UK

United Kingdom · Marketing · Lead (8-12 years)

Lead SEO Strategist

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

See how AI is changing this job, and get the full read by email.

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As a Lead SEO Strategist, a good place to start on Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for SEO is Planning Automation Across a Department, a free Future Fluency module at Level 5. You'd practise working out what in your department's work could be automated, what should not be, and what to recommend.

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Where should we send it?

One email: what AI is changing in this job, the new skills it asks for, where it leads, and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

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  • Experience bandLead (8-12 years)
  • Direct reports3-8 reports
  • Reports toHead of Organic Growth
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Staff SEO Specialist · Principal SEO Analyst · SEO Architecture Lead · Senior SEO Manager (Individual Contributor)

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in what real qualifications cover

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

ATHE Level 4 Extended Diploma in Digital Marketing ATHE Ltd · Level 4 · covers 4 of 8 standards
ATHE Level 4 Diploma in Digital Marketing ATHE Ltd · Level 4 · covers 3 of 8 standards
TQUK Level 3 Diploma in Digital and Technical Skills for the Workplace (RQF) Training Qualifications UK Ltd · Level 3 · covers 2 of 8 standards
OCN NI Level 2 Award in Digital Marketing Open College Network Northern Ireland · Level 2 · covers 2 of 8 standards
Gateway Qualifications Entry Level Certificate In Vocational Studies (Entry 3) Gateway Qualifications Limited · Entry Level · covers 1 of 8 standards
Gateway Qualifications Entry Level Extended Certificate in Vocational Studies (Entry 3) Gateway Qualifications Limited · Entry Level · covers 1 of 8 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Search Engine Optimisation ATHE Level 4 Extended Diploma in Digital Marketing
Content Marketing ATHE Level 4 Diploma in Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing Skills for Business TQUK Level 3 Diploma in Digital and Technical Skills for the Workplace (RQF)
Digital Marketing Gateway Qualifications Entry Level Certificate In Vocational Studies (Entry 3)

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
Systems Fluency seeing the whole picture
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Lead SEO Strategist

4 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Search Engine Optimisation ATHE Ltd · covers 4 of 8 standards Level 4
  2. Content Marketing ATHE Ltd · covers 3 of 8 standards Level 4
  3. Digital Marketing Skills for Business Training Qualifications UK Ltd · covers 2 of 8 standards Level 3
  4. Digital Marketing Gateway Qualifications Limited · covers 1 of 8 standards Entry Level
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Lead SEO Strategist?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for SEO
  • Advanced Data Storytelling & Visualisation
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Lead SEO Strategist plan as you set up, starting with the free Automation Fluency module. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

Ready to pay? Subscribe for £70 a month

Keep this read. One email with what AI is changing in this job, the new skills it asks for and where to start free. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

3What this role really is

A Lead SEO Strategist plans and directs organic search strategy, covering technical site health, content and how a site performs in search results.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Semrush / Ahrefs Expert

Full mastery, including Site Audit, Content Explorer, competitive analysis, API integrations, and training others. You'll use this to define strategy and troubleshoot.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider Advanced

Running custom crawls, using regex for extraction, integrating with APIs for deep technical audits, and identifying complex site issues.

Google Search Console (GSC) Advanced

Deep analysis of crawl stats, log data (where applicable), index coverage, performance reports, and debugging tracking issues.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Advanced

Creating custom explorations, setting up and debugging conversion events via Google Tag Manager, and analysing organic channel performance.

Jira / Asana Advanced

Writing detailed technical SEO tickets for developers, managing sprints with engineering teams, and high-level roadmap planning for your team.

Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) Advanced

Building complex, interactive dashboards from scratch, blending data sources from GSC, GA4, and SEO suites to present performance to stakeholders.

