SEO Specialist (Newsroom SEO) – 6-Month Contract

We are strengthening TheNews21’s digital backbone.We’re looking for a serious Newsroom SEO professional who understands Google News, Discover, and investigative journalism — not generic SEO or marketing.Please read carefully before applying.About TheNews21TheNews21 is an independent investigative and analytical newsroom based in Maharashtra, focusing on governance, politics, infrastructure, and public-interest journalism.As we expand our investigations and publishing scale, we are strengthening our search and discovery backbone through a dedicated SEO transformation roadmap.This role is strictly for newsroom SEO professionals, not generic digital marketers.Key Responsibilities1. Technical SEO (News Website Focus)• Conduct full SEO & indexing audit (GSC, sitemaps, crawl errors)• Fix indexing issues and Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP)• Optimise robots.txt, canonicals, redirects, and URL structure• Implement structured data: NewsArticle, Author, Breadcrumb, Organization• Improve mobile performance and page speed• Build and clean category architecture• Create pillar pages for investigative series2. Content & Editorial SEO• Optimise headlines, meta descriptions, tags, and internal linking• Guide newsroom on SEO-friendly editorial workflows• Image optimisation (alt-text, compression, WebP)• Build content clusters around investigations and explainers• Improve Google Discover visibility for long-form stories3. Google News SEO• Prepare and manage Google News Publisher Center• Fix feed and policy issues• Ensure structured data compliance for news content• Improve visibility in Top Stories and News surfaces4. Authority & Trust Building• Ethical backlink and citation strategy (no PBNs or paid link farms)• SEO optimisation of investigative PDF reports• Digital PR and attribution-based link support5. Reporting & Monitoring• Weekly SEO performance reports• Monthly Search Console, Discover & traffic analysis• Clear deliverables and measurable progress trackingRequired Skills & Experience• Proven experience with news or publishing websites• Strong technical SEO (indexing, schema, sitemaps)• Hands-on WordPress experience (TagDiv / SmartMag / JNews preferred)• Knowledge of E-E-A-T, Google News & Discover algorithms• Strong command of GSC, GA4, Ahrefs/SEMRush, Screaming FrogNot Acceptable• Social media managers who think SEO = hashtags• Digital marketers who only know ads• Keyword stuffers• Backlink sellers / PBN users• Candidates with no newsroom SEO experienceCompensation₹25,000 – ₹40,000 per month (based on experience)For exceptional candidates, negotiable for the 6-month contract.How to ApplyEmail: editor@Hashtags:#Hiring #SEOJobs #NewsSEO #JournalismJobs #DigitalNews #GoogleNews #MediaJobs

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