What is a Fractional Director of SEO?
Much like a Fractional CMO, a Fractional SEO Director provides short-term leadership over the organic traffic channel (and/or over your SEO team and clients) until you are ready to make a full-time hire. It is NOT a permanent or long-term role, but a stopgap.
If you have SEO projects, clients, or a team that needs oversight, but you don’t have the budget for or enough work to keep a FT Director busy (or if a Director of SEO leaves suddenly and you need short-term help, which is the most common need I encounter), a Fractional Director of SEO can fill the gap.
What all might a Fractional Director of SEO do?
- Put together an SEO audit or strategy for your company or a client
- Be the SEO Expert on calls with current or potential clients
- Scope out and write proposals for SEO projects
- Provide guidance on job descriptions and conduct interviews for SEO hires (including for a FT Director)
- Train team members or clients in SEO
- Manage a team of internal SEO folks, review their work, provide coaching/mentorship, etc.
- Work with in-house or outsourced writers on content strategy, content briefs, a content calendar, etc.
- Create SOPs, training guides/videos, templates, etc.
Essentially, anything a FT Director would do, but for 10-20 hours a week at most.
With over 20 years in the SEO space, including Director roles at multiple companies and agencies (Director of SEO, Director of Marketing, Head of Growth, etc.), and of course owning my own agency, I know this role inside out and upside down and can help you to handle the SEO load both efficiently and effectively.
Why Hire Me?
I’ve been doing web design and SEO in some way, shape, or form since 1999, way back when SEO was barely even a thing (Google started just a year earlier). In that time I’ve consulted on and run SEO campaigns for 400+ companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Stripe, Spotify, Goodreads, Nokia, Fannie Mae, HTC, Getty Images, iStockphoto, Everlywell, Goldbelly, Allstate, InVision, SambaNova, Cohere.ai, and many others.
I’ve driven over $250,000,000 in added revenue to my clients and employers over the years directly from the projects I’ve worked on and overseen (probably way more than that at this point, but I stopped counting).
I’ve held Director-level roles at multiple agencies and companies, spanning marketing, SEO, and growth, where I’ve presented to CEOs and CMOs, boards, investors and advisors, trained teams, spoken at events, advised startups, and coached executives. I’ve also run my own agency for 15 years and change, at times in parallel to the other roles I’ve held.
I’m also an accomplished writer, having written two books (one a bestseller, and one that just released), as well as numerous posts for Inc., Entrepreneur, Moz, and other publications. And I created one of the best SEO training programs available.
Lastly, I love managing teams and helping people to achieve their greatest potential, which is encapsulated in my management philosophy.
You can look over my LinkedIn profile here.
What Does a Fractional SEO Director Cost?
I charge a flat weekly rate, with a 4 week minimum retainer and a 28-day out.
10 Hours Per Week (2 hrs/workday) – $2,000/wk
You’re not responsible for taxes, benefits, recruiter costs, office space, equipment, etc., just the weekly rate. Payment for the first 4 week period is due upfront, and then you will be charged the same rate again at the start of the next 4 week period.
Working With Me
I work in this capacity with only 1-2 clients at a time. I have one slot available now.
This is a temporary stopgap role, so I try to limit engagements to a max of 3 months, with rare exceptions.
I’m available for email and Slack from 8am to 5pm PST.
I’m only available for Zoom/Meet calls from 1pm-5pm PST. It’s best if the time is split no more than 50/50 between calls and async tasks, so no more than 1 hr of calls per day please (2 hrs max, but only if there are no other async tasks that day).
I do not travel for work as a Fractional Director of SEO. This is a 100% remote offering.
I’m comfortable with Email, Slack, Zoom, Basecamp, Asana, or Trello for comms and project management.
I invoice via PayPal, and work begins when the payment clears.
Interested? Let’s chat 🙂