Are you wondering what the definition of a Professional SEO Consultant is? Or what is SEO Consulting? Or what does an Independent SEO Consultant do on a regular basis after you hire them?

Greetings, this is Joanna Vaiou.

Since early 2013, I run my own Independent professional SEO services company and I am self-taught since early 2009.

Being here means you are interested in one of the following options:

1. Hiring an SEO Contractor or
2. Becoming an Organic Search Engine Optimization Consultant yourself.

I have a fair sum of experience in the industry as an independent SEO Consultant (Contractor) and this is why I am sharing this post with you today, to share my experiential insights and answer your questions.

What is a Search Engine Optimization Consultant?

An Organic SEO Consultant is a professional who specializes in Search Engine Optimization areas such as On-Page, Technical SEO, SEO Tools, Off-Page SEO, etc and offers SEO Consulting and Project Management services to other companies needing to improve their visibility on the search engines.

SEO Consultants are independent contractors who design the overall SEO strategy, implement, consult, and manage all the processes between several departments such as copywriting, web development, PR & Marketing, Creative, and others.

What is SEO Consulting?

As an SEO Consulting (& Project Management) services provider, I do SEO research along with data analysis, and I design special optimization and organic SEO marketing strategies for my own and my clients’ projects in order to rank (& remain) at the top page of Google search engine organically, for our targeted industries’ related keywords and terms.

What is Organic SEO Strategy?

Whether we say “Organic SEO Strategy” or “SEO strategy” alone, we mean the exact same thing. The term “organic” has the same meaning as “SEO”. It is the marketing method to appear for a company’s keywords at the top page of Google, without paying for Google ads.

This promotional method is called “Organic”. While it can be considered repetition to put two words together with the same meaning, there is a decent amount of this type of search on Google, from users who probably perceive those terms as being somehow distinctive from one another.

The SEO Strategy Consultant is the responsible person who performs SEO Research & Analysis on specific projects in order to design the overall Search Engine Optimization strategy and manage all the project’s aspects (either hands-on or through consulting and coordinating multiple collaborative departments like copywriting, marketing & PR, Web Development, etc).

There are many questions that arise related to this term and some of them are about the following:

1. How much money an Organic SEO Consultant makes
2. How long does it take to learn SEO and become an SEO Consultant?
3. What is an Organic SEO professional‘s daily routine (what do they do)?
4. How to find and hire a freelance SEO Consultant
5. …and more.

In this article, I will reply to the question of what this aforementioned term (or title if you prefer) means and what is the daily routine of an Organic SEO Expert, according to my own experience as a remote & independent SEO Consultant from early 2013 and after.

What does an Independent Organic SEO Consultant do daily?

A preview of a day in my life as a Search Engine Optimization Consultant and how I work, I share next.

The daily tasks list of mine as an Independent SEO Expert with my own remote business and my own clients consists of the following:

1. Diving into my previous day’s prepared “to-do” tasks list to tackle as many of them as I possibly can.
2. SEO Research & Analysis on my clients’ projects through Search Console, Google Analytics, AHREFS, and other free and paid SEO tools, including keyword research (traditional and competitive), finding new article opportunities through Google search “Related Searches” and “Google Autocomplete” features, etc.
3. Supporting my already existing clients: Designing Search Engine Optimization strategies and emailing them to my clients and the collaborative team (i.e what changes need to be done on the website by the web developer, what type of article or video we should create to educate their audiences, etc).
4. Checking my Clients’ Google Keyword Rankings manually and in my Agency Analytics Tracker where I can see the comparative progress within certain timeframes.
5. Performing OnPage SEO actions on already existing content on my clients’ properties or on new pieces of content that we create together with the management and the assigned copywriter for each project.
6. Replying to new potential clients who inquire about my SEO services and getting all the required feedback from them in order to add a new task to my list to do SEO Research and Analysis and prepare an SEO Offer to send them.
7. On-demand Strategic Link Building (either hands-on myself or through a 3rd-party link builder) whenever I find a good opportunity for my projects.
8. Competition Researching and Analyzing: Keeping an eye on what the top Google Page competition does is one of the regular tasks of an SEO Consultant and any other title that includes the term “SEO”. It gives you insights into what works best in any industry and it is a prerequisite in order to design the SEO Strategy for your projects.
9. Tackling any Business Administration tasks that require my immediate attention for my business to run smoothly (legally and accounting wise). Once a month as a business owner, I send to my Corporate accountant my invoices (Income and Expenses) for the previously completed month so they can do what is needed, accounting wise. If you have an employer though, you don’t have to worry about this task, only your employer though definitely does.
10. On-demand Client Meetings (Offline wherever applicable or Online via Zoom or Skype).
11. Client Invoicing & Client Reporting (twice a month): Two times a month, I provide monthly SEO Progress reports to my existing clients and my company’s invoice for the following month of SEO support and services. If you don’t have your own business and you work for someone else you can skip that obligation.
12. Reading New SEO articles from TOP Industry SEO blogs like Google Webmasters, Search Engine Journal and listening to industry-relevant podcasts such as Marie’s Haynes “Search News you Can Use”.
13. Watching SEO videos from the AHREFS’ YouTube account, Brian Dean’s, and other leading SEO Brands.
14. I read daily about what changes in the SEO industry and buy any new course that gets released by the TOP SEOs worldwide that is not available for free.
15. I learn and apply new strategies firstly on my own projects as SEO evolves rapidly and I consult my clients about what they need to do to improve their current organic stats and numbers as well.
16. If I have any time left in the day, last but not least, I create content for my own SEO Personal Brand on my website and on my social networks.

