What it is
What does an SEO consultant do?
An SEO consultant decides what an in-house team should change first, writes the briefs and developer tasks for it, checks the work before and after it goes live and reviews the results every month. Your team does the work, and we make sure it’s the right work, done in the right order.
One page, from brief to live, and who does each step:
- WeBriefThe search it answers, who reads it and what it must say.
- Your writerDraftWritten from the brief, with facts from your experts.
- WeCheck the draftAgainst the brief and the search, before design.
- Your developerBuildIn your template, on your release schedule.
- WeCheck before releaseTitle, indexing, links and the form that reaches your CRM.
- LiveCountedIn the monthly review, down to the inquiries it brings.
If nobody in-house can write or build pages, our SEO program does the work instead. See which format fits your team ↓
Step one
What does the free search potential map show?
Whether there is search demand worth your team’s time. One priority service in one market, in up to 2 business days: how much buyers search for it, who wins that demand today and why, whether your site is ready to compete, and a first look at AI answers. Then a 20-minute call with Mike or Alex and one direct recommendation.
Our map format, filled in for a typical construction software company
01 Search demand
How much buyers search for your service, by query group.
Search demand
Found- What we saw
- 41 buyer queries with steady monthly searches. Queries for a task, such as punch lists or submittals, are more than a third of the commercial demand.
- Why it matters
- Without demand there is nothing to win, so the map checks it before your team spends a week on it.
- What to do
- Build first for the groups buyers search most: the product itself, the tasks it handles and the trades it serves.
- How we’ll check
- In the strategy: every query in the keyword map, assigned to the one page that should rank for it.
Check it yourself. Search for the task your product handles best. Do the top results answer it, or are they lists?
02 Who wins it today
Two similar competitors and the search leader, page by page.
Who wins it today
Gap- What we saw
- Competitor A is in the top ten for 12 of the 41 queries, with a page for each task and a comparison. You are in the top ten for 5: your brand and four blog posts.
- Why it matters
- Competitors win with page types you don’t have, not with stronger pages.
- What to do
- Add the page types they win with, written better for your buyers.
- How we’ll check
- Your pages in the top ten for the same queries, every month.
Check it yourself. Search your three most important buyer queries. Which competitor shows up most, and with what page?
03 Page types you lack
The pages buyers look for before they get in touch.
Page types you lack
Gap- What we saw
- No page for a single task, no page for a trade and no pricing page. Six feature pages repeat the same text.
- Why it matters
- Buyers search for the task they need solved. Without a page for it, someone else answers.
- What to do
- A page for each of the three tasks buyers search most, then a pricing page.
- How we’ll check
- Rankings, clicks and demo requests for each new page.
Check it yourself. Does your site have a page for each task buyers search for?
04 Site readiness
Whether your site can compete for the demand it finds.
Site readiness
Gap- What we saw
- Key pages are indexed and load fast on phones. Each release adds feature pages with near-duplicate text.
- Why it matters
- Near-duplicates split the demand between pages, so none of them ranks.
- What to do
- Merge the duplicates before new pages go live.
- How we’ll check
- Indexing of key pages, every month.
Check it yourself. How long did your last new page take, from brief to live?
05 AI snapshot
A first look at what AI answers say about your category.
AI snapshot
Watch- What we saw
- Five buyer questions on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, run once. You were named in 3 of 15 answers.
- Why it matters
- AI answers draw on the same task and comparison pages. One run is a first look, not a measurement.
- What to do
- If AI answers matter for how your buyers choose, the SEO and GEO strategy covers both in the same time.
- How we’ll check
- In the GEO program: 30 buyer questions on seven AI platforms, every month.
Check it yourself. Ask ChatGPT which software to use for what you sell. Are you named?
06 The recommendation
One direct answer on what to do next.
The recommendation
Found- What we saw
- Go to an SEO strategy: there is demand you can win, and your site is ready for new pages.
- Why it matters
- Every map ends with one recommendation, so you know what to do next, even if it’s to wait.
- What to do
- One of four: an SEO strategy, an SEO and GEO strategy, fix the site first, or come back later.
- How we’ll check
- A 20-minute call with Mike or Alex to go through it.
Check it yourself. Could your team publish two new pages this month?
Every part ends as Found (in place), Gap (missing or broken) or Watch (check again). The map is yours, whether your team ships the work, we do or another agency does.
Consulting or an agency
When does consulting beat an agency retainer?
