Picture a Tuesday afternoon in the UK: you are up a ladder, the phone rings, and a polite voice says your Google listing has problems and they can fix it this week.
That call is a fair test of how you buy. You did not ask for it, you cannot see the person, and the offer is built to be answered before you have time to check anything. This is a typical call, not a transcript of one: I have no real cold-call script or email to quote, so I have not invented one.
What I can give you is what Google says about firms that contact you first, a table of the claims such a pitch usually leans on, and a ten-minute check you can run while the caller waits for an answer. It ends with a sum on what a wrong yes costs across a year in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland alike.
What Google says about a pitch you did not ask for
Google's "Do you need an SEO?" page says to "be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that email you out of the blue", and that "no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google".
The page goes on to say that if a firm guarantees that its changes will give you first place in search results, you should find someone else. It also reminds you that you are responsible for what any company you hire does on your site, and that deceptive or misleading content added by an SEO could get your site removed from Google's index. So a bad supplier is not only a wasted fee: their work sits on your site, under your name.
The same page lists questions worth asking any SEO. You can ask for examples of previous work and some success stories, what results to expect and in what timeframe, how you will communicate, and whether they will share all the changes made to your site. Those four are the spine of the check below. Google's wording is about email, and a phone call is the same situation with less time to think.
Six claims a cold pitch leans on, and the check for each
Every claim in the table can be tested in under a minute by asking for it in writing, and a firm that is happy to write it down is already ahead of one that is not.
| What you hear | What it may mean | The one check | Verdict if they refuse |
|---|---|---|---|
| "We will get you to number one on Google" | A promise about something the firm does not control | Ask for it in the written offer | Walk away: Google says no one can guarantee it |
| "Your website has serious errors" or "your listing is broken" | A real fault, or a generic script that fits every site | Ask for the report by email, then check two of its points yourself | Treat it as a sales opener, not an audit |
| "We work with Google" or "we are a Google partner" | It could mean a real programme or just an advertising account | Ask exactly what the arrangement is and where Google lists it | Do not let the phrase carry any weight |
| "You already pay us" or "your last provider asked us to call" | A guess that you will not look at your own records | Check your bank statements and ask for an invoice number | End the call: no invoice, no past relationship |
| "This price ends today" | Pressure to decide before you check | Ask for the price valid for seven days in writing | A real quote still stands next week |
| "Give me your card and we start now" | Payment before terms | Say you will pay after reading the written terms | Do not pay by phone to anyone you cannot look up |
The middle column is my reading, not a finding about any named company, and some honest sellers do open with an audit. That is why the check is what counts and the verdict only applies if they refuse it. Pay particular attention to the fourth row: nobody should be able to talk you into believing you already owe them something.
The ten-minute check
Companies House lets you search the UK company register by company name or number, or by an officer's name, so you can test whether the caller's business exists before you say another word.
Ask for the full registered company name and company number, then put the phone down politely if you need to. The register's own front page says you can search by name or number and also by officer name, and it links to company data and document images. If the company is brand new, has no address you can find or has a name that differs from the one on the call, you have learned something.
- Find the company. Search Companies House by the name or number you were given. Does the registered name match what you were told on the call?
- Search your own area. Type the phrase a customer would use for your trade and your town into Google, in a private window. Note where you appear, so you can judge any claim about your ranking against what you saw.
- Ask how they found you. A firm that picked you for a reason should be able to say what it was. A vague answer suggests a list.
- Ask for two clients you can ring. This is Google's own suggestion in different words. A real firm has people who will pick up.
- Ask for the terms in writing. Term, notice, what you own at the end and what you pay if you leave. If the answer is "no contract", ask what happens when you cancel.
- Decide after, not during. Say you will read it and ring back. A good offer survives a night.
None of this proves the firm is good. It only removes the ones that cannot pass a ten-minute look. For the second stage, what never to sign in an SEO contract goes through the clauses that cost most.
What to say on the call itself
You do not have to be rude and you do not have to decide, so one sentence does the job: "Send me the offer and the terms by email and I will read them."
That sentence does two things. It gives an honest firm exactly what it needs, and it costs a pressure seller their main tool, which is the next two minutes of your attention. If they say they cannot send anything, or that the offer only exists on the phone, you have your answer.
Do not read out a password or a card number, and do not agree to add anyone as an owner of your Business Profile. If you ever do hire someone, give them manager access to the profile rather than ownership or your password, because manager access is something you can take away. If you want the longer reasoning, paying someone to fix a suspended profile covers the access side.
When a cold call is still a fair start
A call you did not ask for is a reason to check, not a verdict: if the company is on the register, the terms are in writing and the claims survive the table, it is simply a sales call from a firm that sells.
I do not think every unsolicited approach is a scam, and Google's page does not say that either. It says to be wary. A small UK firm may sell by phone because it is the only way it knows. What separates the two is that a real offer holds up when you ask for it on paper, and that the firm can say what it will do in the first month and what you can take with you.
There is a second test that has nothing to do with the caller. Ask whether you wanted to buy this at all. If you had not been thinking about SEO this week, a good pitch should not have to be answered today. The fix-it-yourself-or-pay routine shows what you can check for yourself before any fee comes up.
The sum on a wrong yes
On an invented fee of £250 every four weeks, thirteen payments make £3,250 a year, and an agreement that renews on its own can run into a second year, £6,500 in all, before you spot it.
The figures here are made up to show the arithmetic, so swap in the fee you were quoted. Every four weeks is thirteen payments a year, not twelve, and that gap is easy to miss when a price is quoted as a round monthly number. Ask any supplier whether a quote includes VAT, because the UK standard rate is 20 per cent and a figure without it may be short by a fifth.
What a quoted fee adds up to (invented fee, ex VAT)
| What you agreed | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Three months, then cancel | 3 payments of £250 | £750 |
| One year | 13 payments of £250 | £3,250 |
| One year, renewed once without noticing | 26 payments of £250 | £6,500 |
| Same year if the quote was £250 plus VAT | 13 payments of £300 | £3,900 |
Fee invented. Three months is read as three four-week payments. Check any real agreement for its term, its notice and whether it renews on its own.
The bottom line is the useful one: the same advertised fee is £650 a year higher when VAT is added. A call that ends with "just agree today and we will sort the paperwork" is asking you to sign before you can do this sum.
Where Sitework fits, and where it does not
The SEO and Map Pack plan is £300 every four weeks on a website you already have, or £350 with a website I build and host, with a three month minimum, and I make no promise about position.
Run the same ten minutes on me. The SEO plan page and the terms page are public, so you can read the term and the deposit, and what happens if you leave, before you speak to anyone. I am not VAT registered, so those are full amounts. If you would rather read first and talk later, that is the way I would want to be bought from.