search results and that it costs nothing to appear organically. Paid and organic are separate purchases with separate economics, and a proposal should be clear about which one you are buying.

How long before results appear?

It depends on how the site is currently indexed, how competitive the queries are, and how fast new pages can be published. Google's hiring guidance tells buyers to ask what results are expected and in what timeframe, so make the provider write down their own expectation and hold the review against it.

What access should a provider be given?

Read access to Search Console during an audit, per Google's guidance, then whatever the signed scope requires. Keep the domain, hosting, analytics and ad accounts registered to your business throughout, with the provider added as a user rather than as the owner.

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