What Should You Know to Choose The Best SEO Services?
TL;DR Asking several agencies for an offer is the easiest way to choose SEO services, and the hardest part is comparing what comes back. Each proposal has a different format, scope and price. This guide shows what a professional proposal should contain and which warning signs to look for. If you are still choosing whom […]
TL;DR
- A good SEO proposal is based on a first look at your site and your real competitors, not on a template.
- It lists specific activities with examples (technical work, content, links and mentions, analytics, AI search) and explains how quality is checked.
- It separates the agency’s fee from external costs (sponsored articles, translations, tools), so you can compare offers.
- Red flags: no findings about your site, only quantities (“20 links a month”), elements you said you don’t need, and one total with no breakdown.
Asking several agencies for an offer is the easiest way to choose SEO services, and the hardest part is comparing what comes back. Each proposal has a different format, scope and price. This guide shows what a professional proposal should contain and which warning signs to look for. If you are still choosing whom to ask, start with the questions to ask an SEO agency.
Make your brand visible – from Google to AI chatbots.
What should a good SEO proposal include?
Companies usually ask several agencies for an offer at once. Comparing them is hard: each has a different format, scope and strategy. A good proposal is clear even if you’re not technical, and it’s written for your site, not copied from a template. It should include:
| Element | What a good proposal shows | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Initial technical analysis | Key findings on indexing, redirects and canonicals, structure and internal links, speed, metadata; what needs IT work | No findings about your site at all |
| Competitor analysis | Who you compete with in search, their visibility, key keyword groups and your current positions | Generic market talk |
| Proposed activities | Technical support, content, links and mentions, analytics, reporting, AI search, tied to your goals | Elements you said you don’t need (a template) |
| Examples | Sample links, published articles, case studies | No examples and no explanation why |
| Quality criteria | How link sources and content are chosen and checked | Only quantities (“20 links/month”) |
| Costs | Agency fee separated from external costs (sponsored articles, translations, tools) | One total with no breakdown |
| Communication | Reporting, calls, response time | “24/7 support” with no details |
An initial technical analysis
Before proposing anything, a professional agency looks at your site: whether it can be crawled and indexed, redirects and canonical tags, structure and internal linking, keyword optimisation, page speed and metadata. The proposal should summarise what it found, what needs fixing first and where your IT team will be needed. The full technical SEO audit comes after you start working together.
A competitor analysis
The proposal should show how your site performs in organic results compared to the sites you actually compete with: their visibility over time, the keyword groups that matter for your business, and where you rank for them now. That sets the starting point, shows untapped potential and points to the right strategy. A look at competitors’ strengths also helps estimate how long it will take to catch up.
Specific activities, not buzzwords
Most proposals include content, links and mentions, technical support, analytics and reporting, and in 2026 also visibility in AI search. Check that each is described concretely and tied to the findings above. Be careful with very ambitious ideas, such as ten influencer collaborations or several e-books a month: they take a lot of time and money on both sides. And if an offer includes elements you said you don’t need, it wasn’t written for you.
How quality is ensured
One link isn’t worth the same as another. Ask how the agency chooses link sources: topical relevance, real traffic and audience, editorial context. Tool metrics like Domain Rating or Domain Authority can help compare sites, but they aren’t Google’s signals. An offer with 10 well-chosen links is often worth more than one with 20. Paid placements should be marked rel=”sponsored” (Google), and link networks break Google’s spam policies (Google).
For content, a good proposal describes what the articles will cover, who they’re for, what they should achieve, which questions and keywords they target and who will write them. Example topics are a good sign. Length should follow the topic, not a character count (Google).
Costs you can compare
Price often decides, especially for companies new to SEO. Lower prices usually mean less or lower-quality work, so compare scope and quality first. Offers that break the total into areas and separate external costs (sponsored articles, translations, tools) are easier to trust and to compare: you see what the agency’s own work costs.
Let your customers find you, wherever they look.
FAQ
How much does SEO cost?
It depends on the site, market, competition and scope. Compare the agency’s fee and external costs separately, and compare what’s included, not just the total.
Why do SEO proposals differ so much?
Agencies propose different strategies and scopes. A proposal based on an analysis of your site and competitors is more reliable than a generic package.
Should an SEO proposal guarantee rankings?
No. No one can guarantee positions in Google, and Google itself warns against agencies that do (Google). A good proposal sets measurable goals and explains how progress will be reported.
Are more links always better?
No. Ten relevant, well-chosen links are often worth more than twenty random ones, and link schemes break Google’s spam policies (Google).
Sources
- Google: Do you need an SEO?
- Google: Spam policies – link spam
- Google: Qualify your outbound links
- Google: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
About the author: This article was prepared by the Insightland SEO and GEO team. Insightland is a Wrocław-based agency, part of the Hexe Capital Tech Hub, that connects business, tech and data: SEO and GEO, performance marketing, UX and analytics, and SEO and AI training. Contact us.
