You do not need to be a developer to judge whether an SEO company knows technical SEO. You need to ask focused questions and look for clear, specific answers instead of vague reassurance. Technical SEO is the part of the work that makes a site easy for search engines to crawl, index, and render quickly. If a company is weak here, content and link work often underperform, because the foundation is broken. Here is how a non-technical buyer can evaluate that competence before signing a contract.
Ask for a sample technical audit
The single most useful request is a redacted sample of a real technical audit the company has delivered for another client. A genuine audit reads like a prioritized action list, not a generic checklist. Look for findings tied to specific pages or URL patterns, an explanation of why each issue matters, and a recommended fix with an owner. Be cautious if the sample is only a tool export with no commentary, or if every site somehow has the identical set of problems. Strong audits show judgment: they separate issues that hurt rankings now from minor items that can wait.
Listen to how they discuss crawling and indexing
Most ranking problems trace back to crawlability or indexation, so a capable company should treat these as a starting point. Ask how they would check whether your important pages are actually being indexed. Good answers mention reviewing the index coverage report in Google Search Console, checking robots.txt rules, confirming the XML sitemap reflects only indexable URLs, and looking for crawl waste from duplicate or low-value pages. They should also explain site architecture: pages buried more than three or four clicks from the homepage get crawled less often, so priority pages should sit close to the top. If a company cannot explain how a page gets discovered and indexed in plain terms, that is a warning sign.
Check their grasp of Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are Google’s measurable page-experience signals. As of 2026 the common targets are Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds, and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1. A skilled company can name these, explain what each one measures in everyday language, and describe how they would diagnose a failing score. They should distinguish lab data from real-user field data and avoid promising a perfect score quickly, since some fixes depend on your hosting and code. Watch for anyone who treats speed as a single number or guarantees instant results.
Probe structured data knowledge
Structured data, usually written as JSON-LD schema markup, gives search engines machine-readable context about your content. It supports rich results and increasingly feeds AI-driven search features. Ask which schema types fit your business and how they would test that markup validates correctly. A competent answer references validation tools and a plan to monitor for errors after launch, not just a one-time install.
Confirm they can work with developers
Most technical fixes require code changes, so the SEO company must collaborate with whoever maintains your site. Ask how they hand off recommendations. You want clear specifications a developer can act on, a way to prioritize requests, and a willingness to test changes before and after they go live. If the company expects to make changes directly, ask exactly what access they need and why. A team that respects your development process and explains the reasoning behind each request is easier to trust than one that issues demands without context.
Practical signs of real skill
Throughout these conversations, favor specifics over jargon. A strong company asks about your site platform, your current analytics setup, and recent redesigns or migrations before promising anything. They recommend periodic audits rather than a single fix, since technical issues reappear after site changes. They admit when something needs investigation instead of guessing. Plain, honest, detailed answers are the clearest evidence that the technical skill behind the pitch is genuine.