SEO is a process, not a one-off service: continuous work on your site so that more customers find you through Google. Results come after months of methodical work, not from a checklist.
What you are actually buying
Here is the first distinction that protects you from surprises. A one-time site optimisation is not SEO but rather an audit: a snapshot of what is currently wrong. Useful, but by itself it moves nothing. The real service is a repeating process: review, changes to the site, measuring the effect, and further changes based on what was learned. That is why it is paid monthly, and why the first visible results arrive after months while what accumulates keeps working for years. It is important to distinguish an audit from active SEO work, since the former is a prerequisite for executing the long-term service properly.
The work is based on three areas. Technical optimisation: the site loads fast, has no broken pages or links, and Google reads it without problems. Content: every important service and every question your customers ask has a page and a position that answers in the words people actually search with. And work outside the site: mentions (citations) and links from other sites that build authority. The third pillar is the most abused one: authority is earned slowly, with useful content and a real reputation.
You are buying hours of expert work on specific pages, not a position: the position depends on your competitors and on Google itself. The measure worth following is enquiries from search. Total traffic is easily manipulated with topics unrelated to your business, and there are people who take exactly that approach to show results with no real value for your business.
What each budget realistically buys
25 – 150 € / month
This buys a few hours. Enough for a report and small fixes, not for strategy and content. Not a scam in itself. It becomes one when sold as "full SEO optimisation".
400 – 1 200 € / month
Real monthly work: technical upkeep, a few pieces of content with reasoning behind them, analysis of results. The range where most SMEs see movement after four to six months.
2 000 € + / month or per project
Audit and strategy for a large site, a shop with thousands of pages, several markets. Often paid once for the analysis and separately for execution.
The first questions
S1
Which metric will you report to me on, and why that one?
Why you ask
The answer to this tells you almost everything. Traffic and rankings move easily and do not mean revenue. Whoever offers them as the primary measure either does not know, or is counting on you not knowing.
A good answer
Ties the work to something the business counts: enquiries, orders, calls. Admits the first months are reported on intermediate signals, and says which.
A bad answer
"We will increase traffic" or "we will get you into the top 3". Nobody can guarantee a position, and anyone guaranteeing one knows it.
How to check
Ask to see a sample monthly report from another client with names removed. If it contains only rising graphs and not one sentence of reasoning, that is what you will get.
S2
Whose account will Search Console and Analytics live in?
Why you ask
This is your site’s history. If it sits in the agency’s account, ending the relationship costs you not the service but every year of data before it.
A good answer
Your account is the owner, they get access you can revoke. They say so before you ask.
A bad answer
"We manage them and send you reports." A report is an interpretation. The data is a fact and it should be yours.
How to check
Log into Search Console with your own email. If you cannot see your site, or cannot remove someone else’s access, you are not the owner.
S3
Who implements the changes on the site, and is that included in the price?
Why you ask
A large share of failed contracts fail here. Recommendations are written, nobody is available to implement them, six months pass and nothing on the site has changed.
A good answer
States clearly who touches the site, how many hours a month are allocated, and what happens if your developer cannot keep up.
A bad answer
"We will hand recommendations to your team." If you do not have a team, that is an offer for a document, not a service.
How to check
At the end of each month ask one thing: what specifically changed on the site this month. If the answer is general, probably nothing did.