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What should you check when choosing an SEO specialist?

Specialist, agency or doing it yourself: the same questions apply either way.

Published 29 October 2026 · Updated 29 October 2026

In short

  1. A good SEO specialist reviews your site first and then makes recommendations.
  2. They should be able to explain what they will change and why.
  3. Search Console and site access should stay with you.
  4. Stay away from anyone who says "we guarantee first place": Google states that no one can guarantee it.

Specialist, agency or yourself?

For a small local business, a few pages on the site and a Business Profile do most of the work; you can make the basic changes yourself. If you have no time to write content, fix technical errors and measure regularly, handing it to a specialist or an agency makes sense. One person works more closely with you; an agency can run content, design and ads together. Whichever you choose, the questions below are the same.

Questions to ask in the meeting

  1. Can you show examples of past work? Ask for real work shared with the client's permission.
  2. Do you follow Google's search rules? Ask whether they know the spam policies on Search Central.
  3. What else do you recommend besides organic search? For a local business, the Business Profile often comes before the website.
  4. How will you measure results, and when? Measurable things such as clicks, impressions, calls and forms; SEO results take months.
  5. Will you tell me in advance what you will change? Every change to the site should be reported to you in writing.
  6. What happens when we stop? The content written and the accounts should stay with you.

Warning signs

  • A firm ranking promise or a claim of a "special relationship with Google".
  • Work that is not explained, described as a "secret method".
  • Suggestions to buy links in bulk or leave hundreds of links on other sites.
  • Pages where the same text is duplicated with only the city or district name changed ("doorway pages").
  • Suggestions that break Business Profile rules, such as adding keywords to the business name or opening a fake address.

How to compare prices

Compare offers by what is included, not by the monthly fee: how many pages will be written, whether technical fixes are included and how often reports will come. We describe package contents in What should an SEO package include?

Sources

The information above was taken from these pages on the date shown and may change.

Outside Türkiye we offer SEO, priced by written quote: see SEO services or contact us.