You run a private security company in Accra. Your guards protect homes in East Legon and Cantonments, offices in Airport City, warehouses in Tema, construction sites along the Spintex Road, shops at the malls. You know a guarding contract is signed on trust: the client hands you their property and sometimes their family's safety. So you ask a lot of questions before taking on a client, and you expect them to ask you just as many.
When an agency offers you a 12-month visibility contract to make your company easier to find online, the same standard applies. Here are the questions to ask and how to read the answers.
Why these questions matter for a security firm
Your buyers often search under pressure: a facilities manager who needs to replace a provider after a break-in, an international company setting up in Accra that must secure its premises before opening, an embassy contractor, a developer starting a project in Tema or Kasoa. They search on Google, sometimes ask an AI assistant for recommendations, then call the firms that look credible. Being found at that moment is valuable, because a guarding contract often runs for years.
A poorly chosen 12-month commitment, on the other hand, costs you a full year. That is why it is worth questioning any provider properly before you sign. Treat it the way you would treat a site survey before quoting for a new client: ask, verify, and write down the answers so you can hold the provider to them later.
Questions about results
1. What exactly do you guarantee?
Reassuring answer: they guarantee what they control, meaning delivery of what the plan includes on schedule, and transparent measurement of results, with compensation if they miss deadlines.
Worrying answer: we guarantee you the number one position on Google. Nobody controls Google's decisions or what an AI assistant says. A promise like that is either naive or dishonest.
2. How will I know it is working?
Reassuring answer: a dated, regular report, results you can check in your own Google tools, and a measured review on a fixed date. Worrying answer: vague reports, figures from a tool you cannot access, or no review meeting planned at all.
3. When will I see the first effects?
Reassuring answer: an honest explanation that visibility builds slowly at first and then faster, with no fixed date promised. Worrying answer: new clients from the first month.
Questions about the contract
4. Why 12 months, and what if it does not work?
A long commitment makes sense when visibility compounds over time, but it should come with a checkpoint where you look at the numbers together. Ask what happens at 3 months.
5. Do you work for my competitors?
Reassuring answer: the provider limits how many security companies it serves in your area, and puts that in writing. Worrying answer: a refusal to answer, or yes, but it is not a problem. If your agency works for every guarding firm in Accra, it is defending the same positions for all of you.
6. Is the total cost clear?
Insist on the setup fee, the monthly fee, the term and the total for the year, in writing. Our guide on comparing visibility quotes shows what a serious proposal should contain.
Questions about how you will work together
7. What will you need from me?
The owner of a security company manages rosters, client sites, incidents and licensing. There is no time to become a visibility expert. The provider should be able to work without constant input from you while keeping you properly informed.
8. What happens to the results if I stop?
Ask what remains yours when the contract ends. The answer should be clear and written. For a full set of questions that apply to any sector, see our guide on questions to ask before signing a 12-month visibility contract.
How Traffic Engine answers these questions
Traffic Engine is Kolonell's service for making your company visible when someone searches for a security or guarding company in Accra, on Google and in the answers of AI assistants. Here are its answers, as set out on the offer page. Prices for Ghana are in US dollars.
- Guarantee: everything your plan includes goes live on schedule, or the following month is free. Kolonell guarantees publication and measurement, not the decision of Google or an AI assistant.
- Measurement: a dated report every week, results in your own Search Console, a measured progress review at 3 months.
- Competitors: 3 standard seats per sector and per area, each with its own positioning, and exclusivity while the sector is still empty, with Momentum Exclusive at $4,250 or Flood Exclusive at $6,450 a month.
- Cost: Visibility Audit at $750, deducted from the $1,650 setup if you start within 30 days, then Presence at $1,200, Momentum at $2,100 or Flood at $3,850 a month on a 12-month commitment. On Momentum, the full first year comes to $26,850.
Kolonell applied this approach to its own website first: the Search Console curves for kolonell.com are published on the offer page and updated daily. See the offer and availability for security companies in Accra.
Before you sign with anyone
Print these questions and put them to every provider you meet, Kolonell included. Compare the answers in writing. Measure your starting point with the free website score at the top of the Traffic Engine page. And if you are still weighing up providers, our guide on how a security company should choose a visibility partner covers the criteria in more depth.