Your own marketing department, without a department of your own.
We become part of your business. For two years, with a day a week at your office if you want that, and fully remote if that suits better. We work alongside you as if we were in-house, but with the breadth of a full agency. SEO, Google Ads, social media, AI, content, website, strategy. Everything under one roof, with a face your colleagues know.
The problem with piecemeal marketing
Most businesses don't have a marketing department. They have a business owner who does the marketing on the side. Or an employee who sets aside half a day a week for it. Or three freelancers working separately on SEO, advertising and social media.
The result: channels that don't line up with each other
The result: channels that don't line up with each other. A website that doesn't sell. Content without direction. Ads sending traffic to pages that don't convert. And nobody keeping an eye on the whole picture.
Why an external agency only half solves it
Hiring a marketing agency partly solves that, but something still gets left behind. An external agency doesn't know your business from the inside. They don't know which client came in last week, which service has priority this quarter, or which trends your team is picking up in the field. They work from briefings, not from involvement.
What the strategy programme involves
We become your marketing department. Not based on monthly reports, but with a fixed rhythm in which we work alongside you: we sit in on meetings, we hear what's going on, we pick up on trends, we know your team and your clients.
What that rhythm looks like, at the office or remotely
We agree together on what that rhythm looks like. A day a week at your office works, including on a fixed day. Fully remote works too, and everything in between. Work done on site costs more than work done remotely, because travel time is involved; we calculate that in advance so you know exactly where you stand. What doesn't change is that you work with the same person, for two years.
The difference with an agency you only speak to by email
That's the fundamental difference with an agency you only speak to by email. We're as integrated as if it were in-house, but you have no employment contract, no employer costs and no training costs. You get the full breadth of everything we have to offer, bundled into a two year programme.
Everything TheSEO has to offer, combined
This programme isn't any single channel. It's everything. Each quarter we choose which channels and actions will have the most impact for your business, and we carry them out.
SEO and findability
Technical foundations, content structure, internal links, search intent and rankings. Organic traffic that grows structurally. More about SEO.
Google Ads
Campaigns per service and region, adjusted weekly on search terms and conversions. Every euro measurable. More about PPC.
Social media and video
AI-generated videos at studio quality, with no separate subscription on top of the programme. Read how social fits within the programme or take a look at the standalone production service.
Website and conversion
WordPress websites that load fast, score well and sell. Landing pages that convert. CTAs that work. More about having a website built.
AI visibility
Making your business findable in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and other AI systems. More about AI.
Content and authority
Articles, case studies, FAQs and knowledge pages that prove your expertise and strengthen your position in Google.
AI training
Your team learns to work with AI, practical, safe and directly applicable in their day-to-day work. More about training.
Data and reporting
A monthly overview of what's working, what isn't, and what the next priority is. Not dashboards full of noise, but clear conclusions.
In-house software
Access to LinkLoop for your link profile NL, Jarvis as your business brain and the AI Snippet Previewer. Everything we build ourselves NL, so not something you'd buy from a standard agency.
Website, SEO and advertising aren't three separate line items
DOC.03 above lists nine parts one after another, and a list hides exactly what makes this programme different. The three heaviest parts aren't separate services that just happen to be bought from the same party. They lean on each other, and that's why they sit in one monthly fee with us instead of three invoices.
What that means in practice: one keyword, one page, one feedback loop
What that means in practice: the keywords the campaign bids on are the same words the page is written on. The landing page the ad points to is the same page that needs to rank organically. And the enquiries that come in tell you which words are working, which then feeds back into the copy and into the campaign. Run that across three parties, and every piece of feedback has to pass through three inboxes, and it rarely arrives.
Not theory: how that looks in a live agreement
This isn't theory: in a live agreement, website, SEO and Google Ads together come to €650 a month excluding VAT, with the website fixed for 24 months and then cancellable monthly. The ad budget sits outside that and goes straight to Google from the client's own account. What's described here is the broader version of that, with the day at the office and the other channels added in.
What each part delivers, and what it needs from the other two
The nine parts from DOC.03 are listed one below the other. These three sit side by side here, because they only work together. Below the three is what they share; right at the bottom is the ad budget, which deliberately sits outside it.
what they shareThe same keyword list, the same landing pages and the same conversion tracking. That's the part that disappears the moment you spread the three across different parties, and it's also the part where the gain sits.
deliberately left out hereThe ad budget you pay straight to Google, from your own account. That's not part of any monthly fee, and it shouldn't be added to it either.
