Written by Freelance SEO & AI Consultant, London
What direct-to-consultant actually means
In an agency structure, three roles are typically split across different people: the strategist who designs the SEO approach, the operator who implements it, and the accountable owner who is responsible for the results. The client usually speaks to the strategist during the pitch and the account manager during the engagement. The work is done by a third person — often a junior — who was not in the room when the strategy was agreed.
Direct-to-consultant means those three roles are held by one person. The person who analyses your site, designs the strategy, and presents the topical map is the same person who implements the technical audit, writes the content briefs, and monitors the ranking trajectory. There is no translation layer between strategy and execution — and no diffusion of accountability when something needs to change.
For London SMEs spending £750–£5,000 per month on SEO, this structural difference matters more than the methodology. The best strategy in the world produces mediocre results when it is implemented by someone who was not involved in designing it.
From our work: the three-role problem
Direct-to-consultant means the client gets the strategist, the operator, and the accountable owner in one person, rather than an agency structure where those roles are split across several people.
When those roles are split, the strategy is always diluted in translation. The junior implementing the brief does not have the context the senior had when they designed it. The account manager relaying feedback does not have the technical depth to know which changes matter. And when results are slow, accountability is diffuse — everyone can point to someone else. The direct-to-consultant model removes all three problems at once.
The consultant at a glance
The strategist, operator, and accountable owner in one person. No juniors. No handoffs.
Koray Semantic SEO Framework — named, documented, and explainable to your team.
London-based. Available for in-person briefings across the city.
Retainers from £750/month. Fixed-price project work. All pricing published transparently.
AI tools for research, briefing, and analysis — faster delivery, not AI-generated content.
8+ years practitioner experience across London SMEs, B2B, ecommerce, and professional services.
Freelance consultant vs SEO agency
SEO agency
- →Senior strategist sells the engagement
- →Account manager manages the relationship
- →Junior team does the implementation
- →Strategy diluted in translation
- →Accountability diffuse across the team
- →Overhead built into the pricing model
Freelance consultant
- →Strategist, operator, and owner in one person
- →You speak directly to the person doing the work
- →No translation layer between strategy and execution
- →Full context retained from brief to implementation
- →Single point of accountability for results
- →No agency overhead — senior rate, senior delivery
Services
Topical authority built on the Koray framework.
Crawl, Core Web Vitals, index coverage, structured data.
A Semantic Content Network that defines your topical authority.
Intent alignment, entity coverage, EAV scope, schema.
Editorial link acquisition aligned to site architecture.
Ongoing decay monitoring, gap analysis, topical map updates.
GBP optimisation, map pack rankings, borough targeting.
Information architecture for long-cycle buyer journeys.
Category architecture, faceted navigation, product page depth.
Senior SEO capacity for agencies — NDA, branded deliverables.
Who this is for
London SME owners
Have tried SEO before — agency or in-house — and are not satisfied with the results. Want a specialist who will actually do the work, not manage a team that does.
Growth-stage businesses
Scaling and need SEO as a growth channel. Evaluating whether to hire in-house or use a consultant. Need a senior specialist without the cost of a full-time hire.
Marketing leads
Have budget and a brief. Need to justify the hire to a director or founder. Need a consultant who can explain the methodology clearly and produce client-ready documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Ready to work with a consultant who does the work?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We will review your site, identify the highest-value opportunities, and outline a realistic plan — no pitch, no commitment required.