Choose the help by the decision you need to make. If you want a first view of what deserves attention, start with a public review. If you need to establish what is happening in a particular area, commission a focused investigation. If you are ready to discuss who should do the work, start with that conversation.
An audit can include diagnosis and prioritization. A document called a diagnosis can still leave you without a useful next step. The practical question is what the work will help your business decide.
For an established consultancy or advisory firm, that might be which service needs a clearer explanation, whether relevant buyers can find it, or whether a technical problem is preventing access. Those questions need different evidence.
Match the review to the decision
| Your situation | A useful starting point |
|---|---|
| You want an independent first reading of your public presence. | A public review of the offer, buyer questions, relevant searches and visible gaps, with practical priorities. |
| You already want help and need to discuss scope, responsibilities and price. | A conversation about the business and proposed work. You do not need to buy a report first. |
| A particular page is missing from search, or traffic changed after a migration. | A scoped investigation using the relevant technical and reporting evidence. Timing alone does not establish the cause. |
| An audit already exists, but the work has stalled. | Review its findings, business importance, dependencies and implementation owner before commissioning another audit. |
Our free Outside View is the public first look: ten priorities in a PDF within two business days of your request, with no account access or call required. The free Clarity Call is a separate way to start when you want to discuss the work. Neither commits you to a project.
Ask what the investigation will establish
Before paying for a review, agree five things:
- The question: what decision needs an answer, and which service or pages matter?
- The evidence: what can be checked publicly, and what needs reporting, system access or information from your team?
- The output: which findings, priorities and unresolved questions will be explained?
- The responsibility: who investigates, who approves and who can make the changes?
- The next decision: what will you be able to fund, defer or investigate further afterwards?
Google’s guidance on hiring an SEO says that if a provider offers an audit, examine what it involves and expect realistic estimates of improvement and the work required. It also advises asking providers to explain their changes. Judge the review by that substance, rather than assuming its label tells you whether it will be useful.
If you are comparing suppliers, use the provider-comparison guide. It covers scope, evidence and commitments without requiring a separate review from every supplier.
Two situations, two sensible first moves
Several services, one broad page. Our confidential HR advisory case shows eight named service choices and a chooser based on the buyer’s problem. It demonstrates a way to make expertise easier to navigate. For your firm, the first question is whether buyers can recognise the help they need. The answer may be a better existing page, different navigation or a wider rebuild.
A service page seems absent from Google. Start with that exact URL and its intended job. Ask the responsible person to examine its indexing record, canonical and current access. The important-page indexing guide explains how to turn the available evidence into a useful next action. A missing result alone does not tell you to rewrite the site.
These examples help choose an investigation. They do not make one client’s implementation the prescription for every business.
Use a report you already have
Bring the finding that matters, when it was recorded and what has changed since. Ask your current supplier which recommendations are still applicable, which serve the priority service and which have an implementation owner.
If the report is sound and the work is clear, the next purchase may be implementation. If its evidence no longer describes the site, a targeted recheck may be appropriate. If the problem is still unclear, agree the unanswered question before expanding the scope.
Use traffic but no suitable enquiries for the broader business investigation, or repair versus rebuild when the current website may be the constraint.