WordPress with Yoast/Rank Math (or similar CMS) Advanced

Understanding how to implement and troubleshoot on-page optimisations, and guiding content creators on best practices within the CMS.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Technical SEO Implementation Proposes solutions to supervisor for review and approval. Independently implements routine fixes; proposes solutions for complex issues to manager. Makes technical decisions within project scope; consults on cross-functional implications.
Content Strategy & Keyword Targeting Executes keyword research based on provided briefs; suggests minor keyword additions. Develops keyword lists for specific content pieces; proposes content brief outlines. Designs content clusters and topical authority strategies; makes recommendations for content gaps.
Team Management & Development Manages own task list. Provides informal guidance to new joiners. Mentors 1-2 junior team members; provides peer feedback.
Budget Allocation (SEO Tools/Projects) No budget authority; requests tools via supervisor. Suggests tool purchases; no approval authority. Recommends specific tools/vendors up to £5K; requires manager approval.

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Organic Search Revenue Growth
The year-over-year increase in revenue directly attributed to organic search channels.
Target · Increase organic-sourced revenue by 25% YoY

If Q1 2024 organic revenue was £1M, we'd expect Q1 2025 to hit at least £1.25M. This isn't just about traffic; it's about the right traffic that converts.

Organic Traffic Share of Voice
Our percentage of total organic search traffic for core keyword clusters compared to our top three competitors.
Target · Increase organic search market share against top 3 competitors by 5 percentage points

If our current share of voice for 'CRM software' keywords is 15% and our competitors hold 60%, we'd aim to push our share to 20% by year-end by outranking them on key terms.

Technical SEO Health Score
A composite score tracking crawlability, indexability, Core Web Vitals, and site architecture issues across our main digital properties.
Target · Maintain a technical SEO health score of 90%+ (e.g., in Semrush Site Audit)

After a major site audit, you'll work with engineering to fix critical issues like broken internal links or slow page load times, ensuring the score stays high and Google can easily find our content.

Team Productivity & Project Delivery
The percentage of strategic SEO projects delivered on time and within scope by your direct reports.
Target · 90% of key SEO projects delivered on schedule

If the team committed to launching a new content hub by 15 May, we'd expect it to go live then, with all the necessary on-page and technical optimisations in place.

Strategic Influence & Roadmap Impact
How often your strategic SEO recommendations are adopted and integrated into broader marketing, product, and engineering roadmaps.
  • You're regularly invited to cross-functional planning meetings. Your proposals for site architecture changes or new content initiatives are actively discussed and prioritised. Senior leaders seek your input before making major website changes. We'll see your fingerprints on the overall digital strategy, not just the SEO part.
Team Development & Mentorship
The growth and increased capability of your direct reports, leading to higher team output and retention.
  • Your team members are taking on more complex tasks independently. They're actively contributing ideas and challenging assumptions. We'll see positive feedback in 1:1s about your guidance and support. At least one L1/L2 mentee is promoted or takes on significantly more responsibility within 18 months, showing you're building future leaders.
Proactive Problem Solving & Innovation
Your ability to anticipate potential SEO issues (e.g., algorithm updates, competitor moves) and propose innovative solutions before they become major problems.
  • You're presenting ideas for new SERP features to target or new ways to structure content before we even ask. You're bringing insights from industry trends and applying them to our specific context. We don't just react to Google
  • we anticipate and prepare.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Seeing Your Strategy Come to Life

You get a real buzz from taking a high-level business objective, breaking it down into a detailed SEO roadmap, and then seeing your team execute it. You'll spend your days refining that plan, checking progress, and making adjustments based on real-world data.

You proposed a new content hub strategy for a specific product line. You'll be tracking its performance daily, seeing new keywords rank, and watching organic traffic grow, knowing it was your vision that made it happen.

Solving Complex, Ambiguous Puzzles

You thrive on the challenge of figuring out why a competitor is outranking us, or diagnosing a tricky technical SEO issue that's affecting site performance. These aren't simple problems; they require deep thought, data analysis, and creative solutions.

A sudden drop in rankings for a key category. You'll be diving into log files, GSC, and crawl data, working with engineering to pinpoint the exact cause, and then crafting a detailed plan to fix it.

