Fractional SEO consultant,senior leadership, no full-time hire
As your fractional SEO consultant, I embed with your team as senior SEO lead, own the strategy, and drive pipeline, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire, with none of the agency handoffs.
for a B2B field service client
BOFU keywords for a knowledge management platform
vs previous year for an employee engagement SaaS
Some ambitious businesses I have helped grow
Testimonial
Testimonial
Testimonial
Testimonial
Testimonial
Testimonial
Testimonial
Testimonial
The fractional SEO consultant who runs SEO like an in-house lead.
You need senior SEO direction, but a full-time head of SEO costs $120k+ and takes months to hire. A freelancer is too junior to own strategy. An agency hands you to an account manager. You’re stuck between options that don’t fit.
That’s the gap I fill. I plug in as your senior SEO lead on a fractional basis, embedded in your team, owning the roadmap, and driving pipeline, without the salary, the ramp-up, or the lock-in.
What I own.
Senior SEO leadership, embedded in your team. I direct your people or execute myself, whatever the gap calls for.
SEO strategy and roadmap
I own the direction. Every keyword clears three filters: real search demand, product relevance, and a genuine ICP pain point.
How I do it
- Sales-call analysis: I mine your sales calls and customer interviews for the exact language buyers use.
- Buying-intent keywords: I prioritize money keywords closest to a purchase decision, then work outward.
- Competitive gap analysis: I find high-intent terms incumbents skipped because they looked too niche.
Content direction and execution
I steer your writers or write it myself. Expert content built from sales calls and SME knowledge, made to convert.
How I do it
- Briefs and editing: I direct your in-house writers with detailed briefs and senior editing, or produce it end to end.
- On-brand, no AI fluff: Your voice and your positioning, with zero generic filler.
- Built to convert: Every page maps to a real persona, use case, or buyer trigger, with clear CTAs.
Link building and AI citations
Authority from the sites your buyers trust, plus placement on the pages LLMs already cite in your category.
How I do it
- Targeted backlinks: Placements on higher-authority sites that lift your rankings.
- AI citation outreach: Getting your brand onto third-party pages ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini pull from.
- Clean profile: Strengthen authority and clear out anything dragging you down.
Technical SEO and CRO
The structural work that makes every page compound, and the conversion work that turns visits into pipeline.
How I do it
- Site architecture: Built to scale across features and use cases without rebuilds later.
- Core Web Vitals and schema: I brief your developers on fast pages and clean markup, so Google and AI search surface you correctly.
- Conversion optimization: Pages tuned to turn organic and AI traffic into demos and signups.
You get me, senior, embedded
No junior assigned after the pitch. As your fractional SEO consultant, you work directly with me, the person actually doing the strategy and the work.
A fraction of a full-time hire
The seniority of a head of SEO without the $120k+ salary, benefits, tools budget, or headcount. You pay for expertise, not overhead.
Embedded, not a detached vendor
I work inside your Slack, your standups, and your roadmap. I operate like a team member who owns SEO, not an agency emailing reports once a month.
Flexible, no lock-in
Scale up when you're pushing hard, dial back when you're not. Month to month. Fill the senior-SEO gap now without committing to a permanent hire.
Fractional, agency, or full-time hire?
How the three options stack up when you need senior SEO.
Me
Fractional SEO lead
Who does the work
Me, senior, embedded in your team.
Cost
A fraction of a full-time salary.
Time to start
Week one.
Seniority on your account
Senior strategist, always.
Flexibility
Scale up or down, month to month.
Embedded in your team
Yes — your Slack, standups, roadmap.
Generalist agency
Team behind the pitch
Who does the work
Junior account manager after the pitch.
Cost
Retainer plus agency margin.
Time to start
Often six months.
Seniority on your account
Senior sells, junior delivers.
Flexibility
Annual contracts common.
Embedded in your team
Detached vendor.
In-house hire
Full-time head of SEO
Who does the work
One hire wearing many hats.
Cost
$120k–180k+ salary, benefits, tools.
Time to start
2–4 months to hire and ramp.
Seniority on your account
Depends who you land.
Flexibility
Permanent headcount.
Embedded in your team
Yes, but one perspective.
Need senior SEO leadership without adding headcount?
Book a 30-minute call. We’ll figure out where SEO is stalling and how a fractional engagement fills the gap.
My fractional SEO process.
Seven steps from first call to pipeline you can track.
Discovery and package fit
We start with a call to see what you have, where SEO is stalling, and how many hours you actually need. You pick a package that fits your goals and budget.
01 / 07
Embed with your team
I plug into your Slack, tools, and standups, and get access to what I need. I operate like part of the team from week one, not a detached vendor.
02 / 07
Revenue-first keyword roadmap
I build a roadmap around money-making keywords only. Bottom of funnel first, the searches buyers run when they want a solution now.
03 / 07
Monthly plan, approved by you
Each month's priorities are set in advance. You stay in the loop and approve where it matters, so nothing ships as a surprise.
04 / 07
Direction and execution
I steer your writers and developers, or write and ship myself. Either way, the SEO roadmap has a senior owner driving it forward.
05 / 07
Backlinks and AI citations
Once pages are live and ranking, I add backlinks and citations to push them up and lift your authority across Google and LLMs.
06 / 07
Pipeline-tied reporting
Reporting ties back to pipeline and revenue, not vanity traffic. You get quick weekly updates on what's working and what's next.
What people who hired me actually say.
“I hired Usama to handle SEO content marketing for Touchdown, and the results have been excellent. In just three months, he grew our organic traffic significantly. Usama combines strong SEO knowledge with an understanding of how buyers actually search. His work got our pages to rank in AI overviews and LLMs like ChatGPT. We're also now generating qualified leads directly from there.”
Semyon Germanovich
Founder at Touchdown
TouchdownVISIBLE with Usama Khan
Conversations with the people shaping SEO, content, and AI visibility for B2B brands. New episodes every other week.
Positioning for AI search: Why broad targeting kills your visibility
Narrow positioning now decides whether LLMs recommend your brand in AI search. Kateryna Abrosymova on why vague targeting makes you invisible to ChatGPT.
Watch the episode
Common questions
A fractional SEO consultant is a senior SEO leader who works with you part-time, embedded in your team. You get the strategy, ownership, and direction of a head of SEO without hiring one full-time. I own the roadmap and work alongside your writers, developers, and marketers.
An agency sells you with a senior strategist, then hands execution to a junior team you rarely speak to. As a fractional consultant, I'm the senior person, embedded in your Slack and standups, owning strategy and execution end to end. No handoffs, no account managers.
A full-time head of SEO runs $120k–180k+ before benefits, tools, and ramp-up. A fractional engagement gives you that seniority for a monthly retainer scoped to the hours you need, usually a fraction of a full-time salary. You pay for expertise, not overhead.
Month to month, scoped to the hours and outcomes you need. I embed with your team, own the SEO roadmap, and scale involvement up or down as priorities shift. No annual lock-in and no permanent headcount to justify.
Yes, that's the ideal setup. I provide senior direction while your writers and developers execute, or I run strategy and execution end to end when there's no in-house team. The model flexes to what you already have.
I start in week one, with no months-long hiring or ramp-up. I ship bottom-of-funnel money pages in the first sprint, so first ranking movement and leads usually land in weeks, with traffic compounding over the following months.
More ways to work together.
Not quite the right fit? Explore the rest of what I do.
Get a fractional SEO consultant who runs SEO like it’s in-house.
Book a 30-minute call. We'll look at where your SEO is stalling, what senior direction would change, and how a fractional engagement fits your team and budget.
Trusted by B2B companies and SEO agencies on 4 continents