SEO Specialist / SEO Virtual Assistant

SEO Specialist / SEO Virtual Assistant

**Remote | | Long-Term Position**

We are looking for a reliable and experienced SEO specialist to work full-time across several established fishing, hunting and outdoor businesses in the United States.

This is **not a short-term freelance project**.

We are looking for someone who wants a stable, long-term position and can help execute an established SEO strategy across multiple websites.

## The Role

You will work on multiple fishing charter, hunting outfitter and outdoor websites.

Our overall SEO strategy, target keywords and page priorities will be provided to you.

Your primary responsibility will be to **execute that strategy accurately, consistently and efficiently.**

We do NOT need someone who disappears for a month and sends us an automated SEO report.

We need someone who actually gets work done.

## Responsibilities

Your work may include:

### On-Page SEO

* Updating existing WordPress pages
* Creating and formatting new pages
* Updating H1, H2 and H3 headings
* Optimizing title tags and meta descriptions
* Adding internal links
* Improving anchor text
* Adding FAQs
* Implementing FAQ and other structured data/schema
* Optimizing image filenames and alt text
* Updating CTAs
* Improving page formatting
* Checking keyword cannibalization
* Updating older content
* Optimizing pages based on provided keyword targets

### Content Publishing

We regularly produce:

* Fishing reports
* Hunting reports
* Location pages
* Species pages
* Seasonal articles
* Fishing guides
* Hunting guides
* Commercial service pages

You may be responsible for taking completed content and properly publishing and optimizing it in WordPress.

You should understand the difference between an **informational article** and a **commercial/service page**.

### Internal Linking

Internal linking is extremely important to our SEO strategy.

You will regularly:

* Identify relevant internal-link opportunities
* Add links between related pages
* Use appropriate anchor text
* Link informational content to commercial pages
* Check for orphaned pages
* Maintain logical site architecture

### Google Search Console

You should be comfortable using Google Search Console to:

* Monitor indexing
* Submit updated URLs
* Review search queries
* Review impressions
* Review clicks
* Review average ranking positions
* Identify pages gaining or losing visibility
* Check indexing problems
* Help identify keyword cannibalization

### Local SEO

Our businesses depend heavily on local search.

Experience with local SEO is strongly preferred.

Tasks may include:

* Google Business Profile optimization
* Publishing GBP posts
* Updating services
* Adding photos
* Citation building
* Citation cleanup
* NAP consistency
* Directory listings
* Local backlink research
* Competitor research

### Link Building & Outreach

You may help identify legitimate backlink opportunities through:

* Fishing directories
* Hunting directories
* Tourism websites
* Local businesses
* Marinas
* Guides and outfitters
* Outdoor organizations
* Relevant industry websites
* Partnerships
* Sponsorships
* Guest contributions
* Resource pages

You may also conduct outreach to potential linking partners.

**We are NOT interested in spam backlinks, automated link building, PBNs or buying large packages of low-quality backlinks.**

You must never purchase backlinks or create potentially harmful links without approval.

### Competitor Research

You may be asked to analyze competitors using tools such as:

* Semrush
* Google Search
* Google Search Console
* Google Maps
* Other SEO tools

This may include researching:

* Ranking keywords
* Competitor pages
* Content gaps
* Backlinks
* Referring domains
* Internal linking
* Titles and headings
* Local citations

## Websites

You will be working across multiple brands in the fishing, hunting and outdoor industries.

Because we operate several websites, there is a significant amount of ongoing SEO work available.

This is why we are looking for someone **full-time and long-term** rather than hiring a freelancer for individual projects.

## Required Skills

You should have experience with:

* WordPress
* On-page SEO
* Google Search Console
* Google Business Profile
* Keyword research
* Internal linking
* Title tags and meta descriptions
* Basic HTML
* Schema markup
* Local SEO
* Citation building
* Backlink research
* Competitor analysis

Experience with Semrush is strongly preferred.

## AI Experience

We actively use AI as part of our SEO workflow.

You should be comfortable working with AI-generated instructions, content briefs and SEO recommendations.

You may receive very specific instructions for a page, including:

* Target keyword
* Page structure
* Headings
* Copy
* Internal links
* Anchor text
* Meta title
* Meta description
* Schema

Your responsibility will often be to **implement these instructions correctly in WordPress and verify that the work was completed properly.**

Attention to detail is extremely important.

## What You CANNOT Do Without Approval

You may NOT:

* Delete important pages
* Change URLs
* Change permalink structures
* Redirect important pages
* Purchase backlinks
* Build PBN links
* Use automated backlink software
* Rewrite major commercial pages without approval
* Change primary target keywords without approval
* Make major site architecture changes without approval

If you believe something should be changed, bring it to us first.

We welcome ideas, but major SEO decisions require approval.

## What We're Looking For

We want someone who is:

* Reliable
* Organized
* Detail-oriented
* Honest
* Responsive
* Comfortable following detailed instructions
* Able to work independently
* Interested in learning
* Able to manage multiple websites
* Able to document completed work
* Comfortable communicating in English

We care much more about **actual work and results** than certificates.

## Weekly Reporting

You will maintain a simple record of your work.

At the end of each week we should be able to see:

**Completed**

What was completed this week?

**URLs**

Which pages were changed?

**Links**

What citations, backlinks or outreach were completed?

**Results**

What ranking/indexing changes were observed?

**Next**

What needs to be worked on next?

We do not want complicated 50-page automated SEO reports.

We want to know what you actually did.

## Schedule

Approximately **40 hours per week**.

You do not need to work entirely during United States business hours, but you must communicate reliably and be available for reasonable overlap when needed.

## Compensation

**Starting salary: $600–$900 USD per month depending on experience and skill.**

Exceptional candidates with stronger technical SEO experience may be considered at a higher rate.

There will be opportunities for increased compensation based on performance, reliability and your ability to take on more responsibility.

## How to Apply

Please send:

1. Your name and location.
2. How many years of SEO experience you have.
3. Your expected monthly salary in USD.
4. Your WordPress experience.
5. Your Google Search Console experience.
6. Your Google Business Profile/local SEO experience.
7. Your Semrush experience.
8. Your experience with schema markup.
9. Your experience with link building and outreach.
10. Examples of websites you have personally worked on.

For each website example, briefly explain **exactly what SEO work you personally performed.**

Please also answer these questions:

**1. A service business has an informational blog post ranking for a keyword that should be ranking its main commercial service page. What would you investigate before making changes?**

**2. Explain how you would internally link a group of informational articles to a primary commercial service page.**

**3. What makes a backlink valuable?**

**4. What types of backlinks would you avoid?**

**5. If a page suddenly drops from position #8 to position #30 in Google, what would you investigate first?**

### IMPORTANT

To show that you read this entire job posting, begin your application with:

**BIG TARPON**

Applications that do not begin with BIG TARPON may not be considered.

## Paid Test

Selected candidates will be given a small **paid SEO test using one of our websites.**

The test may include reviewing a page, identifying SEO problems, recommending internal links, checking search results and completing several basic WordPress SEO tasks.

We are looking for someone who can become an important long-term member of our team.

If you're reliable, understand SEO and enjoy actually implementing SEO instead of just producing reports, we'd like to hear from you.