Hands-on SEO retainer, capped at four clients.
Senior, monthly SEO work — strategy, implementation, content direction and reporting. Done by me, on your live site, every month.
What a retainer actually looks like
Three shapes, depending on what your business needs and what your team already has in place.
Strategy & direction
For firms with their own developers and writers. I set priorities, brief the work, review what’s shipped and report on performance. You do the doing.
Strategy & implementation
The most common shape. I set priorities and ship most of the technical, on-page and schema work directly on your site. Content briefs go to your team or mine.
Full service
I handle everything end-to-end: strategy, technical, content, schema, AI, local, reporting. Usually for firms without internal marketing capacity.
What’s included every month
- 01Monthly action prioritiesA short, ranked plan of what’s getting shipped and why — reviewed and signed off at the start of each month.
- 02ImplementationTechnical fixes, on-page changes, schema, internal linking, redirects — done on your live site, properly tested.
- 03Content briefsDetailed briefs for new pages — intent, structure, key entities, internal links, schema. Built for your writers (or mine) to act on without ambiguity.
- 04Competitor and SERP monitoringI’m watching what your competitors are doing and how the SERPs are moving — so we react, not just plan.
- 05Monthly report and callPlain-English report — what we shipped, what moved, what’s next. Followed by a thirty-minute call to walk through it together.
- 06Direct accessA Slack channel or email line for in-flight questions. No ticketing system, no account manager.
Who the retainer is for.
A retainer makes sense when you want senior expertise on a programme — not bodies on tasks.
You’re the kind of client this works for
- Existing SEO foundation that needs ongoing direction
- You want a senior partner, not a five-person agency team
- Quarterly priorities you're prepared to commit to
- You value a small number of clients, given full attention
This probably isn’t the right service for you
- You're shopping for an agency model with delivery teams
- You expect “X hours of work per month” billable accounting
- You want junior account managers and weekly status calls
- You've had SEO for three months and expect compounding results
How it works
Baseline & quick wins
Audit done if not already complete, plus immediate wins shipped within the first month.
Compounding work
Technical foundations, content programme rolling, schema and entity work going in.
Momentum
This is where SEO compounds. Rankings, traffic and AI visibility moving on real commercial terms.
Review
Step back, look at what’s worked, recalibrate priorities. Renew or step down at any quarterly point.
Common questions
Is there a minimum term?
No. Retainers are monthly, no minimum commitment. Most clients are in for nine to eighteen months because the work is moving, not because they’re locked in.
Do you charge by hours?
No — fixed monthly fee scoped to the work. I’d rather sell outcomes than timesheets. If a month needs more or less, we agree it openly.
Do you publish content yourself?
Yes — if it’s part of the agreed scope. Briefs are always mine; writing can be yours, mine or split.
Can I cancel at any time?
Thirty days’ notice, that’s it. No clawback, no exit fees.
What if you’re at capacity?
I keep a short waitlist. If you’re a good fit and I’m full, I’ll be upfront about it and either offer a date or point you to someone good.
Related services
SEO Audit
The usual starting point before a retainer — full diagnostic and ranked plan.
Learn moreSEO Consulting
If you have a team to do the work, consulting is the lighter, strategy-only version.
Learn moreAI Search Optimisation
Can be added to a retainer or run as a specialist standalone engagement.
Learn moreWhat clients actually say.
Real reviews from firms I have worked with. 4.8 out of 5 across Google, Facebook and Yell.
“Extremely helpful would highly recommend for SEO services, my business ranking went up, and more customers started calling.”
“We have been working with Gregg for a few months now — he is really actively trying to increase our profile on Google. We always find him easily contactable and approachable.”
Want to talk this through?
Thirty minutes. No pitch deck. I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help.