What does an SEO consultant do? Tasks and collaboration

An SEO consultant analyses why a website is not visible enough on Google and builds a strategy from that covering technology, content and authority. The role runs from the first audit through keyword strategy to ongoing reporting, usually in close coordination with the company's marketing or development team.

The tasks in overview

Every collaboration starts with an audit: a stock-take that shows where a website stands technically and content-wise and which actions will have the biggest impact. What belongs in such an audit is covered in the SEO audit checklist.

The audit leads to a keyword strategy: which search queries matter for the company and which page answers which question. The basics are covered in the article on keyword research.

On the technical side, an SEO consultant checks and guides load time, crawlability and indexing, often together with development. This includes the Core Web Vitals, which Google uses as one of several signals for user experience.

On content, the job is to build pages that actually answer the questions of the target audience, with clear headings and a structure that both readers and search engines understand, oriented on criteria such as E-E-A-T, which Google also uses. Every cycle ends with reporting: which actions were implemented, how visibility and enquiries developed, and what follows for the coming weeks.

How the collaboration with a company works

An SEO consultant rarely works detached from the company. Analysis and prioritisation sit with the consultant, implementation sits with the company's own team, an external partner or both together, depending on the model. A fixed point of contact on both sides matters, so decisions do not get stuck between several people. How this collaboration is usually billed, from project to retainer, is covered in the article What does SEO consulting cost?

When the role is worth it

An SEO consultant is worth bringing in when a company lacks the time or specific knowledge to systematically manage a website's technology, content and structure, or when a concrete problem has come up: falling visibility after a relaunch, a Google update with a noticeable effect, or the wish to expand into new markets or languages. The role makes less sense when a website barely maintains content and has no plans to start. Without new or reworked pages, even the best strategy has little to work with.

What to expect in the first three months

The first month is about the audit and prioritisation: what technical problems exist, what topics are missing, where the biggest gaps against competitors sit. The second month is when implementation begins, usually starting with technical fixes that can be resolved quickly, while a plan for new or reworked content takes shape in parallel. In the third month, the first content goes live, and an initial report shows which actions are already having an effect and which need more time. Rankings often shift only slightly during this phase, which is normal and not a sign that something is not working.