Menu

Menu

Menu

A fractional Head of SEO who owns the priorities

Senior search leadership inside your team, part time. One person sets the roadmap, holds the quality bar and reports to you.

What it is

Senior leadership, sized to the job

A fractional Head of SEO does the job a permanent one would: owns the SEO strategy, decides what ships first, directs the people doing the work and is accountable for the results. What changes is the time. The seat is filled for part of the week, agreed at the start so your team can plan around it. Addam Hassan fills it, having done the job full time as Global Head of Search at Dr Martens from 2018 to 2023. He has worked in search since 2005, including agency years at iCrossing and Fresh Egg.

Brands bring it in at three moments. Search matters too much to run without a senior owner, but a permanent hire is not yet justified. A Head of SEO has left, and the programme cannot stall while you recruit. Or a capable agency is doing the work with nobody senior directing it. Agencies use it too: to put a senior search lead on a client account, or to retain one behind the scenes, setting direction and checking quality on work delivered under their own name.

It is not a full-time hire under another name, and it is not a retainer where a senior name wins the work and someone junior delivers it. The person in the seat is the person who scoped the engagement. The volume of delivery stays with your team, your agency or specialists brought in when the work needs them, while the fractional lead sets the priorities, writes the briefs and reviews what ships.

How it runs

How a fractional engagement runs

01

Listen & audit

The first weeks go on the team, the data, the site and what the business needs search to deliver. The roadmap waits until the evidence is in.

01

Listen & audit

The first weeks go on the team, the data, the site and what the business needs search to deliver. The roadmap waits until the evidence is in.

01

Listen & audit

The first weeks go on the team, the data, the site and what the business needs search to deliver. The roadmap waits until the evidence is in.

02

Set the roadmap

A sequenced plan the business signs off: what ships first, what waits and why, with the numbers it will be judged on agreed before the work starts.

02

Set the roadmap

A sequenced plan the business signs off: what ships first, what waits and why, with the numbers it will be judged on agreed before the work starts.

02

Set the roadmap

A sequenced plan the business signs off: what ships first, what waits and why, with the numbers it will be judged on agreed before the work starts.

03

Lead the programme

Part of the week, agreed at the start. A standing priorities session with the people shipping the work, briefs and reviews in between, and a readout for leadership on the cadence your board already keeps.

03

Lead the programme

Part of the week, agreed at the start. A standing priorities session with the people shipping the work, briefs and reviews in between, and a readout for leadership on the cadence your board already keeps.

03

Lead the programme

Part of the week, agreed at the start. A standing priorities session with the people shipping the work, briefs and reviews in between, and a readout for leadership on the cadence your board already keeps.

04

Hand over & step down

Built to end well. When a permanent hire arrives or the team is ready, the roadmap, standards and documentation move across, and the role steps down to advisory or finishes.

04

Hand over & step down

Built to end well. When a permanent hire arrives or the team is ready, the roadmap, standards and documentation move across, and the role steps down to advisory or finishes.

04

Hand over & step down

Built to end well. When a permanent hire arrives or the team is ready, the roadmap, standards and documentation move across, and the role steps down to advisory or finishes.

What you get

What changes for your team

01

A senior owner

Search gets one accountable person. Decisions that used to stall between marketing, product and engineering get made, and stay made.

01

A senior owner

Search gets one accountable person. Decisions that used to stall between marketing, product and engineering get made, and stay made.

01

A senior owner

Search gets one accountable person. Decisions that used to stall between marketing, product and engineering get made, and stay made.

02

A signed-off roadmap

Sequenced against commercial goals and sized in effort, so finance, product and engineering can plan around it.

02

A signed-off roadmap

Sequenced against commercial goals and sized in effort, so finance, product and engineering can plan around it.

02

A signed-off roadmap

Sequenced against commercial goals and sized in effort, so finance, product and engineering can plan around it.

03

Agency direction

Clear priorities, a written quality bar and senior review of what ships, so agency hours go where the roadmap says they should.

03

Agency direction

Clear priorities, a written quality bar and senior review of what ships, so agency hours go where the roadmap says they should.

03

Agency direction

Clear priorities, a written quality bar and senior review of what ships, so agency hours go where the roadmap says they should.

04

Briefs that ship

Tickets a developer can pick up and briefs a writer can use without a meeting. Checked again once they are live.

04

Briefs that ship

Tickets a developer can pick up and briefs a writer can use without a meeting. Checked again once they are live.

04

Briefs that ship

Tickets a developer can pick up and briefs a writer can use without a meeting. Checked again once they are live.

05

Reporting in revenue terms

The numbers agreed at the start, reported against revenue, with AI Search visibility tracked alongside organic.

