Senior SEO Specialist Job at Vivid Seats in Chicago

Who we are: Founded in 2001, Vivid Seats (NASDAQ: SEAT) is a leading online ticket marketplace committed to becoming the ultimate partner for connecting fans to the live events, artists, and teams they love. We believe in the power of experiences and are fiercely dedicated to building products that inspire human connections. Named as one of Built In's top places to work in 2024, we believe that our People are our greatest competitive advantage. To support our People, we have built a company culture that empowers our employees to embrace challenges, encourages unity through collaboration, and seeks to constantly evolve by leveraging data and inspiring innovation.The Opportunity: As a Senior SEO Specialist, you will develop & lead Vivid Seats' SEO roadmap - identifying and prioritizing opportunities for Vivid Seats to build an organic search presence that highlights the content and functionality that helps our audiences discover (and buy!) the live events they love. This role is part live event fanatic, part expert content creator, and SEO strategist extraordinaire - with a healthy dash of technical prowess thrown in. SEO is one of our strongest channels, so any success you create will drive the business forward extensively. You'll be responsible for ongoing site audits, creating and implementing recommendations around both on-site and on-page SEO opportunities, and work with product/engineering to prioritize larger needle-moving SEO initiatives. You'll also identify both evergreen and more timely keyword opportunities (a must in our fast-moving business!). How your role contributes to the success of Vivid Seats: Drive success by finding content and technical opportunities to enhance our SEO strategy. Partner with the teams on implementation and reporting strategies. Serve as the "key point of contact" for SEO within the organization-evangelizing the benefits of SEO best practices to product, engineering, and fellow marketing team members. Lead a small, but mighty content team to capitalize on them-developing content & link distribution plans to ensure the discovery of Vivid Seats' inventory. Monitor & track reporting on your efforts & use data to inform future strategies. How your role expectations will progress in the first 30, 90, and 180 days: 30 days in Get steeped in business fundamentals-understand how our marketplace works, what various teams are responsible for and potential impacts to SEO. Establish good working relationships with cross-functional teams (product, engineering, etc.) Evaluate your team & understand areas of strength to build on, as well as opportunities to address. Review regular reports, and dive-in to SEO tools to get a baseline understanding of the current program. 90 days in Own the SEO program in totality & present roadmap for improvement. Setup proper tracking framework to understand impact of SEO and evaluate future change. Conduct competitive analyses and understand opportunities for Vivid Seats to grow organic visibility. Conduct review of existing vendors and partners. 180 days in Implement meaningful changes that positively impact traffic and conversions. Establish content best practices, prioritizing key pages. Leverage existing data dashboards and build new ones to diagnose problems and opportunities, as well as to communicate impact to outside stakeholders. Establish infrastructure for SEO testing. What You'll Bring: 5+ years' of proven success in scaling enterprise SEO (preference for candidates with client-side roles, vs strictly agency.) 2+ years' experience leading SEO teams Deep experience in every facet of SEO: on-site (content), off-site (backlinking), and technical-with a holistic understanding of all SERP-impacting factors. Adept at keyword research, on-page optimization and content development. Skilled storyteller who has used 'digital PR' to build & scale a healthy & effective backlink program (deep sports knowledge is required to continue to build on our industry leading Fan Forecast™ data product.) General understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript development and constraints + technical SEO experience (internal linking optimization, log analysis, schema markup, and indexation health.) Expert-level proficiency with SEO tools such as Google Search Console, Botify, SEMRush, Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, etc. Familiarity with Google Analytics Ability to leverage advanced workflows for identifying opportunities at scale is a plus (such as SQL, JavaScript, Python, and advanced Excel functions) Empathy and a "searcher-first perspective" on organic search (understanding of search intent, personas, and common user journeys) Demonstrated track record taking ownership, thinking strategically, and delivering organic growth in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. History of collaboration and a willingness to roll up one's sleeves to get the job done, when needed. Outstanding communication & presentation skills-able to confidently and persuasively sell work and ideas. Vivid Seats provides competitive compensation; bonus incentives and equity for all employees; FLEX PTO; mental health days; medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401K matching; monthly credits and discounts for attending live events; remote work and snack allowances; and a variety of additional workplace perks. Location: Chicago, IL We believe in a hybrid working model which provides employees the flexibility to take advantage of in-person and remote collaboration. Check out our brand new HQ office, bursting with the energy of live events fandom and the vibrancy of Chicago's rising tech scene. Our Commitment:We are an equal opportunity employer that values the critical importance of a diverse workforce and sense of belonging. Many of our roles have flexible requirements and we encourage you to apply regardless of whether you meet every qualification.