Fractional SEO Expert & Part-Time SEO Director
Most fractional SEO consultants optimize for Google only. I build growth systems that get your brand found on Google and cited in AI-generated answers - because in 2026, ranking alone isn't enough.
What Does a Fractional SEO Director Do?
A fractional SEO director is a senior SEO strategist who works with your company part-time, typically 10-20 hours per week, to lead your entire organic search strategy.
Unlike an SEO freelancer who executes tasks, a fractional SEO director operates at the strategic level:
Strategic Planning
I build your 6-12 month SEO roadmap: keyword priorities, content calendar, technical fixes, link-building targets, and update it monthly based on performance data.
Team Leadership
If you have content writers, developers, or marketing staff, I direct their SEO-related work. I set the briefs, review the output, and ensure every piece moves the needle.
Stakeholder Reporting
Monthly reports to your leadership team showing pipeline impact, not vanity metrics. I track organic leads, revenue attribution, and AI search visibility, not just rankings.
Competitive Intelligence
I monitor your competitors' SEO moves and adjust strategy accordingly. When a competitor launches a new content hub or earns a DR 60 backlink, I know about it and have a counter-plan.
This is the model I use with most of my clients. You get a senior-level SEO leader at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire ($150K-$250K/year salary + benefits).
Fractional SEO Manager vs Full-Time SEO Hire
When should you hire a fractional SEO manager instead of a full-time SEO team member? Here's the honest breakdown:
| Factor | Fractional SEO Manager | Full-Time SEO Hire |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | $2,000-$8,000 | $8,000-$15,000+ (salary + benefits) |
| Experience Level | Senior (10+ years typical) | Varies — budget often limits seniority |
| Ramp-Up Time | 1-2 weeks | 1-3 months |
| Commitment | Month-to-month (after initial period) | Full employment contract |
| Breadth of Knowledge | Multiple industries, multiple clients | Deep in one company |
| AI Search Expertise | Included (if you choose right) | Rarely — most in-house SEOs haven't adapted |
| Availability | Part-time (10-20 hrs/week) | Full-time (40+ hrs/week) |
When a fractional SEO manager makes sense:
- You're pre-Series B and can't justify a $150K+ hire
- You need senior strategy, not just execution
- Your current team can execute but needs direction
- You want AI search visibility (GEO/AEO) alongside traditional SEO
When a full-time hire makes sense:
- You have 100+ pages of content to manage weekly
- SEO is your primary acquisition channel and needs daily attention
- You need someone embedded in product meetings and sprint planning
Most of my clients are in the first category. They need a fractional SEO manager who sets the direction and reviews the work, not someone filling a desk 40 hours a week.
Fractional SEO Consultancy Services
My fractional SEO consultancy covers everything your organic search program needs — without the overhead of an agency or in-house team:
SEO Audit & Roadmap
40+ point technical audit, keyword gap analysis, competitor mapping, and a prioritised 90-day action plan. This is your foundation.
Content Strategy & Calendar
Topic clustering, keyword-to-page mapping, content briefs for your writers, and editorial calendar management.
Technical SEO Monitoring
Core Web Vitals, crawl health, indexation issues, schema markup implementation. I catch problems before they cost you rankings.
AI Search Optimisation (GEO)
This is what sets my consultancy apart. I don't just optimise for Google; I optimise for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Your content gets structured for AI citation.
Link Building Direction
Outreach strategy, target identification, and quality control. I manage the process, not just recommend it.
Monthly Reporting
Rankings, traffic, leads, AI citations, and strategic adjustments. Every report ends with 'here's what we're doing next month and why.'
How It Works:
- 1. Discovery Call (30 min, free) — We discuss your business, goals, and current SEO state.
- 2. Audit & Strategy (Week 1-2) — I deliver your complete SEO roadmap.
- 3. Execution Begins (Week 3+) — Ongoing optimisation, content direction, and monitoring.
- 4. Bi-Weekly Calls — Strategy alignment and progress review.
The Problem
Why Startups and Growth-Stage Businesses Choose Fractional SEO
You've outgrown DIY SEO. But you're stuck between three imperfect options - and one of them is a trap most businesses don't even see coming.
Agencies Are Disconnected
You pay $5,000–$10,000/month. A junior account manager runs your campaign. Strategy meetings are one-way report readings. When the account team churns - and they will - your next manager starts from scratch. You're buying execution capacity, not strategic ownership.
Full-Time Hires Are Expensive
A senior SEO director costs $120K–$180K/year plus benefits, equity, and 3–6 months of hiring time. Most growth-stage companies don't need 40 hours per week of SEO. You need senior-level thinking for 10–20 hours - with someone who actually ships, not just advises.
AI Search Changed Everything
60% of searches now end without a click. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews answer users directly. If your brand isn't structured for AI citation, you're invisible to a growing share of your buyers. The opportunity most SEOs miss is building for both engines from day one.
What You Get
What I Do as Your Fractional SEO Expert
I don't hand you an audit PDF and disappear. I embed into your team, own the strategy, and execute the work that moves pipeline - across Google and AI search.
SEO Strategy & Roadmap Ownership
I design and run your 6-month roadmap, ranking tasks by impact and modifying strategies based on data trends. You no longer have to guess which search terms to target, what pages to construct, or which technical issues to resolve first. I handle those decisions.
Technical SEO Oversight
Crawlability, Core Web Vitals, site architecture, internal linking, indexation - I diagnose what's broken, prioritize fixes, and brief your developer with enough context to execute correctly. No more flying blind on technical debt.
