Hiring for SEO: What You Actually Need (and What You Probably Don’t)

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Hiring for SEO often feels like trying to hit a moving target.

Should you bring in a specialist? A generalist? In-house? Freelance? Agency? Should they write, code, build links, or do all three?

Most teams get this wrong because they hire based on roles, not results.

Let’s fix that.

First, Get Clear on the Business Problem

Before you write a JD or send a budget request, ask:

• Are we not ranking for bottom-funnel terms?
  
  
• Is our SEO traffic converting... or just existing?
  
  
• Are we blocked on execution, or missing strategy?
  
  
• Is lack of internal buy-in the actual bottleneck?
  
  

Each answer maps to a different type of SEO support.

In many cases, the answer is: don’t hire yet.

Not Every SEO Problem Is an SEO Problem

Underperformance is often rooted outside the SEO team.

• Content bottlenecks
  
  
• Dev backlog and tech debt
  
  
• Zero SEO ownership at a strategic level
  
  
• Misaligned KPIs
  
  
• Lack of coordination between teams
  
  

Hiring a junior SEO won’t fix this. It’ll frustrate them, drain your time, and burn budget.

What to Hire, When

Use this table to align business need with the right type of support:

<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p><strong>Business Need</strong></p>
</td>
<td>
<p><strong>Type of SEO Help</strong></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Strategic direction, growth roadmap, internal education</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Senior consultant or fractional SEO lead</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Scaling pages, updating content, internal ops</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>In-house SEO manager or content SEO specialist</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Execution support without headcount</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Trusted freelancer or agency partner</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Winning bigger clients (agency-side)</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Senior-level sparring partner, not a junior auditor</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

If your company is between €2M–€100M, the most common mistake is hiring too early, too junior, or without a clear objective.

Get strategic alignment first. Then build around it.

Hiring Right = Fit × Impact

You’re not hiring to “do SEO.” You’re hiring to move levers.

Look for someone who:

• Understands how your business actually makes money
  
  
• Challenges assumptions and prioritizes for business impact
  
  
• Knows how to integrate with dev, content, product, and leadership
  
  
• Can say no to work that doesn’t move the needle
  
  

If they can’t connect SEO to outcomes, they’ll just produce busywork.

And that’s not what you need.

Not Sure What Kind of SEO Help You Actually Need?

I work with marketing and growth leaders to clarify exactly what kind of support will drive results... fast.

Whether you need a fractional lead, help hiring internally, or a senior partner to execute while you scale, I can help.