What are the signs your current SEO agency may be limiting your business growth?
Quick self-check: Are you seeing these red flags?
- You’re paying monthly, but can’t see what’s actually been done.
- Reports show traffic, but your leads haven’t improved.
- You’re not sure who’s running your campaign.
- Strategy updates are vague or non-existent.
- Your website hasn’t noticeably changed in months.
If two or more of these sound familiar, it is worth reviewing your agency’s performance. You might be investing in SEO that is not moving your business forward.
If you’re spending money on SEO and still not seeing results, the issue may lie with your provider. Staying with a poor-fit agency can lead to missed revenue, slow growth, and unnecessary spending. This article outlines ten key signs that suggest your SEO company may be underperforming and offers guidance on what to look out for.
Here's What We Have Covered In This Article
1. They Can’t Show You a Clear ROI From Their Work
You’ve been paying them for six months. Can you point to any direct return?
An effective SEO partner should link their work to tangible business outcomes. That includes using data from platforms like GA4 (Google Analytics 4) to show progress through conversions, improved keyword rankings, and better organic visibility.
Warning signs:
- Reports that are vague or overly broad
- No connection between SEO activity and lead generation or sales
- Graphs that don’t explain real-world impact
Reliable agencies will use tools like Google Tag Manager and GA4 to implement goal tracking. Without clear revenue attribution or insight into lead value, it’s difficult to justify ongoing spend. This is where SEO ROI tracking becomes essential.
Agencies that cannot demonstrate business performance may be an underperforming SEO company delivering activity without return.
Questions to ask your SEO agency about ROI
- What KPIs are we tracking, and why?
- Can you link specific actions to sales or enquiries?
- How do we measure revenue from organic channels?
- What does a successful month look like in real terms?
2. You’re Getting More Traffic, But No Real Leads or Sales
Traffic alone will not grow your business. If sessions are up but sales remain flat, your strategy might be targeting the wrong audience.
Some agencies focus on broad keywords to inflate numbers, but these visitors may have no interest in what you offer.
Signs to look for:
- Blog posts or landing pages targeting unrelated topics
- Bounce rates increasing or average session times dropping
- Few or no completed goals or conversions
GA4’s user behaviour tracking and CRM data can help you spot these mismatches. When traffic rises without converting, you’re likely attracting the wrong type of visitor. This is a strong indicator of SEO not converting and failure to match buyer intent.
3. They Focus on Vanity Metrics Instead of Business Outcomes
Big numbers on a report do not always mean growth.
Metrics like impressions and page views are easy to manipulate. However, unless they contribute to leads or revenue, they offer little value.
Vanity vs Value:
- Page Views vs Enquiries or Calls Logged
- Keyword Volume vs Goal Completions
- Impressions vs Revenue Generated per Landing Page
Your SEO reporting should help drive better decisions. If it is full of numbers that do not connect to business impact, it may be time to dig deeper. These are classic signs of SEO vanity metrics being used to obscure performance.
Pro Tip: Always ask your SEO agency to link monthly work directly to tracked conversions, not traffic volume.
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4. They’re Not Transparent About Their Strategy or Tactics
You should never be unsure about what your SEO agency is doing or why they are doing it.
Good agencies offer clear strategies, delivery timelines, and rationales for every decision they make. If communication is vague or full of jargon, that’s a warning sign.
A well-documented roadmap and keyword strategy should be readily available. You are entitled to know where your budget is going.
Transparency also matters from a compliance standpoint. Agencies working with UK businesses should align with Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) principles.
Questions to ask your SEO agency about transparency
- What’s your plan for the next 30, 60, and 90 days?
- Which tactics are currently active and why?
- Can you show me where those tasks are tracked?
- Who owns delivery of each part of the strategy?
If you’re not getting these answers, you’re facing a classic SEO agency lack of transparency.
5. You Rarely See Any Real On-Site SEO Improvements
Your website should be evolving as part of your SEO plan. If it looks and performs the same after months of work, something is not right.
On-page and technical SEO changes should include visible updates like title tags, internal linking, and site speed enhancements.
What to expect:
- New title tags that reflect real search terms
- Meta descriptions rewritten to attract clicks
- Internal links placed logically between content
- Faster load times and improved mobile usability
Tools like Screaming Frog, Google PageSpeed Insights, and Yoast can help confirm whether real progress has been made. A lack of visible change often signals poor on-site optimisation or neglect.