Mentoring and Building a Team

You enjoy guiding junior team members, helping them develop their skills, and watching them grow into confident specialists. Your role isn't just about your own output; it's about elevating everyone around you.

You'll spend time reviewing an analyst's keyword research, giving feedback on their technical audit findings, or helping them prepare a presentation for a stakeholder, seeing their confidence grow with each interaction.

What frustrates people
  • The 'Just Wait' Conversation: Constantly explaining to impatient stakeholders that SEO results take 3-6 months, not 3-6 days.
  • The Dev Queue Purgatory: Your critical, revenue-impacting technical SEO fixes are perpetually de-prioritised in the development sprint in favour of 'new, shiny features'.
  • Algorithm Whiplash: Waking up to find a core algorithm update has completely invalidated a strategy you spent the last quarter implementing.
  • Content vs. Keywords: The endless tug-of-war with the content team who wants to write 'brand-forward, creative copy' while you need them to include the target keywords people are actually searching for.
  • Attribution Black Holes: Fighting to prove the ROI of top-of-funnel content when the last-click attribution model gives all the credit to brand search or paid ads.
What this role does not give you
  • Instant gratification or quick wins every week.
  • A perfectly predictable, unchanging work environment.
  • Complete control over development resources or content creation.
  • A role where you only execute; you're expected to lead and strategise.
  • A quiet, solitary existence; you'll be talking to people constantly.

8Who you work with

This role directly impacts our organic customer acquisition, brand visibility, and overall digital marketing efficiency. Your strategic decisions will shape how we invest in content, how our website is technically built, and how we measure success across the entire marketing funnel. A strong organic presence means lower customer acquisition costs and a more resilient marketing engine.

Inside the business
  • Head of Organic Growth
  • Product Engineering Leads
  • Content Marketing Manager
  • Digital PR Manager
  • Analytics & Data Science Team
  • Senior Marketing Leadership
Outside the business
  • SEO Tool Vendors (e.g., Semrush, Ahrefs)
  • Digital Agencies (for specific projects)
  • Industry Thought Leaders (for networking and insights)

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • Proven track record of managing and delivering complex SEO projects and workstreams, ideally for a medium to large-sized website.
  • Demonstrable experience in leading technical SEO initiatives, including site migrations and architecture improvements, with tangible results.
  • Experience in mentoring or managing junior team members, helping them to develop their SEO skills and career.
  • Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex data from multiple sources and translate it into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with a knack for explaining technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
  • A portfolio or case studies demonstrating successful SEO strategies and their impact on organic traffic and revenue.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Advanced Log File Analysis & Server-Side SEO

Critical within 12 months. As websites grow and become more dynamic, understanding how search engine bots actually crawl and interact with our servers is crucial for optimising crawl budget and indexation. This goes beyond basic GSC data; it's about getting into the raw server logs.

Interpreting HTTP status codes in logs · Identifying crawl patterns and anomalies · Using tools like Splunk or Logz.io · Optimising crawl budget through server configurations

  • This month: Get access to our server log files (if available) and spend a few hours just exploring the data.
  • Month 2: Take an online course or read a book specifically on log file analysis for SEO.
  • Month 3: Conduct a small-scale log file analysis project to identify one specific crawl anomaly on our site.
  • Month 4: Present your findings and a proposed solution to the engineering team.

Quick win: Familiarise yourself with common HTTP status codes and what they mean for SEO. Start asking engineering if you can get read-only access to server logs.

Integrating SEO with Product Development & UX

Important within 18 months. SEO is no longer just a marketing function; it's a product feature. You'll need to embed SEO considerations directly into the product development lifecycle, ensuring new features and changes are built with organic visibility in mind, not as an afterthought.

SEO requirements gathering for new features · A/B testing for SEO impact · User journey mapping for organic discovery · Working with headless CMS platforms

  • This month: Start attending Product team stand-ups or sprint planning meetings to understand their roadmap.
  • Month 2: Propose one SEO-focused A/B test for a new product feature or page layout.
  • Month 3: Work with a Product Manager to draft SEO requirements for an upcoming feature launch.
  • Month 4: Read up on headless CMS architectures and their SEO implications.

