SEO Manager (1) in Bradford-on-Avon

We’re looking for an ambitious SEO Manager who wants to develop their career in a supportive and expert-led team. We are looking for someone who will lead the delivery of off-page SEO, link building and digital PR campaigns for our ambitious clients, is comfortable with client-facing responsibilities and thrives in team management.

With a background in content creation, SEO or digital PR and a minimum of 2 year’s general search marketing experience, you will work with our clients, potential clients and our internal teams to help Varn deliver best-in-class SEO and content. The SEO Manager will plan and implement off-page SEO and link-building strategies, and be comfortable with competitor research, campaign ideation, and outreach. Additionally, you will work directly with our clients, keeping them informed about the performance of their campaigns and proactively developing new ideas.

You will work closely with the Head of Client Services and the wider Varn team. You will also be responsible for helping to train and line-manage junior SEO team members.

Key responsibilities of this role would include:

• Ideation: You will lead the campaign ideation process, including playing an important part in the idea generation process.
• Content-Driven Link Acquisition: Collaborate with the internal or client’s content team to create high-quality, shareable content (e.g., research studies, infographics, whitepapers) that attracts natural backlinks. Promote and distribute this content to authoritative websites to secure backlinks.
• Content Outreach/Digital PR: Reach out to industry-related websites, blogs, and online publications for guest post opportunities and, ideally, link placements. Promote content via targeted outreach to acquire backlinks from relevant sources. Foster relationships with webmasters and content managers to secure valuable link placements. Maintain our media contact list and develop tactics to reach journalists.
• Link Building: Develop and execute a strategic link-building plan to acquire high-quality, authoritative backlinks. Identify, evaluate, and secure backlinks from relevant industry websites, blogs, and publications. Regularly monitor the link profile and ensure the acquisition of diverse, natural backlinks.
• Brand Mentions & Reputation Management: Track brand mentions online and convert unlinked mentions into backlinks. Monitor and manage brand reputation, ensuring that positive mentions are leveraged for SEO benefit and negative ones are addressed.
• Competitor Backlink Analysis: Analyse competitors’ backlink profiles to uncover link acquisition opportunities. Identify strategic gaps in competitors’ link profiles and develop tactics to surpass them in link acquisition.
• Monitoring & Reporting: Track the success of off-page SEO initiatives, including backlink acquisition, using SEO tools like SEMrush, or Looker Studio. Regularly report on the progress of link-building campaigns and their impact on organic rankings.

Additional responsibilities of the role will include:

• Monitoring our clients’ off-page SEO performance and data.
• Making contributions to wider SEO strategies which reflect the client’s business objectives, website performance, and available resources to achieve tangible results.
• Developing and maintaining strong relationships with clients, including presenting ongoing work in regular meetings.
• Keeping up to date with industry developments to ensure continuous development of our off-page SEO knowledge. Contributing proactively with thought leadership, creating and writing content to help share Varn’s expertise within SEO and search marketing.
• Line-managing 1 to 2 members of the junior Off-page SEO team, helping them to develop and meet their agreed performance goals.
• Contributing to an environment that fosters open communication and trust with all team members, clients and other stakeholders.

Who are you?

• You have at least 2 years of hands-on experience in successfully implementing digital PR/outreach campaigns with measurable results.
• You have the ability to think creatively around problems and interpret clients’ requests.
• You have experience using outreach tools like Pitchbox and SEO reporting tools like SEMRush.
• You ideally have experience in developing and building long term client relationships within an agency or consultancy.
• You can confidently express yourself while discussing ideas with clients and team members.
• You are able to work well under pressure and carefully manage your own time.
• You like data, pay close attention to detail, and feel at home analysing data and putting together interesting stories from large data analysis.
• You have experience in mentoring, supporting and directing junior team members, or are keen to learn to line-manage others.
• You are a friendly, honest and hard-working individual who enjoys working alongside and contributing to a wider team.

About Varn:

Our purpose is to nurture and develop a motivated and expert team. To care about our clients, our reputation and our clients' results by being focused and passionate about the things we spend our time on. We accelerate profitable growth for happy clients by delivering full-service SEO, scaling technical SEO, off-page SEO and AI search, data analytics and reporting.

Remuneration & benefits:

• Salary of £29,000-£39,000 depending on experience.
• Opportunity to be part of a growing agency.
• Company-wide bonus scheme (up to 10% annual bonus).
• Access to our woodland office, our mobile Camper Varn office and Woolacombe (Devon) beach view workspace, so you can work outside and be inspired in new places.
• Up to 28 days off per year (including 20 standard days, 3 day Christmas close down, 1 day holiday for your birthday and up to 4 days long service bonus).
• Pension scheme.
• Training and development opportunities.
• Fun working environment.