SEO Expert Needed to Improve Rankings & Lead Quality

I run a well-established accountancy firm based in Hull, operating across Yorkshire and nationally. We have been investing in SEO for many years but with the same person for the past 12+ months and have seen strong increases in traffic and impressions.

However, despite this growth, we have experienced a noticeable decline in rankings for our core commercial keywords, alongside a drop in enquiry quality and conversion rates.

I am now looking for an experienced SEO professional to review, refine and take ownership of the strategy going forward.

Current Situation:

* Website has approximately 250+ indexed pages
* Significant growth in traffic, largely driven by blog and informational content
* Core keywords have dropped in rankings, for example:

* “accountant hull” (previously top 5, now ~#18)
* “accountants hull” (previously top 5, now ~#30+)
* Increase in enquiries, but lower overall quality
* Conversion rate on proposals has dropped from ~35% to ~26%
* Large number of location, service and industry pages, with potential overlap and dilution

Key Concerns:

* Possible keyword cannibalisation across service + location pages
* Over-reliance on blog traffic vs commercial intent pages
* Core location pages (Hull, Leeds, York) not performing as expected
* Site structure may need consolidation and clearer targeting
* Current strategy appears heavily focused on link building vs on-site structure

What I Am Looking For:

* A proposed strategy focused on:
* Improving rankings for core commercial keywords - locations, industry pages, service pages etc
* Increasing quality of enquiries, not just traffic
* Simplifying and strengthening site structure
* Clear keyword mapping across key pages
* Advice on which pages to:
* Keep
* Merge
* Deprioritise
* On-page SEO improvements and internal linking strategy
* Ongoing SEO support (optional, depending on results of initial work)

Important:

I am not looking for generic SEO packages or automated reports.

I want someone who can:

* Think strategically
* Explain things clearly
* Focus on commercial results, not vanity metrics

Experience in local SEO and professional services (accountancy, legal, etc.) would be a strong advantage.

Next Steps:

Please include in your response:

* A brief outline of how you would approach this
* Examples of similar work or results
* Your view on the situation based on the above

I am looking to move fairly quickly once I find the right person.

Additional Information:

I have attached my current keyword tracking list.

This includes a mix of:

* Core commercial keywords (e.g. “accountant hull”)
* Location-based keywords
* Service and industry keywords

Part of this brief is to review that list and:

* Identify which keywords actually matter commercially
* Highlight any irrelevant or low-value keywords
* Identify where multiple pages may be competing for the same terms
* Propose a cleaner, more focused keyword strategy

I am particularly interested in understanding:

* Which pages should be driving the majority of traffic and enquiries
* Whether the current keyword spread is diluting rankings
* What should realistically be achievable for key terms like “accountant hull”

Please reference the keyword list in your proposal rather than giving a generic response.

The budget listed is an ongoing monthly budget.