Quick win: Offer to review the SEO implications of any new product feature or website change before it goes into development. It's easier to fix it early.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attend industry conferences (e.g., BrightonSEO, SearchLove) and webinars to stay abreast of the latest trends and network with peers.
  • Actively participate in online SEO communities and forums, sharing knowledge and learning from others.
  • Dedicate time each week to reading industry blogs, research papers, and Google's official announcements.
  • Take advanced courses in data science, Python for SEO, or project management to broaden your skill set.
  • Mentor junior SEO professionals outside of your direct team, solidifying your expertise and leadership skills.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for SEO

Critical within 6 months—this isn't future-gazing, it's happening now. Competitors are using large language models (LLMs) to draft content briefs, analyse SERPs, and even generate code snippets for schema markup in minutes, tasks that used to take hours. SEOs who figure this out will outproduce peers 3:1.

  • Context windows and token limits
  • Temperature settings for different tasks
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures
  • Output validation and hallucination detection
  • Prompt chaining for complex analysis

Advanced Data Storytelling & Visualisation

Important within 12 months. As data becomes more complex and AI generates more insights, the ability to distil that into a compelling story that resonates with non-technical executives is paramount. Raw numbers aren't enough; you need to show the 'why' and the 'so what' clearly.

  • Narrative structure for data presentations
  • Choosing the right visualisation type
  • Principles of effective dashboard design
  • Audience-specific communication
  • Highlighting actionable insights

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Keyword Research & Intent Analysis
  • Advanced Technical SEO Auditing
  • On-Page & Content Optimization Strategy
  • Off-Page SEO & Link Acquisition Strategy
  • SERP Analysis & Feature Optimisation
  • Data Analysis & Interpretation

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Senior SEO Strategist (L3) at a Large Agency

    3-5 years

    Skills to master

    • Managing multiple client projects, presenting to diverse stakeholders, developing comprehensive SEO strategies for various industries, and leading small project teams.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully led 3+ complex SEO projects end-to-end for different clients.
    • Consistently received positive client feedback on strategic recommendations and results.
    • Mentored junior agency staff or new hires.
    • Demonstrated ability to adapt strategies to different business models and client objectives.
  2. 2

    SEO Manager (Individual Contributor) at a Mid-Sized Company

    4-6 years

    Skills to master

    • Owning the entire SEO function for a specific product or business unit, managing internal stakeholder relationships, driving technical SEO initiatives with engineering, and reporting directly to senior marketing leadership.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Achieved significant, measurable organic growth for a specific product line or website section.
    • Successfully influenced product or engineering roadmaps to prioritise SEO fixes/features.
    • Built and maintained comprehensive SEO reporting dashboards.
    • Developed and executed a complete SEO strategy from research to implementation.
  3. 3

    Technical SEO Specialist at a Large Tech Company

    5-7 years

    Skills to master

    • Deep expertise in technical SEO (crawl budget, indexation, site architecture), working extensively with engineering teams, log file analysis, and managing large-scale site migrations. Less focus on content, more on the mechanics.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully managed at least one major site migration with minimal traffic loss.
    • Expertise in log file analysis and server-side SEO optimisation.
    • Proven ability to write detailed, actionable technical SEO tickets for developers.
    • Deep understanding of how search engines crawl and index large, complex websites.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This work can lead to a director role over organic growth, or into a wider digital marketing or marketing leadership position.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Lead SEO Strategist is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

The record names a next step, but the catalogue has no page for it yet:

  • SEO Manager (L5)
  • Principal SEO Strategist (L5 - Individual Contributor)

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Search Engine Optimisation, worked against Lead SEO Strategist.

