Fractional SEO Expert
Fractional SEO Director: Senior SEO Leadership, Part-Time
Most companies spending $3,000 a month or more on SEO have already tried an agency. Some have also tried hiring in-house. Both can work. Both also fail in predictable ways: the agency rotates your account manager every eight months, and the in-house hire costs six figures before they’ve opened Search Console. Fractional SEO is the third option. It puts one senior person inside your company on a fixed monthly retainer, owning strategy and doing the work, without the salary. I’ve done SEO since 2009, and this is the model I now run for a small number of companies directly.
Most companies spending $3,000 a month or more on SEO have already tried an agency. Some have also tried hiring in-house. Both can work. Both also fail in predictable ways: the agency rotates your account manager every eight months, and the in-house hire costs six figures before they've opened Search Console. Fractional SEO is the third option, and it is the one I now run for a small number of companies directly.
What is fractional SEO?
Fractional SEO is a senior search professional working inside your company part-time on a fixed monthly retainer, owning strategy and execution the way a Head of SEO would, without the salary of a full-time hire. At Lifted Websites, fractional retainers run $3,000 to $10,000 per month, led personally by TJ, who has done SEO since 2009.
It sits between an agency package and an in-house director. You get one accountable person, in your Slack, in your leadership meetings, measured on revenue.
Fractional SEO vs. an agency vs. an in-house hire
Three models exist under the "fractional SEO" label: a solo practitioner embedded in your team, a small fractional agency that also produces content, and matching platforms that place a vetted freelancer with you. What I offer is the first one. You work with me, not a rotating account team, and the retainer covers both the thinking and the doing.
| Factor | Typical agency | Full-time SEO director | Fractional SEO (Lifted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $2,000–$10,000+ | $9,000–$12,000 loaded | $3,000–$10,000 |
| Who does the work | Account manager + junior team | One senior employee | TJ, directly |
| Point-of-contact turnover | High (2–3 changes a year is common) | Low, until they leave | None |
| Commitment | 6–12 month contract | Permanent headcount | Month-to-month after 90 days |
| Access | Monthly report, ticket queue | Full-time, on site | Shared Slack channel, weekly call, leadership meetings |
| AI search (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT) | Rarely included | Depends on the hire | Built into every retainer |
The loaded-cost figure for a full-time director is not a guess. Salary alone for a senior SEO director in the United States generally lands between $100,000 and $130,000, before benefits, payroll tax, tools, and the three to four months it takes to fill the seat. A fractional retainer removes the hiring risk and starts the same week you sign.
What a fractional SEO engagement includes
Every retainer includes the same core, scaled by hours:
- Strategy ownership. One prioritized roadmap tied to pipeline, refreshed quarterly. I decide what gets built, fixed, or killed, and I put my name on it.
- Hands-on execution. Technical fixes, page rebuilds, schema, internal linking, Google Business Profile work for multi-location brands. Not briefs handed to someone else.
- Team integration. A shared Slack channel, a standing weekly call, and a seat in your marketing or leadership meeting. Response time during business hours is usually under an hour.
- AI-search visibility. Tracking and improving whether Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini cite your pages. This is the part every fractional SEO page I've reviewed leaves out. How we approach AI SEO →
- Vendor and agency oversight. If you already have a content writer, developer, or link vendor, I manage them. Fractional works best when someone senior is directing the people already on payroll.
You are buying one senior person's hours, not a department. If you need 40 blog posts a month or a 200-page migration on a two-week deadline, a fractional retainer is the wrong shape. I cap the number of fractional clients I take so that each one actually gets me, which also means there is sometimes a wait to start.
Fractional SEO pricing
Lifted Websites prices fractional SEO as a fixed monthly retainer inside its Custom tier: $3,000 per month for a Fractional SEO Lead, $5,500 per month for a Fractional SEO Director, and $10,000 per month for a Fractional Head of Search, each with a 90-day initial term and month-to-month after that.
Fractional SEO Lead $3,000/mo
Roughly one day a week of my time. Best for a single-market company with an existing marketer who needs senior direction and someone to do the technical work they can't.
- Quarterly roadmap, monthly execution sprint
- Shared Slack channel, biweekly call
- Search Console, CallRail, and AI-citation reporting
Fractional SEO Director $5,500/mo
About two days a week. Built for multi-location brands, franchises, ecommerce stores, and high-ticket practices (law, med spa, plastic surgery, financial advisory) where organic is a primary channel.
