And how to tell whether the one you already have is doing a good job.
Choose an agency that can explain what it will do in your first 90 days, how it will measure progress against your starting point and what you'll keep control of if you leave, and that won't guarantee rankings. In Google's own words: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google."
Several of these come straight from Google's own advice on hiring an SEO (marked ). Open each one to see a good answer and a red flag. Google publishing these questions doesn't mean it endorses any agency, including us.
"No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a 'special relationship' with Google, or advertise a 'priority submit' to Google."
Source: Google Search Central, "Do you need an SEO?"
Your business should keep owner or administrator control of its Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile and website, and give the agency the access it needs on top. If an agency offers an audit before you hire them, Google advises granting only read access to Search Console at that stage, not write access.
Owner stays with you; the agency gets user access.
Admin stays with you; the agency gets the role it needs.
You stay the primary owner; the agency is added as a manager.
Admin access and the domain stay in the business's name.
There's no single right answer. Each suits a different business.
| Freelancer | Agency | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Often suits | Smaller budgets and focused projects | Businesses wanting a range of skills and ongoing delivery | Larger businesses with enough SEO work for a full-time role |
| Strengths | Direct contact, usually lower cost | Wider skills, processes and continuity | Deep knowledge of your business, full-time focus |
| Watch for | Capacity and cover when they're unavailable | Who actually does the work, and how direct contact is | Salary and tool costs, management, and keeping skills current |
Where we fit: Mako is a founder-led agency. You deal directly with the person doing the work, with written plans, monthly reports and published prices. We don't have a large team or several account managers. How we deliver SEO.
Judge two things separately: whether the agreed work is being delivered, and what's happening to your results. An agency can deliver every task and still see slow progress in a tough market. Equally, traffic can rise because of the season or more people searching your brand name, not because of the SEO.
Make sure you have owner or admin access to every account before anything else changes.
Download past reports and baseline data, and get a list of the pages, content and redirects they've added.
Confirm the notice period and what's handed over at the end.
Arrange access for the new provider before removing the old one, and keep tracking and redirects intact.
Recorded before any work starts. How we deliver SEO.
Every task has a reference and a priority, and unfinished work is carried forward, not dropped.
What we did, what changed and what's next, including the quiet months.
Martin Kenyon, the founder, is responsible for your SEO work, and you deal with him directly.
An example monthly report, shown with our own website's data rather than a client's.
With several account managers and specialists on call.
Google Ads management is an optional extra with us, not our core service.
SEO builds over time, and we'd rather be honest about that from the start.
We can scope technical work separately rather than putting you on a monthly plan.
Start with a free initial visibility check. We can review what's publicly visible and discuss what your existing reports show. A deeper assessment may require access to your Search Console and Analytics.
Prefer to talk? 01942 644870 or hello@makodigital.co.uk.
