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:Hashtags:#Hiring #SEOJobs #NewsSEO #JournalismJobs #DigitalNews #GoogleNews #MediaJobs…