ACBJ seeks an SEO editor

The SEO Editor will work with the 46 local newsrooms of American City Business Journals to ensure their exceptional business news is more discoverable through organic search, Google News and other search platforms.

The ideal candidate is an expert in search engine optimization and has experience with organic search and its implementation related to the news and publishing industry. The candidate will use industry best practices to increase website traffic, help with customer acquisition and conversion, and deliver higher ranking on search engine results pages, to strengthen our company brand and content visibility.

This is a new position on the National Content Team at ACBJ, a result of our continued growth and profitability. This editor must sit in a local ACBJ newsroom (see map here: https://acbj.com/brands/bizjournals) or in our corporate headquarters in Charlotte, NC.

Duties
• Implement the company’s organic SEO strategy to newsroom, engineering, and social media/content marketing teams
• Collaborate with local newsrooms to identify and execute on search-friendly keywords and topics
• Monitor SERPs daily and help local newsrooms optimize content both before and after initial publishing to maintain a competitive edge in organic search
• Ensure local newsrooms maintain proper keyword diversity and best practices with published content
• Provide individualized training to local newsrooms to establish SEO best practices for pre-publishing of content
• Proficiently use SEO tools and best practices to track keywords over time and provide actionable insights to local newsrooms
• Identify, partner with, and support local newsroom SEO champions so they can evangelize search best practices
• Collaborate with analytics team to set up reports that will accurately track progress
• Identify and implement new opportunities for improving organic search rankings, traffic and subscription conversions
• Attend and participate in national and local editorial meetings
• Identify and attend external training opportunities

Skills
The ideal candidate has:
• Expertise in organic search and how people discover content on different search platforms; experience with paid search a plus
• Deep knowledge of SEO publishing tools and ability to teach journalists how to use them
• Understanding of how local newsrooms operate
• Ability to multitask and work in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent communication, cross-group collaboration, and planning skills with a strict attention to details, process and deadlines

Experience
• Background in journalism, with at least 2-3 years of SEO optimization experience at a news organization

Education
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferred

To apply, send a resume and cover letter to Beth Hunt, director of editorial recruiting and development, ACBJ; bzhunt@bijzournals.com