Halloween’s over, the sugar rush has finally worn off (mine, not the kids’), and I’m that person who’s already getting excited about Christmas. Don’t judge me.

(This is the 04/11/2025 issue of my newsletter – subscribe here)

But first, we’ve got Bonfire Night to get through. My brother runs a firework company – Pops n Bangs (he took over when my Dad died last year). So every time I visit him, there’s talk of which wedding he has coming up next, the new trend in quiet fireworks (who knew that was a thing?), and of course how many displays he has over the next couple of weeks around the country because November 5th is a Wednesday, so venues have booked for the two weekends around it.

There are mahoosive boxes of sparklers and professional fireworks around that I’m not allowed to touch (apparently I can’t be trusted), but it’s still quite awesome. Like having a brother who runs a sweet shop, except louder and more likely to result in a visit from the fire brigade if things go wrong. 👀 (I’m joking, of course everything is stored correctly!)

Honestly, I only told you about my brother so I could use this gif, which I have been torturing him with for weeks (what are big sisters for, right?) Please feel free to follow him on Facebook and mention I sent this out to over 3000 people!

What you’ll find inside

1 | The question nobody asks before hiring for SEO (but should)

2 | Your free SEO tip: how to know when you’ve gone as far as you can on your own

3 | What I’m working on this week

Let’s dig in, shall we?

Thoughts this week: The question nobody asks before hiring for SEO

I had an SEO 1:1 call last week with the marketing manager of a B2B service business who’d spent six months trying to decide whether to hire an in-house SEO or bring in an agency.

Six months of agonising. Spreadsheets comparing costs. Meetings about meetings. The works.

But nobody had asked the most important question: “Do we actually need either of those options?”

See, there’s a problem when hiring for SEO – both the obvious options have massive downsides that the recruitment companies and the big SEO agencies conveniently forget to mention.

The in-house option

Hiring an in-house SEO sounds awesomely perfect, doesn’t it? Someone dedicated to your business, available whenever you need them, fully immersed in your brand.

Except it’ll cost you £35-45K in salary. Plus benefits. Plus training budget. Plus all the SEO tools subscriptions (which aren’t cheap). Plus recruitment fees to find them in the first place, if you use a recruiter.

And recruitment takes forever right now – six months isn’t unusual for a decent SEO hire. So you’re waiting half a year whilst your competitors are cracking on.

Then there’s the obvious stuff nobody mentions until after you’ve hired them: they go on holiday. They get sick. They hand in their notice and you’re back to square one.

Oh, and if your website doesn’t need 30+ hours of SEO work every single week (and most B2B business websites don’t), you’re paying a full-time salary for part-time needs.

The agency option

Right, so agencies then. Surely that’s better?

Well, the decent ones want £2K+ per month as a minimum retainer. Often more. And what do you get for that?

Usually a junior account manager who’s handling 15 other clients, following a generic strategy that could apply to anyone in your industry, and reporting to someone senior you’ll never speak to.

The pitch meeting is all “we’ll assign our best people to your account!” The reality is Fred-who-graduated-six-months-ago following a template whilst the senior bods who impressed you in the pitch are busy bringing in new clients.

I’m not saying all agencies are like this. But enough of them are that it’s become the standard model.

The option most businesses don’t know exists

There’s a third way that nobody talks about: these days it’s become known as fractional SEO.

Someone senior and experienced who works with you for a few hours a week or a set number of hours per month. You get full-on expertise without paying a full-time salary. You get someone who’s done this hundreds of times before, not someone learning on your budget.

No six-month recruitment process. No agency minimums that price out small businesses. No paying for 30+ hours a week when you need 6.

For most B2B service businesses, this makes way more sense than either of the “standard” options. You need strategy, experience, and someone who can spot what’s broken and fix it efficiently. You don’t need someone sitting at a desk 9-5 every day creating busywork to justify their salary.

But hardly anyone talks about this option because recruitment agencies don’t make commission on it, and big agencies can’t scale it. Because Fractional=Freelance, innit? 😜

How to figure out what you need

Before you hire anyone – in-house, agency, or fractional – work out what you’re trying to achieve and how much SEO work that requires.

If you’re an e-commerce site with thousands of products, constant content needs, and serious competition, you might genuinely need full-time help.

If you’re a B2B service business with 20 pages on your website and a fairly stable service offering, you probably need strategic input and skilled execution for a few hours a week. Not a full-time employee.

Most small businesses fall into the second category but end up trying to choose between options designed for the first category. No wonder the decision feels impossible.

That marketing manager I mentioned earlier? Halfway through our chat about “agency, in-house, or fractional” he said “Fractional? That’s just freelance, isn’t it? Like you?” It was, it is, and he’s now a client – I just saved him over £30,000 for 2026, and we’re both very happy.

Your free SEO tip

How to know when you’ve gone as far as you can on your own

There’s nothing wrong with DIY SEO. But there comes a point where you’ve done everything you can reasonably do yourself, and you’re either stuck, overwhelmed, or spending so much time on it that you’re neglecting your actual business.

Here’s how to know you’ve hit that point:

You’ve fixed the obvious stuff but traffic isn’t improving
You’re spending 5+ hours a week on SEO and getting nowhere (your time has a cost)
You don’t know what to prioritise next
You’re avoiding it entirely because it’s overwhelming
Technical stuff is beyond you and you don’t have time to learn

If any of those sound familiar, you’ve probably gone as far as DIY can take you.

That doesn’t mean committing to a massive agency retainer or hiring full-time. My SEO Sprint service exists for exactly this – focused blocks of time to tackle specific problems. Or book a 30-minute discovery call and we’ll talk through what makes sense for your situation.

What am I working on this week?

Usual SEO retainers are keeping me busy, plus I’m working on:

A technical audit for a new client who’s been told their site is “fine” by their web developer (it isn’t).
Content strategy for a B2B consultancy who’ve been blogging for two years with zero enquiries to show for it. (Their content is attracting DIYers, not buyers).
Restructuring my packages to make them clearer and more flexible for businesses who need help but aren’t ready for big commitments.
Recording more podcast episodes for SEO F**king What? – the latest one is about why your blog SEO isn’t working and what you can do about it – listen where you get your podcasts.

That’s it for this week,

Always non-wanky,

P.S. If you’re trying to decide between hiring options for SEO and getting paralysis from overthinking it, book a call and we’ll talk through what makes sense for your business specifically. Sometimes you just need someone to say “this is what you need” so you can stop agonising and get on with it.