An HVAC contractor I worked with was locked into a 12-month contract with a big, well-known agency. He paid them $5,000 a month for SEO, Google Ads management and his ad spend. Six months in, he had no leads to show for it.
When he finally fired them, they took his website down. Everything he’d paid them to build was gone. He was left with his domain and his Google Business Profile, and that was it.
I rebuilt his site. Within the first month he was in the map pack. What happened to him is exactly what Hyperlocal Marketing is built against. The rule is simple: you own your stuff.
Hiring the wrong agency costs you twice. Once in the money, then again in the months it takes to rebuild. Most of them show their hand before you sign, if you know where to look.
How to Choose a Marketing Agency: The Short Version
The right marketing agency for a contractor is one that earns your trust before you sign and leaves you in control after. In practice, that means five things:
- Asks about your business before it pitches a package. Your trade, your towns, your best jobs, your slow season.
- Shows results from contractors like you, and lets you talk to one.
- Reports in leads and where they came from, not clicks and impressions.
- Doesn’t lock you in. No long contract, or a short one with a clean exit.
- Leaves every account in your name. Website, domain, Google profile, ad accounts, tracking.
If an agency can’t clear all five, keep looking. The red flags below are how you tell.
9 Red Flags When Hiring a Marketing Agency
1. They Guarantee Rankings or a Number of Leads
An agency that guarantees a #1 ranking or a set number of leads is promising something nobody controls. “We’ll get you to #1.” “We guarantee 50 leads a month.” It sounds great, and it’s the first red flag.
Google’s own guide to hiring an SEO says it plainly: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” It also says to be wary of anyone claiming a “special relationship” with Google. If someone promises the top spot, Google’s advice is to find someone else.
Ask: “What exactly do you guarantee?” A good answer is the work, the reporting and your right to leave. A bad answer is a ranking or a lead count.
2. They Own Your Website, Domain or Google Profile
An agency that owns your website, domain or Google Business Profile can take them with it when you leave. This is the red flag that hurts the most, and it’s what happened to the HVAC contractor above. When he left, the site went with them.
Owners who’ve switched agencies say the new agency often spends the first month getting access back to the old accounts.
Your Google Business Profile has a built-in fix. Google lets a profile have owners and managers. Owners can add and remove people and delete the profile. Managers can do almost all the work but can’t remove you. You stay the owner. Anyone you hire is a manager. That’s how I set it up: the contractor adds me as a manager and stays the owner.
Ask: “If you build my site, do I own the site and all the files? Who owns the domain, the ad accounts and the call tracking?”
3. They Want a 12-Month Contract
A year-long contract protects the agency, not you. The HVAC contractor was stuck in one while getting nothing for it.
Owners who’ve hired and fired a few agencies tend to land on the same rule: nothing longer than 90 days. I don’t do contracts at all. If someone isn’t happy working together, why keep going?
Ask: “Is there a contract? How long, and how do I get out?”
4. Their Reports Are All Clicks, Impressions and Rankings
A marketing report that shows clicks, impressions and rankings but not calls or form fills can’t tell you whether the marketing is working. Impressions don’t pay for a truck. If the monthly report is a wall of charts and none of them say how many calls came in, something’s being hidden or nobody’s tracking it.
Owners care about one chain: where the lead came from, whether it turned into a booked job, and what it was worth. My reports start with leads and where they came from: calls and form fills, by source. Then Google Business Profile activity, local rankings and how often you show up in AI search answers.
Ask: “What will my monthly report show? Can I see a real one?”
5. They Sell You Leads, Not Marketing
Some “marketing companies” are lead sellers. You pay per lead or per appointment, and you’re often not the only contractor getting it. Owners across trades describe the same lead going to 3 to 5 contractors.
One roofer with 20 years in the business wrote up spending about $11,000 with two appointment-setting companies. The first sent 42 appointments: 18 were no-shows, and he signed 2 roofs. The second sent leads more than an hour and a half away and added upcharges he only heard about after he complained.
Ask: “Are these my leads, from my own profile, site and ads? Or are you selling them to anyone else?”
6. The Person Who Sold You Isn’t the Person Doing the Work
A sharp senior person runs the sales call. After you sign, your account goes to a junior handling a stack of other clients, and the work comes out generic. Owners on Reddit describe this one over and over.
Ask: “Who will work on my account day to day? Can I talk to them before I sign?”
7. They Pitch a Package Before They Ask About Your Business
Contractors who’ve been through a few agencies say the bad ones lead with packages. The good ones ask questions first.
