Most agencies send you a questionnaire. We spend half an hour talking to you properly, and nothing gets written until we have.
It is a small thing that changes everything downstream. A form captures what you already know to write down. A conversation surfaces the things that actually decide whether the work lands: how you win business now, which customers are worth the most, and what you have already tried that did not work.
About four weeks, and here is what happens in each.
A shape, not a stopwatch. SEO does not run to a fixed schedule, so we will not pretend it does. What is fixed is the order: understand you, measure the truth, agree a plan, then build.
A proper conversation, then access
Most agencies open with a questionnaire. We open with about half an hour of actually talking to you, because nothing useful gets written until we understand your business, your customers and what a good month looks like to you. After that we get read access to the accounts that hold the truth: analytics, Search Console, your Google Business Profile and your website.
We measure before we touch anything
We establish the baseline: a technical crawl, a look at how the site is really performing, and where the demand actually is for what you sell. We would rather find the problem than guess at it, so this comes before any recommendations. You are not paying us to look busy in week one.
You get the plan, and you get to argue with it
We map the work to what is genuinely worth doing for your business, not to whatever is easiest to show on a chart. The plan is written down and shared with you, with the reasoning in plain English, so you can push back on it before a single hour goes into delivery. It is your plan, and it stays yours.
The work starts, and quick wins go first
Once the plan is agreed, delivery begins, and anything that is a genuine quick win goes early rather than being held back for a neat quarterly reveal. You will get a proper written report and a call to walk through it once there is something real to report, usually within the first month or so, and then a clear rhythm every month after that.
Not much, and mostly at the start.
The point of a retainer is that you get your time back, not that you take on a second job. Here is the whole list, and when we need each part.
Access, once, at the start
Analytics, Search Console, your Google Business Profile and your website. Set up under your ownership wherever possible, so nothing is ever locked to us.
Your knowledge, in the first chat
How you win work now, who your best customers are, and what you have already tried. This is the half hour that makes everything after it better.
Sign-off, when it matters
A quick yes or no on the plan, and on anything that goes on your site in your name. We draft, you approve. You are never chasing us for work, and we are never publishing without you.
Three-month minimum, then rolling
SEO runs on a three-month minimum, then rolls month to month on 30 days’ notice. The minimum is there because the early work needs a runway to show anything, not to trap you. Paid ads works the same way, with a one-off setup fee to build the account.
30 days’ notice, no traps
Once past the minimum, you give 30 days’ notice in writing and we wind down cleanly. No auto-escalating fees, no clause that quietly renews you into another year.
The detail is in the agreement
The exact terms for your service are set out in the agreement we send before you start, written in the same plain language as this page. Nothing on your invoice will be a surprise.
Moving to us should not put you at risk.
We start with read access and an honest look at what is already there. We keep whatever is genuinely working, change what is not, and move at a pace that protects the rankings you already have rather than gambling them on a hard cutover. You keep ownership of your accounts the whole way through, and we only ever speak to your current provider if you ask us to.
Your data and accounts leave with you.
Everything is set up in your name from the start, so there is nothing to prise back. Your analytics, Search Console, ads and Business Profile stay yours. The plan and the work we did are yours to keep and hand to whoever comes next. We remove our own access and leave you tidy. An agency that makes leaving painful is telling you how little it trusts its own work to keep you.
How long until I see results?
It depends on where you start and how competitive your market is, and anyone who gives you a guaranteed date is guessing. SEO tends to compound over months rather than turn around in weeks, so we ask for a few months to let the work land. We would rather set that expectation honestly up front than oversell a quick win that may not come.
Am I tied in?
There is a three-month minimum at the start, because the early work needs a runway to show anything, and after that it runs month to month on 30 days' notice. Paid ads management has the same three-month minimum plus a one-off setup fee to build the account. The exact terms for your service are set out in the agreement we send before you start, in plain language, with nothing buried.
What if I want to leave?
You give us notice in writing and we hand everything back cleanly. Your accounts are yours, the plan is yours to keep, and we remove our access rather than holding anything hostage. Leaving well is part of the service, because an agency that makes it hard to go is telling you something.
I am already with another agency. Is switching a hassle?
It does not have to be. We start with read access and an honest look at what is already there, keep whatever is working, and move at a pace that does not put your visibility at risk. You keep ownership of your accounts throughout, and we only speak to your current provider if you want us to.