Start with your own site
An agency that quotes before looking at your site is pricing a package, not your problem. Ask for a review first: which of your pages Google indexes, what slows them down on a phone, who ranks above you and why. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO says it from the other side: a good one "should ask questions about what makes your business unique, who your competitors are, how search results can help, and how your customers find you."
Ten questions to ask, and what a good answer sounds like
| Question | A good answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What did you find on my site? | Named pages and problems, ranked by what to fix first | A generic tool report, or a price before anyone has looked |
| 2. Which searches will you target? | The words your customers type, each matched to the page that will answer it | Only your brand name, or keywords nobody searches |
| 3. When will I see results? | First changes within weeks, clicks and enquiries within months, longer for contested national searches | A date for page one |
| 4. Can you guarantee first place? | No | Yes, or "almost" |
| 5. Whose name are the accounts in? | Yours: Search Console, Analytics and your Business Profile, with access for the agency | Accounts created and kept by the agency |
| 6. Will you tell me what you change? | A written list of changes, with the reason for each | "Our methods are confidential" |
| 7. How do you get links? | Reasons for real sites to link to you: listings, partners, press, useful pages | Hundreds of links sold as a package |
| 8. What will the monthly report show? | Work done, positions, clicks and enquiries, and next month's plan | Rankings only, or nothing in writing |
| 9. What do you know about my sector and city? | How your customers search, with examples | The same pitch for a riad and a law firm |
| 10. How long is the contract, and the notice? | Both in writing before you sign | Vague answers, or a long term without reports |
Google's list overlaps with this one. It adds the agency's experience in your country or city, and how long it has been in business.
Warning signs that should end the conversation
- A guaranteed ranking. In Google's words: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." The same page warns against SEOs who claim a "special relationship" with Google or a "priority submit".
- Links by the hundred. Google's spam policies count buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam, and the site that receives them carries the risk.
- Your accounts in their name. If the agency leaves with your Search Console, Analytics or Business Profile, you start again with no history.
- Secrecy. Google again: "Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do."
- Cold messages promising page one. Google advises caution with agencies "that email you out of the blue". A WhatsApp message from a stranger is no different.
- A Google Partner badge offered as proof of SEO. Google Partners is a Google Ads programme. It says nothing about organic search.
- GEO sold as a separate product, or a guaranteed place in ChatGPT. Google writes that optimising for its AI features is still SEO, and nobody owns the answers. Ask what the GEO offer adds to the SEO already done on your site. See GEO vs SEO.
Agency, freelancer or someone in-house?
| Option | When it fits | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | One site, one city, a defined job such as a technical fix or a Business Profile | Who covers when they are away, and whether one person can handle technical work, writing and links |
| Agency | A site that needs technical work, content, local SEO and links at once, or several languages | Who actually does the work: specialists, or an account manager passing it on |
| In-house SEO | A company that publishes every week and has a marketing team | One person rarely covers everything, so an outside audit or a consultant fills the gaps |
Many companies mix them: someone in-house who publishes, with an agency or an SEO consultant for the technical side and the plan.
Questions that matter in Morocco
- Which languages do you write in? Your customers may search in French, Arabic, English or darija written in Latin letters. Ask who writes each language and how the versions are linked for Google. Our guide to SEO in French, English and Arabic explains the setup.
- How do you handle Google Maps without a street address? In a medina or a new district, the pin and the wording of the address decide whether customers find the door. See our Google Maps guide.
- Where do your links come from? Moroccan directories, press and partners are relevant to a Moroccan business in a way that unrelated foreign sites are not.
- What do your directory profiles show? In our study of 70 searches, a directory such as Sortlist appeared in the first ten results of 27 of the 46 agency searches. An agency's profile and reviews there take a minute to check.
- Why is there no price on the site? Many Moroccan agencies quote after an audit, as we do. Our SEO cost guide gathers the ranges other agencies publish, so you can tell whether a quote is in line.
- How do you handle AI answers? Ask which assistants they check, from what data, and whether it is part of the SEO work or a separate bill. Only Google and Bing give site owners figures of their own, so a report full of ChatGPT rankings deserves a question about its source.
Our own answers
We would rather be judged on the same list. This is what we tell every client before they sign.
| Question | Our answer |
|---|---|
| What did you find? | The free audit: a written summary of the main problems, ranked by what to fix first, usually within a few days |
| A guarantee? | None. We commit to the work, in writing |
| The accounts? | Search Console, Analytics and your Business Profile stay in your name. We get access |
| The report? | A plan before we start, then a report every month: work done, positions, clicks, enquiries and appearances in Google's AI Overviews |
| Links? | A first round of links is included. Larger campaigns are quoted separately |
| The contract? | Six months minimum, stated in the quote |
| Languages? | We write in English, French and Arabic |
| Meetings? | In person in Tangier, by video everywhere else |
| AI answers? | Part of the normal SEO work, with no separate budget. The audit includes a first look at your visibility in AI answers |