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An SEO specialist finds out what your customers search for, makes sure your site has a good answer for those terms, fixes the technical side of your site and measures every month what it delivers. The goal is visitors who become customers; a high ranking is a means to that. In Belgium a freelance SEO specialist charges 60 to 120 euros an hour and an agency 500 to 2,500 euros a month for an ongoing engagement; in the UK and Germany SEO rates sit higher.
People who search for what you do are the best leads: they have a question and they are searching now. Rank there and you get those visitors without paying per click. What SEO is: the glossary entry on SEO; how it relates to advertising: SEO or Google Ads.
What an SEO specialist does
Researching search terms
Which words do your customers type, how often, and with what question behind them? With evidence from Google itself, not gut feeling.
Building and rewriting content
A page per service, sector or city, guides and comparisons that answer the search exactly.
Technical SEO
Speed, a correct sitemap, redirects, titles and the links between languages.
Local SEO
Your Google Business Profile, your address and pages for customers in your area.
Measuring and reporting
Impressions, clicks, rankings and enquiries, explained in plain language.
Visibility in AI
Making sure assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini can read and cite your site.
What an SEO specialist does per month, in hours
An ongoing engagement for a company with a site of twenty to fifty pages looks like this. The hours are an example for a month after the start-up phase.
| Task | What actually happens | Hours per month |
|---|---|---|
| Measuring | Reading Search Console and your own tracking: what rises, what drops, which terms nearly rank | 2 to 3 |
| New pages | One or two pages on new questions or services, with copy and internal links | 6 to 10 |
| Improving existing pages | Strengthening pages at positions 8 to 20 | 3 to 5 |
| Technical | Fixing indexing, speed or redirect issues | 1 to 3 |
| Local | Business Profile, reviews, listings | 1 to 2 |
| Report and meeting | What happened, what it delivered, what is next | 1 to 2 |
| Total | 14 to 25 hours |
At Belgian specialist rates that is roughly 840 to 3,000 euros a month, which matches the monthly prices agencies publish. More in how much does SEO cost and SEO specialist hourly rate.
The first 90 days
Weeks 1 to 2: measure what is there
A good specialist starts by measuring. In Google Search Console you see which terms your site already appears for, at which position and how often people click. The fastest wins are often there: terms where you sit at positions 8 to 20 and can climb with a better page.
Weeks 3 to 4: search terms and plan
Then comes search term research: what Google suggests as you type, what competitors have that you do not. The result is a plan: which pages are missing, which need rewriting and what must improve technically. Every term gets one page, so your own pages do not compete with each other. For a site in several countries, that research is done per language and market.
Months 2 to 3: build and fix
Technical issues first, because they hold everything back. Then the new and improved pages, as a group, linked to each other. By the end of month three you see the first movement in impressions and rankings in Search Console. How long it takes beyond that: how long does SEO take.
Three search terms that climbed to page one
Positions 8 to 20: often the fastest wins
- sociaal bureau gent19 to 7
- secretariat social horeca15 to 8
- sociaal secretariaat gent15 to 10
Three of Business Centrum's Dutch and French search terms, end of September against mid-October 2026
What it can deliver
At Business Centrum, a payroll and HR office in Ghent, we built guides, calculators and comparisons on proven search terms, in four languages. What that delivered in five weeks is in the figures below. Jumps like that need a site with a lot of content and a technical base that holds.
How to choose an SEO specialist
Google itself publishes a list of questions to ask an SEO. Per question we add what a good answer looks like.
| Question | A good answer | A sign to keep looking |
|---|---|---|
| Can you show examples of past work? | Sites you can open, with figures from Search Console | Only logos or screenshots without context |
| Do you follow Google's Search Essentials? | Yes, with an explanation of what that means for your site | Vague answers, or tricks that "work while they last" |
| What results do you expect, and when? | An honest range per phase, and how they measure | A guaranteed first place or a fixed deadline |
| Do you have experience in my industry and country? | Concrete examples, or how they will learn your market | A standard package for everyone |
| How do you communicate, and do you explain every change? | A fixed rhythm and a report in plain language | Secrecy about what they do |
| Do you want to learn about my business, competitors and customers? | A conversation about your customers before any proposal | A quote without a single question |
Google also warns explicitly: nobody can guarantee a number one ranking. Be wary of anyone claiming a special relationship with Google, offering to submit your site to thousands of search engines, or pushing link schemes.
What a good SEO specialist does not do
- Buy linkson sites that exist only to sell links. Google calls it link spam, and it can cost your rankings.
- Stuff keywords into every sentenceCopy is written for people. A term belongs in your title, your heading and where it fits naturally.
- Copy city pageswith only the place name changed. A city page needs its own content, such as a customer or project there.
- Report vanity numbersA ranking on a term nobody searches brings nothing. Ask for impressions, clicks and enquiries.
SEO specialist, SEO agency or yourself?
| Choose | When | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Yourself | A small local site, four to ten hours a month available | Have technical work and migrations checked; see do SEO yourself |
| A freelance specialist | You need someone for search terms and technical work, and write or build yourself | Who builds the pages they propose? |
| An agency | You want the same team to plan, write, build and measure | Ask what happens each month and who does it |
| A one-off audit | You want to know where you stand before deciding | An audit without execution changes nothing; a first look comes free from the SEO checker |
What you provide, and what speeds things up
A specialist can do a lot, but not everything without you. These four make the difference between an engagement that searches for months and one that moves quickly:
- Access to Google Search Console, your Business Profile, your site and your tracking. Without data they work on gut feeling.
- Your customer questions, word for word as they come in. The best pages come from them.
- A contact person who answers within a few days about your services, prices and markets.
- Real photos and examples of your work. A page with your own project convinces more than a stock photo.
Starting yourself first? Our SEO checklist is a good base.
Visible in AI assistants
More and more people ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews. Those draw their answers from pages they can read and trust. A good SEO specialist therefore also checks whether AI crawlers may read your site and whether your text is in the HTML. How that works: GEO and how to get found in ChatGPT.
Five weeks of SEO at Business Centrum
- non-brand search terms on page one, up from 13
- 1,593
- search terms in Google's top 3, up from 2
- 518
- clicks a day from Google, up from 3
- 228
Questions about SEO specialists
What does an SEO specialist actually do?
They research your customers' search terms, build and improve pages that answer them, fix your site's technical side, work on local visibility and measure every month what it delivers in impressions, clicks and enquiries.
How much does an SEO specialist cost?
In Belgium a freelance SEO specialist charges 60 to 120 euros an hour and a senior agency consultant 750 to 1,500 euros a day. An ongoing agency engagement costs 500 to 2,500 euros a month. In the UK and Germany expect higher rates.
Can I do SEO myself?
The basics, yes: a complete Google Business Profile, a page per service, clear titles and answers to your customers' questions. Search term research at scale, technical work and a migration take more time and knowledge.
How long before an SEO specialist gets results?
First movement in impressions often shows after a few weeks, clicks and enquiries usually after a few months. Improvements on terms where you nearly rank first go faster. Anyone promising a fixed deadline cannot deliver it.
How do I spot a bad SEO specialist?
By a guaranteed first place, a secret method, buying links, city pages with only the name changed, and reports about rankings without clicks or enquiries. Google advises not to hire such an SEO.
Should I hire an SEO specialist in my own country?
Not necessarily, as long as they research search terms per language and market and write copy that sounds native. Ask for examples in your language and a first look at your Search Console before you sign.