Before paying for SEO, make sure you understand what you are trying to achieve and how the work will be assessed. A clear plan is more useful than a promise to put you on page one.
1. Identify your goals
Choose a business outcome, such as more suitable enquiries for a particular service. Define the audience and genuine service area. A high position for an irrelevant phrase tells you very little about whether the work is helping.
2. Review the starting point
Check the existing pages, technical issues and available search evidence. Record what is already working. An SEO audit can separate a real obstacle from a long list of low-priority warnings.
3. Agree a realistic programme
Set out the work, responsibilities, access and costs. Separate technical repairs, improvements to service pages and any new articles. New content should answer a useful question; adding fresh pages on a fixed schedule does not guarantee rankings.
4. Ask for understandable reporting
Reports should explain what changed and why. Look for evidence connected to your goals, rather than a list of search positions with no context. Note seasonality, tracking changes and the limits of the data before drawing conclusions.
5. Review and refine
Check whether the agreed changes were delivered and whether they helped the intended audience. Some improvements become visible sooner than others. No supplier controls a search engine’s decisions, and results do not follow a guaranteed timetable.
You should retain ownership of your website and accounts, understand any ongoing commitments and know how work will be handed over. Be cautious about undisclosed link purchases or an offer that cannot explain what it will actually do.
Seven Creative can discuss search engine optimisation around your business goals. Start with what you need to achieve and the evidence already available.
Sources and further reading
Guidance checked 26 October 2026: Google’s advice on choosing an SEO.
Illustrations
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.