What the work is
Three areas, and most freelancers lean into one. Technical — crawling, indexing, site speed, structure, the plumbing. Content — keyword research, briefs, on-page optimisation, internal linking. Authority — digital PR and links, which is the hardest and least automatable part.
A retainer month typically looks like: check the numbers, diagnose what moved, brief a batch of content, fix whatever broke during a site update, and write a report the client will skim. Reporting is a real part of the job — clients renew based on whether they understood what you did.
What it pays
$50–150 an hour for project work; retainers commonly $1,000–5,000 a month for small businesses and $5,000–15,000 for larger sites or technical specialisms. Audits are usually fixed-price, from a few hundred to several thousand depending on site size.
Five retainer clients at $2,000 is a comfortable full-time income with predictable cash flow — the single best structural reason to choose this skill. Benchmarks in rate benchmarks by skill.
How long until you're hireable
Six to twelve months of doing it on real sites. SEO cannot be learned theoretically; nothing sticks until you've watched a page you optimised move, or fail to. Fortunately the practice material is free — build a site and work on it.
Your first three portfolio pieces
One: a site of your own that ranks for something. Any niche. This is the strongest possible sample because it's entirely yours and you can show the whole history.
Two: a genuine technical audit of a real site, with prioritised fixes and expected impact. Send it to the owner; audits convert into clients surprisingly often.
Three: a content and internal linking plan for a site in your target industry, showing the structure you'd build and why.
Format guidance: presenting your work as case studies.
Where the clients are
Agencies subcontracting technical work. Small businesses whose traffic has slid and who know it. E-commerce stores. Companies already spending on content but not ranking — visibly, publicly, and therefore easy to approach with something specific. Cold outreach with a two-page mini-audit attached is the highest-converting pitch in this discipline: see how to write the first email.
A warning worth taking
Never promise rankings or a timeline you can't control. Promise the work, the reporting and the reasoning. Clients who were sold guarantees by the last consultant will renew with you for years, precisely because you didn't. Combining this skill with content writing makes both worth more.