Local SEO + Off-Page SEO Specialist

We are an architectural and visualization firm working with commercial developers, home builders, property owners, and general contractors. We design commercial and residential projects, and we handle everything from site feasibility through permit-ready construction documents. We serve clients nationally and we have a Google Business Profile anchored in Houston, TX. That combination is the whole challenge of this role: national reach, local profile, and a strategy that has to serve both without confusing either. We are looking for a specialist, not a generalist who also does some SEO. Read the standards section carefully before you apply, because that is what we will be holding you to from week one. Scope of work Local SEO and Google Business Profile Own the Google Business Profile end to end: posts, photos, services, categories, attributes, products, and Q&A Write and publish GBP posts on an agreed weekly cadence, each one built around a real customer problem rather than a keyword Build and maintain the local keyword set using service plus location structure Run monthly local grid rank tracking and deliver the report without being asked for it Audit and fix NAP consistency across citations and directories Analyze competitor profiles in our category and tell us what they are doing that we are not Recommend local landing page structure and content to our web team Off-page SEO Build editorial backlinks from sites that are genuinely relevant to architecture, construction, commercial real estate, and development Run digital PR and expert-commentary placements using our principal architect as the source Audit the existing backlink profile, identify anything toxic, and manage disavow where it is warranted Plan anchor text distribution deliberately rather than by accident Secure listings in industry associations, AEC directories, and trade publications Report every link acquired each month with the live URL, the referring domain metrics, and the anchor used Reporting Weekly report covering local pack movement, organic position changes, links acquired, and GBP engagement Flag what did not work and why, not only what did Standards we will hold you to: These are not aspirations. They are how the work gets checked. Keyword research Every keyword you propose must carry a search volume figure cross-checked against at least two tools. Never one. If Google Keyword Planner returns zero or blank for a term you know is commercially competitive, that is a signal the tool is wrong, not that the keyword is worthless. Verify it elsewhere before you move on. If you cannot explain why a number looks wrong, do not build a month of work on it. You must be able to explain your prioritization logic. "It was on the approved list" is not a reason. Local keyword structure Local keywords take the form service plus location. For example, permit-ready commercial building plans in Houston. Keep local terms in the local profile and national terms in the national content. Do not blur the two. Content quality Posts get written for developers, owners, home builders and general contractors, then the keyword theme gets worked in naturally. Not the other way around. No keyword stuffing and no generic SEO phrasing. If a reader can feel the keyword being inserted, rewrite it. Lead with the business problem the reader actually has, not with design mechanics or a list of our services. You may use AI to draft, and we expect you to. You are still responsible for reviewing and improving what it produces before it reaches us. Unreviewed AI output is the fastest way to end this engagement. Images The image has to match what the post is about. A post about an entertainment district cannot carry a photo of a generic office block. Prefer images with people in them. Empty buildings read as boring and do not earn engagement. Size correctly for the placement before submitting. Accountability Deliver assigned tasks by the agreed date. If something blocks you, raise it when it blocks you, not at the next meeting when you are asked. A missing paid tool is not an acceptable reason to skip a deliverable without telling us first. Come to us with the problem and a proposed workaround. We will give you positioning, audience, and business context. The SEO execution and the recommendations are yours to bring. We are hiring you for expertise we do not want to have to supply. Tools you must have Required, with your own paid access: Semrush Ahrefs We will not accept a single-tool workflow, and we are not going to fund access you should already have as a specialist. Also required: Google Search Console and GA4 Google Business Profile Manager A local grid rank tracker such as Local Falcon, BrightLocal, or Local Dominator Useful: Screaming Frog, Google Keyword Planner as a cross-reference only. What we are looking for 4+ years doing local SEO and off-page SEO specifically, not as a slice of a general marketing role Demonstrable GBP work you can point to, with results A real link building track record with live URLs we can open Experience in architecture, construction, real estate, or a comparable B2B services field Strong written English, because you are writing for our audience in our voice Attention to detail, which we will be testing in the screening questions below Engagement Ongoing monthly engagement Weekly review call Remote, with some overlap with US Central time How to apply Answer every screening question. Short answers are fine, but answer the question that was asked. Applications that skip questions or answer around them will not be reviewed.