What a marketing agency should do in the first week
By the end of the opening stage, you should understand what the agency is working towards, what it has checked and what happens next. A useful first week can produce agreed scope, suitable access, confirmed business facts, a record of the starting position and a short action plan.
Treat that as a framework for discussion, not a promise that every project follows the same sequence. An existing site with a wrong contact number presents a different immediate need from a business whose profile still needs verification. The work should reflect the actual situation and the agreement you made.
Start with the goal and the work you bought
Clarify the business problem in plain language. “Improve marketing” is too broad to guide a decision about a particular page or profile. Explain which services matter, which customers you want to reach and what is currently difficult for them.
Then distinguish the goal from the deliverables. A goal might be more relevant enquiries. The purchased work might be an assessment and recommendations, or it might include making and checking specific changes. Agreeing on the goal does not establish that every implementation task is included.
Write down what is covered, what is excluded and who can approve changes. This should be concise enough to use during the project. If the proposal leaves an important boundary unclear, resolve it before the agency acts on an assumption.
Google's guidance on hiring an SEO recommends discussing the business, expected results, measurement and how changes will be explained. Those questions are useful at the start as well as during selection.
Confirm the facts before writing about the business
Give the agency reliable information about what you offer, where you operate and how customers reach you. A website or old directory entry can be a starting point, but it is not proof that every detail is still correct.
For a local business, check the real business name, location or service area, relevant categories, contact details and applicable opening hours. Google's representation guidelines explain the requirements for those profile details. Actual information about your business must come from an appropriate source.
Confirm what each service includes and any important limitations. Identify who will answer factual questions and who signs off the final wording. That person may need help from staff who know particular parts of the operation.
An interview, existing documents and a written questionnaire can all contribute. Ask for a clear record of the confirmed answers. If two sources disagree, flag the conflict and resolve it; do not choose the more convenient answer merely to finish the draft.
Establish access and the dependencies it creates
The agency should explain which account or property it needs and why. Google's Business Profile role guidance supports separate access through each participant's Google Account. A Manager can make substantial edits, so the role still needs an agreed scope.
For an SEO audit, Google's hiring guidance recommends read access to Search Console. Do not treat a request to inspect information as automatic permission to change the website, advertising account or profile.
Verification can affect the opening plan. Google's verification guidance says the available methods vary and review after completing the steps can take up to five business days, occasionally longer. That is a dependency to record, not a guaranteed deadline for finishing the first week.
A blocked task should have a specific explanation and next step. If access is pending, the agency may still be able to review public pages or organize confirmed business facts. Independent work can continue where it is useful and within scope.
Record a starting position that can be compared later
Measurements need a source, period and definition. Save the relevant starting data before making changes where it is available, and say what could not be obtained. An unavailable figure should not be presented as zero.
Google's Business Profile performance documentation says performance data is available for verified profiles, includes organic activity and Google Ads, and shows only applicable metrics. Its Calls figure counts taps on the call button, not completed conversations. Website clicks are not automatically enquiries, and directions requests are not confirmed visits.
The same documentation says search terms update at the beginning of the month and can take up to five days to appear. A report should respect those delays rather than fill the gap with a claim of immediate improvement.
Separate a screenshot showing a corrected field from a chart suggesting a business effect. The first can demonstrate that an approved edit appeared. The second needs a suitable comparison and careful interpretation. Do not claim that an early increase was caused by the agency merely because it followed the start date.
Use competitor research to ask better questions
Looking at relevant competitors can reveal how other businesses explain their services and which information a customer can find. Ask the agency to turn that research into specific observations about your own material.
For example, a comparison may show that your page never explains how appointments are arranged. That creates a factual question for your team. It does not prove that a competitor's wording caused their search position or that copying their categories would be suitable for your business.
Keep the comparison bounded. Record which businesses and pages were considered and why they were relevant. Distinguish observed content from guesses about their sales, strategy or internal data.
There is no need to insist that competitor research must always happen before every other task. The useful output is an explained finding, not compliance with a sequence invented for all businesses.
Should anything be published in the first week?
Possibly, if the change is understood, authorized and ready to check. An urgent factual correction should not be delayed solely because a generic schedule says the first week is for research.
Equally, a page should not go live merely to demonstrate activity. Its business claims and intended use need confirmation, and the person making the change needs the right access. Agree who reviews the result after implementation.
Ask for a brief record of any work applied: what changed, why, where it appeared and whether the result was checked. If nothing was published, the first report should identify the preparation completed and the remaining dependency.
How long before SEO starts working?
Google's SEO Starter Guide explains that changes may take hours or months to affect search, advises allowing time to assess them and notes that some have no noticeable impact. It does not promise an enquiry, sale or ranking by a particular project date.
A supplier can still agree when a document or authorized change will be delivered, subject to stated dependencies. Do not confuse that delivery commitment with a guaranteed search outcome.
If a forecast is offered, ask what evidence and assumptions support it. A range is not automatically well founded simply because it avoids one precise number. The plan should also say when the assumptions will be reviewed and what observations would lead to a different decision.
What should the first report contain?
Request a compact account of the actual work: scope, checks completed, confirmed facts, starting measurements, approved changes, unresolved questions and next actions. Link evidence to the finding it supports.
Responsibilities should be visible on both sides. If the agency is waiting for an image or a service detail, specify what is needed and which task depends on it. Do not turn every missing item into a reason to stop unrelated work.
You should be able to distinguish completed work from planned work without reconstructing the whole week's conversation. The report does not need a predetermined page count or a video to achieve that.
For the wider approach, see the method page. The Local visibility guide covers related questions about finding and evaluating marketing support.
Frequently asked questions
what a marketing agency should do in the first week
Agree the goal and scope, establish suitable access, confirm essential business facts, record the available starting data and explain the next actions. The order depends on the project; this is a recommended set of outputs, not a universal timetable.
what happens when you hire a marketing agency
Expect an initial exchange about your business, responsibilities, access and the work you bought. Some projects begin with research; an authorized urgent correction may happen sooner. Ask what will be delivered and what is still waiting on input.
what should an agency ask me before starting
It should understand the relevant services, customers, locations, contact details and business constraints, along with your goals and approval process. Unknown information should be identified rather than invented.
how long before seo starts working
Google says the effect of website changes can take from hours to months, and some changes have no noticeable search impact. Agree a review point with the assumptions explained. A delivery deadline is different from a guaranteed ranking or sales date.
Why does week one feel like nothing is happening
Research, access checks and factual preparation may not change the public site immediately. Ask for evidence of completed work and named blockers. Silence alone neither proves useful work nor proves that nothing happened.
What access should I hand over in week one
Grant access suited to the agreed task through the relevant service. Google recommends Search Console read access at the audit stage. Do not share your email password or assume every task requires ownership.
What should the first report look like
It should identify the scope, what was checked, the starting data and period, findings, any approved changes, unresolved dependencies and next actions. Its claims should be supported by evidence and understandable without unexplained terms.