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Agency shortlist scorecard

Score up to three agencies against the same fourteen questions and see which have answered what.

By Antoine Martin, Founder, Web Marketing International.
Published 4 November 2026. Last reviewed 4 November 2026.

Short answer

Enter Yes, Partly, No or Not asked yet for each question and each agency. The score is the share of points earned on the questions you have answered, so an agency is never marked down for a question you have not yet put to it.

How to use it

Rename the three columns after the agencies you are comparing. Work down the list after each call, choosing Not asked yet for anything you have not put to that agency. If I am one of your three, score me the same way. I have written the questions so that they do not favour any provider, and they draw on public guidance from Google, Meta and the UAE Government: the licence question follows the official verification channels[1], the ownership questions follow how Google Ads, Google Analytics and Meta describe owners, administrators and partners[2][3][4], and the guarantee question follows Google’s advice on hiring an SEO[5].

The scorecard

Agencies you are comparing

Who you contract with

Can the agency show a current UAE licence for the legal entity that will sign your contract? Deal-breaker

Check the licence on an official channel rather than relying on a certificate sent by the agency.

Is the entity on the licence the same as the one on the proposal and the invoices?

A different name is not proof of a problem, but the agency should explain it at once.

Do you know who will do the work day to day?

A name and a role, not a team description.

Ownership and access

Will your business own the advertising accounts, with the agency given access you can remove? Deal-breaker

In Google Ads a client account has one owner. Your business should be it.

Will someone in your business hold the Administrator role on your analytics property? Deal-breaker

The Administrator role is the one that manages who has access.

Will your Meta assets sit in your own business portfolio, shared with the agency as a partner?

Mark Yes if you do not use Meta advertising and nothing needs to be shared.

Does the proposal or contract say what you receive, and by when, if you end it?

Reports, creative files, account access and tracking set-up are common items.

Evidence

Did the agency show relevant previous work and explain what it did?

Method as well as outcome.

Does the agency have experience in your industry and in your market?

Ask for specifics, not a list of logos.

Does the agency avoid guaranteeing a search ranking or a specific result? Deal-breaker

Google says no one can guarantee a number one ranking.

Measurement

Has the agency told you in writing what it will count as a conversion?

Ask for the exact action, such as a form submission or a qualified enquiry.

Will you be able to check reported figures against your own accounts?

If you cannot trace a figure, you are trusting a summary.

The proposal

Does the proposal list what is included and what is excluded?

A blank on exclusions is a decision left until later.

Are fees, advertising spend and VAT each stated separately?

So that quotes can be put on the same basis.

Results

Agency A
No answers yet0 of 14 questions answered. Score = weighted points / maximum points for the questions answered.
Agency B
No answers yet0 of 14 questions answered. Score = weighted points / maximum points for the questions answered.
Agency C
No answers yet0 of 14 questions answered. Score = weighted points / maximum points for the questions answered.

A score only compares the answers you entered. Treat any deal-breaker as decisive, and do not compare two columns until you have asked both the same questions.

How the score works

  • Yes earns the full weight of the question, Partly earns half, No earns nothing.
  • The score is points earned divided by the maximum points for the questions answered. If you answer two questions weighted 3 and 2, with Yes to the first and Partly to the second, the score is (3 + 1) / 5, which is 80 percent.
  • Questions marked as deal-breakers show a warning if the answer is No. Treat that as decisive.
  • The weights are my judgement, not a standard. Read them as a guide to what I think matters first.

The scorecard runs in your browser and stores nothing you type. It cannot tell you whether an answer is true. Verify anything that matters, and take professional advice on the contract.

What to do with it

Speak again to the two highest-scoring agencies about the questions still marked Not asked yet. The method is in how to choose a marketing agency in the UAE, and the question list behind the card is in questions to ask before you shortlist an agency. If you want to put me through it, my services are described on my own site.

Sources

  1. UAE Government portal (u.ae), Verify business licences. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  2. Google Ads Help, Manager accounts (MCC): About ownership of client accounts. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  3. Google Analytics Help, Add, edit, and delete Analytics users and user groups. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  4. Meta Business Help Centre, Give a partner access to business assets in your business portfolio. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  5. Google Search Central, Do You Need an SEO? Tips for Hiring an SEO. Accessed 4 November 2026.