You’re paying £3,000 a month. Maybe more. You’ve been with them for six months, maybe a year. And you’re starting to wonder whether you’re actually getting anything for it.
The monthly reports arrive on time. They’re full of graphs and percentages and phrases like “continued optimisation” and “strategic keyword targeting.” Your account manager sounds confident on calls. Everything looks professional.
But your phone isn’t ringing any more than it was before. Your enquiry form is still quiet. And when you ask direct questions, you get jargon instead of answers.
If you’re questioning whether your current SEO is worth the money, you probably already know the answer.
I’ve been doing SEO for a long-ass time. I’ve worked agency-side as a contractor, in-house as an interim manager, and as an SEO freelancer and consultant. I’ve seen brilliant agencies and absolute cowboys. And I’ve inherited enough disasters from previous providers to know exactly what “taking the piss” looks like.
Here’s what to watch for.
Your SEO reports are full of vanity metrics and empty of business results
A good SEO report should answer one question: is this bringing in business?
Instead, most agency reports are designed to look impressive rather than be useful. Twenty pages of graphs showing impressions, clicks, “visibility scores,” and ranking movements for keywords you’ve never heard of.
It’s misdirection. Like a magician drawing your attention to one hand while the other does the trick. Except in this case, there is no trick. There’s just the distraction.
I worked with a recruitment software company who’d been with their agency for eighteen months. Every monthly report showed “significant gains in organic visibility” and “continued ranking improvements.” The graphs went up and to the right. Everything looked great.
When I actually dug into the data, they were ranking for dozens of keywords that got fewer than ten searches a month. Phrases like “bespoke recruitment database migration solutions” that nobody outside the agency had ever typed into Google.
Meanwhile, the commercial keywords – the ones people search when they’re ready to buy – hadn’t moved at all.
The agency had spent eighteen months optimising for easy wins that looked good in reports but brought in zero business. That’s not SEO. That’s theatre.
A decent report should show you:
- Which pages are bringing in traffic from people ready to buy.
- How many enquiries came from organic search this month.
- What’s been done and why it should lead to more business.
- What’s planned next and how it connects to your actual goals.
If your reports don’t connect SEO activity to business results, ask why. If they can’t give you a straight answer, that tells you everything.
You’re ranking for keywords nobody searches for
This is the easiest way to look like you’re delivering results without actually delivering anything.
There are millions of long-tail keyword variations out there. Most of them get single-digit searches per month. Some get zero. It’s trivially easy to rank for these because nobody else is bothering to try.
An agency can spend months “optimising” your site for these nothing keywords, report impressive-looking ranking gains, and charge you thousands for the privilege.
I’ve seen agencies proudly report “page one rankings for 47 new keywords” when those 47 keywords combined get fewer searches than one decent commercial term.
Your agency should be targeting keywords that match the intent of people ready to hire you. Not obscure variations that make their reports look good.
Ask them: what’s the search volume for these keywords? How many of them have commercial intent? How many enquiries have come from these rankings?
If they can’t answer clearly, or if they start talking about “building topical authority” and “long-term visibility strategy,” they’re deflecting. Good SEOs can explain exactly why they’re targeting specific keywords and how those keywords connect to your business goals.
Communication has turned into jargon and deflection
When you ask a simple question, you should get a simple answer.
“Why hasn’t our traffic improved?” should not be answered with “We’re currently in the indexation consolidation phase and expect to see momentum from our E-E-A-T enhancement strategy in Q3.”
That’s not an explanation. That’s a smoke bomb.
Good SEOs can explain what they’re doing in plain English. If your agency can’t – or won’t – that’s a red flag.
I’ve heard from business owners who’ve been afraid to ask questions because their agency made them feel stupid for not understanding. That’s not expertise. That’s intimidation. And it’s often covering for a lack of actual results.
If you’re paying £2,000-5,000+ a month, you deserve clear answers. If asking “what have you done this month and why should it help my business?” results in fifteen minutes of jargon, something’s wrong.
The same goes for slow responses. If your account manager takes days to reply to emails, or if calls keep getting rescheduled, you’re not a priority. And for what you’re paying, you should be.
The strategy hasn’t changed since month one
SEO isn’t a one-time setup. It’s ongoing optimisation based on what’s working and what isn’t.
If your agency is doing the same things in month twelve that they did in month one, they’re either not paying attention or they’ve run out of ideas.
Good SEO involves constant testing. Trying different approaches. Adjusting based on results. If nothing’s changed in your strategy for six months, ask why.
