Sr. SEO Specialist

Saltwater is seeking candidates for a Sr SEO Specialist contractor

Portsmouth, NH (Hybrid – 2 days in office, 3 days remote)

Contract Hire: 3-6 months, with potential to transition to full-time

We’re looking for a seasoned Senior SEO Specialist who is passionate about search visibility—and knows that the game has changed. You’re someone who can craft a content strategy that achieves results while also diving into the technical trenches when needed. You understand that SEO in 2026 isn’t just about Google anymore; it’s about showing up wherever your audience is searching. This role is perfect for someone who gets genuinely excited about search intent, can explain E-E-A-T without putting people to sleep, and knows their way around both a content brief and a site migration checklist.

• Demonstrate a holistic understanding of on-site and off-site SEO strategies.
• Create comprehensive SEO strategies and determine associated activities that are tailored to client objectives.
• Conduct competitive analysis to identify opportunities and gaps in search performance.
• Collaborate with clients to establish goals and select clear KPIs for evaluating the success of SEO campaigns.
• Routine assessment of new approaches and tactics that could improve efficiency and/or performance of SEO campaigns.
• Troubleshoot ranking drops and algorithm updates with a methodical approach

• Develop and execute custom content strategies based on the client's industry, audience, goals & KPIs
• Conduct keyword research that goes beyond search volume—understanding user intent, SERP features, and competitive landscapes
• Curate a keyword library and map keywords to the most relevant pages
• Create content briefs that give writers everything they need to produce ranking content
• Build and maintain content calendars aligned with business goals and search opportunities
• Evaluate content for AI extraction quality (conciseness, structure, entities, attributes)
• Author metadata and maintain Meta Map documents as needed.
• Optimize copy for specific keywords in accordance with SEO best practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve readability of content and outline associated tactics.
• Identify content duplication and outline associated remediation.
• Identify content bloat, opportunities to consolidate pages, and outline associated tactics.
• Bonus Points:
  
  Ability to author short or long form content in alignment with custom strategies and SEO goals if needed

• Conduct technical audits and prioritize fixes that actually move the needle
• Advise on site architecture, ensuring website content is organized logically with clear hierarchy
• Support web builds and consolidations when SEO is a major consideration
• Execute full migration QA, including pre-launch and post-launch validation of redirects, indexation, metadata, structured data, site architecture, and tracking.
• Manage international SEO requirements, including hreflang implementation, multi-regional structures, and country-specific search considerations.
• Monitor site health, update associated documentation and work with developers to remediate issues as needed
• Implement minor site updates that don’t require advanced development knowledge
• Manage Google Search Console and monitor indexation/core web vitals
• Optimize crawlability and indexation
• Strategize, code, implement and validate schema markup across diverse business models and CMS platforms using JSON-LD
• Maintain robots.txt and XML sitemap
• Advise on URL structure and ensure URLs are SEO-friendly
• Advise on redirect strategy and map redirects when needed
• Canonicalization strategy and implementation of associated canonical tags meant to indicate the preferred version of a page in cases of duplicate content
• Ensure sites are secured with SSL certificate and use HTTPS
• Ensure website is mobile-friendly and responsive

• Administer and optimize Google Business Profiles and other listings for NAP, keywords inclusion, imagery and branding
• Develop and execute link-building strategies that focus on quality and relevance
• Conduct comprehensive backlink audits to assess link quality, toxicity, relevance, and competitive…