The uncomfortable question
If you're paying an SEO retainer right now, try answering this: what specific work happened last month? Not 'they optimized things' — what pages were changed, what was fixed, what was published, and what moved because of it? If you can't answer, you might be paying for a report subscription with an agency logo on it. This is the most common situation we find in audits, and the businesses in it are rarely bad at picking vendors — the industry is just built to be unauditable. Let's fix that.
The 30-minute self-audit
First, open Google Search Console — if you don't have access to your own Search Console, that's finding number one, and it's a big one. Look at the Performance report over the life of your contract: are clicks and impressions trending up, flat, or down? Seasonality matters, so compare year over year where you can. Then check the Pages report: how many pages are indexed, and has that number grown as your agency 'built out content'?
Second, look at the website itself. When was a page last meaningfully changed? Right-click, view source, and search for 'schema' or 'application/ld+json' — structured data is table stakes, and its absence after a year of retainers tells you the technical work never happened. Run the homepage through Google's free PageSpeed Insights: a failing mobile score after months of 'optimization' is not a work in progress, it's work not done.
Third, check your Google Business Profile. Are the categories specific and correct? Are services filled out? Has anything — a post, a photo, a review response — happened in the last 30 days? The profile is the highest-leverage asset in local search, and it's also where neglect shows fastest.
What real monthly SEO work looks like
A legitimate month has named deliverables: specific technical fixes with before/after evidence, pages created or substantially improved (with URLs), Google Business Profile activity, rankings tracked across your actual service area rather than one flattering keyword, and a report that connects work to movement in plain English. It won't always be a big month — SEO has grind phases — but it should always be an accountable month.
What it never looks like: 'visibility scores' with no methodology, impressions celebrated while clicks stay flat, links from mystery blogs you've never heard of, and recommendations that are always another plugin. And here's a structural tell: if your agency can't touch your website's code — if every technical fix requires 'coordinating with your developer' or installing something — then the highest-leverage half of SEO is permanently outside their reach, and you're paying full price for the other half.
Three questions that sort the field
One: 'What did you change last month, and where can I see it?' Real work has URLs. Two: 'What happens in the first two weeks if we make a change today?' Competent shops name mechanisms — re-indexing, profile updates, specific fixes — while report-sellers talk about foundations and patience. Three: 'Do I own everything if we part ways?' Your site, your Search Console, your Business Profile, your content. Any hesitation on that answer is your cue to leave, and possibly your explanation for why leaving feels hard.
None of this requires firing anyone today. It requires a half hour and honest answers. And if the answers come up empty, get a second opinion before renewing anything — ours is free, it's specific to your site and market, and we'll tell you the truth even when the truth is that your current agency is doing fine.