Principal SEO Analyst & Web Administrator Job at State of Colorado in Denver

Who We Are:

System Administration, which also houses the Office of the President, is located in the uptown neighborhood of Denver with a few smaller offices located on the campuses. Many of our departments support the educational and research missions of the four University of Colorado campuses, but System Administration is not considered a campus. We provide diverse opportunities for professional development, innovation, and collaboration with talented staff and faculty. Learn more about CU System Administration.

University Information Services (UIS) provides technical services and enterprise applications to the University of Colorado’s (CU) four campuses and the Office of the President. UIS is committed to excellence in customer service, technical expertise, and the development of enterprise applications responsible for supporting CU’s students, faculty, staff, and others.

Position Summary:

The Integrated Online Services (IOS) Marketing Team in UIS CRM plays a key role in the future of the University’s online programs by providing marketing and digital engagement support, web content management and SEO for multiple implementations across CU’s four campuses, all within a shared governance model. The marketing team delivers services to CU’s campuses while building clear and collaborative relationships with both UIS and campus-based partners. The team consists of individuals responsible for cross-channel marketing, production and traffic management, social media, copywriting, website and SEO support, and graphic design, and ensures that goals are achieved based on campus partner priorities.

The Principal SEO Analyst & Web Administrator is responsible for analyzing, developing, and performing SEO and web content initiatives for the Digital Marketing office in Integrated Online Services. Working in the marketing team, this position is accountable for managing web content, CMS, and SEO outcomes while expanding website functionality and user engagement that is focused on increasing visibility, visits, conversions and awareness of online programs and offerings. While this is not a development role, you may be required to complete occasional, light development, design and technical cross channel tasks as needed, so a demonstrated solid understanding of Content Management Systems and HTML/CSS is needed.

This position reports to the Assistant Director of Digital Marketing and is exempt from the State of Colorado Classified Staff System.

THIS POSITION IS PROJECT FUNDED UNTIL 6/30/2026. POSITIONS ON PROJECT FUNDS ARE EVALUATED EVERY FISCAL YEAR FOR CONTINUATION.

Where You Will Work:

Remote – this role is eligible to work remotely within the United States, but preference will be given to applicants residing in the State of Colorado.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Search Engine Optimization

• Tracks, measures, and interprets marketing, recruitment, and retention SEO data within various marketing channels
• Builds customized dashboards and predictive analytics for review by clients, partners, and leadership
• Serves as the domain expert for Marketing, IT, and internal clients regarding SEO standard processes and methodologies
• Assures quality of the website and helps to coordinate content with strategic communication strategies and tactics for university projects and initiatives
• Develops, manages, and implements strategic search engine optimization page plans based on competitive market analysis, constraints, and SEO standard processes and methodologies
• Assists social media team in the development and execution of communication/content strategies via social communities and in coordination with SEO and strategic goals
• Maintains knowledge of and passion for new developments, trends, and technologies in the SEO space
• Assists IOS initiatives in analyzing the effectiveness of additional channels and strategies such as paid search campaigns and identifying alignments within SEO strategies
• Conducts competitive analyses to determine long-term position strategies
• Optimizes copy and landing pages for search engine marketing
• Creates and coordinates an annual SEO content plan for top-level IOS websites and initiatives

Website Administration

• Builds and launches web pages (organic and marketing landings pages)
• Updates and optimizes existing web pages
• Assists campus partners with content governance strategies to facilitate keeping content current and accurate
• Ensures high-level of usability and accessibility for all web content, and collaborates with others on the team such as the Social Media and Marketing Lead and the Content Strategist to identify and implement user experience improvement opportunities
• Collaborates with the Senior Designer to prepare and optimize artwork for the web
• Supports cross-channel communications, especially assisting with technical implementation of digital engagement strategies as needed
• Cross-trains in other responsibilities to provide redundancy and support in other areas when needed
• Issue identification and resolution of website accessibility and analytics issues
• Collaborates with others on the team and campus partners for support, training and enablement of use of the CMS
• Manages Google Tag Manager, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, etc.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education, OR equivalent professional experience (professional experience may be substituted for the educational requirement on a year-for-year basis)
• Four years’ experience working in search engine marketing (SEM) and SEO, which includes:
  • Experience with website analysis using SEO tools (e.g. crawlers, analytics platforms, marketing software, etc.)
  • Experience with website admin and content management, content management systems such as Drupal, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or post-baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution of higher education in business, marketing, advertising, communications, public or media relations, social science, data science, or related field of study
• Six (6) years’ experience working in SEM, SEO, and Web management
• Experience in the following:
  • Building dashboards and predictive analytics
  • Implementing and measuring impact of organic search improvements
  • Using keyword tools (e.g. Google, WordTracker) and SEO suites (e.g. Moz, SEMRush, Screaming Frog)
  • Project management tools (e.g. GitLab) and website optimization tools (e.g. Site Improve, Lighthouse) or other project management platforms
  • Agile methodologies and marketing automation
  • Higher education or online education marketing

