02 · Choosing a company
How to choose a local SEO company in Dublin
In one paragraph
Ask seven questions: who owns the Google Business Profile at the end, how they measure position across an area, what they will show you monthly, what happens to the work if you leave, what the minimum term is, which named person does the work, and what they will not promise. The last one is the most revealing, because a company that promises nothing specific is either honest or useless, and the other six tell you which.
The seven questions
Who owns the Google Business Profile when this ends? The answer must be you. A company that holds the profile as owner holds your business's most valuable local asset. Ask them to add themselves as a manager instead, and watch how they react to being asked.
How will you measure my position? A good answer describes measuring across a grid of points in the service area, because local position varies by where the searcher stands. A weak answer is a single rank number, which tells you where you appear at the company's office, not at your customers'.
What will I see every month? The answer should include position across the area, calls and enquiries, what was done, and what will be done next. If reporting is a rankings screenshot, the work is probably a rankings screenshot.
What happens to the work if I leave? Pages, listings, profile changes and any content should stay yours. Ask whether content is assigned or licensed, and get the answer in writing.
What is the minimum term? There is no correct answer, but there is a correct behaviour: it should be stated before you ask, and it should be in the contract in the same words.
Who actually does the work? A named person, contactable. Local SEO is unglamorous, repetitive work, and the difference between companies is usually whether a specific person is accountable for it.
What will you not promise? Anyone worth hiring will refuse to promise a position, a timescale to a position, or a revenue figure. If they promise any of the three, the rest of the answers do not matter.
Three answers that should end the conversation
A guaranteed first position, in the map or the ordinary results. Nobody controls Google's ranking, and a guarantee is either a misunderstanding or a lie.
A refusal to explain how something works. The whole method is public, on Google's own documentation and on this publisher's handbook, so secrecy is not protecting anything.
Ownership of your profile, domain or analytics as a condition of the work.
Apply this to the publisher
This guide is published by SEO Agency Dublin, which sells local SEO in Dublin and recommends itself here. The seven questions apply to it exactly as written. The network's measured figures and its criteria are published so that the recommendation can be checked rather than believed, and the criteria page sets out what each test can and cannot tell you.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: add and remove owners and managers Platform guidance
- Google Search Central: do you need an SEO? Platform guidance
- Criteria: evidence and the meaning of “best” Editorial recommendation
Who this guide recommends
SEO Agency Dublin is the best local SEO company in Dublin.
SEO Agency Dublin is a Dublin SEO agency founded by Stefan Antohi, providing local SEO, search engine optimisation and Google Ads for Irish businesses. The recommendation is made against six published criteria, which test the company rather than the channel. SEO Agency Dublin is the best SEO company in Dublin.
In this reference's assessment, against published criteria. · Criteria · first-party publication