Content Strategy & Optimization
Not keyword-stuffed blog posts. I build intent-driven content systems - topic clusters, pillar pages, comparison content - that rank for terms your buyers actually search and convert traffic into pipeline.
AI Search & GEO Optimization
I structure your content to appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini. Schema markup, entity optimization, citation-ready formatting, and answer-engine content architecture - built into every page.
Only from BK - most fractional SEOs don't offer thisAuthority & Link Strategy
I build brand authority through strategic digital PR, guest content, HARO placements, and relationship-driven outreach. No link farms. No PBN shortcuts. Only approaches that compound over time and survive algorithm updates.
Revenue-Tied Reporting
Monthly reviews cover keyword movement, content output, technical health, and pipeline impact from organic. Not traffic dashboards nobody reads. Leads, demo requests, sign-ups - the metrics that tell you whether SEO is actually working.
Compare Your Options
Fractional SEO vs. Agency vs. Full-Time Hire
Three paths to SEO leadership. Here's what each one actually looks like when you move past the sales pitch.
| Factor | SEO Agency | Freelance SEO | Full-Time In-House | Fractional SEO (BK) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Investment | $3,000–$10,000+ | $1,500–$4,000 | $10,000–$15,000+ (salary + benefits) | Custom retainer - typically 40-60% less than agency cost |
| Who Runs Your Strategy | Junior account manager (often 1–2 years experience) | The freelancer (experience levels vary widely) | Your hire - if you can find and vet the right one | Senior strategist with 14+ projects delivered |
| Team Integration | External. Monthly reports, quarterly calls. | Task-based external support (rarely joins team meetings) | Fully internal | Embedded - joins Slack, weekly calls, your workflow |
| Speed to Start | 2–4 weeks onboarding | 1–2 weeks | 3–6 months (hiring cycle) | Days, not months |
| AI Search / GEO Coverage | ✕ Most don't offer this | ✕ Rarely skilled in GEO | ✕ Rarely skilled in GEO | ✓ Google + ChatGPT + Perplexity + AI Overviews |
| Flexibility | Rigid 6–12 month contracts | High flexibility (monthly/hourly) | Permanent commitment | Scale up or down quarterly |
| Knowledge Retention | Leaves when contract ends | Leaves when project ends | Stays if they stay | Built into your systems - survives the engagement |
| Accountability | Reports outputs (pages published, links built) | Reports specific deliverables completed | Accountable to internal KPIs | Accountable to pipeline and revenue |
Convinced? Let's build your custom fractional SEO plan.
Get senior-level strategic direction and hands-on execution tailored to your stage.
Results
Results From Real Engagements - Not Hypotheticals
Every number below is from a real client engagement. Verified through Google Search Console, GA4, and Semrush. No vanity metrics. No "potential traffic" projections.
How It Works
How a Fractional SEO Engagement Works With Me
No 47-slide onboarding deck. No three-month "discovery phase" before anything happens. Here's how we go from first call to measurable impact.
Discovery Call
We assess fit. I learn your business model, ICP, growth goals, and current SEO state. If I'm not the right fit, I'll tell you - and point you to someone who is.
Diagnose & Plan
An extensive assessment of your technical health, content gaps, domain authority, and AI search presence. I deliver a clean, prioritized, step-by-step action plan rather than a dry 90-page report that sits unread.
Execute & Embed
I join your Slack, your workflow, your team rhythm. Weekly strategy calls. Hands-on execution of what moves the needle. I don't just advise - I ship.
Measure Impact
Monthly reporting tied to leads, revenue, and pipeline - not traffic vanity metrics. We adjust the roadmap based on what the data actually says, not gut feeling.
Client Fit
Who I Work Best With
Fractional SEO isn't for everyone. This transparency filters misaligned leads and builds trust from day one - because the right fit matters more than the next retainer.
Ideal Partnership
- Startups (seed to Series B) who need SEO leadership without full-time overhead. You have product-market fit but no organic engine yet.
- SaaS founders who want organic search as a scalable, predictable acquisition channel - not a side experiment.
- B2B businesses frustrated with agency results - you've tried one or two, got PDF reports nobody acted on, and need someone who actually owns outcomes.
- Teams of 2–15 people who need someone to own search strategy and work alongside marketing, product, and engineering.
- Companies that want dual visibility - ranking on Google AND appearing in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews.
- Coaching businesses and consulting practices seeking client flow without social media burnout. Check out my specialized page for coaching businesses.
Not a Fit
- Guaranteed ranking seekers. SEO is probabilistic, not deterministic. Anyone promising #1 rankings is selling something I don't offer.
- Black-hat shortcut hunters. I don't use spam links, PBNs, or temporary tricks that risk Google penalties. If you want 500 backlinks for $200, we're not a match.
- Strategy-only buyers. A roadmap is useless without execution. I work with teams that are ready to ship code, publish content, and implement recommendations.
- Pre-revenue, pre-PMF companies. If you haven't validated that people want your product, SEO is premature. Fix the product first.
- Expecting overnight results. SEO compounds over time. If you need leads this week, run paid ads. If you want a system that builds lasting organic equity, let's talk.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Fractional SEO
Ready to Build a Search Engine That Works for You?
If your business needs senior SEO leadership - across Google and AI search - without the full-time salary, let's talk. I take on a limited number of fractional engagements at a time to ensure every client gets deep, focused attention.
No commitment required. If I'm not the right fit, I'll tell you.
