SEO/SEM Marketing Specialist

Location: Remote
Employment Type: Full-time

Instrumental is growing, and we are looking for an SEO Specialist to help clients become more discoverable, measurable, and competitive across traditional and AI-powered search.

This is not a traditional marketing role. You will combine search strategy with hands-on technical implementation: auditing websites, improving organic visibility, configuring and validating analytics and conversion tracking, and helping clients understand how people find and engage with their businesses. You will also help clients adapt to AI-driven discovery through Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), prompt tracking, and practical visibility measurement.

You will work closely with clients and internal teams to identify opportunities, make or coordinate improvements, and connect search performance to meaningful business outcomes. The work calls for curiosity, precision, sound judgment, and a willingness to explain technical topics in clear, useful language. Search is changing quickly; we value people who can experiment thoughtfully while keeping the fundamentals strong.

Who We Are

Instrumental is a digital sales and marketing agency based in Golden, Colorado and a proud Elite HubSpot Partner. We partner with growth-minded organizations to build scalable, data-driven marketing and revenue strategies within the HubSpot ecosystem.

We show up unapologetically on our own terms. We lead with authenticity, build real relationships, and deliver exceptional work. There is a bit of Western frontier energy in how we operate. We are self-made, trailblazing, and committed to doing things the right way.

We are not the loudest in the room, but we earn trust quickly. Whether partnering with a Fortune 500 company, a CMO, or a founder building something from scratch, we meet people where they are and lead with a human-first approach. We care deeply about the craft behind a well-built HubSpot solution and the artistry behind a well-told brand story.

Our work speaks for itself. We have earned more HubSpot Impact Awards than any other agency because we stay focused on what matters most, delivering meaningful results that drive real client success. At Instrumental, high standards and strong culture go hand in hand. We support each other, take ownership, and take pride in the impact we create together.

Who You Are

You show up as your authentic self, grounded, prepared, and ready to contribute.

You take ownership of your work, follow through on commitments, and communicate proactively. You ask thoughtful questions, build trust easily, and look for ways to improve both your work and the team around you.

You adapt your approach to meet people where they are, whether working with founders or enterprise-level leaders, without losing your authenticity. You value both discipline and creativity, and you care about doing things the right way.

You are organized, reliable, and able to balance multiple priorities while maintaining a high standard of work. Most importantly, you care about your work, your team, and the impact you are making.

How We Think About AI

AI is part of how modern teams do great work.

At Instrumental, we expect a baseline of curiosity, initiative, and practical experimentation when it comes to AI. Our team members consistently look for ways to improve how work gets done, whether that means increasing velocity by reducing time to complete a task or elevating excellence by improving the quality, clarity, and usefulness of the outcome.

You do not need to be an expert, but you should be open to exploring and adopting new tools and ways of working. We see AI as a way to enhance thinking, not replace it, and as a key part of building a more intelligent, efficient, and high-performing team.

Job Responsibilities

SEO Strategy and Implementation

• Audit websites and search performance to identify technical, on-page, content, local, and authority-building opportunities.
• Conduct keyword, topic, intent, competitor, and search-results research; prioritize opportunities by relevance, business value, and likelihood of impact, not search volume alone.
• Build practical SEO roadmaps and execute or coordinate prioritized work, including metadata and heading updates, internal linking, URL and canonical improvements, redirects, content optimization, and local search enhancements.
• Investigate crawling, indexing, site architecture, mobile experience, Core Web Vitals, image, and page-performance issues; document findings and coordinate fixes with web, development, and client teams.
• Work with sitemaps, robots.txt, Google Search Console, HubSpot SEO tools, and site crawlers to help search engines discover and interpret important content.
• Recommend and support structured data and schema implementation, including JSON-LD, where it helps clarify entities, services, locations, and answers.
• Support website launches, redesigns, migrations, and domain changes by identifying search and measurement risks and validating key technical elements before and after release.

Analytics, Tracking, and Measurement

• Set up, configure, audit, and troubleshoot measurement across Google Tag Manager (GTM), Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Search Console, HubSpot, and related platforms.
• Translate business goals into a clear measurement plan: define key events and conversions, document what they mean, and align reporting across organic, paid, referral, and other relevant channels.
• Implement or coordinate tracking for forms, calls, booking or quote actions, cross-domain journeys, and other meaningful user interactions, based on the client’s systems and access permissions.
• QA tags, triggers, events, forms, and conversion paths to confirm that tracking fires as intended, avoids duplicates, and captures the right actions. Investigate discrepancies between analytics, advertising platforms, and CRM records.
• Maintain clear event maps, naming conventions, implementation notes, and change logs so teams can understand what is tracked and why.
• Build or improve analytics views, dashboards, and reports; monitor data quality and explain measurement limitations, consent dependencies, and attribution caveats clearly.
• Connect search visibility and website engagement to leads, lead quality, pipeline, or other agreed business outcomes, and use the findings to recommend next steps.

