What is fractional SEO?

Fractional SEO means hiring a senior SEO to own your search channel part-time. You get a fixed number of days a month from one person who sets the plan, briefs your team and answers for the results. The name is borrowed from fractional finance and marketing directors, who work the same way.

How much does fractional SEO cost?

With me it starts at £1,000 a month ($1,500). The price depends on the number of days, which we agree up front, and a typical month is two to four days.

How many days a month does a fractional SEO work?

A typical month with me is two to four days. Across the wider market, arrangements run from two to six days depending on the size of the site. Under two days there isn't enough time to own anything.

What's the difference between a fractional SEO and an SEO consultant?

A consultant is usually hired for advice or a project with a defined end. A fractional SEO carries ongoing responsibility for the channel. The test is who owns the roadmap, and if they do, the arrangement is fractional whatever it's called.

Should I hire a fractional SEO or an in-house SEO?

Go fractional until search is proven and big enough to need a full-time person. An in-house hire is fully yours, but you pay a salary plus employment costs, and one person may lack senior support. Once the work needs more than about eight days a month, a full-time hire deserves a look.

Does a fractional SEO do the work or only advise?

I do the senior parts myself, such as technical specifications, the plan and the briefs. The bulk work, such as writing and development, is done by your team or your agency. If you'd like the fixes and writing done too, my monthly SEO services cover that.

Can a fractional SEO work alongside an agency?

Yes, and it's a common setup. I set the direction, hold the agency's work to a standard and explain it to your leadership. Good agencies tend to welcome it, because clear direction makes their work look better.

When is fractional SEO the wrong choice?

It's wrong when there's nothing to direct. With no developer, writer or marketer in-house, my briefs would go unread. It's also wrong for one-off jobs, so an SEO audit or a site migration is priced as a project.

Fractional SEO from one senior consultant

Fractional SEO means a senior SEO owns your search channel, the traffic and enquiries search brings you, for a few days each month. It's for businesses with a developer or a writer but nobody senior in search. I'm Will Sibley, one consultant, and it starts at £1,000 a month ($1,500), with the days agreed up front.

Send me your site

I reply myself, usually within one working day.

Proof

Where I've owned a search channel before

Before Sibley Digital I was Senior SEO Manager at The Telegraph, one of the UK's largest sites. I owned search across the newsroom there. Fractional SEO is that same job, done for your business a few days a month.

220%

year-on-year growth in search traffic to The Telegraph's Money section while I was Senior SEO Manager

10 years

in search, working directly with businesses and agencies in the UK and US

“Will is an exceptional SEO professional who collaborated seamlessly with teams across the newsroom to raise SEO standards and deliver measurable results. His expertise and innovative strategies were instrumental in driving The Telegraph's search visibility and organic growth across key target areas.”

Harry Clarkson-Bennett

SEO Director, The Telegraph

More about my background

What's included

What fractional SEO with me includes

An agency sells you a list of tasks, and a freelancer sells you their time. A fractional SEO takes responsibility for the channel itself. I decide what gets done and in what order, and I answer to your leadership for whether search is growing. It's one of the ways to buy my SEO services.

01
The roadmap
The roadmap is the ordered list of what gets fixed and written next, and I own it. It starts from an SEO audit, so the order comes from your Search Console data.
02
Tickets for your developer
Each technical fix is written so your developer can pick it up without a meeting. The ticket says what's wrong, what to change and how to check it worked. See technical SEO.
03
Briefs for your writers, and a read of every draft
Every brief carries the target search, the structure, the links and what the page must say. I read what comes back before it goes live. See content and on-page SEO.
04
The decisions that don't fit a ticket
Some calls need a senior view, such as whether a site restructure is worth the migration risk. Another is which of three competing jobs brings revenue soonest. I make the call and give you the reasons.
05
A monthly report for your leadership
One page in plain terms on what moved, why, and what's next, covering traffic, enquiries and revenue from search. It's written for a director who has never opened Search Console.
06
A place in your team's Slack
I join your Slack or project board and answer questions myself, usually within one working day. I work UK afternoons and the full US working day.

How it runs

How fractional SEO runs, from first look to monthly report

01
Day 1
A first look
Send me your address and a line on who you have in-house. I look at the site, then reply with how many days a month I'd suggest and what that costs.
02
Month 1
Audit and roadmap
An audit of the site, which typically takes two to three weeks from access. It ends in a roadmap with every job ranked by traffic gained against effort.
03
Each month
Two to four days of direction
I review results against the roadmap, write the tickets and briefs, and check the work that came back. The days are agreed up front, so you know the bill before the month starts.
04
Every month
The report
What moved, why, and what's next. If the right advice is to spend less on SEO this quarter and fix the offer first, the report will say so.

