The short answer
A real SEO company can tell you, in plain terms, exactly what it did for you this month: which pages it wrote or improved, which technical problems it fixed, what it changed on your Google Business Profile, and what it did for your reviews and local listings. Over 3 to 6 months, you should also see calls and form leads from Google search start to go up. If your SEO company cannot name the work, or only reports numbers like impressions and rankings that never turn into phone calls, it probably is not doing much.
A lot of Central Ohio business owners pay somewhere around 300 to 1,500 dollars a month for SEO for years without ever getting a straight answer to that question. You are allowed to ask it, and you deserve a clear reply.
What real monthly SEO work looks like for a local business
For a local business in Columbus, say an HVAC company that serves Westerville, Gahanna, and New Albany, legitimate monthly SEO work usually includes some mix of the following. Not every item happens every month, but something concrete should.
- New or improved pages on your website, such as a page for a service you offer or a town you serve, written for the way customers actually search.
- Technical fixes, meaning repairs to things that slow your site down or make it hard for Google to read, like broken links, missing page titles, or pages that load poorly on phones.
- Google Business Profile work: updated services, photos, posts, and answers to questions, so you show up well in the map results.
- Help getting more customer reviews and responding to the ones you get.
- Checking and correcting your business name, address, and phone number on directory sites so they match everywhere.
- Tracking which searches you show up for and how many calls and leads are coming from them.
Questions to ask your SEO company
You do not need to understand SEO to ask good questions. You only need answers you can verify. Send these in an email and see what comes back:
What exactly did you do last month? Which pages on my site did you change or add, and can you send me the links so I can look at them? What searches are we trying to rank for, and how are those trending? How many phone calls and form leads came from organic search (the regular, unpaid Google results) in the last three months? And who owns the accounts: my Google Business Profile, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and the website itself?
A good SEO company answers all of that quickly and without jargon. If the reply is vague, defensive, or another chart with no explanation, that tells you something.
Red flags that your SEO company is not earning its fee
Any one of these is worth a hard conversation. Several together usually means it is time to move on.
- A long contract with no way out, especially 12 months or more with penalties for leaving early.
- Rankings reports for phrases nobody actually searches, like your exact business name plus a long string of words.
- Monthly reports full of 'impressions' (how many times you appeared in a search) with no mention of calls or leads.
- Promises of guaranteed number one rankings on Google. No one can honestly guarantee that.
- You do not have access to your own Google Business Profile, Search Console, or Analytics.
- Links from spammy sites, or 'packages' of hundreds of links sold by the month. These can hurt you.
- The same canned report every month, with only the dates changed.
- Nobody can explain, in a sentence or two, what they did for you.
How long should SEO take to work?
In local search, it typically takes 3 to 6 months of steady work to see real movement, such as showing up higher in the map results for your main service in your area. In very competitive fields, like personal injury law or roofing across all of Columbus, it can take longer.
So if you started SEO six weeks ago, give it time. If you have been paying for two or three years and cannot point to more calls, more form leads, or better visibility for the searches that matter, time is no longer the explanation.
To be fair, slow results are not always the SEO company's fault. A weak or outdated website, very few reviews, or a crowded niche can hold back even good SEO work. An honest SEO company will tell you that directly instead of letting you keep paying and hoping.
How to check a few things yourself in five minutes
Open a private or incognito browser window (so Google does not tailor results to you) and search your main service plus your town, like 'water softener installation Dublin Ohio' or 'bathroom remodeler Hilliard.' Note whether you appear in the map results and on the first page. Do the same for two or three suburbs you serve, such as Worthington, Grove City, or Pickerington.
If you have access to Google Search Console, a free Google tool that shows how your site performs in search, look at the clicks number over the last 12 months and see if the line is going up. Then count your calls. Many phone systems and Google Business Profile itself show how many calls came in, and simply asking new customers how they found you works too.
When I do SEO for Columbus businesses, these are the same things I report on every month: the work I did, the searches we are going after, and the calls and leads coming in. If a report does not connect the work to real business, it is not doing its job.
What to do if you want out
Before you cancel, get your logins. Make sure you, not the SEO company, own your Google Business Profile, your website, and your domain name. Check your contract for notice periods and cancellation terms. If the company wrote pages for your site and you paid for that work, ask in writing that those pages stay up after you leave. Some companies remove content or take down sites they host when you cancel, and that can set your search visibility back months.
Want this handled for you?
I am Matt, a Columbus web designer who has been building websites for Central Ohio businesses since 2005, and I do ongoing SEO for 500 dollars a month with plain reports that show what I did and what it brought in. You own your site, domain, and accounts, in writing. If you are not sure your current SEO is doing anything, book a free Zoom and I will take an honest look, even if the answer is that your current company is doing fine.
Frequently asked
How long should SEO take to work?
For a local business, expect about 3 to 6 months of consistent work before you see clear movement in Google search and the map results. Competitive fields can take longer. If you have paid for a year or more with no change in calls or leads, something is wrong.
Should I sign a 12-month SEO contract?
Be careful. SEO takes months to work, so a commitment of a few months is reasonable, but a 12-month contract with penalties for leaving early mostly protects the SEO company. Look for month-to-month terms or a short commitment with a clear exit, and make sure you own every account either way.
What should a monthly SEO report include?
A plain list of the work done that month, with links to any pages that were changed or added. It should also show how your target searches are trending and, most important, how many calls and form leads came from organic search. Charts of impressions alone are not enough.
Can I do my own local SEO?
Some of it, yes. You can keep your Google Business Profile complete and current, ask happy customers for reviews, and make sure your business name, address, and phone match everywhere online. The website side, like service pages and technical fixes, is where most owners benefit from help.