AI Search and Answer Engine Optimization

• Develop and execute AEO strategies that help clients improve their chances of being understood, surfaced, and cited by AI-powered search and answer experiences.
• Configure and maintain AI-search foundations in supported platforms, such as brand and business profiles, products and services, ideal customer profiles, and tracked prompts.
• Research realistic audience questions and build prompt sets around client priorities, products, services, personas, and buyer intent.
• Establish AI-search visibility baselines and monitor measures such as prompt coverage, brand mentions, share of voice, citation frequency, sentiment, and referral activity where the platform and data support them.
• Identify content and technical gaps from AI-search findings; recommend useful improvements to page structure, direct-answer content, FAQs, entity information, citations, and structured data.
• Explain the evolving capabilities and limitations of AI-search tools and metrics. Set responsible expectations, distinguish measurable evidence from directional signals, and avoid overstating attribution or results.
• Educate clients and teammates on AEO tools, prompt selection, tracking, and practical workflows so they can participate in and sustain the work.

Performance, Reporting, and Optimization

• Monitor organic search, website, and AI-search performance; investigate changes and separate actual demand or ranking shifts from tracking, site, or attribution issues.
• Analyze rankings, impressions, clicks, landing-page engagement, conversions, lead quality, and other client-specific measures to identify what is working and what needs attention.
• Produce clear, client-ready audits, roadmaps, dashboards, and performance updates that connect technical work and search activity to client goals.
• Use data and testing to refine recommendations, prioritize work, and communicate what changed, what was learned, and what should happen next.
• Partner with paid media specialists to align search intent, keyword insights, conversion definitions, and reporting across paid and organic programs. Support paid search analysis as needed without assuming sole ownership of paid campaign budgets or management.

Client and Team Collaboration

• Partner with Growth Strategists, content, creative, web, development, paid media, and HubSpot teams to improve discovery, measurement, and conversion paths.
• Present audits, strategies, and recommendations in a clear, constructive way; help clients understand tradeoffs, dependencies, owners, and next steps.
• Request and verify required access, identify when work depends on client or platform administrators, and communicate blockers early.
• Manage multiple client workstreams, document decisions and implementation status, and follow through on agreed deliverables.
• Stay current on search engine updates, analytics and privacy changes, AI-search behavior, AEO practices, and relevant platform capabilities; share useful learnings with clients and teammates.

Relevant Competencies You'll Need for This Position

• Strong understanding of SEO fundamentals, technical SEO, search intent, keyword and topic research, on-page optimization, crawling, indexing, and site architecture.
• Hands-on experience configuring or troubleshooting web analytics and tracking, especially GTM, GA4, conversion events, and form or call measurement.
• Ability to turn a business objective into a practical tracking plan and validate that the resulting data is useful and trustworthy.
• Familiarity with HubSpot analytics and SEO tools, CRM data, cross-domain measurement, and the relationship between website activity and lead or pipeline reporting.
• Familiarity with AEO, AI-search visibility, tracked prompts, answer engines, LLMs, or a demonstrated ability to learn quickly in this emerging area.
• Understanding of structured data and schema markup, including JSON-LD, and how technical and content signals can support search understanding.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to diagnose data discrepancies, explain limitations, and turn findings into actionable recommendations.
• Strong reporting skills, with the ability to communicate technical and performance information clearly to clients and internal teams.
• Experience with tools such as Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, HubSpot, Looker Studio, Screaming Frog, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or similar platforms.
• Working knowledge of paid search platforms such as Google Ads, including conversion measurement and the ability to collaborate with paid media owners.
• Ability to use AI tools thoughtfully to improve research, analysis, reporting, testing, and workflow efficiency while maintaining human judgment and quality control.
• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to delivering high-quality work.
• Strong collaboration, project management, and organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple clients and priorities in a fast-paced agency environment.
• Proactive problem solver who identifies opportunities, flags risks, and recommends thoughtful solutions.
• Adaptable and comfortable adjusting strategies as platforms, algorithms, AI tools, and client needs evolve.
• Commitment to continuous learning and staying current with emerging digital marketing and measurement trends.

Required Experience

• 3+ years of relevant experience in SEO, search marketing, web analytics, or a related field.
• Experience auditing websites and translating findings into prioritized recommendations or implemented improvements.
• Experience setting up, validating, or troubleshooting analytics and conversion tracking with tools such as GTM, GA4, or equivalent platforms.
• Experience analyzing digital marketing performance and translating data into actionable recommendations.
• Experience with SEO and/or analytics platforms; experience with AI-search or AEO tools is a plus.
• BA/BS degree or equivalent professional experience.

What We Offer

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability coverage
• Accident insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• 15 paid holidays plus generous PTO
• Quarterly incentive plan
• A close-knit, supportive team that genuinely cares about the work and each other

Ready to make search more discoverable, measurable, and useful to client growth?
We would love to meet you.