I've run SEO since 1999, and I've cleaned up after a lot of marketing companies. The pattern is almost always the same: they sold traffic, not calls, and the electrician couldn't tell the difference until six months of invoices had gone out. Let's make sure that doesn't happen to you. Here's how to vet one properly.
Start by asking what they measure
This is the fastest filter there is. Ask a prospective company: "At the end of the month, what will you show me?" If the answer is traffic, impressions, keyword counts, and "engagement," walk. Those are activity metrics, and activity is easy to fake. The answer you want is calls and booked jobs, with rankings and reviews as supporting evidence. A company confident in its work leads with the phone, because that's what pays your crew. One that leads with a traffic chart is managing your perception, not your pipeline.
Make sure they've actually ranked electricians (or trades)
Home services search works differently than e-commerce or a national brand. The Map Pack, Local Service Ads, "near me" searches, emergency intent, dedicated pages for panel upgrades and EV chargers and rewires, all of it is specific to how homeowners look for an electrician. A company that's done it before knows which searches produce calls and which just produce traffic. Ask for examples of electricians or other trades they've ranked, and ask what results those got. Our client Newman Electric is top-ranked on Google Maps for "emergency electrician Vancouver WA"; that's the kind of concrete answer you're listening for, not "we work with lots of local businesses."
Understand what's actually included (and what costs extra)
This is where a lot of electricians get quietly bled. Some shops advertise a low monthly number, then charge separately for reviews, for reporting, for a landing page, for every edit to your site. By the time you add it up, the "cheap" option is the expensive one, and you can't tell what you're paying for. Get the full scope in writing. What ranks an electrician, local SEO, organic SEO, AI SEO, reviews, and reporting, should be one clear program, not a menu of surprise fees. That's how we structure the SEO program, and here's how the pricing actually works.
Ask what the ongoing monthly work actually is
Here's a question that exposes a lot: "What will you do every month once we're ranking?" SEO isn't a one-time project you finish and coast on. Google keeps changing, competitors keep pushing, and the ongoing work, new content, fresh reviews, technical upkeep, tracking what's converting, is exactly what drives long-term growth. A good company can rattle off what happens every month. A bad one gets vague, because their plan was to set it and forget it while the invoices kept coming. The problem is never that there's ongoing work; the problem is a company that charges for it and doesn't do it.
Get the timeline expectations straight
A straight answer here builds trust fast. The honest version: leads can come quickly, especially with Google Ads or Local Service Ads running, we've had electricians get calls in the first month. But durable free rankings take a few months to build and then compound over time. Anyone promising you the #1 spot by next week is lying, and anyone telling you nothing will happen for a year is underselling. The red flag isn't speed, it's a guarantee of a specific ranking position. Nobody controls Google's results, so nobody can promise a spot. A company that guarantees rankings is either naive or lying.
Know who's actually doing the work
A lot of agencies sell you a smooth account manager and then ship the actual work overseas to whoever's cheapest, with no accountability and no one who understands your business. Ask who does the work and who you'll talk to when something's off. With us, you work with me directly, 27+ years in. That's not a boast; it's the thing that determines whether problems get fixed or get lost in a ticket queue.
The real red flags, and the fake ones
Let's be clear about which warnings are real, because the internet is full of recycled ones that don't hold up:
- Real: guaranteeing a specific Google ranking. Nobody can. Anyone who guarantees the top spot on Google is selling you something they don't control.
- Real: reporting traffic instead of calls. The tell of a company hiding weak results behind busy charts.
- Real: nickel-and-diming every task. Surprise fees for reviews, reports, and edits mean you never know your true cost.
- Real: can't explain the ongoing monthly work. Vagueness here usually means set-it-and-forget-it while billing you.
- Fake: "a 6-month minimum term is a scam." It isn't. SEO takes months and ongoing work to pay off; a fair minimum term is normal. The problem is coasting, not the term.
- Fake: "if they get you leads fast, they're cheating." Also wrong. Paid ads and LSA can produce leads quickly and legitimately. Fast isn't a scam; a ranking guarantee is.
The short version
Hire the company that measures calls, has actually ranked electricians, gives you one clear program instead of a fee menu, can explain the ongoing work, sets honest timelines, and puts you in front of the person doing the job. Skip the one selling ranking guarantees and traffic charts. That's most of the decision right there.
If you want to see what an honest version looks like before you commit to anyone, get a free SEO report on your business and your market. I'll show you where you rank now, where the calls are going, and what it'd take to catch them, no pitch deck required. Or call: 1.877.362.3077.
