The short answer
Walk away from any SEO agency that guarantees rankings, will not explain its methods, sells links in bulk, or reports only on rankings and traffic. These four signs predict most bad SEO engagements.
Guaranteed rankings
Nobody controls search results. A guarantee means either a trivial keyword nobody searches or a promise they cannot keep.
"Proprietary" or secret methods
Sound SEO is well documented: technical fixes, useful content, earned links. Secrecy usually hides tactics that break search engine guidelines.
Link packages priced by quantity
Fifty links for a flat fee means low-quality or paid placements. These can do nothing or trigger a penalty.
Reports that stop at rankings
Rankings matter only if they bring customers. Ask for leads and sales from organic search.
No questions about your business
An agency that does not ask about customers, margins and sales cycles cannot choose the right keywords.
Results promised in weeks
Technical fixes can help quickly. Competitive rankings take months, and an honest agency says so.
They own your site or content
If the agency hosts your site or keeps rights to the content, leaving means starting again.
Hundreds of thin pages
Mass-produced location or keyword pages with near-identical text are a known spam pattern and tend to be ignored or demoted.
No access to your own analytics
You should be able to log in and check the numbers yourself at any time.
Long contract, no exit
A fair agreement lets you leave with reasonable notice if the work is not delivered.
The takeaway
None of this means SEO is risky. It means the buyer has to ask how the work is done, and keep ownership of the site, the content and the data.
Common questions
Are cheap SEO packages worth it?
Very cheap packages rarely include real content or link work. They can be fine for basic technical setup on a small site if that is all you need.
What should an SEO agency do in month one?
A technical audit, a ranking and traffic baseline, tracking checks, and a prioritised plan you approve.