Before You Hire: What to Prepare for Your SEO Expert (Access, Goals, Budget, Competitors)

Prepare To Hire SEO Expert before you start working: access to your Google and website accounts, written goals with your current numbers, a budget that covers more than the monthly fee, a list of your business and search competitors, and the business details only you know. Name one person on your team to approve changes. A prepared business gets a faster, more accurate audit, and the first month goes on fixes instead of chasing logins.

This checklist comes from how I start every project as a Nepal-based SEO expert. Month one of my work is a full audit of the website, and the quality of that audit depends on what the client prepares. Each section below explains what to gather, where to find it, and what goes wrong when it’s missing.

What should you prepare before hiring an SEO expert?

You should prepare 5 groups of information: account access, goals and baseline numbers, a budget, a competitor list, and business details. Each group answers a question your SEO expert asks in the first week.

• Access: lets the expert see real data instead of guessing.
• Goals and baseline numbers: let you judge results fairly 3 or 6 months later.
• Budget: decides how much work fits into each month.
• Competitors: show which websites already win the searches you want.
• Business details: give the expert context that no tool shows, such as your most profitable services and your busy seasons.

A missing item has a cost. No baseline means nobody can prove growth later. No access means the audit relies on public data only. No approver means fixes sit waiting for weeks.

Which accounts and access should you sort out first?

Sort out 6 accounts first: Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Business Profile, your website admin (such as WordPress or Shopify), your hosting, and your domain registrar. Your business should own every one of them, and the SEO expert should get access as a user.

The following table shows why each account matters, the access level that usually works for SEO, and who should own it.

Account	Why the SEO expert needs it	Access level that usually works	Who should own it
Google Search Console	Shows the searches you appear for, clicks, indexing, and errors	Full user	Your business
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)	Shows visits, traffic sources and key events such as form submissions	Editor (Analyst or Viewer for read-only reporting)	Your business
Google Business Profile	Updates services, photos, posts, and business details on Google Maps	Manager	Your business (primary owner)
Website admin (WordPress, Shopify)	Edits pages, titles, internal links, and technical settings	Editor for content; Administrator for technical work	Your business
Google Tag Manager	Adds tracking for forms, calls, and WhatsApp clicks	Edit or Publish permission	Your business
Hosting (cPanel or similar)	Fixes speed, redirects and server problems	Only when the agreed work needs it	Your business
Domain registrar and DNS	Verifies Search Console and fixes domain settings	Usually none; you or your developer make the change	Your business

The exact access level depends on the work agreed. Ownership stays with you in every case. I work the same way: my clients keep ownership of Search Console, GA4, Google Business Profile, the domain and all content.

How do you give access without sharing your password?

You give access by adding the SEO expert’s email as a user inside each account. Google Search Console, GA4 and Google Business Profile all have a users or people setting for this. According to Google’s Business Profile help pages, a profile can have owners and managers, and owners can add or remove other people. Never share the password of the Gmail account that owns your business accounts. A shared password gives full control of everything linked to that email, and you can’t remove that access later without changing the password.

What if your developer or old agency owns your accounts?

Check ownership before you hire anyone. Many Nepali websites were set up by a web designer who used their own email for the domain, Google Business Profile or Search Console. Ask the person who built the site to transfer ownership to a business email you control. Check the domain at your registrar too. For a .np domain, check which contact details are listed with the registry. Recovering ownership later, after a disagreement, is much harder than doing it now.

What if Search Console or GA4 isn’t set up yet?

A missing Search Console or GA4 account isn’t a problem. Setting them up correctly becomes one of the first tasks. Agree who creates them, and make sure they’re created under your business email. GA4 only collects data from the day it’s installed, so set it up as early as possible.

What goals and baseline numbers should you write down?

Write down your 3 most important services, the locations you serve, and your current numbers for clicks, enquiries and sales. Goals tell the SEO expert where to focus. Baseline numbers show whether the work is succeeding.

A useful goal describes a business result, not a ranking. “More booking enquiries for Everest Base Camp treks from the UK” is a goal an expert can plan for. “Rank #1 on Google” is not, because no one controls Google’s rankings, and a ranking can bring no customers at all.

Which numbers should you record before work starts?

Record 5 numbers for the last 3 months and, if available, the last 12 months:

1. Clicks and impressions from Google Search Console.
2. Organic sessions and key events in GA4. In 2024, Google renamed “conversions” in GA4 to “key events”.
3. Calls, direction requests and website clicks from your Google Business Profile.
4. Monthly enquiries by channel: website form, phone, WhatsApp and walk-in.
5. Monthly sales or bookings you can connect to the website.

Save these numbers in one sheet. In 3 months, you compare the new numbers with this sheet, not with memory.

How do you count enquiries that come by phone, WhatsApp, Viber or Facebook?

Count them by hand, because GA4 can’t see them. Many Nepali businesses receive most enquiries by phone, WhatsApp, Viber or Facebook Messenger. Keep a simple tally sheet, and ask every new customer one question: “How did you find us?” Record the answer as Google search, Google Maps, Facebook, referral or other. Without this tally, SEO looks weaker than it is, because the enquiries it brings never appear in your analytics.

Which languages do your customers search in?

Note whether your customers search in English, Romanized Nepali (Nepali written in English letters) or Devanagari. Customers in Nepal use all three. A clinic’s patients and a trekking company’s international travellers search in very different ways, so tell your SEO expert which language your buyers use.

