Freelance SEO AEO Strategist

Role Overview

Freelance SEO/AEO Strategist at SmartBug Media, working closely with client teams and client services marketing to develop and implement SEO strategies that improve performance and deliver measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Develop and apply SEO best practices including:
  • Keyword research
  • Website SEO audits
  • Schema implementation
  • Link building
  • On-page and off-page SEO activities
  • SEO analytics
• Conduct SEO audits covering performance and organic acquisition:
  • Map content to the buyer journey and identify content gaps
  • Prioritize high-impact topics for organic growth
• Create SEO deliverables:
  • Write detailed SEO content briefs (semantic clusters, headings/structure, internal linking, on-page optimizations)
• Build and interpret reporting:
  • Generate analytics reports for keyword/site rankings, backlinks, on-page performance, domain performance, and organic traffic trends
• Diagnose and fix SEO issues affecting organic traffic
• Implement and maintain tracking:
  • Set up performance tracking for client domains
  • Use Google Search Console and Google Analytics
• Keep teams informed:
  • Share algorithm updates and SEO news with client services and web teams
  • Advise on best practices for domains/sub-domains and site architecture
• Provide guidance for complex SEO opportunities and issues as needed

Technical SEO Focus

• Lead technical SEO audits and prioritize issues related to:
  • Crawlability, indexability
  • Site speed, rendering, and mobile-friendliness
• Partner with development teams to implement technical recommendations, including:
  • Schema markup, hreflang, canonicalization, XML sitemaps
• Analyze website architecture and recommend improvements to:
  • Site structure, internal linking, and URL parameter strategy
• Develop and implement international SEO strategy (hreflang + geo-targeting)
• Stay current with algorithm/trend changes and translate them into client recommendations
• Oversee technical SEO considerations for migrations, redesigns, and platform changes
• Apply JavaScript SEO understanding and how search engines crawl and render dynamic content
• Use insights about AI/LLMs to enhance SEO deliverables
• Optional: Use server log file analysis to understand crawl behavior

Requirements

• B.A. / B.S. degree required
• French and English proficiency
• 5–8 years of progressive SEO experience (agency or in-house)
• Proven, hands-on ability to develop and implement SEO strategies for multi-domain and multinational websites

Nice to Have

• Experience with server log file analysis for crawl insights
• Demonstrated expertise in how AI/LLMs influence SEO and search behavior