05

Reporting in revenue terms

The numbers agreed at the start, reported against revenue, with AI Search visibility tracked alongside organic.

05

Reporting in revenue terms

The numbers agreed at the start, reported against revenue, with AI Search visibility tracked alongside organic.

06

Capability that stays

Standards, documentation and training, so the team runs search well after the engagement steps down.

06

Capability that stays

Standards, documentation and training, so the team runs search well after the engagement steps down.

06

Capability that stays

Standards, documentation and training, so the team runs search well after the engagement steps down.

Engagements

The engagements either side of it

A fractional lead is not always the right first step. These three sit before it, instead of it and after it.

01

SEO Audit

Before. A fixed-scope diagnostic across technical, content, competitors and authority. The usual first step, and the evidence a roadmap is built on.

01

SEO Audit

Before. A fixed-scope diagnostic across technical, content, competitors and authority. The usual first step, and the evidence a roadmap is built on.

01

SEO Audit

Before. A fixed-scope diagnostic across technical, content, competitors and authority. The usual first step, and the evidence a roadmap is built on.

03

Ongoing Consultancy

Instead. Senior attention across all six disciplines each month, for teams that need expert work delivered more than a leader inside the team.

03

Ongoing Consultancy

Instead. Senior attention across all six disciplines each month, for teams that need expert work delivered more than a leader inside the team.

03

Ongoing Consultancy

Instead. Senior attention across all six disciplines each month, for teams that need expert work delivered more than a leader inside the team.

06

Training & Advisory

After. Upskilling and on-call advice for a team that now runs its own search and wants a second opinion on the big calls.

06

Training & Advisory

After. Upskilling and on-call advice for a team that now runs its own search and wants a second opinion on the big calls.

06

Training & Advisory

After. Upskilling and on-call advice for a team that now runs its own search and wants a second opinion on the big calls.

See all six engagements

FAQ

Common questions

Answers to what most people ask before we start. If yours is not here, get in touch.

Contact us

Contact us

What does a fractional Head of SEO actually do?

The same job as a permanent Head of SEO, in part of the week. Sets the strategy and the roadmap, decides what ships first, directs whoever does the work, whether that is your team, your agency or both, and reports progress in revenue terms. One senior person holds the seat for the length of the engagement.

What does a fractional Head of SEO actually do?

The same job as a permanent Head of SEO, in part of the week. Sets the strategy and the roadmap, decides what ships first, directs whoever does the work, whether that is your team, your agency or both, and reports progress in revenue terms. One senior person holds the seat for the length of the engagement.

How much time does it take each week?

Part of the week, sized to the programme and agreed at the start, so your team knows when decisions get made and when work gets reviewed. If the programme needs more time or less, we say so and change the allocation.

How much time does it take each week?

Part of the week, sized to the programme and agreed at the start, so your team knows when decisions get made and when work gets reviewed. If the programme needs more time or less, we say so and change the allocation.

We already have an SEO agency. Does this replace it?

Usually not. The agency keeps delivery. Fractional SEO leadership sets its priorities, agrees what good looks like and reviews what ships. You get one senior view of the whole programme, and the agency gets a brief that holds still from month to month.

We already have an SEO agency. Does this replace it?

Usually not. The agency keeps delivery. Fractional SEO leadership sets its priorities, agrees what good looks like and reviews what ships. You get one senior view of the whole programme, and the agency gets a brief that holds still from month to month.

Do you work with agencies as well as brands?

Yes, in two ways. Embedded on a client account on the agency’s behalf, as the senior search lead. Or retained by the agency behind the scenes, setting direction and checking the quality of work it delivers itself. Either way the client gets senior leadership and the agency keeps the relationship.

Do you work with agencies as well as brands?

Yes, in two ways. Embedded on a client account on the agency’s behalf, as the senior search lead. Or retained by the agency behind the scenes, setting direction and checking the quality of work it delivers itself. Either way the client gets senior leadership and the agency keeps the relationship.

How does a fractional engagement end?

One of three ways: you hire a permanent Head of SEO, your team is ready to run search itself, or the job it was brought in for is done. Each ends with a proper handover of the roadmap, standards and documentation, and the role can step down to training and advisory. The engagement is rolling, on 30 days’ notice as standard.

How does a fractional engagement end?

One of three ways: you hire a permanent Head of SEO, your team is ready to run search itself, or the job it was brought in for is done. Each ends with a proper handover of the roadmap, standards and documentation, and the role can step down to training and advisory. The engagement is rolling, on 30 days’ notice as standard.

Ready to give search a senior owner?

One conversation with the person who would actually do the work. No juniors, no handoffs.

Start the conversation

Start the conversation

Start the conversation