Fractional SEO Director
Senior ownership of your organic search (strategy, team direction, and a straight line from SEO to revenue) without the cost or commitment of a full-time director hire.
From $20,000 / quarter · 3-month minimum
What a fractional SEO director does
A fractional SEO director is a senior organic-search leader who owns your SEO strategy part-time: setting direction, prioritizing the roadmap, directing the people who execute, and reporting results to the executive team.
It's the same role a full-time SEO director plays, scoped to the fraction of the week most companies actually need at the leadership level. You're not buying hours of task work or another dashboard. You're buying senior judgment: what to work on, in what order, done to what standard, and how it connects to the numbers the business cares about.
For 20+ years I've held that seat, most recently as Director of Audience Management at Yahoo/AOL, growing Google Discover and News from tens of thousands to tens of millions of monthly users, and before that leading enterprise SEO for Fortune 50 and IR500 brands. The fractional engagement is that work, on a schedule that fits a company between full-time leaders.
Not theory: two decades in the seat
I've led SEO in-house and inside agencies, spoken at 50+ conferences, and run organic search for Fortune 50 brands and enterprise publishers. When I direct your team, it's from having done the work at every level, not from a playbook.
Director, agency, or full-time hire
Three ways to add SEO leadership. Here's honestly where a fractional director fits, and where it doesn't.
| Fractional director | SEO agency | Full-time director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior owner of strategy | Yes | Account lead, varies | Yes |
| Directs your in-house team | Yes | Rarely | Yes |
| Executes task volume | Directs, not volume | Yes | Limited by one person |
| Ties SEO to revenue for execs | Yes | Reports on rankings/traffic | Yes |
| Ramp time | Days | Weeks | Months to hire |
| Cost | From $20K/quarter | $3–15K+/mo, team | $180K–250K+/yr loaded |
Need a full team executing at volume, not one operator? That's the agency I founded (NorthSide Metrics), and I'm happy to point you there instead.
Visit NorthSide MetricsWhat I own in the seat
- Strategy & roadmapThe quarter's priorities, sequenced by impact and effort, plus the discipline to say no to the rest.
- Team directionDirecting your in-house team or agency: clear briefs, standards, and review of the actual output.
- Technical judgmentCrawl, indexation, architecture, internal linking, and migrations: the calls that need senior experience.
- Revenue connectionReporting that ties organic to pipeline and revenue, in language the exec team acts on.
- Migrations & replatformsPlanning and protecting traffic through the changes that most often go wrong. 50+ completed.
- AI-search readinessAdapting strategy for AI answers, GEO, and answer engines, where organic is heading next.
Engagement & pricing
Three-month minimum, then quarterly. Final scope depends on site complexity, team size, and what's in play.
Every engagement includes
- Senior ownership of your SEO strategy and roadmap
- Direction and review of your team or agency's work
- Monthly executive reporting that ties organic to revenue
- Technical, content, and migration decisions to a senior bar
- Regular working sessions plus async access between them
What director-level SEO moves
Anonymized by client. More detail on the Results page.
Questions, answered
What is a fractional SEO director?
A fractional SEO director is a senior organic-search leader who owns your SEO strategy on a part-time basis. Instead of hiring a full-time director, you get someone who sets the strategy and priorities, directs the people doing the work (in-house or agency), holds the quality bar, and reports results to your executive team. It is a leadership seat, not task execution.
How is this different from hiring an SEO agency?
An agency gives you a team executing tasks. A fractional director gives you one senior owner who sets the strategy and directs whoever executes it: your in-house team, an agency, or both. Many clients keep their agency and add me on top to set direction and hold the work to a higher standard.
Do you do the work yourself, or direct it?
I direct it, and I go hands-on where it moves the needle: technical audits, migration planning, the calls that need senior judgment. The model is leadership: strategy, direction, review, and accountability. If you need a team to execute at volume, that is what NorthSide Metrics is for.
What size company is this for?
Companies where organic search is strategic and there are already people on SEO (in-house or agency) but no senior owner setting direction. That usually means mid-market to enterprise, though a well-funded startup with a real SEO team fits too.
What does it cost?
Engagements start at $20,000 per quarter with a three-month minimum. Final scope depends on site complexity, team size, and how much is in play. Pricing is discussed on the discovery call.
Can you work alongside our existing agency or team?
Yes, that is often the point. I set the strategy, prioritize the roadmap, and review the output so your existing team or agency delivers more of what actually matters. Good direction usually makes an existing agency more effective, not redundant.
Ready to put senior SEO leadership in the seat?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll pressure-test where your organic search stands and whether a fractional director is the right move. No pitch if it isn't.