To hire a Des Moines SEO company, get three things in writing before you sign: the monthly price, the work they'll do each month, and proof that you keep your website, domain and Google listing if you leave. Then send the 12 questions below. A company that won't answer them in an email has told you what working with them is like.
I run an agency that sells this, so read me with that in mind. I've tried to write the list I'd want a friend to use on us.
What I found when I looked at who sells SEO here
On October 12, 2026 I went through Clutch's list of SEO companies for Des Moines, one firm at a time. Two things stood out.
The first is that "Des Moines SEO company" doesn't mean the company is here. Of the first 63 firms on the page, 14 were marked "Serves Des Moines" and are based somewhere else. That may not matter to you. If it does, check the address before you take the call.
The second is price. Of the 49 firms located in Iowa:
| Minimum project size listed | Firms |
|---|---|
| Not disclosed | 27 |
| $1,000 or more | 8 |
| $5,000 or more | 12 |
| $10,000 or more | 1 |
| $25,000 or more | 1 |
More than half don't say what it costs to start. Among the 24 that list an hourly rate, 15 charge $100 to $149 an hour.
So expect to ask for the price, and expect a wide spread when you do. A minimum project size also isn't a monthly fee. For that, see what local SEO costs in Iowa.
The 12 questions
Send these by email, not on a call. A written answer is one you can hold them to.
Money
1. What does it cost each month, and what's the shortest term I can sign? A good answer is a number and a term. Be careful with anything that needs a second meeting to reveal.
2. What is not included? Writing, new pages, website changes and ad spend are the usual extras. Ask now, so the second invoice doesn't surprise you.
3. What happens to the price if I add a second location? Each city is its own market in search. Some firms double the fee and some charge a small add-on. You want to know which before you grow.
The work
4. What will you do in month one, and what will you do in month four? Month one should be a list of fixes. Month four should be a list of things being built. If both answers are "optimization", keep looking.
5. Who does the work, and how do I reach them? You're hiring the person, not the logo. Ask for a name.
6. How will you measure it, and what will I see each month? Calls, form leads and rankings for searches you care about are the right answers. Ask a second question here: do they check what ChatGPT and Google's AI say about your business, and how often? In 2026 that belongs in the report.
7. What do you need from me? Access and a little of your time. For an audit, Google's own advice is to grant read-only access to Search Console, not write access.
Ownership
8. Who owns the website and the domain name? You should. If the site lives on a platform only the agency controls, leaving means starting over.
9. Whose name are the Google Business Profile, Analytics and Search Console accounts in? Yours, with the agency added as a manager. Accounts created under the agency's login are the hardest thing to get back.
10. If I cancel, what do I take with me? Every page and every word you paid for. Get that sentence in the contract.
Proof and exit
11. Can I see work you did for a business my size, and talk to that owner? A firm that mostly serves large companies will show you large-company results. Those don't predict what happens on a $600 budget in Ankeny.
12. What happens if it doesn't work? Listen for what they promise. A promise about effort or about a number they measure is fair. A promise about a specific Google position is not, and the next section explains why.
Five answers that should end the call
These come from Google's guide to hiring an SEO, which is worth ten minutes of your time.
- "We guarantee the number one spot." Google's wording is direct: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
- "We have a special relationship with Google." Google says to be wary of anyone claiming one, or advertising a "priority submit".
- "That's proprietary." Google warns about firms that are secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do. You stay responsible for whatever they do to your site.
- "You'll need to link to us." Google says you should never have to link to an SEO.
- An email out of nowhere saying your site has errors. Google lists unsolicited contact as a warning sign by itself.
The clause to read twice
Most of the list above protects you from wasting a few months. Ownership protects you from losing years.
The risky setup works like this. The agency builds your site on a system it controls, registers the domain for you as a favor, and creates your Google listing from its own account. Everything works until you want to leave. Then the site can't be moved, the domain is in someone else's name, and your reviews sit on a profile you can't log in to.
None of that requires bad intent. It's often just how a shop is set up. That's why questions 8, 9 and 10 go in writing before any work starts.
How to compare two or three firms in a week
Don't compare sales calls. Compare work.
Ask each firm for the same small thing: a short written review of your site with the first three fixes they'd make, in order. Give read-only access if they need it. Then put the answers side by side.
You'll learn more from that than from any proposal. One firm will send a generic report from a tool. One will tell you something true about your business that you didn't know. Hire the second one.
You can use ours as one of the comparisons. Our free audit comes back in 24 hours with how you rank on Google, what the AI tools say about you, and the first three things we'd fix, and no call is required.
Copy these and send them
1. What does it cost each month, and what's the shortest term I can sign?
2. What is not included in that price?
3. What happens to the price if I add a second location?
4. What will you do in month one, and what will you do in month four?
5. Who does the work, and how do I reach them?
6. How will you measure results, and do you check what AI tools say about us?
7. What access do you need from me?
8. Who owns the website and the domain name?
9. Whose name are the Google Business Profile, Analytics and Search Console accounts in?
10. If I cancel, what do I take with me?
11. Can I see work for a business my size, and talk to that owner?
12. What happens if it doesn't work?
How we'd answer four of them
A list like this is worth less if the person who wrote it won't take the test, so here are ours.
- Price and term: $397, $797 or $1,497 a month, published on the pricing page, with no contract.
- Second location: $10 a month for each extra city or service area in your AI visibility tracking.
- Website ownership: our websites are one payment, and you own the site.
- If it doesn't work: your AI visibility goes up within 90 days, or we keep working free for up to 60 more days. We don't promise a specific ranking or a mention on any single question, because nobody can.
Where we're a weaker fit: we're a small shop and we don't have public case studies yet. A company that needs a large team on site will be better served by one of the bigger Des Moines agencies.
When you shouldn't hire anyone
If your budget is under a few hundred dollars a month, or your schedule is already full, do the free work first. That means a complete Google Business Profile, reviews, and the same name and phone number everywhere. I covered the order to spend in for trades in Google Ads, SEO or AEO first.
