Outsourcing SEO: what to hand over, how to choose a company, and how to stay in control

Outsourcing SEO is common and often sensible: few businesses need a full-time technical SEO, a content team and a link-building specialist. But “SEO” covers very different work, and providers are rarely equally strong across all of it. This guide helps you decide what to outsource, how to pick a provider, and how to stay in control of your own site.

The parts of SEO

Google's guidance lists what an SEO can help with, including “Review of your site content or structure”, “Technical advice on website development”, “Content development”, “Keyword research” and “Expertise in specific markets and geographies”.^[1] In practice, the work falls into four groups:

What to outsource, what to keep

Outsource the work that needs scarce skills or variable capacity. Keep the decisions that need knowledge of your business.

For links specifically, see our outsourcing link building guide.

Types of SEO provider

• Freelance specialist: deep skill in one area, limited capacity. Good for audits and focused projects.
• Full-service agency: breadth and account management. Check who actually does the work.
• Specialist provider (technical, content or links only): depth in one area. Combine several if needed.
• Fractional / in-house-style lead: a part-time senior person who directs other providers. Useful once you have several.

Questions to ask

Google publishes a list of questions to ask a prospective SEO. They are a solid starting point:^[1]

• “Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?”
• “Do you follow the Google Search Essentials (previously known as Webmaster Guidelines)?”
• “What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?”
• “What's your experience in my industry?”
• “How long have you been in business?”
• “Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?”

We'd add three of our own:

• Who exactly will work on my account, and what do they do in a typical month?
• How do you obtain links, and how are paid placements qualified?
• What do I keep if we stop working together: reports, content, access?

Google also suggests checking references: “Ask past clients if they felt that this SEO provided useful service, was easy to work with, and produced positive results.”^[1]

Red flags

Google's page lists several warning signs. Treat them as hard stops:^[1]

• Guaranteed rankings, a claimed “special relationship” with Google, or a “priority submit” to Google.
• Unsolicited emails offering SEO: “Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that email you out of the blue.”
• Secrecy: “Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do.”
• Asking you to link to them: “You should never have to link to an SEO.”
• “Link popularity schemes” or submitting your site “to thousands of search engines”.

Writing the scope

A one-page scope prevents most disputes. Include:

1. Goal: what business outcome you want (leads, sales, visibility for a product line).
2. In scope: the specific work, by month or by project.
3. Out of scope: what isn't included (development work, paid ads, design).
4. Deliverables: what you receive and how it's reported.
5. Approvals: what needs your sign-off before it happens.
6. Access: what accounts they get, at what permission level.
7. Commercials: price, term, notice period, and what happens to work in progress if you stop.

Realistic timelines

Google's SEO Starter Guide is clear that changes take time: “Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months,” and “you likely want to wait a few weeks to assess whether your work had beneficial effects in Google Search results.”^[2] Plan reviews accordingly. Judge early months on work delivered and quality, not on rankings alone.

Handover and access

• Own your accounts. Search Console, analytics, CMS and domain registrar should be in your name. Grant the provider access; don't let them create the accounts for you.
• Least privilege. Give the access each task needs, and remove it when the engagement ends.
• Change log. Ask for a record of every change made to your site.
• Exit plan. Agree in advance what you receive at the end: reports, content files, link records.

Measuring the work

Measure on three levels, from fastest to slowest to move:

1. Delivery: was the agreed work done, on time, to standard?
2. Leading indicators: indexing, impressions, rankings for target queries, referring domains.
3. Outcomes: organic traffic to target pages, leads, revenue.

For budgeting, see how much SEO costs. If you are an agency outsourcing on behalf of clients, read the white label SEO guide.