Start with the job you need done
Before you call anyone, write a one-page brief. Mission is a commuter town with a working farm belt, growing new neighbourhoods, weekend visitors heading to Stave Lake, and plenty of households that cross the bridge to shop in Abbotsford. Say which of those customers you want, what action counts as a win and how far you are willing to travel or deliver.
Then add three more lines: the budget range you are comfortable with, your busiest and slowest months, and who on your side will answer enquiries. An agency can only plan around what it knows. A tidy brief also makes quotes comparable, which is hard when each agency is answering a different question.
Questions that separate a partner from a pitch
A good first call feels like a conversation about your business, not a slide deck. Listen for whether they ask about your customers, your margins and how leads reach you today. Then put the practical questions below to every agency on your shortlist, in writing if you can, so you can compare the answers side by side later.
Pay attention to how specific the answers are. 'We tailor everything' tells you nothing, while 'you will get a call report every month and a review each quarter' tells you plenty. If an answer is vague before you sign, it will probably be vague in the contract.
- Who will actually do the work, and is it done in-house?
- Who is my one contact, and how quickly do they reply?
- What will I receive each month, and in what format?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
- How do you handle a month when results dip?
- Which parts could I take over myself later?
Does your agency need to be in Mission?
Not really. What matters is whether the agency understands how Mission shoppers behave, not whether the desk sits on Lougheed Highway. Many Mission customers work in Abbotsford or Metro Vancouver and travel by bridge or the West Coast Express, so their searches follow routes, not borders. We serve Mission from our Abbotsford studio on South Fraser Way, and meet in person or by video, whichever suits your week.
Ask any agency for proof you can check. We have no published Mission client, so we show nearby work instead: for Olive Tree Aesthetics in Abbotsford, search, social and paid ads together lifted website traffic by 60%. Judge the fit yourself, and be wary of an agency that cites results it cannot attach to a named client and a clear scope.
Who owns what, and what the reports should say
Ownership is easy to ignore until you want to leave. Your domain, Google Business Profile, Google Ads account, analytics property and written content should all sit under your name, with the agency added as a user. If the agency holds them, switching later means starting from zero. Ask about notice periods too, and be cautious of contracts that lock you in for a long stretch.
Reports should speak your language. Impressions and clicks are fine as background, but the headline numbers should be calls, form submissions, bookings and cost per enquiry, split by service and by town where it helps. A short monthly call to explain the numbers is worth more than a forty-page PDF nobody reads.
Red flags, and a safe way to start
Some warning signs show up in the first week of talking. If you notice several, slow down and ask more questions before signing anything, because fixing a poor choice later costs time you cannot spare in your busy season.
A sensible way to begin is small. Ask for an audit first, or for a modest project rather than a year-long retainer. Ours is free and comes before any proposal, and projects start from $1,000. If the first piece of work is clear, on time and well explained, extending the relationship becomes an easy decision. If not, you have lost little.
- A promised ranking, lead count or timeline
- Reports full of impressions with no enquiries
- No access to your own accounts
- A package that looks identical for every business
- Pressure to sign on the first call
Ask how your agency uses AI
Many agencies now use AI for research, drafts and testing. That can speed things up, provided a person checks the work, local details are right and your customer data is handled carefully. Ask for a plain explanation of where AI is used on your account and who signs off before anything goes live. Honest answers are a good sign.
- 01Where AI is used and who reviews the output
- 02How your customer data is stored and shared
- 03How you will be found in AI answers as well as Google
Questions & answers
It depends on scope. Our hourly work runs $50–$99 per hour, and projects start from $1,000. Monthly plans vary with the channels involved, and ad spend is paid to the platforms separately. Ask every agency for a written scope and total before you agree to anything.
Yes. We serve Mission from our Abbotsford studio, just across the river, and meet in person or by video. What matters is that the team knows how people in Mission search and shop, and that you have one named contact from kickoff through to reporting.
Paid search can produce first enquiries within weeks, while SEO usually takes a few months to settle. Be wary of anyone who names an exact date. Ask instead for milestones you can check, such as tracking live, first leads in and cost per enquiry reported.
Bring a one-page brief with your goal, service area, ideal customers, rough budget and busy seasons. Add your website address, access to your Google profile and a list of what you have tried. A clear brief shortens the first call and makes the quote more accurate.