Search Engine Optimisation Level 4

Applied to your work in Lead SEO Strategist

The objective of this unit is to enable learners to understand the principles of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and its impact on website visibility. Learners will be able to conduct SEO audits, perform keyword research, optimise website content and structure, and plan ongoing monitoring to improve search engine rankings.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Lead SEO Strategist
  • Keyword Research & Intent Analysis
  • Advanced Technical SEO Auditing
  • On-Page & Content Optimization Strategy
  • Off-Page SEO & Link Acquisition Strategy
  • SERP Analysis & Feature Optimisation
  • Data Analysis & Interpretation
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Lead SEO Strategist is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. SEO Manager (L5)

    2-4 years

    You'd move from leading strategy and a small team to managing a larger team of SEO professionals, owning the overall SEO budget, and being accountable for the entire organic channel's performance. This means more people management and P&L responsibility.

    • Vendor Management & Negotiation Selecting and managing relationships with external agencies and tool providers.
    • Attribution Modelling Working with data science to refine organic attribution models.
    • Organisational Design Structuring the SEO team for maximum efficiency and impact.
    • Executive Reporting Presenting high-level strategic updates and performance to the C-suite.

  2. Principal SEO Strategist (L5 - Individual Contributor)

    2-4 years

    This path keeps you hands-on with the most complex SEO challenges, but at an even higher strategic level. You'd become the ultimate technical authority, shaping enterprise-wide SEO architecture and innovation, without direct people management. Think deep technical expert and strategic advisor.

    • Patent Analysis Interpreting Google patents to anticipate future algorithm changes.
    • Advanced Scripting/Programming for SEO Using Python or similar for bespoke tools and large-scale data analysis.
    • Competitive Intelligence Deep-diving into competitor strategies and market shifts at an unprecedented level.
    • Attribution Modelling Design Collaborating with data scientists to architect advanced attribution models for organic.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, SEO is full of repetitive tasks and mountains of data. What if you could offload the grunt work and focus on the truly strategic stuff? Our team is already using AI to do just that, and we want you to be at the forefront of this transformation.

We're not just talking about buzzwords; we're talking about practical, everyday applications that will genuinely make your life easier and your strategies more impactful. Imagine cutting down hours of manual research and content planning, freeing you up to dive deep into complex technical audits or mentor your team. Here's how AI is changing the game for SEO professionals, and how you'll use it here:

Title & Meta Generation at Scale

Use AI to generate hundreds of SEO-optimised, character-limit-compliant title tags and meta descriptions for product or listing pages in minutes. You'll then review and refine the top options, saving massive amounts of time on large e-commerce or marketplace sites.

Thematic Keyword Clustering

Input a list of 1,000 keywords and have AI group them into semantically related clusters. This instantly reveals content hub opportunities and streamlines content planning, replacing tedious manual sorting in spreadsheets and giving you a head start on strategy.

SERP Intent Summariser & Content Briefs

Before writing a content brief, use an AI tool to analyse and summarise the top 10 ranking pages for a target keyword. It identifies common themes, formats (lists, guides), and user questions to answer, cutting down research time significantly and ensuring your content is always on point.

Link-Building Outreach Drafter

Provide AI with a target website and your own content piece. It will draft a personalised outreach email referencing a specific article on their site and pitching your content as a valuable resource. This means you can scale your outreach campaigns without sacrificing personalisation.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Lead SEO Strategist?

Common routes in include Senior SEO Strategist at a Large Agency (3-5 years), SEO Manager (Individual Contributor) at a Mid-Sized Company (4-6 years) and Technical SEO Specialist at a Large Tech Company (5-7 years). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Lead SEO Strategist progress to?

This role can lead on to SEO Manager (2-4 years) and Principal SEO Strategist (2-4 years), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Lead SEO Strategist?

Increasingly, Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for SEO and Advanced Data Storytelling & Visualisation. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

Read the Zavmo manifesto to understand how you will be taught Meet your tutors

Or try another one

17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 5

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in marketing

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

The strategic thinking, data analysis, leadership and digital channel knowledge involved carry across into broader digital marketing leadership, product management roles focused on growth, or running an agency or consultancy.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my free Automation Fluency module What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.