Choose a provider by how it understands your buying journey, proves relevant work and takes responsibility for implementation. An agency, consultant or small specialist team can each fit. The scope and evidence should let you judge the actual engagement.
Ask what the client result measures
A traffic increase, enquiry count, quote value and collected sale answer different questions. Ask for the period, baseline, instrument and source. Check whether results are client-reported or reconciled, and whether the provider’s work preceded them.
For example, Strata’s supplier case includes reported enquiries and quoted area, a separate page-source sample and AI citations. Those are useful together without being added into one causal revenue claim. E-GMP’s case describes a decline diagnosed and a later implementation; it does not advertise the decline as a recovery.
Compare a concrete scope
| Question to ask | What a useful answer includes |
|---|---|
| Who are we trying to reach? | Buyer, decision process and commercially relevant search jobs |
| What changes on the website? | Page decisions, technical priorities and implementation owner |
| How do you prove relevant work? | Named context, role, period and measurement definition |
| Who does the work? | Strategy owner, production specialists and final review |
| How is success reported? | Visibility, enquiries, qualification, opportunities and revenue separated |
| What do we own? | Accounts, source code, content, records and handoff arrangements |
An audit can be useful when it supports decisions and a delivery path. If your developer will implement it, agree the handoff format, effort to clarify recommendations and validation after release.
Discuss price through scope and risk
Compare what the fee covers: research, content, implementation, access requirements, review and continuing measurement. Ask what could change the quote and how new work is approved.
A paid pilot can make a new relationship easier to assess. Agree selected deliverables and a review point. Five pages over two weeks can suit a page pilot; a migration investigation needs a scope based on its technical risk and launch constraints.
A pilot is not a guarantee of organic revenue in two weeks. It lets you inspect the provider’s reasoning, execution and communication before expanding the engagement.
Make remote and subcontracted delivery clear
Ask who remains accountable when specialists contribute, how subject expertise is collected and who signs off the final work. Confirm response expectations, review points and access controls rather than assuming team size tells you quality.
At Strata, Dean owns strategy, client accountability and final review from the Philippines. Specialists can support scoped production and implementation. Buyers should understand that delivery model before committing.
Check the reporting and the handoff
Qualified enquiries need a definition that excludes spam, pitches, job applications and unsuitable free requests. Unknown budgets should remain pending. Opportunities and collected payments should connect to real records, and multiple submissions from one company should remain inspectable.
Keep accounts and source material under your ownership. Ask how you receive the pages, research, implementation decisions and measurement records if the engagement ends.
Our B2B SEO scope explains how Strata connects research with implementation. You can begin with a free public-surface finding, then evaluate an explicitly scoped paid pilot.
Compare Philippine proposals on the same basis
A PHP monthly offer with content production and a fixed-term commitment differs from a project investigation with implementation priced separately. Record currency, tax treatment, minimum term, developer responsibility and client review time before comparing the fee. The published-offer guide preserves those distinctions rather than calling three offers a market average.
Verify the case behind the proposal
For supplier work, ask whether a stated result is form submissions, qualified businesses, quoted area or collected sales. JS Wallmatrix's separate 8/24 page-source example does not turn all enquiries into organic or AI-attributed customers. For migration work, check whether the chart shows the decline diagnosed or a measured improvement after intervention. E-GMP's chronology keeps those separate.
Use one row per question and one column per provider; mark unavailable evidence unknown. It is a buyer comparison worksheet, not a sales-proposal template. Print it or bring it to your next scope discussion. Compare agency, specialist and in-house delivery when responsibility is the unresolved decision.