Characteristics of Great Search Engine Optimization Consultants

There is absolutely no doubt that during your search you will witness an outburst of Organic SEO consultants for hire out there.

What was a pretty exclusive service for only the fortunate few is now a necessity.

This is regardless of the industry you currently operate in.

If you want your company to be at the top of Google search results, it is important that you apply custom SEO strategies to distinguish yourself from the pack.

It is very important to find an Organic SEO Consultant who is not only skilled and experienced but also reliable and trustworthy.

Organic SEO Consultant’s traits

Your best bet in an Organic SEO Consultant must have the following characteristics:

• Insatiable learning

Acquiring NEW knowledge in the SEO industry has no end.

No matter how good you are today, you will always be learning new strategies and skills.

The industry of SEO changes and evolves rapidly and as an SEO Consult, you need to keep up with all these changes.

In order to keep up with all the ebbs and flows, it is important that you are thirsty for learning new things and applying them in real-life scenarios.

• Problem-Solving

Even in SEO, there might arise certain hiccups. So rather than giving up on the problem altogether, a reliable SEO would look at all the possible solutions to the problem.

Be it personal blogs, social media accounts, or any other sort of avenue – they will not give up until they have found a solution with which they are genuinely satisfied.

• Creative/Out-of-the-Box Thinking

With the competition becoming fiercer with every passing day, it is crucial to come up with new ideas regularly.

Even though it might be slightly difficult to do this on a frequent basis, it is essential.

A successful Organic SEO Consultant/Strategist combines:

• 50% creativity and

• 50% analytical skills

This is the combination of two main characteristics of mine as an individual that has assisted me in the SEO industry.

It is a great combination and super good to own.

Both analytical skills and being good with numbers and data analysis are a prerequisite for Organic SEO Consultants.

• Crustal Clear Communication Skills

Lastly, the communication skills of the consultant would need to be excellent.

Only in this way, it is possible to build up a trusting and long-term relationship.

• Expectations-Management Skills

Your Independent SEO Contractor must be totally honest with you in terms of what you can expect at each phase of your brand’s journey on Google.

As a business owner who invests in an SEO Expert Consultant, you must have zero doubts about where you are, where you want to go, and how you will go there.

Wrapping up

There, you have it!

I shared the definition of what an Independent SEO Consultant is and what they do exactly, always from my personal experience being an Independent Remote SEO Business owner from early 2013.

Did you like the aforementioned list of activities?

If you:

• Fancy becoming an Organic SEO Consultant yourself
• Love to learn stuff online
• Are highly self-motivated
• Are on a tight budget

, check out my own personal “Learning SEO at home online” journey.

It has the best free training resources and courses online from leading SEO Brands.

Challenges for Organic SEO Consultants

Prepare yourself for some sleepless nights regularly, especially when Google algorithm updates and you find some of your projects to have lost their premium ranking positions.

This can happen even to the best SEO Experts.

Google algorithm is what it is:

1. Unpredictable.
2. Everchanging.
3. Checks more than 200 ranking factors in order to rank websites and you simply can’t control all of them.

5 Tips for Aspired Independent SEO Consultants

1. No matter how great of an SEO Expert you consider yourself to be (or become), you never have full control of the Google algorithm and what tomorrow brings.
2. Losing your #1-10 keyword rankings can happen even to the best after an algorithmic update that aims to provide a better user experience so users spend more time on Google and ultimately click on more ads.
3. Google is not perfect. They make mistakes and sometimes there is simply no SEO logic that can explain the results after an update.
4. Expect some times to see crazy stuff happening on the top page of Google. It is normal.
5. The key is to stay calm, stand firm, have patience after each Google algorithmic update in order to complete itself (it can take weeks to do so), and stay up to date with the top SEO industry blogs and leaders who share their own insights on every Google Update and recommended practices.

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Extra Resources

• What is SEO? How SEO works
• Learn how to show up on Google Related Searches (& Autocomplete) Feature
• EAT Means… What does “E-A-T” stand for in SEO & Why it is Crucial
• Google Core Web Vitals Optimization Service

Contact SEO Consult Joanna Vaiou

To request a professional SEO Services quote, visit our contact page and fill in the SEO Questionnaire.