Fractional SEO Consultant
Senior SEO strategy and hands-on guidance when you need a plan and expert direction, not a full leadership seat. I set the direction; your team runs it, with me alongside.
Flexible scope: from a focused project to a lighter monthly arrangement.
What a fractional SEO consultant does
A fractional SEO consultant is a senior SEO expert you bring in part-time for strategy and hands-on guidance (the audit, the roadmap, the technical direction, and the judgment) while your team does the executing.
It's the right call when you don't need someone to sit in the leadership seat full-time; you need to know what to do, in what order, and why, and you want an experienced person in your corner as you do it. Less commitment than a director engagement, more depth than a one-off audit that ends up in a drawer.
I've spent 20+ years doing this work across enterprise publishers, Fortune 50 brands, SaaS, and startups: technical SEO on sites with millions of pages, 50+ migrations, and content and organic-growth strategy that ties back to revenue. As a consultant, that experience shows up as clear direction your team can actually execute.
Senior eyes, not a junior playbook
Twenty years of technical SEO, 50+ migrations, and content strategy across enterprise brands and startups. As a consultant you get that experience directly (the plan and the judgment) instead of it being handed down to an account manager working from a template.
Consultant, director, or agency
Same person can play the first two. Here's how to tell which one you actually need.
| Fractional consultant | Fractional director | SEO agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A senior advisor & a plan | A senior owner in the seat | A team executing tasks |
| Who executes | Your team, with my guidance | Your team, I direct it | The agency |
| Owns the strategy | Sets it, advises | Owns & runs it | Within its scope |
| Hands-on audits & technical | Yes | Yes | Varies |
| Commitment | Flexible / project | Quarterly, from $20K | Monthly retainer |
| Best when | You need a plan & guidance | You need someone to own it | You need execution capacity |
What the engagement covers
- SEO auditA real diagnosis: technical, content, and the gap between search demand and what you capture today.
- Prioritized roadmapWhat to do, in what order, sized by impact and effort, not a 200-item list nobody runs.
- Hands-on guidanceWorking sessions and reviews so whoever executes does it right the first time.
- Technical SEOCrawl, indexation, architecture, internal linking, and migration direction.
- Content strategyWhat to create and why, built on real search demand and competitive gaps.
- MeasurementThe reporting and metrics that show whether any of it is actually working.
Results the guidance drives
Anonymized by client. More detail on the Results page.
Questions, answered
What is a fractional SEO consultant?
A fractional SEO consultant is a senior SEO expert you bring in part-time for strategy and hands-on guidance (an audit, a prioritized roadmap, technical direction, and coaching for whoever executes) without taking on a full leadership seat or a full-time hire.
Consultant or director: which do I need?
Choose a consultant when you need a plan and expert guidance and your team (or you) will execute it. Choose a director when you need someone to actually own the strategy and direct the team week to week. The consultant sets you up and advises; the director sits in the seat and runs it.
How is a consultant different from an agency?
A consultant is one senior advisor giving you strategy, judgment, and direction. An agency is a team executing tasks. If you mostly need a plan and expert eyes, a consultant is cheaper and sharper; if you need execution capacity, an agency (or my agency, NorthSide Metrics) fits better.
Do you execute the work, or just advise?
I advise and go hands-on where senior experience matters most: technical audits, migration planning, the strategy calls. Broader execution runs through your team with my guidance, or through NorthSide Metrics if you need the capacity.
What does it cost, and what's the commitment?
The consulting engagement is more flexible than the director retainer: it can run from a scoped project to a lighter monthly arrangement, sized to what you need. We settle scope and cost on the discovery call.
What if we have no in-house SEO yet?
Common, and a good fit. I build the strategy and roadmap, then guide whoever executes: an internal hire, a freelancer, or an agency. If you'd rather hand execution off entirely, I can bring in NorthSide Metrics.
Need a plan and a senior set of eyes?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll figure out whether a consulting engagement (or a full director seat) is the right fit for where you are.