Three parts that need each other, and a budget that hangs loosely underneath. Buying these three separately doesn't mean paying more, it means paying for the same groundwork three times over: three keyword lists, three assessments of the site, three sets of measurement. The monthly fee in a live agreement isn't cheap because something is cut, but because that groundwork only gets done once.
Where an enquiry for a local business actually comes from
DOC.03 and DOC.04 describe what we do. This section describes the other side: how someone who doesn't know you yet ends up finding you. For a local business, that's rarely a straight line. Someone sees your name in the map pack, comes across you a week later in a normal search result, hears from a neighbour that you laid that roof, and only then calls. Treat those four as separate channels, and you pay four times for the same customer while counting him three times too few.
The four entry points
The first is the search query with a question in it: what does replacing a gutter cost, is a permit needed for this, how long does it take. There, the page that answers the question wins, and that's SEO work that runs months ahead. The second is the map pack above the ordinary results, where someone searches for the trade plus a local area. There, it's not the prettiest website that wins but the best-kept business profile, with correct opening hours, photos of real work and replies under the reviews.
The third is the ad: the only channel that gives you traffic from day one, and that you switch on and off with a slider. The fourth is your own name, typed in by someone who already knew you or heard about you.
What we can and can't do about that
We control the first three. Not number four, and anyone who promises they can boost word of mouth is selling something they can't deliver. What can be done is making sure that someone who hears your name and types it in finds you and not a similarly named business two provinces over, and that what they see there is accurate. The same structure as entry point one, then, just with a different search query above it.
The business profile isn't listed as a tenth item in DOC.03, and that's not an oversight: keeping it up to date falls under our SEO work. If you want just that, separate from this programme, it's written up on its own at outsourcing your Google Business Profile. Reviews belong to entry points two and four at once: they decide whether someone picks you from the map pack, and they confirm what the neighbour already said. Responding to them is a service of its own, improving your online reputation NL.
Where the four come together, and what you can't read off from that
The four entry points all end up in the same place: your site, your form, your phone number. That's where it becomes an enquiry, or it becomes nothing. That's why the website in DOC.04 isn't a separate item but the place the other two lead to, and it's also why a page that doesn't convert costs you all four entry points at once.
And then the honest rule. Which entry point brought in the job is rarely provable for a local business. We see the impression, the click and the submitted form. We don't see who called because their brother-in-law passed on your number, and we don't see what ended up in your diary. Exactly how far the measurement does reach, and where your own records take over, is set out step by step in measuring conversions in Google Ads as a tradesperson NL. In the monthly overview, we therefore set out what can be seen, together with which part can't be seen. That last part belongs in a conversation, not in a chart.
How someone comes in, and who can do something about that
FIG.01 maps the three services from our side. This diagram sits on the customer's side: four entry points, what someone does there, and what we can steer. The fourth column is the one where we can do the least, and that's exactly why it's included.
where they come togetherOn the same page, the same form and the same phone number. Four entry points, one place where it becomes an enquiry. A page that isn't built for that doesn't cost you one channel, it costs you all four at once.
deliberately left out hereWhich entry point brought in the job. We see the impression, the click and the submitted form; we don't see who called after a tip from the neighbour. We don't fill that gap with a guess.
Four entry points, and three we can turn the dials on. The fourth column looks duller, and that's not a formatting mistake: a name that gets passed around is earned, not bought. What we do about it is stay out of its way, because a name that gets typed in and lands on the wrong business is a job you'll never see come through.
Two years: why that timeframe
Marketing doesn't deliver results in three months. In our experience, SEO needs six to twelve months to take structural effect; Google deliberately publishes no timeframe for that. Google Ads needs weeks of data before campaigns are genuinely optimised. Social media builds reach over months of consistent presence. And AI visibility is a new playing field where nobody has measured the return yet.
Two years as the minimum period, and what comes after it
Two years is the minimum period to build a complete marketing system, test it, adjust it and make it profitable. After two years, there's a system in place that you can carry on running yourself, or you choose to extend the programme.
Why two years, plotted across the eight quarters
The eight quarters of the programme, with the four phases above them. The same eight quarters reappear in FIG.04 below, filled in there per channel. There's deliberately no results line: the bar shows how far the programme has progressed, not what it has delivered. What a phase delivers depends on your market, and we can't map that out in advance.