I’ve seen agencies deliver a “strategy document” in the first month and then basically coast for the rest of the engagement. The same tasks, the same reports, the same calls – just with different dates.
That’s not strategy. That’s maintenance. And maintenance doesn’t justify premium monthly fees.
Your agency should be learning from your campaign. What’s working? What isn’t? What have they tried that didn’t pan out? What are they planning to test next?
If they can’t answer these questions, they’re not actively working on your account. You’re paying for a relationship, not results.
You’re dealing with SEO juniors while paying for senior SEO expertise
Here’s how a lot of agencies work: a senior person handles the pitch and wins your business. Then you get handed to an account manager. The actual SEO work gets done by someone you’ve never met – often the most junior person on the team.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with junior staff doing SEO work. Everyone has to start somewhere. But you should know who’s working on your account and what their experience level is.
If you’re paying senior rates, you should be getting senior expertise. Ask your agency: who specifically is working on my account? What’s their experience? Can I speak to them directly?
I’ve spoken to business owners who’d been with their agency for over a year and had never had a conversation with the person actually doing their SEO. They’d only ever spoken to account managers – people whose job is to keep you happy and paying, not to do the technical work.
That’s a client management structure, not an SEO service.
You’ve been promised results that never materialised
Every SEO knows that results take time. It’s not an instant fix. Anyone promising page one rankings in a month is lying or planning to do something that’ll get your site penalised.
But “SEO takes time” shouldn’t be a permanent excuse.
If you’ve been with an agency for six months and there’s no movement at all on commercial keywords, something’s wrong. If you’ve been with them for a year and enquiries from organic search haven’t improved, something’s wrong.
A good agency will set realistic expectations upfront. They’ll tell you what to expect at three months, six months, twelve months. They’ll be honest about what’s achievable given your budget and competition.
If your agency promised the moon and delivered nothing, and their only response is “it takes time” or “Google’s algorithms are unpredictable,” they’re making excuses for failure.
They can’t explain what they’re actually doing
This one’s simple. If you ask your agency what they’ve done this month and they can’t give you a clear, specific answer, that’s a problem.
“Ongoing optimisation” is not an answer. “Continued link building” is not an answer. “Technical SEO improvements” is not an answer.
What pages did you work on? What changes did you make? Why did you make them? What results do you expect to see?
If they can’t tell you, either they haven’t done anything, or what they’ve done isn’t connected to any strategy they can articulate.
You’re paying for expertise and execution. You should know what you’re getting for your money.
When to have the conversation
If you’re recognising more than one or two of these red flags, it’s time to have a direct conversation with your agency.
Not a passive-aggressive email. Not dropping hints on your monthly call. A direct conversation where you ask:
- What specific results have you delivered in the last six months?
- Which of our commercial keywords have improved?
- How many enquiries have come from your SEO work?
- What’s not working, and what are you doing differently?
A good agency will welcome these questions. They’ll have clear answers. They might even be relieved that you’re finally engaging properly with the work.
A bad agency will deflect, make excuses, or try to make you feel unreasonable for asking.
When to walk away
Sometimes the honest answer is that your agency isn’t delivering and it’s time to find someone else.
That feels scary. You’ve invested months, maybe years. There’s the sunk cost fallacy whispering that if you just give them a bit more time, things will turn around.
But every month you stay with an agency that isn’t delivering is a month you’re not spending with someone who could actually help. The cost isn’t just the monthly fee – it’s the opportunity cost of results you’re not getting.
If you’ve had the direct conversation and nothing’s changed, if you’re still getting jargon instead of answers, if your business results haven’t improved despite months of “ongoing optimisation” – it’s time to move on.
What good SEO looks like
For comparison, here’s what you should expect from an agency or consultant who’s actually doing their job:
- Clear, jargon-free communication.
- Reports that connect SEO activity to business results.
- Rankings for keywords that people actually search when they’re ready to buy.
- Strategy that evolves based on what’s working.
- Direct access to the people doing the work.
- Honest conversations about what’s achievable and what isn’t.
None of this is rocket science. It’s just basic professionalism. But it’s remarkable how many agencies fail to deliver even this.
Already questioning whether your SEO is worth it?
If you’ve read this far and recognised your own situation, you probably already know what you need to do.
Book a discovery call and let’s talk honestly about whether your current provider is capable of delivering what you need. I’ll look at what you’re getting now, tell you what’s really broken, and help you figure out your next move – whether that’s with me or not.
