Most SEO frustration comes from not knowing who is actually doing the work. ALC is set up so that's never a question. One senior strategist is accountable for every engagement, routine work follows documented processes, and specialists are brought in only when a project needs depth I don't provide myself.
This page explains exactly how that works, so you know what you're signing up for before we start.
When you work with ALC, you work with me, Annabelle Cochrane. I diagnose the problem, set the strategy, decide the priorities, review the work and report on the results. You won't be handed to an account manager after the first meeting, and you won't be relaying questions through someone who doesn't know your site.
That's the core of the model, and it's the part that doesn't change as ALC grows.
My first real marketing role threw me into the deep end of a multi-million dollar portfolio. There were no training wheels—just budgets to manage, campaigns to launch, and immediate revenue targets to hit. I learned to run fast, make decisions under pressure, and translate creative concepts into concrete, measurable business outcomes.
| Always me | Handled through documented processes | Brought in when needed |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnosis and feasibility | Citation building and listing clean-up | Paid advertising (Google Ads and Meta Ads) |
| Strategy and priorities | Content drafting from my briefs | Large or complex website migrations |
| Your reporting and communication | Google Business Profile updates | Heavy development work |
| Final sign-off on content and technical changes | Standard technical fixes | Multi-brand or enterprise platforms |
| What the results mean for your business | Monthly data collection |
Documented processes mean routine work is done the same way every time, to a written standard, and checked by me before it goes live. Quality doesn't depend on who does it.
Specialists are only involved when a project genuinely needs them. I'll name them in your proposal, explain why, and make sure your SEO and their work pull in the same direction.
1. Free audit: I review your website, Google Business Profile, and the searches your customers actually use, and send you the main opportunities and problems. It's a real review, not an automated report.
2. Feasibility check: Before I quote, I'll tell you honestly what's achievable in your market, roughly how long it's likely to take, and whether SEO is the right investment for you right now. Sometimes the answer is "not yet", and I'll tell you that.
3. Proposal: The proposal sets out the scope, the monthly investment, what I'll do personally and whether anyone else will be involved. There are no surprises later about who is working on your site.
4. Onboarding and baseline. In the first week, I record where you're starting from: rankings, traffic, Google Business Profile performance and enquiries. Every future report is measured against that baseline, so you can see what's changed.
5. Monthly delivery. Work follows an agreed plan. The plan adjusts as results come in, but changes are explained, not made quietly.
6. Reporting: Each month you get a report from me covering what was done, what moved, and what I'm prioritising next. It focuses on enquiries and conversions, not vanity metrics.
Some agencies are selling “AI SEO” as a shortcut. Others are churning out AI-written pages by the hundred. I don’t do either.
The strategy, judgement and sign-off on your account always come from me. But search has changed: your customers now find businesses through Google’s AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and Gemini, as well as normal search results. So every engagement is built for both:
There’s no separate “AI package” and no extra fee. It’s how good SEO works now.
ALC works best for Australian service businesses where each client is valuable and customers compare options before they get in touch. That includes professional services, health, finance, education, B2B, and trades working on higher-value jobs. It particularly suits businesses without an in-house marketing team, and businesses that have been let down by an agency before.
It's not the right fit for the lowest-cost, high-volume local campaigns, for guaranteed rankings by a set date, or for large technical programmes that need a full specialist agency.
Your accounts stay yours. That includes your Google Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics and website. I work through access you grant, not accounts I control.
Your content stays yours. Pages and content created during the engagement belong to you.
No lock-in contracts. Engagements run month to month.
ALC works best for Australian service businesses where each client is valuable and customers compare options before they get in touch. That includes professional services, health, finance, education, B2B, and trades working on higher-value jobs. It particularly suits businesses without an in-house marketing team, and businesses that have been let down by an agency before.
It's not the right fit for the lowest-cost, high-volume local campaigns, for guaranteed rankings by a set date, or for large technical programmes that need a full specialist agency.
Yes. Every engagement is built for both traditional search and AI search, through entity building, topical authority, local brand prominence and structured data. There's no extra fee.