Laying the foundation
Getting the website and technical SEO in order. Publishing the first content. Starting Google Ads for immediate data. Defining the social media identity. Auditing AI visibility. Introducing your team to AI tools.
Accelerate
Scaling up content production. SEO rankings start to climb. Optimising ad campaigns based on real data. Social media reach grows. First leads and enquiries across multiple channels.
Consolidate
Channels reinforce each other. Organic traffic grows structurally. Ads perform better thanks to better landing pages. Social content gets recognised. AI answers refer to your business.
Hand over or extend
The system is in place. You can choose: carry on independently with the structure that's been built, or extend the programme with a new focus area. Either way, you're no longer dependent on one-off actions.
Per quarter, the right mix
reg. B.006The four phases above say what happens in which period. This section says which channels belong to that, per quarter. Not every channel deserves equal attention every quarter. In the first six months, the emphasis is on the foundation: website and technical SEO. After that, the focus shifts to campaigns, content and visibility, while what's already in place gets maintained. The figure below shows what a split like that can look like.
Seven channels, eight quarters, and how much attention each box gets
An example breakdown of how the emphasis shifts, not an existing client's plan and not a measurement. Read the rows left to right: website and SEO come first because everything else leans on them, and social media and AI visibility only come into view once there's something to point people to.
What a day at your office looks like
A day a week at your office works, on the same day each time if you like, but it isn't a fixed part of this programme. It can be less often, it can come in blocks, and it can be fully remote. Everything in that is up for discussion, and we agree it together. Work done on site does cost more than the same work done remotely, because travel time is involved, and we work that out in advance so you can weigh the two up. If you do agree on a day like that, we don't come in for a meeting and then leave, we come in for a full working day. Here's what that looks like.
Morning: picking up signals
We start with a short catch-up. What's happening this week? Which client called? Which service is in high demand? Is a competitor doing something noteworthy? These are the signals an external agency never picks up, but that make the difference in your marketing.
Afternoon: executing and building
For the rest of the day, we work on concrete marketing. Writing a new landing page, adjusting a Google Ads campaign, planning social content, improving your SEO structure, preparing an AI training session for your team. Whatever's needed that week, we do it.
Wrap-up: looking ahead
At the end of the day, we briefly discuss what's finished and what's on the schedule for next week. No long reports, no unnecessary meetings. Just clear communication and getting on with the work.
Morning, afternoon and wrap-up of the day at your office
The rhythm of the day from the paragraph above, typed out as a session. Schematic: there are no times attached and it isn't a printout of a real calendar, because the breakdown differs per client and per week, and not every week needs to include a day on site.
The difference with a regular agency
The result is marketing that keeps up with what's actually happening. Not marketing that's three weeks behind the facts because the agency only hears about a change on the next call. The difference isn't in the miles but in the involvement: even a programme that runs fully remote works alongside your business, not from a briefing. What that looks like in practice, you can read in our case studies.
Remote agency
Works from briefings. Knows your business from paper. Delivers reports and invoices. Changes account managers. Thinks in channels, not in your business.
TheSEO strategy programme
Works alongside your business, at the office or remotely, however we agree it together. Knows your team, your clients, your challenges. Picks up trends from conversations. Works on everything that's needed, not just what's in the quote. Thinks in your business, not in channels.
Who this programme is for
The strategy programme suits businesses that want to grow seriously but don't have, or don't want to build, an in-house marketing department.
SMEs with 5 to 50 employees
Your business is growing, but marketing is still something done on the side. You need someone to take it on fully, but a full-time marketing manager is too early or too expensive.Service providers with a complex offering
Accountants, IT companies, construction firms, care organisations. Your services can't be explained in one sentence. What you need is someone who understands what you do and translates that into findability, content and leads.Businesses already doing marketing but without a system
You have a website, maybe Google Ads, an occasional social post. But nothing hangs together. You're missing an overview, priorities and continuity.Which sectors, which service area, and where we say no
A marketing department that doesn't know your business is an expensive newsletter. That's why not every sector and not every distance makes equal sense for this programme. Below is where we come from, and where, honestly, we start off slower.
The sectors where we already have material ready
The main focus is on trade businesses and local service providers. For that group we've already worked out the search demand, the click prices and the trade language, and this site has pages for each trade: roofers, cleaning, painters, locksmiths, removals companies, pest control, window frames, solar panels, installation and driving schools. Alongside that, business service providers such as accountants and solicitors are also part of it.
