1. Start with the business and its commercial objectives
My first step when starting a new collaboration is to conduct an interview with my client.
I consider this an essential step to gain a clear understanding of their business, target audience, and objectives, so I can develop an SEO strategy that aligns with the company's commercial goals.
Several prospects have told me about disappointing experiences with previous SEO providers who were completely disconnected from the realities of their business. Their reports highlighted impressive figures but offered little explanation of what those figures actually meant or how the actions taken contributed to business growth.
Of course, it is not always easy to attribute an increase in sales to a specific SEO action. However, that should not prevent us from adopting an ROI-driven approach, prioritizing actions according to their potential profitability and interpreting data through the lens of business performance.
Part of my role as a consultant is also to help clients take a step back and challenge their own assumptions. Their perspective is often influenced by their professional positioning, which does not always reflect the actual behavior of their future customers.
A recent example: a client wanted to position their brand in the luxury segment. They assumed they needed to target search queries combining their service name with terms such as "premium" or "high-end". In reality, internet users were not using these expressions. The luxury positioning needed to be reflected primarily in the website's visual identity, vocabulary, and page meta descriptions.
2. The importance of the on-page experience (conversion & UX)
Over the course of various projects, I have come to realize that SEO consulting goes far beyond search engine optimization alone.
When auditing a website, I always keep in mind the other factors that help turn visitors into customers: the conversion journey, copywriting, and user experience (UX).
Even if I am not directly responsible for implementing improvements in these areas, I can still approach a website as an ordinary user interacting with a page. This allows me to provide feedback on the clarity of an offer, the usefulness of its content, and the overall usability of the website.
I believe it is essential to make clients aware of these aspects, and sometimes even raise concerns, to avoid delivering recommendations that only achieve partial results.
Once again, the objective remains the same: connect visibility with conversion by turning qualified traffic into leads and sales.
3. Expand the scope of online visibility
In 2026, a brand's online visibility can no longer be considered by looking at traffic sources in isolation: websites, social media, podcasts, newsletters, and so on.
On the contrary, all platforms should complement and reinforce one another, working towards a common goal: strengthening brand presence.
Internet users now shape their decisions through a combination of Google searches, conversations with AI tools, and content they discover on social media.
For brands, the challenge is therefore to be recognized and perceived as credible throughout this journey, even when it does not result in an immediate visit to their website.