When your team can write and build, and what’s missing is the order and a second pair of eyes. Mark who ships each part of the work to see which format fits. We confirm it with you on the first call.
| Your team ships | What fits | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| All of it | SEO consulting | Set the order, brief each page and developer task, check the planned work, review the results |
| Part of it | Consulting, with part of the work done by us | The same, plus the parts your team doesn’t ship |
| None of it yet | Our SEO program | Do the work. Your team approves it |
The order of work, the briefs, the checks and the monthly review stay with us in every case.
The Wonderflow Method
How does SEO consulting work?
In four stages, each a complete piece of work with its own result. After each one, you decide whether to go on. First changes on individual queries usually show one to three months after a page goes live, and we judge the trend over six months.
Map, audit, strategy, monthly consulting
◆ You decide
Up to 2 business days Free search potential map
One priority service in one market: how much buyers search for it, who wins that demand today and why, and whether your site is ready to compete for it.
◆ You choose what comes next: an SEO strategy, an SEO and GEO strategy, fix the site first, or come back later.
From you Your site, one priority service and the market.
Optional SEO audit
For when you need a diagnosis before a plan, such as after a traffic drop: technical health, content, internal links, links from other sites and the path to an inquiry, every issue ranked by impact. 10 business days for one site in one language. If you order the strategy within 14 days, the audit counts toward it.
From you Search Console and analytics access.
3–4 weeks SEO strategy
The plan your team ships: keyword map, site structure, competitor and results analysis, technical audit, page and conversion requirements, link strategy, and a six-month plan with a forecast in three scenarios. It shows what your team can do itself and which budgets you’ll need.
◆ You approve the plan and the forecast.
From you Access to analytics and Search Console, your priority products and the competitors you know.
Every month Monthly consulting
Your team ships the plan. We set each month’s order, brief every page and developer task, check each release before it goes live and on the site after, and answer your team’s questions in writing within 2 business days.
◆ You agree each month’s tasks.
From you One owner for the site, writer and developer time, and your experts’ check of the facts.
The map, the audit and the strategy stay with your team, whoever ships the work.
What we do every month
- Priorities
- What changed in search and in your data, and what your team should do first.
- Briefs and developer tasks
- For each page and fix: what to change, why, and how we’ll check it.
- Checks
- Each release, before it goes live and again on the live site.
- Answers in writing
- Your team sends questions, and we answer within 2 business days, with examples from your own site.
- Monitoring, review and plan
- Indexing, errors and security of key pages, then a written review of what shipped and changed, and next month’s plan.
What your team does
- Writes
- Pages and articles from our briefs, with facts from your experts.
- Builds and releases
- In your template, on your own release schedule.
- Owns the site
- One person agrees each month’s tasks and keeps the accounts in your name.
- Asks
- Whenever something is unclear, before it ships rather than after.
What’s included
What does your team get from us?
Four documents, so every decision is written down: a brief your writers can work from, a task your developers can act on, a check of each planned release and a monthly review. Pick one to see it.
Page brief
Punch list software
For your writer- Search it answers
- punch list software, punch list app, construction punch list
- Who reads it
- Project managers at general contractors with 20 to 200 staff
- What it must say
- How an item moves from the site to sign-off, which trades use it, and what it costs per project
- Links
- In from the home page and the features page. Out to pricing and a demo
- Done when
- Your product lead confirms the facts, and the draft passes our check
Developer task
Merge two pages on one feature
For your developer- The change
- Keep /features/punch-list/ and redirect /punch-list/ to it with a 301
- Why
- The two pages compete for the same searches, and neither ranks
- Where
- Both addresses, the sitemap, the menu and three blog posts that link to the old page
- How we check
- The old address returns a 301, the kept page is indexed, and no link points to the old one
- Fits in
- Your next release
Release check
Punch list page
Before and after it goes liveBefore release
- Title and headings match the brief
- Passed
- The page can be indexed and is in the sitemap
- Passed
- The demo form sends the landing page to your CRM
- Passed
Found and fixed
Two task pages shared one title. Your writer changed one, and we checked it again before release.
After release
Checked on the live site the day after: indexed, linked from the features page, the form works.
Monthly review
Month 3
Shipped against the plan
- Punch list page, by your writer and developerLive, checked
- Duplicate feature pages merged, by your developerLive, checked
- Comparison page, by your marketing leadIn review
What changed
Rankings and clicks by page group, and inquiries by landing page, with brand queries on their own line.
Found and fixed
The comparison draft quoted a competitor’s price from last year. Your marketing lead updated it before release.
Next month
Pages for submittals and daily logs, once your sales team confirms the questions buyers ask.
Our formats, filled in for a typical construction software company. Every brief, task and review stays with your team.
Measurement
How will you know consulting is working?
