SEO is something that a business or organization can perform in-house. There are several advantages to this, such as understanding its own culture and goals better and having full control over its digital marketing strategy.
However, not everyone can afford to maintain an in-house team of SEO specialists who are expecting a yearly salary of over USD$50,000. That figure will inevitably grow as they add AI to their growing skillset—five to sixfold, in fact. (1)(2)
Regardless, they need SEO. So they go for the next best thing: SEO firms.
Everyone has at least some inkling of what an SEO firm does, but today’s topic will tackle more than that. In my post about how an SEO agency can make itself legit, I explained that agencies using black-hat or bannable SEO are a dime a dozen in the industry. Because of this, even legit ones can’t avoid allegations of being scammers.
With outsourcing SEO being favored even by large companies, it’s only fitting that you get a no-BS picture of an SEO firm’s duties. Starting with what it can’t and shouldn’t do.
What It Can’t Do
Manage Your Business
An SEO firm or agency is just that: a service that helps improve brand visibility in search. It has no business creating new products (or fixing bad ones), dictating marketing strategy, or responding to angry calls or negative reviews. It isn’t responsible for running your business.
I know that’s a no-brainer, but some expect too much from an SEO agency. They may offer advice and do SEO-related work, but that’s about it.
Ask Search Engines to Rank You High
Search engines answer to no one but themselves. Nobody, not even an SEO firm, can ask them to rank certain websites higher, let alone pay them to do so. Sure, it would’ve been a far easier way for search engines to make money, but users wouldn’t appreciate that.
Understand Your Company’s Voice Best
As a third party, an SEO firm can’t guarantee that it knows how to best carry your brand’s image. As mentioned earlier, in-house SEO does that better but costs far more to perform.
As such, both the firm and the client need to be on the same wavelength when planning an SEO strategy. Good communication mitigates the odds of mistakes along the way. The firm will do everything it can to deliver the best results, so it pays to temper your expectations.
Speed Up The Process
For all its advantages, SEO is one of the slowest routes to business success. While there’s no telling exactly how long, it can take up to a year for the results to build enough authority. Anyone who guarantees results within a specific time frame should be avoided.
There are no shortcuts to proper SEO. Even if you’re its only client, the firm can’t magically flip a switch to hasten the process. However, they can keep it going as long as it maintains a sufficient budget (and good return on investment).
What It Shouldn’t Do
Make Guarantees
Nothing upsets a person more than empty promises or ones that fall short. SEO specialists know better than to make guarantees like #1 ranking or results overnight, as nobody knows exactly what’s in a search engine algorithm. If they do, they risk being branded a fraud.
There’s an exception to this: they guarantee that there are no guarantees in SEO. Cheeky, yes, but it’s the truth.
Leave You Out To Dry
SEO specialists are human and, thus, prone to mistakes. If a problem arises from the SEO strategy they developed, they’re responsible for remedying it as soon as possible (and, if the situation calls for it, offer compensation).
What they don’t do is abandon their clients to fix the mess themselves. This is avoidable by studying the agency and its experience, not to mention how well it knows its fundamentals. More on the latter in a bit.
Claim Insider Connections
An SEO firm can’t claim that it knows what exactly goes into a search engine’s algorithm. No one can, except for the engineers managing it.
If it were true, it would have serious implications for the industry as a whole. Besides being trade secrets, algorithms being public knowledge risks hackers and other unsavory people developing effective workarounds. SEO, as we know it, will be rendered pointless.
Fundamentals Are Key
The range of services an SEO firm provides varies, with some even offering non-SEO ones like web design or public relations. While the diversity helps clients feel at ease (they only have to stick to one service provider), it also risks diluting the firm’s core capabilities.
On that note, a thought comes to mind. I recall watching a show where the host went all over the U.S. to check out the best pizza places. There was this piece of advice that said: “If you want to know how good their pizza is, try their cheese pizza.” And it makes sense, given that cheese pizza is the most basic of all the known options.
If they can’t even get that right, they might not be worth your attention.
The same principle applies to SEO, namely when choosing an SEO firm to work with. The basics are the building blocks, and getting rusty on them risks undermining the quality of the additional services. As such, the firm should be capable of at least the following:
Keyword Research
Contrary to popular belief, keywords remain a key part of SEO in the era of AI-dominated search. It’s just that the nature of the quintessential search query has radically changed, from phrases to whole sentences. The intent behind the queries has also become more complex, going beyond the usual “what” or “who” ones.
It doesn’t matter if the aim is to rank high in search results or, more importantly, get cited or mentioned in AI-generated summaries. Keyword research should be a part of any SEO firm’s workflow. Without it, building search visibility would be nearly impossible.
Guest Posting
Creating content is one thing, but creating quality content is another. Google is clear about the kind of content it wants to see: one that’s made to help users, not trick search engines. This is true whether the content is published on your website or a third-party website.
Because not everyone has the time or resources to make content in-house, SEO firms are typically contracted to do guest posting. On their clients’ behalf, they communicate with publishers about getting their content published (whether made in-house or by the firm’s team of content writers). They also ensure the content adheres to publisher guidelines.
Link Building
Although PageRank is a thing of the past, its legacy carries on. Incorporating quality links continues to be a key aspect of SEO, even amid AI summaries that link information to the relevant source. This isn’t about to change anytime soon.
Link building is the bread and butter of many SEO agencies, including yours truly. Quality content is only half the battle; the other half involves placing relevant links for readers to access. Search engine algorithms also benefit from this due to PageRank (or a variation thereof) being a core mechanic.
If you focus on these fundamentals during your review, you can get a good idea of how the firm performs the rest of its services. All three are mutually related, so refrain from judging using just one of them. You don’t want your choice of SEO firm to be a money pit.
Be Picky With Your SEO Firm
To wrap up, an SEO firm:
This list is by no means exhaustive. However, when an SEO firm doesn’t seem to meet one of these criteria, you may want to tread lightly.
References
1. “SEO salaries in 2025: Survey insights on how much SEO specialists really earn,” Source: https://seranking.com/blog/seo-salaries/
2. “2025 Previsible State of SEO Jobs Report,” Source: https://previsible.io/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-previsible-state-of-seo-jobs-report.pdf