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of and passion for cross-channel marketing and digital marketing principles, methodologies, and standard processes
• Technically adept and familiar with or the ability to learn various systems and platforms such as Drupal, Salesforce, and Marketing Cloud
• Proficiency in hypertext markup language (HTML)/cascading style sheets (CSS), including inputting and modifying google analytics code, page content changes, etc.
• Solid understanding of SEO standard methodologies, such as SEO “friendly” site architecture, tags, coding, site speed optimization, link building, etc.
• Knowledge and understanding of organic search (algorithms, ranking factors, copywriting, schema mark-up)
• Interpersonal skills to facilitate interaction, communication, and partnership between others
• Oral, written, and listening communication skills to accurately interpret what others are saying and convey messages, information, concepts, and details clearly
• Analytical and problem-solving skills to examine data and trends in order to identify themes and produce results
• Collaboration skills to work with others from different areas and backgrounds to reach a common goal by sharing knowledge and strategy and maintaining constant communication
• Creative skills to ask questions, generate new insights, experiment, make observations, and develop connections between disparate concepts
• Ability to self-start and take initiative, prioritize work, meet goals, and stay on task when completing special projects and daily assignments
• Ability to maintain a good work ethic, positive problem-solving demeanor, and passion for teamwork and collaboration
• Ability to be cognizant of and address details
• Ability to work independently and in a team setting
• Ability to use Microsoft 365 (i.e. SharePoint, Teams, Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.)
• Ability to establish and maintain effective and collegial relationships with diverse staff, faculty, students, and departmental representatives across the university
• Ability to follow and uphold ethical guidelines, standards, and integrity
• Knowledge of information technology service management (ITSM) principles and standard processes
• Knowledge of Accessibility, Universal Design, and/or User Experience Design standards and standard methodologies
• Ability to work under stress and in an environment with competing priorities
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and reliable professional judgment, as well as collaboratively with a team to achieve desired results
• Ability to prioritize and focus on activities that have the greatest impact on meeting work commitments
• Experience with SEO and Analytics tools and platforms such as Google Tag Manager, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Ahrefs, SEMRush, Screaming Frog, etc.
• Experience with building reports in Google Looker Studio or similar
• Familiarity with web standards, semantic markup, accessibility, usability, page layout and optimization

How to Apply:

For full consideration, please attach the following as separate documents to your application by January 10th:

1. A cover letter identifying the job specific minimum qualifications you possess
2. A resume including any and all relevant experience to be accurately assessed against the qualifications listed in the posting.

Benefits: With our unparalleled range of benefits, including top-notch healthcare, comprehensive wellness programs, enriching professional development, and a dynamic work-life balance, we ensure your holistic growth and happiness.

• No-cost or low-cost medical & dental plan options, some inclusive of IVF assistance.
• Disability, Life, Vision Insurance options.
• Multiple retirement planning options including a mandatory 401(a) plan where CU contributes 10% of your gross pay, a 401k or 403b plan and a 457 deferred compensation plan.
• Pre-tax savings plans, such as Health care and Dependent care flexible spending accounts.
• Embrace a healthy work-life balance with ample sick and vacation leave, along with at least 12 paid holidays. This includes a dedicated week off for winter break.
• 6 weeks of parental leave to adjust to the joys of parenthood.
• A tuition benefit program for you and/or your dependents.
• Free RTD EcoPass and Free Onsite Parking at our 1800 Grant Street Office.
• Many additional perks & programs with the CU Advantage.

Additional taxable fringe benefits may be available.

For more information on benefits programs, please review our Comprehensive Benefits Guide.

Access our Total Compensation Calculator to see what your total rewards could be at CU. (This position is a University Staff position)