SEO Specialist for Multisite Local News Portals - Over 100 Websites

We are seeking a highly experienced SEO freelancer to optimize and scale SEO strategies across our network of 100+ local city websites, such as HEREcolumbia.com, HEREdallas.com, and HEREnorthville.com. These sites serve as community portals featuring business directories, local news summaries (especially business-related), real estate listings, coupons, and neighborhood spotlights. Our primary goal is to recover lost rankings (e.g., for queries like "City Business News") and drive organic traffic growth through targeted local and news SEO tactics.

This is a scalable project: Start with an audit and strategy for 5-10 pilot sites, then expand to the full network. We need someone who can implement quick wins while building long-term authority, considering recent Google core updates (e.g., June 2025). The ideal candidate will have proven success with multi-site SEO, local optimization, and content-driven news portals.

Project Scope:

Conduct comprehensive SEO audits for selected sites.
Develop and implement on-page, off-page, and technical SEO strategies.
Focus on local SEO (e.g., Google Business Profile optimization, citations, geo-targeted keywords).
Enhance news SEO (e.g., original content creation, EEAT signals, freshness updates).
Monitor performance using tools like Google Search Console, Analytics, Ahrefs/SEMrush.
Provide monthly reports and recommendations for ongoing improvements.
This could be an ongoing role if results are strong, with potential for content strategy collaboration.

Skills Required:

SEO (Advanced)
Local SEO
News/Journalism SEO
Keyword Research
On-Page Optimization
Technical SEO
Content Strategy
Google Analytics
Google Search Console
Ahrefs/SEMrush (or similar tools)
Link Building
WordPress/CMS Optimization (our sites use similar platforms)