Before I recommend anything, I audit the contractor’s Google Business Profile, the full website, and their links and citations. I need to see where they stand and what will bring leads in fastest. Every hyperlocal search campaign I run starts there. An agency that quotes you a package on the first call hasn’t done any of that.
Ask: “What would you look at before you recommend anything?”
8. “SEO Takes 6 Months” Is the Answer to Everything
“SEO takes 6 months” is a fair answer in some markets and an excuse in others. But owners see “give it six months” used as a reason to keep billing while nothing happens.
How long it takes depends on the size of your market, the competition, and where your site is starting. My goal is always to find the low hanging fruit that gets leads in fastest. The HVAC contractor was in the map pack within the first month of the rebuild.
Ask: “What will you do in the first 30 days, and what should I see from it?”
9. They Upsell You the Shiny Thing
A shiny-object upsell is a new service sold to you before the basics are working. The upsell changes every year. One 2-van plumber said his Google profile manager tried to sell him “Generative Engine Optimization” so he’d show up in ChatGPT. He figured Google Ads was a better use of the money. Another owner said a QR code on his van brought in more work than the $3,000 “custom” website he’d paid for, which only had an email link on it.
AI search is real. I think the longer you wait on it, the harder it gets. But it starts with a solid website and Google profile and your business being mentioned around the web. It isn’t a separate magic button for a shop that doesn’t have the basics yet.
Ask: “What’s the one thing you’d do first, and why that?”
Questions to Ask a Marketing Agency on the First Call
The best questions to ask a marketing or local SEO agency are the ones that show who owns your accounts, how you get out, and how results get measured. Google’s hiring guide suggests four to start with.
- Can you show me examples of your previous work and some success stories?
- Do you follow Google’s rules (Google Search Essentials)?
- What results do you expect, in what timeframe, and how do you measure success?
- What’s your experience in my industry?
Then add the ones contractors learn the hard way:
- If you build my website, do I own the site and all the files?
- Do I own the Google Business Profile, the ad accounts and all the tracking?
- Is there a contract? How long, and how do I get out?
- What exactly do you guarantee?
- Who will work on my account day to day?
- What will my monthly report show?
One more that’s worth more than all of them: “Can I talk to a contractor you work with in a different trade?” Owners trust a referral from another owner more than any case study, and a good agency will give you one.
What You Should Own No Matter Who You Hire
A contractor should own every marketing account in their own name, no matter which agency does the work. Before you sign anything, make sure these are yours:
- Your domain. The registrar account (GoDaddy, Namecheap, wherever) should be yours. Give the agency access if they need it.
- Your website and its files. If they build it, you own it. Get that in writing.
- Your Google Business Profile. You’re the owner, they’re a manager.
- Your Google Ads account. Your ad spend, your account, your history.
- Your call tracking numbers. If they own the numbers, they own the phone lines your customers have been calling.
- Analytics and Search Console. Google suggests giving an SEO read-only access before an audit.
If you already have an agency, check these today. It takes ten minutes, and it’s a lot easier to fix while everyone’s still getting along.
Be Wary of Cold Pitches
Google’s hiring guide warns about agencies that reach out unprompted by email and compares those messages to other scam offers. The same goes for the “we noticed your Google profile has issues” phone calls.
The best way to find an agency is a referral from another contractor, ideally in a different trade so you’re not competing for the same jobs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose an SEO company for my contracting business?
Choose an SEO company that asks about your business before pitching, shows results from contractors like you, reports leads and where they came from, doesn’t lock you into a long contract, and leaves every account in your name. If any of those is a no, keep looking.
What questions should I ask a local SEO company?
Start with Google’s four: past work, whether they follow Google’s rules, what results to expect and when, and experience in your industry. Then ask who owns your site and accounts, how long the contract is, what they guarantee, who does the work, and what the report shows.
How can I tell if my current agency is doing anything?
Ask for three things: a monthly report that shows calls and form fills by source, a list of what they did this month, and proof that your website, domain, Google profile and ad accounts are in your name. If they can’t give you all three, that’s your answer.
Can an SEO company guarantee first page rankings?
No. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and to be wary of anyone who claims they can.
What happens to my website if I fire my marketing agency?
It depends on who owns it. If the site, files and hosting are in the agency’s name, you can lose all of it. That’s what happened to the HVAC contractor in this guide. Check now while things are good.
How long should a marketing agency contract be?
As short as you can get. Owners who’ve been burned recommend nothing over 90 days. I don’t use contracts at all.