SEO Specialist
SEO Specialist
About the role
About The Meridiem
The Meridiem is a fast-growing tech journalism platform delivering sharp, timely coverage of AI, startups, venture capital, cybersecurity, and enterprise technology. Built on Next.js 16 and deployed at the edge, our platform reaches a growing audience of tech professionals through morning briefings, evening analysis, and a thriving Beehiiv-powered newsletter. We are backed by strong investors and scaling rapidly.
Role Overview
We are looking for an SEO Specialist to maximize The Meridiem's organic search visibility and drive sustainable traffic growth. You will own technical SEO, content optimization, keyword strategy, and structured data implementation for a high-frequency news publishing platform. This role requires someone who understands the unique SEO challenges of news media, including Google News optimization, Core Web Vitals at scale, and real-time indexing.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and execute The Meridiem's end-to-end SEO strategy across technical, on-page, and off-page disciplines.
- Conduct comprehensive keyword research and develop topic clusters aligned with our core verticals (AI, startups, VC, cybersecurity, enterprise tech).
- Implement and maintain structured data (JSON-LD) for articles, authors, FAQs, and organization schema to maximize rich snippet visibility.
- Optimize Core Web Vitals and page performance metrics, working closely with the engineering team on our Next.js 16 / Cloudflare Workers stack.
- Manage Google News and Google Discover optimization including sitemap configuration, article metadata, and publishing cadence.
- Perform regular technical SEO audits covering crawlability, indexation, internal linking, canonical tags, and site architecture.
- Collaborate with the editorial team to optimize headlines, meta descriptions, and article structure for search without compromising editorial quality.
- Build and monitor SEO dashboards tracking organic traffic, keyword rankings, SERP features, and indexation health.
- Develop and manage the internal linking strategy to distribute authority across category pages and high-value content.
- Analyze competitor SEO strategies and identify opportunities to capture market share in key topic areas.
- Stay current with algorithm updates, SERP feature changes, and emerging SEO best practices relevant to digital publishing.
Requirements
- 3+ years of SEO experience, with at least 1 year working on a news, media, or high-frequency publishing site.
- Strong technical SEO skills including experience with structured data, XML sitemaps, robots.txt, canonicalization, and crawl budget management.
- Proficiency with SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics.
- Solid understanding of Core Web Vitals and web performance optimization.
- Experience with Google News Publisher Center and news-specific SEO best practices.
- Ability to translate SEO insights into actionable recommendations for both editorial and engineering teams.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and prioritize high-impact opportunities.
- Excellent communication skills for cross-functional collaboration.
Nice-to-Have
- Experience with Next.js, server-side rendering, or modern JavaScript framework SEO considerations.
- Familiarity with Cloudflare Workers, edge computing, or CDN-level SEO optimizations.
- Understanding of programmatic SEO and automated content optimization at scale.
- Experience with news aggregator optimization beyond Google (Apple News, Flipboard, SmartNews).
- Basic proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for implementing SEO changes directly.
What We Offer
- Competitive salary ($80,000 - $115,000) plus meaningful equity in a Series A startup.
- Remote-first work environment with flexible hours.
- Health, dental, and vision insurance.
- Unlimited PTO with an encouraged minimum of 3 weeks.
- Annual learning and development budget ($1,500).
- The chance to build SEO infrastructure from the ground up for a rapidly scaling media platform.
- Work with a modern tech stack (Next.js 16, Cloudflare Workers) that prioritizes performance.
How to Apply
Send your resume, a brief summary of an SEO project you led (with measurable results), and your favorite SEO tool (and why) to support@themeridiem.com with the subject line "SEO Specialist Application." We review applications on a rolling basis and aim to respond within 5 business days.
