Buyer's Guide
12 questions to ask before hiring any Colorado SEO or web design agency
If you’ve ever gotten an AI-bot email saying your website “sucks,” or a cold call from someone who clearly knows nothing about your business, you already know how bad this industry can be. Here’s the checklist that exposes the outsourcers, the white-labelers, and the bot farms in 12 questions.
Print this. Take it to your next agency call.
Watch how they answer — not just what they answer. Hesitation, vagueness, and “great question, let me get back to you” are answers in themselves.
The 12 questions
- Who, by name, will actually do the work on my account?
Look for: a real person, in-house, ideally introduced before you sign. Red flag: “our team” with no names. - Are any pieces white-labeled or outsourced overseas?
A lot of TV-station marketing arms, “media” companies, and franchise agencies sell SEO and web design that’s actually fulfilled by a third party in another country. You deserve to know. - Can I see 3 current Colorado clients I can call directly?
Not testimonials. Not case studies. Real phone numbers of real local clients. - Who owns the website, the domain, the hosting, and the analytics?
The only acceptable answer is you do. If they own anything, you’re hostage. - What’s your monthly retainer scope, in writing?
A real agency can hand you a one-pager listing exactly what hours/deliverables you get each month. - What’s your 30-day cancellation policy?
Anything longer than a 30-day notice on an ongoing service is a trap. (One-time builds are different.) - Do you guarantee any rankings?
Correct answer: no. Anyone who says yes is lying. Google says so directly. - How do you measure success — leads, calls, or vanity metrics?
Watch for “impressions” and “keywords ranked.” Demand phone calls, form fills, and booked jobs. - Can I see a sample monthly report?
If they can’t produce one in 24 hours, they don’t do real reporting. - What happens if I’m unhappy with month 3?
A real agency will tell you exactly. A bad one will deflect. - How much of your business comes from referrals vs cold outreach?
Healthy local agencies are mostly referrals. Cold-call/AI-bot shops are mostly outbound — and that’s usually because clients leave. - Will I work directly with the owner at any point?
For small businesses under $25K projects, the answer should be yes. At our agency, you work with Chris (the owner) start to finish.
Two bonus questions if they cold-emailed you saying your site is broken
- Did you actually run an audit of my site, or did an AI tool generate this email?
- What specifically is broken? Show me on screen.
90% of those “your website sucks” emails are from automated tools that don’t even render your real page. They’re scare tactics designed to book a sales call, not honest feedback.
Related reading
Have questions this article didn't answer?
Book a no-pressure 30-minute call with Chris, the owner. If we’re not a fit, he’ll tell you who is.