Frequently asked questions

It depends which service you're after. Managed SEO, for example, covers search growth strategy, market and competitor research, technical auditing and implementation, content strategy, copywriting with on-shore contracted copywriters, website design and development input, Google Business Profile optimisation, and off-site authority building including backlinks and digital PR. Consulting engagements are narrower: strategy, auditing and oversight while your team executes.

An agency gives you a team and a process, but the person who pitched you usually isn't the SEO specialist who will be working on your account. It's usually a salesperson trying to meet their KPIs. With an SEO freelancer or independent consultant, you get one senior specialist end to end. If your program needs more hands (developers, writers, outreach) I brief and oversee them rather than hand you off.

Yes. When the work targets the searches people make while deciding who to buy from. That's the difference between traffic and revenue: I plan around commercial intent first, then support it with the technical and content work that lets those pages compete.

A background in data science, my own revenue-tracking platform, deep experience getting clients featured in trusted publications, and a focus on being visible right when customers are choosing who to buy from, including in AI tools. Every recommendation ties back to revenue: no vanity metrics, no slide-friendly fluff.

I do the SEO work myself, and that doesn't change. Some parts of a program need other specialists though: copywriters, developers, designers, digital PR. I've partnered with some of the best in each of those areas and work with them day to day across all my clients. I brief them on exactly what the SEO needs, then oversee and project manage their work so everything is implemented to a high standard and precisely as the strategy requires. On a managed SEO retainer their costs are included in your monthly figure, and I stay accountable for the output.

Not at all, and you don't need to learn. Most of my clients run businesses where SEO is one of twenty things they're responsible for. I explain everything in plain English, tell you what each piece of work is meant to achieve in business terms, and never hide behind jargon. You'll always know what's happening and what it's worth, without needing to become an expert.

Monthly at minimum, with a written report and a call. Beyond that I'm reachable directly. There's no account manager between you and the person doing the work.

Not usually. Most fixes I can make or specify precisely enough that your existing web person can implement them quickly. If your platform is holding growth back, I'll say so and explain what's worth changing.

Expect early movement in the first two to three months on technical and on-page work, with compounding growth from there. Competitive markets and new domains take longer. I'll tell you what's realistic for your site before you commit, not after.

Through LeadSight, my own attribution software. It ties leads and closed deals back to the channel that produced them, so your report shows dollars from SEO alongside your other channels, with rankings and traffic kept as diagnostics rather than headline numbers.

You'll hear it from me before you have to ask. Part of reporting on revenue is being able to see when something isn't returning, which means cutting it and redirecting the effort rather than defending it for another quarter.

It depends on your market, your site's current state and the scope we agree on. I quote after a consultation and a look at your site, never off a rate card. You'll get a fixed monthly figure and a clear picture of what's included.

No. Retainers run month to month. SEO needs time to compound, so I'll be honest about the runway a program needs before you commit, but staying should be a decision you make because the work is returning.

Not on managed SEO. Copywriting, development, design and digital PR partners are inside your monthly figure, with no surprise line items or scope arguments halfway through a quarter.

More than ever, but differently. AI answers absorb the research questions, so the value sits in commercial queries and in being the business the models recommend. That means clean technical foundations, consistent facts about your business everywhere it appears, and content credible enough for the models to put you forward.

By being unambiguous and corroborated. Consistent facts about your business everywhere it appears, content that states clearly what you do and who for, structured data that removes doubt, and independent sources backing up your claims. Models hedge when sources contradict each other, and hedging means a competitor gets named instead.

Yes, though differently from rankings. A defined set of buyer-style prompts is run regularly across the major tools, recording whether you're named, how you're described and which competitors appear instead. Treat the numbers as directional, as with any third-party estimate.

Local is where SEO is most direct. A properly optimised Google Business Profile, service and location pages that actually answer the query, and local citations usually move the phone before anything else does.

I'll tell you if the platform is genuinely holding growth back rather than quietly working around it. A rebuild is a big call, so it comes with a clear explanation of what it would unlock and what it would cost you not to.

Yes. I'm Melbourne-based and work with businesses across Australia and internationally. Almost everything happens remotely, and in-person meetings are straightforward if you're local.