Overview
You'll manage SEO campaigns for Fortitude Marketing's clients - typically B2B companies that need organic visibility. You'll work directly with Matt (the founder) and be the go-to person for technical SEO, content strategy, and keyword research. Over time, you'll get exposure to digital PR, content marketing, and ABM as the agency grows.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Client Services - SEO Specialist |
| Work Motion | Direct client delivery + some new business support |
| Client Complexity | Consultative - B2B clients with 3-12 month engagements |
| Project Cycle | Ongoing retainers, typically 6-12 month contracts |
| Clients Managed | Likely 3-5 active accounts |
| Quota (est.) | Retention/client satisfaction vs revenue target |
Company Context
Stage: Bootstrapped startup
Size: 1 employee (you'd be #1)
Growth: First full-time hire - agency has been founder-led until now
Market Position: Small player in a very crowded agency space, competing on strategic approach vs tactical execution
Client Reality
Who You're Working With:
- Small to mid-sized B2B companies that can't afford a full in-house marketing team
- Clients who hired the agency for results, not education - they expect you to know what to do
- Mix of retainer clients (ongoing work) and project-based engagements
What They Expect:
- Monthly reports showing traffic, rankings, and conversions
- Proactive recommendations, not just order-taking
- Fast turnaround on urgent requests (algorithm updates, competitor changes)
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Client SEO Work (50%) | Reporting/Comms (25%) | Learning/Research (15%) | Internal/Admin (10%)
Key Activities
- Technical SEO Audits: Run site audits, identify crawl issues, fix indexation problems, optimize site speed. You'll use tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, SEMrush.
- Keyword Research & Strategy: Map out content plans based on search volume and competition. Work with clients to align keyword targets with their business goals.
- Content Optimization: Edit client content for SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, internal linking). Sometimes you'll brief writers, sometimes you'll write yourself.
- Link Building Outreach: Identify link opportunities, draft outreach emails, track placements. This is tedious - most people ignore you.
- Client Reporting: Monthly check-ins showing rankings, traffic, conversions. You'll spend time in Google Analytics and Search Console explaining what the data means.
- Cross-Channel Exposure: Sit in on digital PR campaigns, ABM strategy sessions, content marketing planning. You won't lead these at first, but you'll learn the mechanics.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- First hire ambiguity: There's no playbook yet. You'll figure out processes, tools, and workflows as you go. If you need structure, this will be frustrating.
- Algorithm volatility: Google updates can tank a client's rankings overnight. You'll field panicked calls and have to explain things outside your control.
- Slow results: SEO takes 3-6 months to show impact. Clients get impatient. You'll repeat "this takes time" a lot.
- Repetitive work: A lot of SEO is checking the same dashboards, fixing the same technical issues, and explaining the same concepts to different clients.
- You're the only specialist: If you don't know something, there's no team to ask. You'll Google it or figure it out yourself.
What Success Looks Like
- Clients renew their retainers because they're seeing organic traffic and lead growth
- You've built repeatable processes (audit templates, reporting dashboards, outreach workflows) that the agency can scale
- You're confidently running client strategy calls without Matt needing to join
- You've picked up enough PR/content/ABM knowledge to contribute to multi-channel campaigns
Who You're Working With
Internally:
- Matt (founder) - you'll work directly with him daily, probably over Slack and weekly syncs
- Freelancers/contractors - likely writers, designers, or PR specialists on specific projects
Client-Side:
- Marketing managers or directors who hired the agency
- Occasionally founders at smaller companies
What Clients Care About:
- "Are we ranking for the keywords that matter?"
- "Is this driving leads or just vanity traffic?"
- "What should we do differently next month?"
Requirements
- 2-4 years of hands-on SEO experience (technical SEO, content optimization, link building)
- Comfortable running client calls and explaining SEO concepts to non-technical people
- Self-directed - you won't have a manager telling you what to do each day
- Curious about other channels (PR, content, ABM) and willing to learn on the job
- Experience with SEO tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Screaming Frog, Google Analytics, Search Console)
- Bonus: You've worked at an agency before and know the client services grind