- Everything in Lead, plus a weekly call and a seat in your marketing meeting
- Multi-location Google Business Profile strategy (see multi-location SEO)
- Oversight of your writers, developers, and link vendors
- In-person leadership meetings for Phoenix-metro companies
Fractional Head of Search $10,000/mo
Half my week. For national or ecommerce brands with a marketing team, an existing content operation, and a board that asks about AI search. I run organic and AI visibility as a function, not a channel.
- Everything in Director, plus platform migrations, international or enterprise site architecture, and paid-search coordination
- Quarterly AI-citation audit across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini
- Direct line, no ticket queue
If you're weighing this against a package, the full breakdown of what SEO costs covers every tier we publish, from $800 a month up.
Is fractional SEO the right fit, or do you need a package?
Honest answer: most businesses under $2 million in revenue should not buy a fractional retainer. They should buy a defined package with a defined scope. Here is the line I use on discovery calls.
| Your situation | Better option | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| One location, one Google Business Profile, no marketing staff | Local SEO package | $800/mo |
| Several locations, wants it handled end to end, no internal owner | Multi-Local Plus | $2,000/mo |
| Has a marketer or team, needs senior SEO leadership embedded with them | Fractional SEO (this page) | $3,000/mo |
| Wants advice on AI search specifically, will execute in-house | AI SEO consulting | $800/mo |
| Ecommerce store on Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce with catalog scale | Ecommerce SEO or Fractional Director | $2,000–$5,500/mo |
How I measure a fractional engagement
Rankings are an input. The number I report on is qualified leads, and I instrument it before I touch a page.
A fractional SEO engagement at Lifted Websites is measured on cost per qualified lead, calculated from CallRail call tracking and Google Search Console data, with AI-referral sessions from GA4 and citation share from Ahrefs Brand Radar reported alongside it every month.
Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, and Perplexity each pull from a different index and cite different pages, and the overlap between them and Google's classic top ten is small. A page that ranks but is never cited has done half its job. Every fractional retainer tracks both.
What the first 90 days look like
- Week 1: instrumentation. CallRail numbers live, Search Console and GA4 access confirmed, AI-crawler access verified at the hosting and firewall level. I have watched hosts silently block GPTBot and ClaudeBot; it gets checked before anything else.
- Weeks 2–3: audit and roadmap. Technical audit, cannibalization map, competitor and AI-citation gap. You get one prioritized list with effort and expected impact, not a 90-page PDF.
- Weeks 4–12: execution sprints. Fixes and page work ship at a deliberate pace, roughly five changes a week, because Google's scaled-content systems treat a burst of 40 new pages the way they treat a content farm.
- Day 90: read and decide. Before-and-after in Search Console, lead count from CallRail, citation share from Brand Radar. Then we continue month to month or you take the roadmap in-house. No penalty either way.
Fractional SEO for Phoenix and Scottsdale companies
Lifted Websites is based at 6815 E Camelback Rd in Old Town Scottsdale, so for companies in the Phoenix metro the fractional model can include something no remote consultant offers: I show up. Director and Head of Search retainers include in-person leadership meetings anywhere from Chandler to North Scottsdale, and I've sat in on quarterly planning in Tempe, Mesa, and Paradise Valley. Remote engagements nationwide run on the same weekly cadence over Zoom and Slack.
Fractional SEO FAQ
How much does a fractional SEO cost?
Across the market, fractional SEO retainers typically run $2,000 to $10,000 per month. At Lifted Websites they are $3,000, $5,500, or $10,000 per month depending on the hours involved, with a 90-day initial term.
What is the difference between a fractional SEO and a freelance SEO consultant?
A freelance consultant is hired for a scoped deliverable, such as an audit or a set of pages. A fractional SEO is embedded in the company on an ongoing retainer, joins internal meetings, owns the strategy, and is accountable for outcomes rather than outputs.
Is fractional SEO cheaper than hiring a full-time SEO director?
Usually, yes. A full-time senior SEO director in the United States costs roughly $100,000 to $130,000 in salary before benefits and tools. A fractional retainer of $3,000 to $10,000 per month provides the same seniority for the hours a growing company actually needs.
Does fractional SEO include AI search optimization?
At Lifted Websites, yes. Every fractional retainer tracks whether Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini cite the client's pages, and the roadmap includes the structural changes that earn those citations.
Who is fractional SEO not right for?
Single-location businesses with no internal marketer, companies that need high-volume content production, and anyone who wants SEO fully handled without internal involvement. Those situations are better served by a defined package starting at $800 per month.
Want senior SEO leadership without the headcount?
Book a 30-minute fit call. I'll tell you within the first ten minutes whether fractional is the right shape or whether a package will serve you better.
Book a Fit Call📞 Or call us directly: (888) 863-7421 | 6815 E Camelback Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
