Search “SEO agency London” and you will find hundreds of firms, retainers from £1,500 to £10,000 a month, and very little way to tell them apart. Here is how to choose well — and how to avoid paying for an agency’s postcode instead of your rankings.
1. Judge them on enquiries, not rankings
Any agency can show a graph of keyword movements. The question that separates good from bad: “what will a lead cost me, and how will you prove it?” If they cannot explain their conversion tracking, they are selling activity, not results.
2. Ask who actually does the work
Many big-name London agencies win you with a senior pitch team, then hand your account to a junior or outsource it entirely. Ask to meet the person who will run your campaign. If you cannot, that tells you something.
3. Check the case studies are real
Look for named clients, specific numbers and dates — like the ones in our case studies. Vague “300% traffic increase” claims with no client name are marketing, not evidence.
4. Refuse lock-in contracts
Twelve-month contracts exist to protect agencies from their own results. An agency confident in its work will run on rolling monthly terms and earn your business every month.
5. Understand what the retainer actually funds
Here is the uncomfortable maths of central London: a Shoreditch office, Zone 1 salaries and account managers all come out of your retainer before anyone touches your website. It is why £1,500 a month is a common starting point in London — for the same work that costs half that elsewhere.
The alternative: London presence, Birmingham prices
That cost gap is exactly why we structure things the way we do. Our SEO London clients meet us at 124 City Road by appointment, while the campaign work happens at our Birmingham head office — same Google-certified specialists, same reporting, typically 30–50% less than a comparable central London agency. The same applies to our London web design and Google Ads London services.
Questions to ask in the first meeting
What would you do in the first 90 days? Which of your current clients is most like us? How do you report leads, not just rankings? What happens if we want to leave? An agency with good answers to those four questions is worth shortlisting — wherever their office is.
Comparing agencies right now? Get a free SEO audit from us first. You will see exactly where you stand and what needs doing — useful whoever you end up hiring.