Price

What fractional SEO costs

Fractional SEO starts at £1,000 a month ($1,500). The price depends on the number of days, which we agree before the first month, and a typical month is two to four. One-off jobs such as an audit or a migration are quoted separately, with a fixed price before work starts.

What	Price	What it covers
Fractional SEO	From £1,000 a month ($1,500)	A set number of days each month for the roadmap, tickets, briefs, reviews and a monthly report.
SEO audit	Quoted on scope	The audit the roadmap is built from, if you don't have a recent one.
Migration or redesign	Quoted on scope	A redirect map and checks before and after launch, priced as a project.

How to choose

Should you hire an SEO agency or a fractional SEO consultant?

Hire an agency if you have nobody to do the work, because work produced by a team is what an agency sells. Hire a fractional consultant if you have people who can do the work and nobody senior in search to direct them.

An agency is the better choice when	One consultant is the better choice when
You have no developer, no writer and no marketer in-house.	You have a developer and a writer but nobody senior in search.
You need articles, links and technical work produced by a team every month.	You've had two agency contracts that produced reports and no growth.
You want a fixed monthly fee for a set list of deliverables.	You want one named person who answers for the results.
Your buying process requires a supplier with a team behind it.	You'd like senior direction for a few days a month without a full-time salary.

Whoever you choose, ask who writes the plan and how senior they are. Ask too whether they've owned a search channel or only delivered projects. If you run an agency and need senior SEO under your own brand, see my white-label service.

Questions

Fractional SEO questions

What is fractional SEO?: Fractional SEO means hiring a senior SEO to own your search channel part-time. You get a fixed number of days a month from one person who sets the plan, briefs your team and answers for the results. The name is borrowed from fractional finance and marketing directors, who work the same way.
How much does fractional SEO cost?: With me it starts at £1,000 a month ($1,500). The price depends on the number of days, which we agree up front, and a typical month is two to four days.
How many days a month does a fractional SEO work?: A typical month with me is two to four days. Across the wider market, arrangements run from two to six days depending on the size of the site. Under two days there isn't enough time to own anything.
What's the difference between a fractional SEO and an SEO consultant?: A consultant is usually hired for advice or a project with a defined end. A fractional SEO carries ongoing responsibility for the channel. The test is who owns the roadmap, and if they do, the arrangement is fractional whatever it's called.
Should I hire a fractional SEO or an in-house SEO?: Go fractional until search is proven and big enough to need a full-time person. An in-house hire is fully yours, but you pay a salary plus employment costs, and one person may lack senior support. Once the work needs more than about eight days a month, a full-time hire deserves a look.
Does a fractional SEO do the work or only advise?: I do the senior parts myself, such as technical specifications, the plan and the briefs. The bulk work, such as writing and development, is done by your team or your agency. If you'd like the fixes and writing done too, my monthly SEO services cover that.
Can a fractional SEO work alongside an agency?: Yes, and it's a common setup. I set the direction, hold the agency's work to a standard and explain it to your leadership. Good agencies tend to welcome it, because clear direction makes their work look better.
When is fractional SEO the wrong choice?: It's wrong when there's nothing to direct. With no developer, writer or marketer in-house, my briefs would go unread. It's also wrong for one-off jobs, so an SEO audit or a site migration is priced as a project.

Guides

Guides on Fractional SEO

Written from client work. All guides

Get in touch

Send me your site and who's on your team

Send me the address and a line on who you have in-house, such as a developer, a writer or an agency. I'll reply with how many days a month I'd suggest and what it would cost.

1I reply myself, usually within one working day.
2I look at your site and its search visibility before we speak.
3If I can help, I send a scope and a price. If I can't, I say so.

Or email will@sibleydigital.com. I work UK afternoons and the full US working day.

Fractional SEO from one senior consultant

Where I've owned a search channel before

What fractional SEO with me includes

The roadmap

Tickets for your developer

Briefs for your writers, and a read of every draft

The decisions that don't fit a ticket

A monthly report for your leadership

A place in your team's Slack

How fractional SEO runs, from first look to monthly report

A first look

Audit and roadmap

Two to four days of direction

The report