This article is part of a series exploring key marketing freelance and contractor roles on the Wripple platform. We’ll dive into what each role does, why they’re essential, and how they can help your business thrive.

This article will explore the role of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Strategist. A strong online presence for your brand is essential for visibility and staying competitive, and SEO Strategists play a key role in making that happen.  

What is an SEO Strategist?

An SEO strategist is responsible for improving a website’s organic (unpaid) visibility on search engines and driving organic traffic and conversions. Some SEO Strategists focus primarily on research, analysis, and recommendations, while others take a more hands-on role in execution. Some can do both.  

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct keyword research and provide recommendations
• Audit, develop, and optimize content strategy  
• Implement off-page SEO strategies such as link building
• Monitor performance metrics with SEO tools
• Enhance technical and mobile SEO  
• Stay current regarding trends and algorithm updates

Why is an SEO Strategist Critical for Your Business?

An SEO strategist is an essential asset for businesses aiming for long-term digital growth and sustainability. In today’s competitive online landscape, simply having a website isn’t enough—your site needs to be visible to the right audience at the right time.  

An SEO strategist can help ensure that:

• Your business ranks in search results when potential customers are actively searching for your products or services.
• Your website stays optimized and competitive by adapting to evolving search engine algorithms.
• Your content, site structure, and user experience are fine-tuned to improve engagement and retention.
• Your traffic isn’t just increasing—it’s converting into leads and customers.

Without a strong SEO strategy, you risk missing valuable opportunities to connect with your audience and grow your brand cost-effectively.

What to Look for in an SEO Strategist?

Must-Have Skills

• Keyword research and analysis
• Knowledge of search engine algorithms and ranking factors
• Basic understanding of HTML + CSS
• Ability to monitor performance metrics and adjust SEO strategy
• Familiarity with industry tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Screaming Frog, Moz, etc.  
• Knowledge of technical SEO requirements like site structure, speed, crawlability, indexing, and schema markup across all devices
• Understanding of optimizing content, meta tags, headers, and internal linking for better search visibility
• Experience with off-page tactics to drive organic search such as link building, digital PR, and reputation management

Nice-To-Have Skills

• Industry-specific expertise
• Content marketing and writing  
• Project management  
• A/B Testing  
• Voice search SEO, Video SEO, Local SEO, International SEO, app SEO
• Soft skills: communication, attention to detail, problem-solving, adaptability  

Insights from an SEO Specialist  

We interviewed Aurora Sanchez, an SEO Manager on the Wripple talent marketplace, to get her thoughts on where SEO is headed:

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Where do you think the SEO Specialist role is headed in the next 5-10 years?

I see SEO becoming more contextual. SEO is becoming more interconnected, requiring SEO specialists to either collaborate across various marketing functions or develop these skills themselves.

What is the impact of AI on SEO?  

Despite their own opinions, I see SEO strategists having to learn how to work with AI and build it into their workflow. Strategists are starting to use AI to perform more manual tasks like generating meta titles, descriptions, and alt tags, which can be very beneficial. On the other hand, when AI Overviews dominate SERPs, SEO and content strategists have to format their content in a problem-solution method. That is how more content snippets are featured in these AIOs.

Are there any exciting trends that could impact this role?

For me, the excitement is that the sphere of knowledge is expanding. It's much harder to get organic clicks on Google when organic results are getting pushed down. However, YouTube is still the second largest search engine, and more and more people are looking to TikTok to solve their problems. We will have to learn the algorithms of these other search engines, and that expansion is exciting to me.