An AI photo of a First Place SEO advert in a London Street
Pro Tip: Use GA4 and CRM data together to cross-check whether the traffic you’re paying for is actually turning into customers.
6. Their Link Building Is Low Quality or Risky
Backlinks can improve rankings or ruin them. If your agency is cutting corners, you could be at risk.
Tactics like spammy guest posts, irrelevant directory links, and bought backlinks can lead to penalties from Google. Buying backlinks is also a violation of Google’s Search Essentials (formerly Webmaster Guidelines).
Signs of risky link building:
- Backlinks from unrelated or low-authority websites
- Anchor text repeated excessively or looks unnatural
- Link profile growth that’s sudden and suspicious
Use Ahrefs or Moz to review the backlink sources and look for quality over quantity. If your agency cannot explain their link-building approach, they may be using bad link building SEO tactics.
Questions to ask your SEO agency about backlinks
- Where are the latest backlinks placed?
- Are they relevant to our industry and audience?
- Were they earned or paid for?
- How is anchor text being managed across domains?
7. You’re Not Sure Who’s Actually Working on Your Campaign
You wouldn’t hire a builder and never meet the crew. The same should apply to your SEO agency.
If you don’t know who’s doing the work, there’s no way to assess its quality. Work may be outsourced, passed to juniors, or completely mismanaged.
Look for agencies that share team bios, delivery roles, and credentials. You need accountability, not mystery.
Frequent contact changes and delayed responses are typical signs of ghost delivery, SEO outsourcing risks, and lack of accountability gaps.
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8. You Feel Trapped in a Long-Term Contract With No Results
Long contracts without performance safeguards often signal trouble. You should never feel stuck without options.
Ask for a contract review and evaluate whether expectations were clearly defined. Hidden clauses and auto-renewals are common traps.
Agencies working with UK businesses should reference UK agency contract templates or define terms using standard UK contract law. You can also assess flexibility by reviewing SOW (statement of work) terms for signs of contract inflexibility.
A reliable agency will offer check-in points and clear performance goals to keep things on track.
If results do not improve and you’re locked in, you may be experiencing the effects of a long SEO contract with no results.
9. They Avoid Accountability When Things Go Wrong
Every campaign has challenges. However, the right agency will take responsibility, not make excuses.
If rankings fall or leads disappear, you deserve a straight answer. Blaming Google without offering a fix isn’t acceptable.
You should receive revised plans and open communication, not deflection. The best providers focus on how to recover using E-E-A-T improvements, technical fixes, and data-backed changes.
Review your performance KPIs often and ask for updates when metrics decline. Agencies that rely on algorithm scapegoating are not being honest.
What good SEO results should look like
Even though SEO takes time, there should be clear signs of forward movement within the first few months:
- Month 1–2: Site audits completed, technical fixes started, keyword research delivered
- Month 3–4: Target pages optimised, early keyword movements, visibility gains
- Month 5–6: Lead flow starts improving, priority terms rank higher, content updates roll out
If these things haven’t happened, your agency might be overpromising and underdelivering.
10. You’ve Been With Them for Months… and Nothing’s Changed
If your SEO agency’s work hasn’t resulted in noticeable changes after several months, that’s a serious concern.
Signs of stagnation:
- Priority keywords haven’t moved
- No new strategies or tests have been introduced
- Your site’s content remains untouched
Ask your agency to provide clear before-and-after data and a plan for what’s next. If they can’t, it may be time to move on. Stagnation could be costing you in missed opportunities and revenue leakage.
What to Do If You Recognise These Signs
If several of these issues sound familiar, it’s time to re-evaluate your current agency relationship.
Recommended actions:
- Review all current reports and compare them against KPIs such as leads, sales, and cost per acquisition.
- Request full documentation of the agency’s SEO strategy, including deliverables and specific performance benchmarks.
- Commission an independent SEO audit using a professional checklist to uncover overlooked gaps and missed opportunities.
Switching providers does not have to be risky. Ask new agencies for a transition plan or short-term trial. You’re investing in SEO to grow, not to tread water. If you’re recognising multiple bad SEO agency signs, it might be time to explore a more transparent, performance-led partnership.
