SEO isn’t a one-person job – so let’s stop treating it like one.

Far too often, I’ve seen businesses – and even agencies – fall into the trap of hiring a single “SEO expert” and expecting them to handle everything. Content. Technical fixes. Design tweaks. Site structure. Backlinks. You name it. The assumption seems to be that one person can step in, wave a wand, and fix all the problems that are stopping a website from ranking.

But that’s rarely how it works in reality.

Let’s look at what a proper SEO strategy really needs. In my experience, there are at least four distinct areas of work:

• Content writing
• Design and UX
• Development and technical SEO
• Strategic analysis and planning

That’s four different skillsets. And yes, while some individuals are multi-skilled, you shouldn’t expect one person to do the job of an entire team.

At Rouge, we do work on websites where SEO matters, and time and again, we see better results when clients treat it as a collaborative effort.

The Four Roles That Make SEO Work

Let’s break it down.

This is the person who creates value-packed, keyword-informed content. They understand the audience, the brand voice, and how to write something that’s not just optimised, but actually worth reading.

Good SEO content isn’t just “stuffed with keywords” – it answers questions, solves problems, and encourages engagement. It’s useful, well-written, and structured clearly with proper headings, internal links, and calls to action.

Expecting your SEO person to also be a full-time copywriter (and a good one at that) is unrealistic. Content alone is a full-time job.

Design affects user experience – and that affects SEO.

If the site looks dated, isn’t accessible, or makes it hard for people to find what they need, then search engines notice. Dwell time drops. Bounce rate increases. Conversion tanks. Google picks up on all of that.

A designer’s job is to make sure the site works visually and functionally – that layouts are clean, pages are readable, and the structure supports the user’s journey.

Good design supports good content. And vice versa. Without both, you’re relying on luck.

This is where I tend to come in – technical SEO. And honestly, it’s a job in itself.

A developer is needed to implement structured data, fix crawl errors, speed up the site, optimise assets, improve accessibility, fix mobile responsiveness, and much more.

You can write the best content in the world, but if the page takes 7 seconds to load, or if robots.txt is blocking Google, it’s not going to rank.

I’ve seen plenty of “SEO audits” delivered to clients that point out technical issues – but no one on the team knows how to fix them. That’s where the developer matters. And this is a big reason why developers and SEO specialists need to work closely.

This is the strategist. The one pulling everything together.

They’re doing keyword research, monitoring analytics, looking at competitors, identifying opportunities, checking what’s working and what’s not. They’re the glue that holds the plan together and keeps everyone aligned.

Without someone in this role, SEO can quickly become a mess of disconnected tasks. Everyone might be working hard – but not necessarily in the same direction.

This person doesn’t need to be doing the writing, designing, or coding – they just need to be working with those who are. Coordinating the work. Interpreting the data. Keeping the whole thing on track.

In short: things fall flat.

If there’s no content writer, the site’s voice suffers. You get pages that are thin, off-brand, or not helpful. If there’s no designer, the UX is clunky and conversion suffers. Without a developer, the site can become a technical mess. And without a strategist, there’s no focus, no priorities, no measurable goals.

I’ve worked on projects where one person – usually the “SEO guy” – is asked to fill all these roles. Write the blogs. Update the sitemap. Improve speed. Plan the strategy. Do the backlinks.

It’s not just unfair – it’s ineffective. Because SEO isn’t about ticking a few boxes. It’s about getting the right people to do the right things in the right order.

When SEO is treated as a checkbox for one person to handle, it almost always underperforms. You might get a temporary bump in rankings, or see a few pages climb – but long-term, it won’t be sustainable.

Collaboration matters. It’s what leads to stronger outcomes, faster results, and fewer bottlenecks. And it doesn’t mean building a massive team. It just means getting the right skills involved, even if they’re split across a few people or brought in as needed.

If you’re leading a project or working with a client, this is a conversation worth having. Don’t set your “SEO person” up to fail by asking them to carry the whole thing. Instead, ask: What does this strategy actually need? And who needs to be involved to make it work?

At Rouge, we do build with SEO in mind – always.

That means we work closely with your SEO team (or partner agencies), or help clients understand what they’ll need to make their strategy succeed. We know how to build fast, accessible, technically sound websites. And we know how to make sure our work supports SEO success.

If you want a solid place to start learning more, Google’s SEO Starter Guide is one of the few genuinely helpful and non-hypey resources out there.

SEO is not about one person working harder. It’s about a group of people working smarter – together.

So the next time someone says they’re “doing SEO,” ask them who else is involved. If the answer is “just me,” they’re probably not setup for success.