SEO consultant: role, rates and criteria for choosing the right expert

When your site does not appear on Google, it is not necessarily your offer that is a problem.

More often than not, it's a question of visibility.

That's exactly where the SEO consultant : its role is to optimize your site for search engines (Google, Bing, but also AI engines), in order to provide you with more qualified traffic, of Leads And of turnover.

In this article, we will see:

• What is an SEO consultant really
• Its concrete missions on your site
• When it is appropriate to call on him
• An idea of tariffs Practiced
• How to choose the right SEO consultant for your business
• And behind the line, the approach we use at 7 Gold Agency

1. What is an SEO consultant?

1.1. Simple definition of SEO consultant

One SEO consultant (Search Engine Optimization) is an expert whose job consists in:

• Analyze your site and your online market
• Identify what is blocking your visibility
• Building a strategy for Go up in the search results
• Track performance and adjust actions over time

Its objective is not only to “raise keywords”, but to help you attract the right visitors, that is to say those who have a real potential to become customers.

Chez 7 Gold Agency, for example, the SEO consultant never works “in silo”: they link SEO to your global acquisition (content, emailing, tunnels, social networks) so that the traffic generated can be transformed into commercial opportunities, not just anonymous visits.

1.2. SEO consultant, SEO agency, freelancer: what's the difference?

Terms are often confused, but there are a few nuances:

• Freelance SEO consultant
  • One person, often very specialized
  • Ideal for audits, strategic support or targeted projects
• Agency SEO consultant
  • He works within a team (editors, developers, media buyers...)
  • Interesting if you need a global support : SEO + content + tracking + advertising, etc.
• “Pure” SEO agency
  • 100% focused on natural referencing
  • Practical for large sites, e-commerce or media, with a lot of pages to process

Chez 7 Gold Agency, we are adopting a hybrid model: a referent SEO consultant, surrounded by marketing resources (copywriting, design, funnel, automation) to transform SEO into Business lever, not only as a position indicator.

2. What does an SEO consultant actually do?

2.1. Complete SEO audit of your site

The first step in an SEO consultant's work is almost always a auditing :

• Analysis technique : loading speed, indexing, 404 errors, structure, mobile
• Analysis semantics : targeted keywords, search intentions, relevance of existing content
• Analysis Off-site : backlinks, domain authority, presence on other platforms
• Analysis competitive : who occupies the first page on your strategic keywords, and why

This audit makes it possible to draw up a clear road map : what are the priorities, the “quick wins”, the fundamental projects.

2.2. Keyword research and search intentions

A good SEO consultant doesn't just use generic keywords.

He works on research intentions :

• Informational queries (e.g., “what is an SEO consultant?”)
• Commercial requests (e.g. “freelance SEO consultant price”)
• Transactional requests (e.g. “Cannes SEO agency quotation”)
• Local requests (e.g. “Monaco SEO consultant”, “Paris 15 SEO consultant”)

The objective: to map the keywords that can really bring you business, then organize them in pages and blog posts consistent.

2.3. On-page optimization: your pages in detail

On your existing pages (or to be created), the SEO consultant will work:

• Les title tags and Meta description
• Les H1, H2, H3 titles
• Content structure (paragraphs, lists, FAQ, internal networking)
• Les URL
• Semantic markup (schema.org, FAQ, products...)
• Optimizing images (weight, alt text)

The idea is not to “stuff” pages with keywords, but to produce content readable, useful, structured for humans... and easy for Google to interpret.

2.4. Technical SEO: performance and structure

An SEO consultant often works in conjunction with your developer or your web team for:

• Improve load times
• Correct crawl errors
• Optimize the mobile version
• Structure the site (tree structure, categories, pagination)
• Manage redirects (301, 302) and avoid duplicate content

A fast, clear, and well-structured site is easier to Index and more pleasant for your visitors.

2.5. Netlinking and domain authority

The Netlinking (getting links from other sites) remains a pillar of SEO.

The SEO consultant can:

• Identify opportunities for links (partnerships, guest articles, mentions in the media...)
• Monitor toxic backlinks and suggest disavowing actions
• Work the notoriety of your brand on strategic platforms (blogs, qualitative directories, social networks, possibly Reddit, etc.)

At 7 Gold Agency, we also integrate the dimension GEO/AI engines : the idea is no longer only to be visible on Google, but also in the answers of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, etc., which are based in part on well-structured and well-cited content.

3. When should you call on an SEO consultant?

Hiring an SEO consultant is particularly useful in these cases:

• You have a Showcase site or e-commerce that generates almost no contacts
• You spend on advertising (Google Ads, Meta Ads) but you don't have no organic strategy
• You are preparing a launching (new site, rebranding, new product)
• You are well positioned on some keywords... but you are stagnant
• You must justify a more structured acquisition plan to your management or your investors

In other words: as soon as organic visibility becomes a strategic issue for your growth, the SEO consultant is no longer a “luxury”, but a Key lever.

4. How much does an SEO consultant cost?

Rates vary a lot depending on:

• The expert's experience
• The complexity of your site (10 pages vs 5,000 pages)
• Your sector (ultra-competitive or not)
• The nature of the mission (one-off audit, support over 6-12 months, global overhaul...)

We generally find:

• Of SEO audits billed at a flat rate
• Of monthly coaching (recurring, with a defined number of hours or deliverables)
• Of one-off missions (ex: optimization of a new section of the site, editorial support, local SEO)

The important thing is not only the price, but the return on investment : how many additional customers does SEO bring you, and at what acquisition cost?

5. How do I choose the right SEO consultant?

5.1. The criteria to look at first

To avoid unpleasant surprises, check:

• Customer cases : has he already worked on sites comparable to yours?
• Pedagogy : does he clearly explain to you what he does, and why?
• The working method : audit → strategy → action plan → follow-up, or a simple “to-do list”?
• Deliverables : what are you receiving in concrete terms (reports, dashboards, prioritization)?
• The business vision : is he only talking about “positions” or also about turnover, leads, margin?

At 7 Gold Agency, for example, we always include a part Business in our SEO recommendations: which pages to prioritize to generate the most value, and how to connect SEO with your CRM, your email campaigns and your sales funnels.

5.2. Alert signals (red flags)

Beware of SEO consultants who:

• Promise the 1st place guaranteed On Google
• Never talk about content, only “technical stuff”
• Refuse to share their method or priorities
• Don't look at your business goals and focus only on vanity metrics (impressions, clicks, no conversions)

A good SEO consultant is above all a long term partner, not a service provider who “fiddles” your titles behind the scenes.

6. The 7 Gold Agency approach: a business-oriented SEO consultant

Without turning this article into a commercial brochure, this is the philosophy that guides our work at 7 Gold Agency :

• SEO = acquisition lever, not an isolated technical task
• We start from your business goals (leads, MRR, sales, bookings) and we align SEO with them.
• Structured content for Google... and for AI engines
• We design content for the classic SERP, but also for the new generation of engines (SGE, AI responses, etc.).
• Long-term vision + quick wins
• We combine quick actions (optimization of key pages, FAQ, structure) with an editorial plan over several months.
• Transparency and pedagogy
• You know what is being done, why, and what results come from it. No jargon to mask the lack of strategy.

If you are looking for a SEO consultant able to talk as much Business what keywords, that's exactly what we do on a daily basis.