SEO Strategist

SEO Strategist Location: Remote (USA, Canada or South Africa) Department: Marketing Role Type: Full Time or Independent Contractor for people outside of the US About the Role Blacksmith Agency is scaling its Marketing division to support a growing portfolio of PPC and SEO clients across multifamily, B2B and technical verticals. We are looking for an SEO Strategist who can own the organic search strategy for a portfolio of clients and personally execute against it. This is not a role for a strategist who hands off audits and hopes the right things get fixed. You will build the roadmap, run the audits and be the one accountable when rankings or traffic move. You will join sales calls to shape strategy, run technical and content audits directly, oversee SEO Specialists and Content Writers, and ensure every client engagement delivers measurable organic growth. This is a senior role that blends strategic ownership with hands-on SEO execution. Key Responsibilities Client Strategy and Leadership Lead organic search strategy for all SEO clients across multiple industries. Join sales calls with AEs to validate scope, pitch technical recommendations and help close deals. Build 90 day, 6 month and annual growth roadmaps for clients, covering technical SEO, on-page, content and link acquisition. Translate complex SEO recommendations into simple, clear explanations for executives. Hands-On SEO Execution Conduct in-depth technical SEO audits, competitive gap analyses and keyword opportunity mapping. Run technical audits using tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs and SEMrush, and summarize findings in plain language with prioritized action steps. Implement on-page SEO updates directly in CMS platforms (primarily WordPress), including meta tags, headers, alt text, internal links and schema markup. Create SEO briefs and content outlines to guide writers on structure, keyword usage and topic coverage, then review drafts before publishing. Manage and improve local SEO for clients with physical locations. Research backlink opportunities through competitor analysis, brand mentions and digital PR partners, and support execution where relevant. Performance Ownership Own client performance across technical SEO, on-page, content and authority building. Track rankings, crawl health, Core Web Vitals and conversions through Ahrefs, GA4 and Search Console. Ensure strategies are aligned to business outcomes: traffic, conversions and revenue, not vanity metrics. Stay informed on Google algorithm updates and proactively adjust client strategy in response. Execution Oversight Provide weekly direction and QA for deliverables from SEO specialists, content writers and link building resources. Eliminate low-quality or templated work and hold the team to a client-ready bar. Coordinate priorities with the Marketing PM to keep timelines and client expectations aligned. Reporting and Communication Generate clear monthly and quarterly reports using GA4 and other tools, highlighting wins, identifying drops and recommending next steps. Present performance summaries and strategy directly to clients in plain-English terms. Oversee reporting accuracy and insights delivered by the PM or specialists. Qualifications Required 5+ years of hands-on SEO experience, ideally in an agency setting with multiple active clients. Proven track record of delivering measurable organic growth, with examples supported by first-party data (traffic, leads, rankings). Strong working knowledge of GA4, Google Search Console, Ahrefs or SEMrush. Direct experience implementing metadata, schema, redirects and internal linking across a variety of industry websites. Confident conducting keyword research and mapping SEO strategy to business goals. Ability to create and articulate strategic recommendations to clients and AEs. Demonstrated ability to oversee execution teams (specialists, writers, link builders) and manage deliverable quality. Strong analytical skills and the ability to diagnose ranking or traffic issues quickly. Excellent communication and collaboration skills in a remote team environment. Preferred Experience managing international SEO or multi-language sites. Understanding of conversion rate optimization (CRO) best practices. Experience joining sales calls and influencing close rates. Familiarity with multifamily, real estate or high-intent lead generation. Comfortable collaborating with developers to resolve indexing issues, implement redirects or improve page speed. Experience with project management tools such as Jira, ClickUp or Asana. Who Succeeds in This Role People who can both think strategically and manage execution. People who can simplify complex SEO ideas for clients. People who own the results and take full accountability, good and bad. People who work well with distributed teams. People who enjoy building rather than inheriting polished systems. What You Will Own from Day One All organic search performance and strategy across the client portfolio. The SEO roadmap for each client. Direct execution of technical and on-page audits. Oversight of SEO specialists, content writers and link building resources. Reporting frameworks, playbooks and best practices. Supporting AEs on sales calls.