Decision note
The question, evidence, options considered and recommended action remain together. Your team can revisit the reasoning when new information appears instead of reconstructing a conversation from memory.
Senior advice for the decision in front of your team
SEO consulting
If your team has conflicting recommendations, an approaching launch or an SEO investment it cannot assess, the first task is to define the decision. I review the available evidence and the constraints behind it, then help you choose a course of action your team can explain and implement. Ongoing execution is scoped separately.
30-minute consultation · $200 USD · paid after the call, only if you don't continue with ongoing work
A question with a business consequence
A traffic decline, a supplier proposal and a redesign are different starting points. The engagement begins with the action someone must approve and the consequence of getting it wrong. That keeps a broad request to improve SEO from becoming a list of unrelated tasks.
You may need to compare two architectures, challenge an audit recommendation or decide whether to invest in content before fixing a template. I examine the pages, observations and assumptions behind those options. Missing evidence becomes a research question rather than an invented answer.
If the problem still needs a sitewide investigation, an SEO audit can establish the baseline. Consulting is useful when a team needs judgment on a defined decision, including decisions that arise while work is already underway.
From the question to a defensible next step
Define the decision
Agree on the business objective, affected pages, decision-maker and deadline that the business controls. Record what the engagement must resolve and what remains outside its scope.
Examine the evidence
Review the available site output, search data, proposed changes and operational context. Separate a directly observed problem from a possible explanation and identify any access limitation.
Compare the options
Discuss expected benefits, implementation effort, dependencies and possible regressions. A recommendation can include a smaller test or a decision to postpone work when the supporting evidence is weak.
Document the handoff
Leave a recommendation with its reasoning, responsible owner and acceptance check. The people approving and publishing the change retain those responsibilities unless a separate scope assigns them.
Work your team can use
Implementation requirements
Where a change is justified, the handoff identifies the page or template, expected behavior and a way to check the result. Development and editorial owners can raise constraints before work is approved.
Priority and dependency view
The recommendation distinguishes an urgent defect from a larger opportunity. It also shows which decisions depend on access, research, another release or a person who has not yet approved the work.
Why work with Francisco on the decision
My published background includes Global SEO Lead (Corporate SEO) at Shopify and my current role as VP of Growth at Growing Search. That context is useful when the obstacle involves platform restrictions, competing stakeholders or a gap between an SEO recommendation and the team expected to deliver it. You can review the roles on the experience page.
This is time with Francisco to examine the decision and its evidence. If the recommendation calls for production or a delivery team, I distinguish that scope from the advisory work. Growing Search can provide execution under a separate agreement, with its responsibilities identified.
The right starting point
The initial conversation checks whether advice will resolve the bottleneck. It does not assume that every question requires a retainer.
| Situation | Appropriate scope |
|---|---|
| A defined technical choice needs review | Consulting or technical SEO advisory can support the people implementing it. |
| The team has no reliable diagnosis | An audit can investigate the affected inventory before a solution is selected. |
| A roadmap exists but delivery keeps stopping | The Growth Accelerator Team is a separate recurring operating model. |
Recommendations with limits
A consultant cannot control how a search engine processes a page or guarantee a ranking. The commitment is to documented reasoning, a usable handoff and the checks agreed for the work. Google also recommends examining an SEO provider's recommendations and asking how changes will be explained in its guidance on hiring an SEO.
Access, confidentiality and approval responsibilities are agreed before analysis. You can keep your developers, writers and other advisers. When the decision is already understood but the work needs sequencing, SEO planning is a more specific deliverable.
Common questions
Can you review another agency's recommendation?
Yes. Bring the proposal and the evidence used to support it. The review examines the proposed work against your site and constraints. It does not presume that an outside recommendation is wrong, and any missing access or information is recorded.
Does consulting include implementation?
It can lead to an implementation scope, but advice does not automatically include access to change code, publish content or operate your systems. The agreement identifies who recommends, approves, implements and validates each part of the work.
Can the engagement stay focused on one decision?
Yes. A defined question can justify a focused review. Additional research, recurring support or a new project is proposed only when the decision requires it. The scope and expected output are established before that additional work starts.
Related services
SEO planning
Turn agreed priorities into a feasible delivery sequence.
SEO audit
Investigate the causes before selecting a solution.
Technical SEO advisory
Support technical choices and acceptance checks.
Bring the decision your team needs to make
Share the site, the proposal or options, the available evidence and who will implement the result. The first conversation determines whether a focused review or a different scope is useful.
30-minute consultation · $200 USD · paid after the call, only if you don't continue with ongoing work