Choosing and managing SEO
What should be in an SEO contract?
An SEO contract decides who owns your website, your Google Business Profile and your data, how long you’re committed and what you get each month. Here’s what to look for, clause by clause, before a Dallas home service owner signs anything.
Short answer: A good SEO contract spells out the monthly deliverables, the term length and how to cancel, and confirms that you own your website, domain, Google Business Profile, content and every account. It should also say what the reports show and how often. If any of that is missing or vague, ask for it in writing before you sign.
Most owners read an SEO contract for the price and the start date. The parts that cause trouble later sit further down: who holds the logins, what happens to the pages if you leave, and how much notice you owe. This guide walks through each section of a typical SEO agreement, what a fair version looks like and what to ask about. It’s general information to help you read a proposal, not legal advice; have an attorney review anything you’re unsure about.
If you’re still comparing agencies, start with how to choose an SEO company. If you’re already signed and something feels off, our list of SEO agency red flags is the better read. This page is about the paper itself.
Month to month SEO vs a long-term contract
The first thing most people look at is the term. There are three common setups:
| Setup | How it works | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Month to month | Runs until either side gives notice, often 30 days | Setup or onboarding fees, and whether early work is billed separately |
| Fixed term | A set number of months, then it ends or renews | Early-exit fees, auto-renewal, and whether there’s a performance review point |
| Initial term, then rolling | A minimum period up front, then month to month | Exactly when the minimum ends and how notice works after that |
None of these is automatically right or wrong. An agency that does heavy setup in the first months (rebuilding service pages, cleaning up citations, fixing a messy Google Business Profile) has a reason to want a minimum term. What matters is that the term matches the work. Organic SEO builds over months, while map pack and Local Service Ads work can move sooner; our guide to how long SEO takes explains why. A 12-month lock-in for work that’s mostly monthly reporting is a different thing from a short minimum that covers a real build.
Whatever the term, read the renewal clause. Some agreements renew automatically for another full term unless you cancel inside a narrow window. Put that date on your calendar the day you sign.
Cancellation and notice
The cancellation section should answer four questions in plain words:
- How much notice do you owe, and does it have to be in writing or sent to a specific address?
- Is there a fee for ending early, and is it a fixed amount or “all remaining months”?
- What happens to work in progress, like half-written pages or a campaign that’s mid-setup?
- Can either side end it for cause, for example if agreed deliverables aren’t delivered?
A clause that lets the agency walk away on 30 days’ notice but holds you to the full term is worth questioning. So is one with no exit at all if the work simply doesn’t happen.
Ownership: the clause that matters most
For a home service business, ownership is where a bad SEO contract hurts longest. When an agency holds your accounts, leaving can mean losing your reviews’ home, your phone number history and the pages that bring in calls. The contract should say, in writing, that you own each of these:
Your website and domain
The domain should be registered in your business name with you as the registrant, and you should hold the login to the registrar and the hosting account. Watch for “website included” deals where the agency builds the site on its own platform and licenses it to you monthly. That can be a fair product, but read what happens to the site if you cancel. Can you take a copy, or does it go dark?
Your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile has a primary owner, other owners and managers, as described in Google’s Business Profile Help on managing users. You (or someone at your company) should be the primary owner. The agency should be added as a manager, which gives them what they need to do the work without controlling the profile. If an agency created your profile under its own account, ask for primary ownership to be transferred to you now, not when you leave.
Search Console, Analytics and ad accounts
Google Search Console separates owners from full and restricted users, and Google Analytics has its own access roles. Your business should own the property; the agency gets user access. The same goes for a Google Ads or Local Service Ads account: it should be billed to and owned by your business, with the agency linked as a manager. That way the history and data stay with you.
Content, photos and call tracking numbers
Pages, blog posts and photos you paid for should be yours to keep. Call tracking numbers are easy to overlook. If the agency owns the tracking numbers on your profile and website, ask whether you can port them or keep them if you leave, or whether they’re switched off. A number that’s been on your Google profile for two years is worth protecting.
Simple test before you sign: if you ended this contract tomorrow, could you log in to your website, domain, Google Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics and ad accounts without asking anyone? If not, fix that first.
Deliverables: what you actually get
“Ongoing SEO optimization” is not a deliverable. A useful SEO agreement lists the work in terms you can check, for example:
- Which channels are covered: map pack, organic search, Local Service Ads, AI answers, or a mix
- Setup work and when it should be done (profile cleanup, technical fixes, tracking)
- Monthly work in plain units: pages written, profile posts, citation cleanup, review requests
- Who writes and approves content, and how quickly you review drafts
- What’s out of scope and how extra work gets quoted
- Who on their side does the work and who you contact
Be wary of a contract that promises a specific ranking or a “#1 position.” Google’s own guidance in Search Central’s “Do you need an SEO?” says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. A contract can reasonably commit to work, reporting and communication. It can’t honestly commit to Google’s results.
Reporting
The contract or the statement of work should say how often you get a report and what’s in it. For home service businesses, the numbers that matter are calls, form leads and booked jobs from search, alongside rankings in your actual service area. Ask whether call tracking is included and whether you can see the raw data, not only a summary. We cover the contents in detail in what a monthly SEO report should show and the SEO KPIs worth tracking, so here the point is simple: if reporting isn’t defined in the agreement, you have no grounds to ask for it later.
Smaller clauses worth a second look
- Price changes. Can the monthly fee rise during the term, and with how much notice?
- Ad spend vs management fees. If ads are included, the agreement should separate what goes to Google from what the agency keeps.
- Link building methods. A line saying the agency follows Google Search Essentials is reasonable to ask for.
- Non-compete or exclusivity. Does the agency work with your direct competitors in the same DFW service area? Some owners care a lot about this; ask either way.
- Handover on exit. What the agency hands back when you leave, and how fast.
Cost is its own topic. Our guide to how much SEO costs in Dallas covers what drives the price, so you can tell whether a quote is thin or padded.
What about our contract?
Fair question. We don’t use long-term contracts. Clients work with us on a month-to-month scope of work agreement that spells out the monthly deliverables, and you own your website, Google Business Profile, content and accounts. We’d rather keep you because the phone rings than because a contract says so. On the discovery call we’ll walk you through the scope line by line. Hold us to every point on this page the same way you’d hold any other agency. You can see the work behind the agreement on our SEO services page, or contact us to book the call. More guides for owners comparing agencies are in our local SEO resources.
Questions about SEO contracts
Is month to month SEO better than a long-term contract?
It depends on the work. Month to month gives you an easy exit, but some agencies charge setup fees to cover early work. A fixed term can be fair when the first months include a real build, like new service pages or a profile cleanup. Compare what you get, the notice period and any early-exit fee, not just the length.
Who should own my Google Business Profile and website?
You should. Your business should be the primary owner of the Google Business Profile and the registrant of the domain, with logins to hosting, Search Console, Analytics and ad accounts. The agency gets manager or user access to do the work. Ask for this in writing before you sign, and fix it now if an agency set things up under its own account.
Can an SEO contract guarantee rankings?
Not honestly. Google’s Search Central guidance says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. A contract can fairly commit to defined work, reporting and response times. Treat a ranking guarantee as a reason to read the fine print, since it often comes with narrow keywords or conditions that make it easy to meet.
What happens to my content if I cancel my SEO agreement?
That depends on the contract, which is why it should say so. A fair agreement lets you keep the pages, posts and photos you paid for, plus your accounts and data. Check separately for sites built on the agency’s own platform and for call tracking numbers, since those are the items most likely to be switched off when you leave.