Imagine your marketing like a house.
You could hire one huge contractor who does everything – plumbing, electrics, roofing, interiors, etc. Some of the work will be excellent, other bits… passable. Or you bring in individual specialists who live and breathe their craft, and suddenly the whole structure feels built to last.
That’s the decision we made at Circulate.
In a world of “full-service” agencies, we chose to become a specialist SEO agency – focusing on dominating search across all platforms. We’re not a jack-of-all-trades; our expertise lies in search, keeping us up to date on all trends across the major engines so we can provide the best possible strategies for businesses across the spectrum.
From our Manchester HQ, we help brands win across SEO and emerging AI-driven search platforms, driving high-intent traffic that actually turns into revenue.
What a Specialist SEO Agency Focuses On
A true specialist SEO agency:
- Lives and breathes search, day in, day out.
- Goes far deeper into technical SEO, content strategy, GEO, AEO and AI-led search.
- Builds processes, playbooks and people entirely around search performance.
- Measures success in revenue, lead volume and pipeline, not impressions and vanity metrics.
When we looked at where clients were seeing the most significant gains, the answer was loud and clear: SEO done correctly, not SEO as an afterthought.
Search is Where the Compound Returns Live
Channels like paid social and paid search can be powerful, but the second you turn off the budget, results fade.
With a focused SEO strategy, the work you do today can still be compounding 6, 12, 24 months from now:
- Technical improvements keep pages fast and crawlable.
- Content continues to rank, earn links and capture demand.
- Authority builds over time as you’re cited and referenced across the web.
We wanted to be the agency known for compounding, long-term organic search growth, not quick wins that vanish when ad spend dips.
The Search Landscape Changed – and So Did We
Search is no longer “10 blue links and a few ads”. Today, your brand can be discovered via:
- AI Overviews and answer engines.
- UGC and social search (Reddit, TikTok, YouTube).
- Local and geo-specific results.
- Rich results, People Also Ask, featured snippets.
As a search marketing agency rooted in SEO, we chose to double down on understanding how people discover answers and how brands can become the default choice in that journey.
When a Specialist SEO Partner Makes More Sense
A specialist isn’t right for everyone. But for many brands, it’s the missing piece of the puzzle.
You’ll typically get more value from a specialist SEO agency if:
- SEO is a priority, not a side project.
- You’re relying on organic to drive a meaningful share of revenue, leads or signups.
- You’ve hit a ceiling with your current SEO solution.
- You’re already doing basics but need deeper technical work, smarter content or better measurement.
- You want to reduce dependency on paid spend.
- You’re tired of paying more each quarter for the same results and want a channel that compounds.
- You’re in a competitive niche.
- Sectors like SaaS, eCommerce and B2B, where search intent is high, and competition is fierce.
- You already have an internal marketing resource.
If any of these sound familiar, you’re likely to see more ROI from a focused SEO specialist than a generalist team juggling multiple disciplines.
How We Plug Into Your Wider Marketing Stack
Going all-in on SEO doesn’t mean ignoring everything else. It means knowing where we’re best placed to drive value, and where trusted partners or your in-house teams should lead.
With most clients, we:
- Own SEO strategy and execution (technical, content, on-site authority).
- Collaborate with in-house teams on brand, messaging and content production.
- Integrate with paid media teams to align landing pages, messaging and measurement.
- Feed search insights (keywords, questions, objections) into creative, CRM and sales.
In other words, we’re your search marketing agency for organic growth, plugging into a wider ecosystem of internal and external specialists so every channel pulls in the same direction.
Is a Specialist SEO Agency Right for You? 5 Questions to Ask
Before you choose any partner (specialist or full-service), ask yourself:
- What percentage of our pipeline do we want organic search to influence over the next 12–24 months?
- If we turned off all paid spend tomorrow, what would still be bringing in leads or sales?
- Do we need surface-level SEO fixes or a significant strategic and technical change?
- Is our current agency or setup proactively driving SEO, or just reacting to tasks?
- Would we rather work with a team that “does SEO too”, or with people who’ve built their careers entirely around search?
If your answers point towards SEO being a core growth engine, a specialist SEO agency is likely your best bet.
Ready to Work With a Specialist SEO Agency?
We chose to be a specialist SEO agency because that’s where we can drive the most meaningful, measurable change for our clients – not just more traffic, but more revenue.
If you’re ready to turn SEO into a true growth engine – not just another monthly report – we’d love to talk.
- Explore our SEO Services
- See how we’ve helped brands dominate search – Our Work
- Or get in touch with our Manchester team
Specialist SEO Agency FAQs
Isn’t it Easier to Hire One Full-Service Agency for Everything?
It can seem easier – one call, one invoice, one login. The risk is that no single channel gets the depth it deserves.
With a specialist SEO agency, you typically get:
- Deeper expertise and more up-to-date practices
- Clearer accountability for organic performance
- Tighter focus on search-specific KPIs and ROI
Many of our clients still work with other agencies for paid media or creative. We plug in alongside them, focusing on what we do best.
Do I Need an SEO agency if I Already Have In-House Marketers?
In-house teams are brilliant for brand consistency, stakeholder management and day-to-day execution. A specialist SEO agency adds:
- External perspective on the competitive search landscape
- Advanced technical skills that are hard to hire and retain internally
- Battle-tested playbooks from working across multiple industries
We usually work as an extension of in-house teams – not a replacement.
Can a Specialist SEO Agency Work With Our Existing Paid Media Partners?
Absolutely.
We frequently partner with paid specialists and in-house media teams to:
- Align keyword strategies across organic and paid
- Share learnings on converting messages, landing pages and audiences
- Build integrated reporting that shows the full impact of search marketing
You get the best of both worlds: deep SEO expertise and cohesive cross-channel strategy.
How Long Until We See Results From a Specialist SEO Strategy?
It depends on your starting point, competition and implementation speed, but as a rough guide:
- 0–3 months: Technical fixes, strategy, early quick wins
- 3–6 months: Stronger visibility on key terms, better on-site UX, more qualified traffic
- 6–12+ months: Compounding organic search growth, broader keyword coverage, clearer impact on revenue and pipeline
Our goal is always to balance quick wins (fixing what’s obviously broken) with the structural work that pays off over the long term.