How do you set a realistic budget for SEO?

Set a budget that covers 4 things: the monthly SEO fee, content, developer time for fixes, and your own team’s time. Plan for at least 3 months, because the first month mostly goes on the audit and the first priority fixes.

Market prices vary widely in Nepal. My SEO cost in Nepal guide explains the ranges and what each budget level usually covers. Use it to set a realistic monthly figure before you speak to providers.

My own plans start from US$150 per month (about NPR 22,914), and from $200 per month for trekking agencies. Contracts run for 3, 6 or 12 months, with 50% or 100% paid in advance by bank transfer or eSewa. The full scope is on my SEO pricing page.

What isn’t usually included in the SEO fee?

Check 4 costs that often sit outside the monthly fee:

• Developer time: for technical fixes, theme changes or a site migration.
• Photos and video: especially for trekking, hotels and products.
• Paid tools: when a project needs a specific premium tool.
• Other marketing channels: paid ads, social media management and website design are separate services.

I don’t run paid ads, and I don’t offer dedicated social media management. Website design is a separate service from my SEO plans.

Which competitors should you list, and why?

List 2 kinds of competitors: 3 to 5 businesses you lose customers to, and 3 to 5 websites that appear on Google for your main services. Business competitors and search competitors are often different. A hotel’s search competitors include booking platforms, and a trekking company competes with international travel websites as well as local agencies.

How do you find your search competitors?

You find search competitors by searching like a customer. It takes about 10 minutes:

1. Search your top 3 services in English, with and without your city name.
2. Repeat the searches in Romanized Nepali if your customers use it.
3. Write down the businesses in the Google Maps results and the top organic results.
4. Include directories, marketplaces and booking platforms that appear.
5. Note one thing you admire or worry about for each competitor.

This list shows your SEO expert where the real competition sits. It also prevents a common mistake: comparing yourself only with the businesses you meet offline.

What business information helps your SEO expert work faster?

Share 6 details that no SEO tool can show: your priority services and margins, your seasons, your customers’ common questions, your exact business details, your brand assets and your website’s history.

• Priority services and margins: the services that bring the most profit.
• Busy and slow seasons: for example trekking seasons, wedding season or festival periods such as Dashain and Tihar.
• Customers’ 10 most common questions: these become content ideas and FAQ answers.
• Exact business name, address and phone number: written the same way everywhere. My Local SEO Services in Nepal page explains why consistency matters for Google Maps.
• Logo, photos and brand guidelines: for images and Google Business Profile posts.
• Past SEO reports or audits: what was done before and by whom.

Why does your website’s history matter?

Your website’s history explains problems the expert sees in the data. Share any domain change, redesign, URL change, sudden traffic drop or bought backlinks. A past migration often explains lost rankings, and my Technical SEO Services in Nepal page covers how those problems get fixed. Hiding history wastes time, because the expert has to rediscover it.

Who on your team will approve and make changes?

Name 2 people before you hire: one decision-maker who approves plans and content, and one technical contact who can make or allow website changes. Slow approvals are the most common reason SEO work stalls after the audit.

Agree how quickly approvals come back. Also agree how you’ll meet. I meet clients every week: in person in the Kathmandu Valley, and online elsewhere. Results depend partly on how fast fixes get approved and published.

What is the complete pre-hire SEO checklist?

The following checklist summarises everything in this guide. Tick each item before your first call with an SEO expert.

Item	Ready?	Where to find it	Why it matters
Search Console owner is your business email		Search Console > Settings > Users and permissions	You keep your search data
GA4 installed and owned by you		GA4 > Admin > Property access management	You keep your visit data
Google Business Profile owner is you		Business Profile > Settings > People and access	You keep your Maps listing
Domain registered in your name		Your registrar account or the .np registry record	You keep your website address
Website admin and hosting logins ready		Your developer or hosting company	Fixes can start without delay
Top 3 services written down		Your sales records	The expert knows where to focus
Locations served listed		Your branches and delivery areas	Local pages target the right places
Baseline clicks and impressions saved		Search Console, last 3 and 12 months	You can measure growth later
Baseline key events and sessions saved		GA4 reports	You can measure leads later
Offline enquiry tally started		A simple sheet at reception or on your phone	Phone and WhatsApp leads get counted
Monthly SEO budget decided		The SEO cost in Nepal guide	The scope matches your budget
Extra costs planned		Developer, content and photo costs	The work doesn’t stall halfway
3 to 5 business competitors listed		Your own market knowledge	The expert understands your market
3 to 5 search competitors listed		Google searches for your top services	The expert sees who wins online
Seasons and customer questions listed		Your team and past enquiries	Content is planned at the right time
Website history shared		Past developers, reports and audits	Old problems get found faster
Approver and technical contact named		Your team	Fixes get approved and published

A business that ticks most of these items gives its SEO expert a clear starting point. The ones you can’t tick become the first tasks.

What happens after you send this to an SEO expert?

A good SEO expert uses your preparation to plan the first months. My process follows 5 steps: a free audit, a priority list, a plan agreed with you, the work itself, and a monthly report with a review call. I lead every project, with help from my small SEO team.

You don’t need a perfect checklist to start. Send me your website link, and I’ll review it and share the main problems, the biggest opportunities and a clear quote. You can also compare the two hiring options in my SEO freelancer vs SEO agency in Nepal guide, or see past results in my SEO case studies.

Frequently asked questions