Why we are writing this
You will notice this site has no case studies with percentages. That is deliberate: we are a new studio and we do not publish client data without written permission. When we have those permissions, we will publish them with the full methodology.
In the meantime, the most useful thing we can do is teach you how to read other people's case studies, including ours, when they come.
First question: from what to what?
“240% growth” could be from ten visitors to thirty-four. That is technically true and practically meaningless. A serious case study gives the absolute numbers, not just the percentage.
If someone refuses to give the baseline figures on confidentiality grounds, ask whether they can at least give a range. A flat refusal usually means the baseline was very small.
Second question: traffic or customers?
Traffic is the easiest metric to grow and the easiest to game. You can quadruple visits by writing about topics unrelated to what you sell, and none of those visitors will ever buy.
Ask how many enquiries arrived, how many became customers, and what revenue resulted. If the answer is “we did not measure that”, then the case study measures the agency's activity, not the business's outcome.
Third question: over how long, and what else happened?
Growth sustained over six months is different from a single weekly spike. Ask for the full period and whether the growth held after the engagement ended.
Also ask what else the business was doing at the time. If they opened two new shops and ran a television campaign simultaneously, attributing the result to SEO is guesswork.
Fourth question: can I speak to the client?
This is the question that settles everything. An agency with real results has at least one or two clients willing to talk. An agency with decorative case studies will find reasons why that is not possible.
You do not need an hour; a five-minute call asking “would you hire them again” tells you more than any presentation.
What to ask for instead of percentages
Instead of a big number, ask for clarity on process: what will be done, in what order, by whom, and how you will know whether it worked. An agency that explains this well is usually a safer bet than one showing you a rising graph.
- The first month's work list, with specific page names
- Who writes the content and who approves it
- Your access to Search Console and Analytics from day one
- A review point where you can stop without penalty