First by what your team ships, then by the inquiries it brings, never by one average. Results change only when the work goes live, so every review starts with what shipped against the plan. Pick a step for the details.
Shipped
- We count
- Planned pages and fixes that are live on the site and checked, against the month’s plan.
- We leave out
- Drafts and tasks still waiting. They go on their own line, so a slip shows early.
- Source
- The month’s plan and the live site.
Commercial visibility
- We count
- Positions and clicks for a set of searches we agree with you, checked with the same settings every month, by page group.
- We leave out
- Brand queries in the headline number. They make any ranking report look good.
- Source
- Rank tracking and Search Console. AI Overviews can take clicks even when a page ranks, so clicks are counted on their own.
Organic inquiries
- We count
- Demo, quote and contact requests from organic search, by landing page, counted once.
- We leave out
- Spam, duplicates and job applications.
- Source
- Google Analytics or your end-to-end analytics, and your CRM or ERP where it’s connected to analytics. If it isn’t, we help connect it.
Qualified pipeline
- We count
- Opportunities and deals from organic inquiries, where your CRM records them.
- We leave out
- Deals from people who only read an article and came back by another channel. They go on a separate line.
- Source
- Your CRM. We don’t promise rankings or a set number of leads. No one can. The strategy sets a forecast in three scenarios, and every review sets the result against it.
By business
What does consulting look like in your industry?
The split stays the same, and the first priorities change. Software buyers search for the task they need solved, home buyers for a community, borrowers for rates in their state, patients for the condition they have. Pick your business.
B2B software
A construction software company
- Your team usually has
- A content marketer, a product marketer and developers on a release schedule.
- Where it stalls
- Feature pages multiply with each release, and none answers the task a buyer searches for.
- What we set first
- A page for each task buyers search, merged feature pages, then comparisons.
- What counts as an inquiry
- A demo request from a contractor in your size range.
Real estate
A homebuilder
- Your team usually has
- A marketing manager, sales agents in each community and a website vendor.
- Where it stalls
- Community pages go stale as homes sell, and floor plans sit in PDFs that search can’t rank.
- What we set first
- Community pages with current homes and prices, and every floor plan as a page.
- What counts as an inquiry
- A tour request for a community.
Fintech
An online mortgage lender
- Your team usually has
- A marketing lead, a content writer, a compliance reviewer and a web team.
- Where it stalls
- State pages repeat the same text, and rates on the site go out of date between releases.
- What we set first
- A page for each state you lend in, rates that update on their own, and a compliance check on every page about money.
- What counts as an inquiry
- A pre-approval request from a state you lend in.
Google’s quality guidelines hold pages about money to a higher standard of trust. Fintech marketing →
Healthcare
A physical therapy group
- Your team usually has
- A marketing lead, clinic managers and a web vendor.
- Where it stalls
- Condition pages are thin or missing, and no named clinician reviews what they claim.
- What we set first
- A page for each condition you treat, reviewed by a named clinician, with booking from every page.
- What counts as an inquiry
- A new patient appointment request.
Pages about health get the same stricter reading. Healthcare marketing →
Travel
A cruise line
- Your team usually has
- A marketing team, a revenue team and a booking system vendor.
- Where it stalls
- Itineraries and sailing dates live in the booking system, so your own site has little for search to rank.
- What we set first
- A page for each departure port and itinerary on your own site, linked to booking.
- What counts as an inquiry
- A group booking inquiry.
Team
Two founders, one strategy.
Every project has a founder on it and a team lead for each service. Our SEO team writes your briefs and developer tasks, checks the work and answers your team’s questions.
-
-
The founders set the direction, and one of them answers for your project personally.
- SEO teamAn SEO specialist, a marketer, a copywriter and a project manager. They brief, check and answer. Your writers and developers ship.
If the people on your project change, the plan, every brief and our answers stay with your team, and a founder stays on the project.
- 2015founded
- 100+client projects
- 15+projects for US companies
Most of our clients come through a recommendation. Meet the team →
Price
How much does an SEO consultant cost?
Monthly consulting starts at $X a month, set by the pace you choose. The strategy starts at $X, and the search potential map is free. SEO consultants usually charge by the hour, by the month or by the project.
Free search potential map
$0
Up to 2 business days
- One priority service in one market
- Search demand, who wins it today and why
- Whether your site is ready to compete, and a call with Mike or Alex
SEO strategy
From $X
One time · 3–4 weeks
- The plan your team ships, month by month
- Keyword map and site structure
- Technical, page, link and conversion requirements
- A six-month forecast in three scenarios
Monthly consulting
From $X a month
Starter, Growth or Scale pace
- 6, 12 or 18 units of work a month
- Your team ships. We brief and check every release
- Written answers within 2 business days
How consulting works
- The pace sets the price. You can change it from the next month.
