Most clients ask the same surface-level questions when they hire an SEO consultant:
“How long will it take?” “What keywords should we target?” “How many blogs do we need?”
There’s nothing wrong with these — they’re natural questions. But they only scratch the surface of what determines whether SEO becomes a profit centre or a slow, confusing cost.
The truth? The best SEO results come from clients who ask deeper questions. Not complicated questions. Just the ones that reveal how a consultant thinks, how they work, how they make decisions and how they’ll integrate with your team.
This isn’t a list of expectations for you to meet. It’s a list of questions that make your project clearer, calmer and more effective from day one. These are the questions SEO consultants wish clients would ask — the ones that change the entire relationship for the better.
1. “What do you need from us to make this work?”
This is one of the most important questions — and clients almost never ask it. Not because they don’t care, but because they assume the consultant handles everything alone.
SEO doesn’t work without internal support. Most projects stall not because the strategy was wrong, but because internal capacity wasn’t prepared for the workload.
Here’s what I usually need to make the work successful:
- a single point of contact who can make decisions
- access to analytics, CMS, Search Console and reporting tools
- content review support from SMEs
- developer bandwidth for technical fixes
- design support for page upgrades
- an internal champion who ensures tasks don’t get deprioritised
When a client asks this question, the entire engagement becomes smoother because expectations are set upfront — no surprises, no hidden bottlenecks and no unspoken assumptions.
2. “Which parts of our site actually make money?”
Consultants love this question because it shows the client cares about revenue, not noise. A lot of businesses don’t know which pages are responsible for leads, enquiries or sales — and that makes SEO much harder.
When a client asks this, we dig into:
- which service pages bring profitable leads
- which industries convert better than others
- which pages sales teams rely on during calls
- which content assists conversions behind the scenes
- which customer journeys already exist — and which need building
This shifts the project into something commercial, not academic. Everything becomes cleaner once we know where money actually comes from.
3. “What should we stop doing?”
Clients rarely ask this, but it’s one of the most useful questions in SEO. Most teams aren’t struggling because they’re not doing enough — they’re struggling because they’re doing too much of the wrong thing.
When clients ask this, we get to clear out entire sections of wasted work:
- publishing blogs nobody will ever read
- trying to rank for keywords that attract the wrong audience
- rewriting title tags for pages that shouldn’t exist
- building content for markets they don’t want to serve
- chasing backlinks that have zero commercial value
This one question can save more money and time than any audit.
4. “Where is our biggest risk right now?”
Most clients ask about opportunities. Far fewer ask about risks. But risk dictates how fast you can grow and how stable your growth will be.
These risks vary by business, but common examples include:
- critical pages depending on outdated templates
- a fragile CMS that breaks when updated
- a site structure that prevents future scaling
- reliance on thin or generic content that won’t survive algorithm pressure
- a backlink profile built by a previous agency using outdated methods
- overlapping service pages competing with one another
When clients ask about risk, it helps us prioritise correctly. The most valuable work often isn’t glamorous — it’s preventative.
5. “What takes the longest?”
SEO projects slow down not because the work is complicated, but because the business underestimates how long certain tasks take internally.
The longest tasks are usually:
- SME interviews
- service page rewrites
- technical development cycles
- content review approvals
- design backlog clearance
When a client asks this, we can plan realistically. We can set deadlines that don’t cause friction. And we can create timelines that leadership won’t push against later.
6. “How do we measure success in a way that isn’t vanity-driven?”
This question shows the client is thinking long-term. Metrics like traffic and impressions look nice, but they don’t pay the bills.
When clients ask this, we build a measurement system around things that actually matter:
- organic leads
- conversion rate on high-intent pages
- pipeline influenced by SEO
- the landing pages that produce sales conversations
- bottom-of-funnel rankings
- content that removes friction for the sales team
These metrics guide better decisions, and they create far fewer arguments internally.
7. “What are we underestimating?”
Every business underestimates something in SEO. Usually one of these:
- how long good content takes to create
- how many internal teams SEO touches
- how much structural work the site needs before content can shine
- the lag between implementation and measurable results
- competition from other businesses investing heavily in SEO
- how often content needs updating
When clients ask this question, it prevents disappointment later. It aligns everyone on what’s real instead of what’s convenient.
8. “What would you do if this were your business?”
This is the most revealing question you can ask a consultant. It forces them to show their philosophy — not just their process.
You’ll learn a lot from how they answer:
- whether they prioritise brand or traffic first
- how they balance quick wins with long-term gains
- what they believe will move revenue, not just rankings
- whether they think structurally or tactically
- how much they understand your industry
A good consultant won’t hesitate. They’ll talk like an operator — not a vendor.
9. “What would you avoid doing?”
This is where consultants give the advice clients rarely hear. Sometimes the best move is deciding what not to chase.
Typical things I tell clients to avoid:
- publishing high-volume content that attracts the wrong audience
- building location pages for areas they don’t serve
- overoptimising service pages with unnatural keywords
- paying for low-quality link schemes
- targeting keywords that competitors already dominate long-term
- obsessing over algorithm updates instead of fundamentals
This question uncovers the consultant’s principles. Not just their tactics.
10. “What will slow us down the most?”
This is one of the most helpful questions you can ask. Every SEO consultant knows what’s going to slow a project, but most clients don’t ask.
The biggest slowdowns usually come from:
- slow internal approvals
- SMEs unavailable for interviews
- long dev queues
- rewrites stuck behind brand guidelines
- content held back for “perfect timing”
- leadership wanting results before implementation is finished
When we flag these early, the project runs smoother. Everyone knows what to watch for. And we stop frustration before it starts.
Final thoughts
SEO becomes easier when the client and consultant ask the right questions. Not the big dramatic ones. Just the practical ones that reveal how the work will actually get done.
These questions create better communication, faster implementation and clearer expectations — which means better results.
Not every client needs to ask all of them. But asking even two or three changes the entire relationship. It turns SEO into a partnership instead of a guessing game.