If your trade isn't on that list, it can still work. Only then the programme starts with work that's already done for those trades: the job list, the words your customer searches with, and the question of which enquiries you do and don't want. Budget an extra quarter for the foundation. So not a rejection, just a different order in the planning.
The service area
We're based in Huis ter Heide, in the municipality of Zeist. Working on site is tied to travel time, and that's its honest limit: the further away you are, the more of a day like that disappears into the car, and the more that day costs. That's why being at the office isn't a fixed part of the programme, but something we work out together.
Fully remote works, a day a week works, including on a fixed day, and everything in between works too; at the intro call we agree which split suits you and what it costs. If you're based outside the Netherlands, it runs in English, with the same person, at times that suit us both. The rest of the work is remote and isn't tied to a region.
If you work locally yourself, the reverse is also true: your service area determines where we advertise and where we deliberately don't. A radius based on driving time is a better starting point there than a list of municipalities, and that's exactly the logic we also apply in the campaigns.
Where we say no
As a matter of principle, we don't work for direct competitors of existing clients. Not out of politeness, but because it simply can't work otherwise: bidding in the same area on the same keywords for two clients means bidding against yourself in the same auction. So with any enquiry, we first check whether your trade and your region are still free, and if they're not, you'll hear that from us in the first conversation.
We also say no if the request doesn't fit this programme. Someone who wants a standalone campaign is better off with Google Ads on its own or SEO on its own. This programme needs weekly attention from both sides, whether that happens at the office or remotely, and that's an investment that isn't right for every business.
What it costs
The strategy programme is bespoke. The price depends on the size of your business, the complexity of your market and which channels get priority. We work with a fixed monthly fee, no billing by the hour and no surprises.
What you'll hear on the intro call
On the intro call, we discuss your situation and make a concrete proposal. You know exactly what you're getting and what it costs, up front. No obligations, no hidden costs. If you'd like a feel for the numbers first, all our standalone rates are laid out in full on the pricing page NL. That way you can compare for yourself whether standalone services or the full programme makes more sense for your situation.
What you get either way
What you get either way: a fixed rhythm of working alongside you that we agree together, the full breadth of our services, access to all the software we build ourselves NL, and a single point of contact who knows your business through and through.
What moves the price: the day on site
What moves the price is how much happens on site. A day a week at your office costs more than the same work done remotely, because travel time is involved. That's worked out in the proposal, so you can weigh the two up and choose for yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to commit for two years?
Two years is the programme in which we build the complete system. After the first six months, we evaluate together whether the programme is working as expected. You're not locked into a contract with no way out.
Can I also start with a single channel and scale up later?
Yes. You can start with SEO, Google Ads or social media as a standalone programme. If you find you need more, we scale up to the full strategy programme.
How does social media fit within the programme?
Within the strategy programme, there's no separate social subscription on top of the monthly fee: how much the channel is used is decided each quarter, within the programme. The same team that looks after your site and campaigns also decides what happens on your channels and why. The full story is on social media within your marketing strategy.
Who comes to my office?
Gianluca or a permanent senior colleague. Not a rotating cast of interns or junior staff. You get one fixed face who gets to know your business and works with it for two years.
What if my business isn't near TheSEO?
It still works. We're based in Huis ter Heide, in the municipality of Zeist, and travel within the Netherlands. If you're further away, including outside the Netherlands, we combine time on site with digital working days, or we do it fully remote. Outside the Netherlands, that runs in English, with the same person, at times that suit us both. Work done on site costs more than work done remotely, and we work that out in advance.
How much does a full marketing team cost compared with this programme?
An in-house marketing manager quickly costs a full-time salary a year, plus employer costs, tools, training and overheads. And then you have one person with knowledge of maybe two channels. With the strategy programme, you get the full breadth of a complete agency for a fraction of that cost.
What happens after two years?
You have a working marketing system. SEO rankings, running campaigns, a social media presence, content, an optimised website and AI visibility. You can carry on independently, extend the programme, or switch to standalone services for maintenance.
Ready to talk about what this could mean for your business?
No sales pitch, no pressure. We discuss your situation, your goals and whether the strategy programme is the right step. Sometimes a single channel is better. Sometimes the strategy programme is exactly what you need. We work that out together. Book an intro call. If we start working together, we process personal data on behalf of your business, and we sign the data processing agreement NL in advance, setting out what we're allowed to do with that data.