- A brief with a check of the draft takes 1 unit. Checks of each release, before and after it goes live, are included.
- Before the first month, we write down who ships what. Work we take on, such as page design and build, uses units of the same pace.
If you stop
Give us 10 business days’ notice. The map, the strategy, every brief and our answers stay with your team. Your accounts are in your name, and the data is yours.
- What moves the price
- For monthly consulting, only the pace. For the strategy, the number of sites, markets, languages and product lines.
- Not included
- The writing, design and development your team does, and the link placement budget.
If you want to go on, you’ll know the price before any work starts. At six months we set the trend against the forecast with you and agree on what to change.
Questions buyers ask
SEO consulting FAQ
The short answer comes first. Open any question for the detail.
What are SEO consulting services?Priorities, briefs, checks and a monthly review.
SEO consulting services set what an in-house team should change first and check the work before it goes live. Ours cover the strategy and its plan, page briefs, developer tasks, a check of the planned work before and after release, written answers to your team’s questions and a monthly review of results. AI answers get a first look in the map, and an SEO and GEO strategy if they matter to your buyers. Your team writes, builds and ships.
How do SEO consultants charge?By the hour, the month or the project.
SEO consultants usually charge an hourly rate, a monthly retainer or a fixed fee per project. Ours: the map is free, the strategy starts at $X as a fixed fee, and monthly consulting starts at $X a month, set by the pace: 6, 12 or 18 units of work. A brief with a check of the draft takes 1 unit, and checks of each release are included.
Is it worth hiring an SEO consultant?Yes, if your team can ship the work.
A consultant pays off when you have writers and developer time but no clear order, when you want a second opinion before a big change, or when results stalled and nobody knows why. If nobody in-house can write or build pages, an agency program fits better. The free map shows first whether there is demand worth your team’s time.
Consultant vs agency: which one do I need?Who ships the work decides it.
If your team can write and build, consulting fits: we set the order and check the work. If it can’t, an agency program does the work. You can also split it, for example your writers ship the copy and we design and build the pages. Before the first month, we write down who ships what.
Can our team ask you questions?Yes, in writing, within 2 business days.
Yes. Your team sends questions, and we answer in writing within 2 business days, usually with an example from your own site. When an answer changes priorities, we update the plan too.
Can ChatGPT replace an SEO consultant?It drafts. It can’t decide for your site.
AI tools research, cluster keywords and draft briefs faster than people. They can’t see your analytics and CRM, check facts about your product with your experts or weigh what your team can ship this month. AI helps. Behind every decision is a person you know by name: we use AI for research, clustering and first drafts, and a specialist checks every source and conclusion and approves every brief before it reaches your team.
Can you guarantee rankings?No. No one can.
We don’t promise rankings or a set number of leads. No one can: rankings depend on search engines, competitors and how quickly changes go live, and with consulting, on what your team ships. We control the order, the briefs and the checks. The strategy sets a forecast in three scenarios, and every monthly review compares the result with it.
What do you need from our team?Access, time and one owner for the site.
Read access to Search Console and your analytics, your priority products and the competitors you know. Writer and developer time every month, and one person who owns the site and agrees each month’s tasks. If some data is missing, we say how that affects the conclusions and the forecast.
Insights
Two guides and an article for in-house teams
MQL vs SQL: what counts as a qualified lead
Marketing and sales often mean different things by “qualified.” Here is one deal followed through both marks, a one-page agreement to fill in, and a way to teach Google, Meta and LinkedIn from the second mark.CheckedIdeal customer profile (ICP): a B2B template with examples
Nine fields, filled in for a typical B2B company. How to build your own from won and lost deals, how it differs from a buyer persona, and how it becomes a LinkedIn target list and Google Ads settings.CheckedAI search optimization: what to check, change and measure
An AI answer can leave out a company, describe its offer incorrectly or cite a source that explains the product poorly. Each observation calls for investigation. The practical work starts by recording the answer and checking the information behind it.Checked
Start here
Is SEO worth your team’s time right now?
Within two business days you’ll know whether there’s search demand worth your team’s time, who wins it today and where to start. The map is free.
- 01Tell us your site, one priority service and the market.
- 02Within two business days you get the map: demand, competitors, site readiness and a first look at AI answers.
- 03A 20-minute call with Mike or Alex and one direct recommendation.
Already know you want consulting? Tell us who’s on your team and what it’s working on, and we’ll suggest where to start.