The Evaluation Framework That Separates Real Estate SEO Specialists from Generalists

This guide is written for independent agents, team leads, and small brokerages that are actively evaluating SEO agencies — not just exploring the idea. If you are still deciding whether SEO is the right channel for your business, the realtor SEO hub and our channel comparison page are better starting points.

If you have already decided SEO belongs in your marketing mix and you want to know how to pick the right vendor without making a $12,000 mistake, you are in the right place.

This guide covers:

• The evaluation criteria that actually matter for real estate SEO (not generic agency criteria)
• Questions to ask on a discovery call — and what good answers look like
• Red flags that should end a conversation before a proposal is signed
• Contract terms worth negotiating
• How to set realistic expectations once you do engage an agency

One clarification before we start: this is educational content, not legal or compliance advice. Contract terms, licensing requirements, and advertising rules vary by state and brokerage agreement — always verify specifics with your broker or attorney.

Most agency evaluation checklists online are generic. They tell you to check Google reviews and ask for case studies. That is fine, but it will not help you distinguish a real estate SEO specialist from someone who ranked a dentist's website and now pitches every vertical.

Here are the five criteria specific to real estate:

1. IDX and MLS Content Understanding

IDX listing pages create a known duplicate content problem. A qualified agency will explain how they handle this — typically through canonical tags, noindex strategies on thin listing pages, and building original neighborhood and community content around the feed. If an agency looks blank when you mention IDX, stop the conversation.

2. Local Search Architecture Knowledge

Real estate SEO is overwhelmingly local. The agency should be fluent in Google Business Profile optimization, neighborhood-level page structure, and Map Pack ranking factors. Ask them how they approach building out a city or farm area from scratch.

3. Commission-Based ROI Thinking

A good real estate SEO agency understands that one closed transaction can justify months of spend. They should be able to frame results in terms of leads, appointments, and closed volume — not just traffic. If their reporting dashboard shows pageviews and nothing else, that is a gap.

4. Real Estate Content Competence

Can they write accurate neighborhood guides, market update content, and buyer/seller resources that a local agent would not be embarrassed to publish? Ask to see real estate content samples, not just blog posts from other industries.

5. Timeline Honesty

Credible agencies acknowledge that real estate SEO in competitive markets takes 4-6 months to show meaningful movement, and longer in metros with high domain-authority competition. Any agency promising first-page results in 30-60 days is either targeting low-value keywords or overpromising.

A discovery call is a two-way evaluation. You are not just listening to a pitch — you are testing whether this agency thinks clearly about your specific business. Here are questions worth asking, along with context on what a strong answer looks like.

"How do you handle IDX listing pages for SEO?"

Strong answer: They describe a clear strategy for managing duplicate content from the feed — noindex on thin pages, canonical tags where appropriate, and building original content layers on top of the IDX framework. Weak answer: They have not worked with IDX before or wave it off as a minor issue.

"What does your reporting include, and how often do you review results with clients?"

Strong answer: Monthly reporting with rank tracking, organic traffic, lead form submissions, and a call or written summary. Weak answer: A login to a third-party dashboard with no human interpretation.

"Can you show me a real estate client example where you improved local visibility?"

Strong answer: A specific example — market, starting position, what was done, and the outcome over a stated timeframe. Weak answer: Vague references to past success or confidentiality claims that prevent sharing any detail whatsoever.

"What does the first 90 days of our engagement look like?"

Strong answer: A structured onboarding with a technical audit, keyword research scoped to your farm area, and a content roadmap with delivery dates. Weak answer: "We get started and start optimizing" with no specifics.

"What happens if I want to end the engagement?"

Strong answer: A reasonable notice period (30-60 days), clear ownership of all content and assets, and no punishing exit clauses. Weak answer: 12-month lock-in with no early termination option and agency-owned content.

Some agency behaviors are not just suboptimal — they are disqualifying. These are the patterns worth stopping a proposal process over.

• designed to rankings: No agency can guarantee a specific ranking position. Google's algorithm is not a lever anyone controls. Agencies that guarantee rankings either target low-competition terms that will not drive business, or they are not being honest with you.
• No real estate experience: SEO fundamentals transfer across industries, but real estate has enough structural differences — IDX content, NAR compliance, geographic farm areas, transaction-based ROI — that working with a generalist adds avoidable risk and learning curve that you pay for.
• Reporting vanity metrics only: Traffic without leads is a decoration. If an agency cannot show a line between their work and your contact form or phone calls, their accountability model has a gap.
• They own your content: Any agency that retains ownership of the content they produce for your site leaves you in a difficult position if the relationship ends. All content created for your website should belong to you.
• Immediate link-building pressure: Agencies that lead with link-building volume — guest posts, PBNs, directory blasts — before addressing your site's technical foundation and content quality are working in the wrong order and potentially introducing risk.
• No mention of timelines: An agency that will not give you any framework for when to expect results is either inexperienced or avoiding accountability. Honest agencies discuss timelines, caveats included.
• High-pressure close tactics: "This pricing is only available today" is a sales tactic, not a sign of a confident, capable agency. Good agencies do not need pressure to close.

Most agents sign agency contracts without reviewing them closely. Here are the terms that matter most — and what to look for.

Content and Asset Ownership

The contract should state explicitly that all content, blog posts, page copy, and website assets produced during the engagement belong to you upon delivery or payment. If it does not say this clearly, ask for an addendum before signing.

Lock-In Period and Exit Terms

Month-to-month or 3-month initial terms with 30-day notice are reasonable. Contracts that lock you in for 12 months with no performance benchmarks and no early termination path are worth negotiating before you sign — not after you are unhappy with results.

Scope of Work Definition

Vague retainer descriptions like "ongoing SEO services" are difficult to hold an agency accountable to. A good contract specifies deliverables by month: how many pieces of content, what technical work is included, what link-building activity is scoped, and how reporting is structured.

Reporting and Communication Cadence

Confirm the reporting format, frequency, and who your point of contact is. Some agencies sell at the senior level and deliver at the junior level — ask who will actually be doing the work on your account.

Access and Credentials

You should maintain admin access to your own Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Business Profile, and website at all times. An agency that needs to "own" access to your accounts as a condition of the engagement is creating unnecessary dependency.

None of this is meant to make the process adversarial. Most good agencies have reasonable contracts. Reading carefully protects both parties and sets the relationship up for clarity from day one.

If you are hesitating before hiring, the objection is usually one of a few predictable ones. Here is how to think through them honestly.

"I don't have the budget right now."

SEO is not free. But the math is different in real estate than in most industries. Because commission income is high per transaction, a single closed deal from organic search can offset several months of agency investment. The question is not whether you can afford SEO — it is whether your market and volume make the unit economics work. Our ROI analysis for real estate walks through that calculation without sales pressure.

"I tried SEO before and it didn't work."

This is one of the most common objections, and it is almost always tied to a specific failure mode: a generalist agency, no real estate content expertise, or a timeline expectation mismatch. Bad SEO is a real thing. The answer is not to avoid SEO — it is to evaluate the next agency more carefully. That is what this guide helps you do.

"I'd rather run Google Ads — it's faster."

Paid search and SEO serve different roles. Ads produce leads while the budget runs; SEO builds an asset that compounds. Many successful agents run both. If you have not compared the channels side by side, the comparison guide does that without recommending one universally over the other.

"My current agency does some SEO."

"Some SEO" from a generalist social media or web design agency is different from a dedicated real estate SEO engagement. If you are not seeing local search growth after 6+ months, it may be worth an independent audit before renewing.